Little Katie

Okay, so the oil leak is fixed (gasket on rocker cover) but friendly mechanic has had to give up on trying to fix my car. He just doesn't know what else to try. He doesn't think that the injectors are the problem as he disconnected them one-by-one and it made no difference to the running. He also couldn't work out why it won't start properly. He's very frustrated cos he wanted to learn from it, but he is at a loss. So, where to go from here? I currently have a 5-year-old car that doesn't start properly and has poor fuel-consumption. I reckon it'll cost me an extra £250 of fuel per-year to run if I leave it as it is, but how much more will I have to spend on it to get these problems fixed? And I don't really want to buy a new car right now. Not in a year when we've done new bathroom, new windows and new boiler already!!!

No, I haven't yet cos when friendly mechanic had a look at the original injectors he said they'd been done far too tight ( turned about 540 degrees instead of 215 or whatever it's meant to be ) so I'm giving it a try like this first.

Thanks Carlos and thanks devonutopia - I'll let you know about the rocker cover! It's going back in again on Monday to have the oil leak looked at. On a more positive note, when I filled up yesterday the computer said 360 miles left and 30 miles later it still says 360 miles left so I'm hoping that maybe the fuel efficiency isn't as bad as the mpg is indicating. Fingers crossed! Oh, and it still wouldn't start properly this morning. :-( Still smoother and nicer to drive though so not all bad!

Mr Grumpy said the oil's coming from the rocker cover and said "If you buy one, I'll fit it for you." Erm.... now correct me if I'm wrong, but if he's so sure that that is the problem, shouldn't he get the part, sort the problem and then I'll pay him?! To me, that says, "I'm guessing at what the problem is so I want YOU to pay for the part in case that isn't the problem." Anyway, I've given up on him, I can't be bothered dealing with him, it's a waste of time. He thinks he's done an amazing job of resurrecting my car when in fact he's done a **** poor job! So, back at friendly mechanic's place, he's had a look at the injectors and said they weren't set up properly at all (why doesn't that surprise me?!) and has redone them. I picked the car up this evening - the good news is that the car is now running smoothly, the bad news is fuel consumption still appears to be terrible (although I have only done 25 miles so will continue monitor for a bit longer). Big test in the morning - see if it starts first time.

Okay, the good news is that the whooshing noise has gone courtesy of the replacement pipe. The bad news is there is oil leaking all over the place so I have to take it to the original garage to get looked at cos the oil is coming from around all the work they were doing (near the new turbo and new oil pump) and friendly mechanic says he really doesn't want to have to charge me to sort it when they should be sorting it for free. So, it's off to see Mr Grumpy again tomorrow and get him to look at it AGAIN! And tell him, yes, I was right, there was a leaky pipe. Sigh... Not letting him loose on my injectors tho! Friendly mechanic had the car up on the ramp so I could have a look at the underside this evening and see the oil leaks and he says the car's had a new sump. This is odd cos Mr Grumpy never mentioned he'd replaced it. Wonder if they damaged it or something and had to replace it? Hmmm...

Well, once the new pipe has been fitted we'll reassess the situation, see how much of a difference it makes. Maybe try the injectors if that doesn't solve it.

I took the car to my friendly mechanic near work this morning and within an hour he had found the source of the whooshy noise (yes, that noise the other guy claimed he couldn't even hear!) - a leak in the pipe from the turbo to the intercooler. So, the replacement pipe has been ordered and will be fitted tomorrow. I knew there was something wrong!

I'm hoping for a visit from a certain Tech1e in a couple of weeks to have a look at it. I've got some second hand injectors on standby if that's what it needs. Hope it gets sorted soon cos the fuel consumption is 36mpg average and used to be about 47mpg! :(

Lovely to see old friends again and make new ones too. I had a great time. Thanks to Tigger for organising the meet and to the residents of Caravan 139 for hosting the evening bash!

:'( Well, I took the car for a quick spin at lunchtime to try and demonstrate the boost problem to Grumpy, took it up exactly the same sliproad which it struggled on on Friday and... it was okay! D'oh! However the whooshy noise is still happening. He claimed it was just turbo-kicking-in noise but then said he couldn't hear a whooshy noise anyway, just the drone of a turbo. His verdict, there's nothing wrong with the boost (or nothing that new injectors won't fix) and that the noise is just "different" not a sign that something is wrong. Maybe, maybe not. I'll get a second opinion I think! I'm picking the car up tomorrow (I was in a borrowed car today) so will see how it feels and take it from there. As yet, he hasn't asked me for any more money (he won't be getting any!). He told me it's had a new boost sensor and a new air mass sensor (at his expense) as he thought they may have been causing problems. He is adamant that it needs new injectors (and who knows, he may be right) and won't be doing anything more with it until I present him with some injectors to fit. His theory about why the car sends out a massive cloud of smoke when I start it is that one of the injectors is leaking diesel and that the smoke is the result of that being burnt off.

