Dorf Depp

Wow.......I don't often log on here, as I can't say I've had much luck in finding useful help when I've needed it. To answer your question, though, yes.......my problem disappeared and I've been happily using my Fabia until a few days ago, when the coolant pump failed. That's a completely different story, and the car has done almost 150k miles mainly trouble-free.

Hello mrted83, It seems that you're new to this forum (welcome!), and - for me at least - I'm surprised that your post didn't get the slightest response. I'm not sure if I'm able to help directly, but possibly point you at least in the right direction. I posted a related topic around early December, but did not get a definitive answer - at least not directly. As you'll see below, I have a different Fabia model to you, but it appears that mine also has a timing chain, rather than a belt. One responder gave me url links to the Skoda workshop manuals. What with work/Christmas/New Year and being unwell, I haven't got around to investigating the workshop manual links. It seems that you've done exactly what I was tempted to do, ie ask my main official Skoda dealer. Here's the link to my post and the related thread:- https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/519502-camtiming-belt-when-to-change/ I've owned quite a number of motorbikes, all of which had timing chains (as is quite typical on motorcycles), and have never had one changed. Mind you, I've never done 143k miles on a vehicle before! Perhaps your Skoda dealer is correct. Good luck - and hopefully this is a bit of a help!

I am not aware if my 1.6 16V has a belt or chain driving the camshaft, but either way, there still might be a recommendation for changing it at some point. I will have a look at the links you provided and see if I can get a clue. Otherwise, I might just contact my VAG dealer in the new year and see what response I get.

By the end of this month, I'd have had my Skoda Fabia 1.6 16v Sport 14 years. I bought the car new from my local Caffyns dealership, and until this month, have always had it serviced by them. For one reason or another, I decided to try a local independent garage; they made a good impression and appear to have done a good job. My annual mileage has dropped significantly since 2020, but I've still managed to clock up 143,000 practically trouble-free miles. The only significant item to be replaced has been the exhaust system. Here's my question. On the Service Report, the new local independent garage noted that I should check when/if the Cambelt needs changing. Looking through all of my Caffyns Service Reports, I'm unable to see anywhere a record of if this has ever been done. Is anyone able to advise a VAG recommended cam/timing belt change interval for this model? Thanks very much in advance.

Thanks very much, UrbanPanzer. That's very useful; I'll give it a go within the next week, once things have quietened down. I appreciate your input.

Is anyone able to advise if it is possible for me to re-set the service reminder on my Fabia 1.6 Sport, or is this something that only a dealer can realistically do? I had my car serviced in early November by my main Skoda dealer, but only noticed afterwards - possibly a week or so later - that the service reminder had not been re-set. It was therefore advising that the next service was due in not many miles - with the usual "spanner" logo shown in the LCD display. When I took my car into have its MOT done in early December, made them aware that the service reminder had not been re-set a month earlier, and asked if they could see to that. When I collected the car, I asked if that had been done, and I was told that it had. After a day or so, I noticed that the service reminder had not been re-set, and now several weeks later, an alarm sounds every time I go to start the ignition. I don't really want to be listening to this for the next year/10k miles, but I'm so busy at work at the moment that I don't have any days off when their service department is open. If anyone knows how a driver can re-set the service reminder, I'd be very grateful to receive instructions. Thanks in advance.

I've just thought of one other thing, and I've asked myself if possibly part of the problems I experienced were actually connected to the ignition lock barrel, and others connected to the SB20 fuse. Just a thought.

Thanks, PipH, Oh dear........................... Yes, you're absolutely correct about what I mentioned. Absolutely everything was electrically dead. I have hung on to the loan car (from family) that I've had for so long, and am monitoring closely my Fabia. Naturally, I hope that the problem doesn't rear its head again, but should it, I'll give an update on this thread.

Thanks, Wino. Any constructive feedback is welcome. Apologies if I come across a little dim, but what does "ECU" stand for?

Well my Fabia has been in with my local main Skoda dealer to have a few things done on it, including of course, investigation to what might have caused my electrical problem as outlined in my first post. In the hope that this thread is of help to anyone who might experience this problem, I'm quietly confident, based on previous input on this thread, that my dealer has located the offending area. Time will tell as I test the car over the coming weeks. The dealer found that fuse SB20 (whatever that does) in fuse box B was "hanging out and burnt-looking". This has been replaced. Thanks again for the previous input.

I like to think that I don't just fork out unnecessarily on repairs for my Fabia, and give things a bit of consideration, but the ignition lock barrel was becoming extremely hard to operate. It had got to the point where I had to make sure that I parked with wheels (and therefore steering wheel) pointing straight ahead, otherwise it was near impossible to operate. The labour charge was the most expensive at approx. £166 + VAT, with parts coming in at approx. net £102. I have really spent so little on my Fabia over its 122k miles - it has been a truly wonderful little car and very economical in all senses. Of course, after all of this, I may feel a bit of an idiot if I find out that it's battery connections that are to blame for my recent problems. I shall still have enough to be thankful to the people that have posted on this thread - and I shall report back.