Quite! Is it possible to test injectors, other than looking at their output on VCDS? (Which I will have another look at once I get the car back to see if they are still as erratic as they were.)

He reckons that the tips of the injectors may have been damaged by metal shards when the turbo disintegrated and this might be what is causing them to spray unevenly. I'll see what tomorrow brings when I test drive it. I can't believe he took it on the motorway today driving at 90mph (or so he says) without being able to tell there's something wrong with the boost!

Okay will do. Not that I will let him anywhere near fitting new injectors if I end up needing them!

My car is at a place in Bury not Radcliffe, you're safe! ;-) I'll not tell you the precise name just yet as my car is still there (although you could Google it easily enough)!

Oh it just gets better. Grumpy says the injectors are knackered even though he's "done what I asked". He also says he's taken it for a drive at 90mph and there's nothing wrong with the boost. Well there bloody was last week and it was making a nice whirry whooshy noise as well which apparently he can't hear... Going to get it at lunchtime tomorrow and take him out in it for a test drive. The problem is, he is intent on the fact that I have to put 4 new injectors in and there's going to be nothing I can do to convince him otherwise. I know he may be right but I don't even trust that he did a proper job of re-alligning the injectors today. It'd suit him to just pretend he's done it. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

At last we have broadband again at home and I'm not posting (or double posting - oops!) from my phone anymore! Yesterday I noticed my car making a sort of whooshy/whirry noise when accelerating (it was okay when gently accelerating) - I'm hoping it's just a boost pipe come off or something equally easy to sort! I acquired some instructions for removing/re-installing injectors (thanks to those who made this possible) and presented them to Grumpy this morning so we'll see what he manages to do with it this time - I'm not hopeful as he looked rather worried by the instructions! :S

Grumpy wasn't actually too bad when I spoke to him. He says that if I get some instructions then he'll readjust the injectors. And he said maybe he'll learn something. I also found out from the mechanic that the other yellow 56 plate Fabia which they replaced the turbo on recently is also still suffering from injector problems. Interesting... If readjusting the injectors on mine solves the problem, I think I might be paying a call to the other Fabia owner! I don't know him, but I know where he lives.

Grumpy wasn't actually too bad when I spoke to him. He says that if I get some instructions then he'll readjust the injectors. And he said maybe he'll learn something. I also found out from the mechanic that the other yellow 56 plate Fabia which they replaced the turbo on recently is also still suffering from injector problems. Interesting... If readjusting the injectors on mine solves the problem, I think I might be paying a call to the other Fabia owner! I don't know him, but I know where he lives.

It's looking that way. My friendly mechanic near work knew about readjusting the injectors so there's no reason why this guy shouldn't have known as well. especially given how often he's supposedly worked on cars like mine. Exactly. The frustrating thing is that the car got recovered to someone Andy knows but he shipped it off to grumpy *******s without giving us the option of getting it taken somewhere else (like the guy near my work) and by the time we knew what was going on, it was in bits in grumpy's workshop! Gah!

Grumpy owner wasn't there but I spoke to the mechanic who did the work and he said yes he removed the injectors, yes he replaced the seals, no he didn't readjust them "as they're preset and don't need it". So I have to call the owner later and very nicely infor him that I want them to align the injectors properly before we go any further. Urgh.

Yay! That'd be great. Thanks!

I am going to see the original mechanic on Tuesday so I shall report back. He's a defensive arrogant grumpy bugger though, so wish me luck!

Thanks for your help. Let's hope it's that and not new injectors, or new engine (Hi Sarah, will be in touch soon! Xx) Please excuse cross posting/slow replies. No broadband at home so I am having to do this on my phone. Technology eh?

It showed that the injectors are all "injecting" at wildly different levels. I've been advised to find out whether the garage took the injectors out at any point and if so, did they put new seals on afterwards and readjust them.

The car's trip to my friendly mechanic proved inconclusive. All I know is that it isn't the timing belt. Anyway, we're going to stick VAGCOM on it at the weekend and see what it shows up.