Thanks grumpy1, Yes, that's my favourite lead so far - and as PipH mentioned several posts back. I'll investigate as soon as I can and report any findings - may take me a week or so as I've got too much going on and the weather hasn't palyed along when I've had the time. Thankfully I have another car to use. I no longer think that the ignition lock barrel is the problem. I'm convinced that it needed replacing anyway, and don't regret spending the £323.

Thanks very much to both, especially to PipH, as I think the engine bay fuse box is my next "favourite" place to investigate. I will check battery connections again (and earth to chassis), but I believe these to be OK. My battery is full of life, and (when the car behaves) it fires into life without the slightest hesitation - so I know the problem is not in that area. Thanks again. Let's hope...............

I am the happy owner of a Fabia 1.6 16V Sport, which I've owned since new. I took delivery of it on 31 December 2009, and it'll soon have done 122k trouble-free miles - with (almost) only consumables having been replaced. It's been marvelous, until very recently, when (at least to me) a very odd electrical problem started to occur. This electrical problem seems to have both me and my local Skoda dealer foxed. I will do my best to explain the problem below in a simple and concise manner. Back in mid-May one day, I got into the car and attempted to start it. As is normal, I inserted the key into the ignition lock barrel, and turned it to the first position. All the normal lights appeared on the dashboard as expected, but just as I began to turn the key further to the final position to start the engine, all dashboard lights went out and the car became totally and utterly electrically dead. Not even the normal information that is always present was shown on the dashboard, eg time and mileage of the car, it was totally blank. The car would not start, despite a couple of additional attempts, and nothing that required electrical power, including the radio, door lock, would work. I left the car alone for 15 minutes, hoping to possibly get a clue from the instruction manual as to what the problem might be. As I could not get any idea as to what the problem might be, I got back into the car and managed to start it straight away. A couple of later, I had a similarly odd occasion when two brake warning lights came on, together with an audible alarm. I stopped the car at the next safest opportunity, turned off the engine, and read the relevant section of the manual. As I was only about a mile away from home, I thought I'd risk getting it back to base. When I restarted the car, all was back to normal, and checks carried out at home revealed nothing untoward. The car ran faultlessly until later that month. On the last May Bank Holiday, I got in the car, placed the key in the ignition and turned it to the first position. As reported above, all normal lights came on, until I turned the key further to start the engine - and pow! - all lights went out and the car became electrically dead, and not even the clock and mileometer LCD displays were showing anything. All exactly as happened a couple of weeks previously. The items I had placed in the boot, had to be removed by opening one of the passenger doors from inside, and then lowering the rear passenger seats to gain access from inside. What I should add to the above, is that over a period of at least half a year, the steering/ignition lock had become stiffer and harder to operate. At certain times, if my wheels/steering wheel were not facing close to absolutely straight on, it could be difficult to turn the key - often requiring a little wiggling of the steering wheel to help. Having done a little bit of research, I found posts on internet sites suggesting that some VAG cars suffer from this problem, and concluded that this might be the problem. So I booked my car in with my local main Skoda dealer, and made them aware that I might not actually be able to drive my car to them - explaining all of the above. I was advised that there was a very long lead-time for the ignition lock barrel, but that they'd let me know as soon as it was in and they could look at my car. Fast forward to late July, the day the car was due to go in for repair. I sat in the car. I put the key in the ignition barrel and turned it slightly - all the normal lights came on! I then turned the key further to start the engine, and everything dies! My heart sank, and I slowly started to realise that I'd have to call by the Skoda dealer a bit later and tell them the story and arrange to have it towed or whatever. I sat back in the driver's seat and sort-of prayed for a minute or so. My eyes moved to the main dashboard, and lo and behold in front of my very eyes, the LCD clock and mileometer display were "re-building" themselves pixel by pixel. Never seen anything like it. I pushed the ignition key into the barrel, turned it fully, and the engine sprang into life! I drove Ildi to work, ultra nervous that I might stall it, and then to the dealer. I've had the car back from the dealer approaching one month - all without any problems whatsoever - until last Friday, when exactly the same problem as outlined above happens again! Thankfully, the car was only dead for several minutes, but I'm now worried that it'll happen again and leave me stranded somewhere. So it would seem that replacing the ignition lock barrel (although necessary because of its stiffness) was not the cause of my electrical problem. Has anyone experienced anything like this, or have any ideas what it might be? I will make my local dealer aware that the problem is not solved, but naturally, I'd rather not have them spend hours and hours on it - and possibly not locate the problem or get it to replicate - which is exactly happened apparently when they last had it. Many thanks in advance - apologies for such a long story!