1.4 16v Fabia doing strange things!

[Pete]

Have any fellow fabia owners out there had their motor suddenly lose power while scooting along? What happens is the engine suddenly drop RPMs, as if the engine is about to cut out, and then shoot back up to normal RPMs. The whole thing lasts about a second. I can't figure it out and neither can my dealer. It is rather unpredictable, and infrequent, but nevertheless a bit concerning.

[big k]

possible engine speed sensor fault ? or throttle valce control unit fault ?

[Stimps]

Pete,

I've had something similar with my fabia - it's only happened a few times so i've never been worried enough (or bothered!) to get my dealer to take a look.

What happens is that when at a standstill - usually in queue at a level crossing - the revs will drop slightly, almost to the point of the engine stalling, and then pick up again slightly. When this has happened to me, it's gone on for the entire time i've been in the queue, and sorted itself once I get moving again. It also seems to only happen if i've been driving at a fair speed for 20-30 minutes before having to stop...

[Pete]

Hmmm...I think mine is perhaps a little different....it has happened at 80mph on the motorway, and 30mph....I have not had it happen at a standstill.

[DGW]

Pete

Did the dealer check the ECU to see if any fault codes were present?

[Pete]

Yep....no codes.

[C708]

Originally posted by Pete in this post

Yep....no codes.

HI there Pete,

Pete here too......except that I'm from the Far East....specifically Singapore !!! I down a Fab1.4 8v and am here to share problems on the Fab.

From what I can gather, it seems to an ECU problem. Have you dealer reset the ECU.......it might help.........just me 2cents worth !!

Pete

[DGW]

C708

A big welcome to Briskoda, Pete! Is the entire Skoda range available in Singapore?

[Pete]

Sorry, DGW...I dont know, I am in the UK....not Singapore.

[Pete]

Ooo...two Pete's...sorry, got confused.

Pete, the ECU reset is the only solution my dealer came up with as well...however, it didnt seem to sort the problem.

Pete

[C708]

Originally posted by DGW in this post

C708

A big welcome to Briskoda, Pete! Is the entire Skoda range available in Singapore?

Thanks D !! In answer to your query, sadly no.......we only have the Fab 1.4 8v in manual guise, the Fab saloon & hatch in 16v auto only, Octavias in 1.6m ( classic ), 1.6auto ( ambiente ) and most recently the Octy RS. NO Tdi's NO Superb @ all.

Unfortunately the *(#^@&*#@*(&) govt here still thinks diesels are still like the diesels of the old which spew black soot... :cussing: Well actually rather more like because we pay astronomical taxes on cars and petrol out here in our dear little small island........ :evil:

Just for you info........a new Fab 1.4m 8v will cost abt ( est ) 27k GB pounds. And the car can only be driven for 10 ( yes, ten !!! ) years whereby if you were to drive it any longer u would have to purchase a certificate of entitlement to drive for another 10 !!! The the road tax will subsequently be raised progressively by 10% every year till the 15th year. This is the government's way of making sure cars are new on the road !!

Can u imagine how lucky u guys are out there in the UK ??? We also have to contend with bidding for the Certificate of Entitlement when purchasing a new car. To give u guys an idea ........a new COE for a new car is typically abt 30K SGD which translates to abt ( est ) almost 11k GB pounds !!

Now u can see why there arent many Skodas here in our sunny little island of ours...........

:liao:

[C708]

Originally posted by Pete in this post

Ooo...two Pete's...sorry, got confused.

Pete, the ECU reset is the only solution my dealer came up with as well...however, it didnt seem to sort the problem.

Pete

Pete,

The last thing that I can think of..........how old's your car ?? If iots been about a year plus and u've been doing lots of town driving with very little chance of revving it up to 4k revs, it could be a case of excessive carbon deposits in yr engine......well thats my opinion anyways....

The solution to that is to take yr Fab for a long run on the expressway on say maybe ( if this is possible ) 3k revs upwards for say abt half an hour non stop.......that should do the trick......what say u Pete ??

:p :cheers:

[Pete]

Hello there....interesting idea....but, this doesnt just happen in town....happens at 80-90 miles/hour. The first time it happened was actually on the motorway. I commute to work on dual carriageway. It is just unpredictable...I have no idea. It freaked me out the first time it happened as I thought the car was dying on me. The car is a few years old now, and has been doing this about the whole time off and on....it has started again, hence the post. It is weird....revs drop and bounce back up again (rev counter bounces up and down between 500 and 4000)...can happen once, twice, three times in a row....and then vroom, back in power. It is kinda like the car is about to stall or something. Have no idea.

[C708]

Pete,

From what I gather .....the local Fab 16v's( here in S'pore ) suffer from ECU problems..........dunno if is inherent to u guys out there in the UK. But from a motorists' point of view it sounds like a fuel feed problem.......which in my books translates to two possible concerns......fuel pump ( ouch !!! ) or the fuel itself............could it be that the fuels' dirty or contaminated ??? I know its a wild hunch but it could be the fuel..........maybe try switching to a different grade of fuel..........see if it helps.........other than that I'm stumped !!

:smile-l:

[robmawer]

Sounds weird/scary for it to be happening on the move!

I sometimes get something similar in my Octy - when I'm stopped at

traffic lights, sometimes the revs drop right down so it feels as if it's

about to stall. I figured it might be some kind of technique to lower

fuel usage when the car's stopped, but I'm kind of naive like that...

Rob.

[james]

I had this problem (amongst others) when I had the 16v unit, the dealer replaced the throttle control unit and it seemed ok since, but I have to say it still had a mind of it's own, such as revving itself at traffic lights, which got some nasty looks from the old ladies scooting across the road!

[Ixy]

I've had exactly the same thing with my Fabia.

It's cut out about 4 times in 18 months since I've had the car. Twice on the motorway, once accelerating uphill and once going downhill. Engine just cuts then revs back up in a second. Like u say, it's a bit of a shock when it happens. Also engine revs up and down when stood sometimes, from about 500 to 1000 rpm.

Can't relate anything to why it happens, eg. temp, or damp or engine cold or whatever.

[Quinten]

This sounds similar to a problem I had with one of my previous cars, a Hyundai Coupe. The garage pointed at a temperature sensor and replaced that which cured the problem. The faulty sensor would tell the ecu it was colder than it really was so the ecu increased throttle, only to be told by the sensor that it was now much hotter, hence decreasing throttle.

[james]

Originally posted by Pete in this post

Have any fellow fabia owners out there had their motor suddenly lose power while scooting along? What happens is the engine suddenly drop RPMs, as if the engine is about to cut out, and then shoot back up to normal RPMs. The whole thing lasts about a second. I can't figure it out and neither can my dealer. It is rather unpredictable, and infrequent, but nevertheless a bit concerning.

Hi There

My other Fabia was a 16v and I had similar problems, albeit ver very very rarely, but I know I had a Lambda sensor and throttle control unit replaced, but it was in 2000 so can't remember too much.

I had the revving at idle issue and also it did almost cut out a few times but then went away so never really bothered about it.

Probably an ECU issue despite no fault codes, best thing rather than going back and forth to a dealer is allow it to fail properly if indeed it does continue then at least it can be sorted without wasting lots of your time.

James

[james]

Originally posted by Ixy in this post

I've had exactly the same thing with my Fabia.

It's cut out about 4 times in 18 months since I've had the car. Twice on the motorway, once accelerating uphill and once going downhill. Engine just cuts then revs back up in a second. Like u say, it's a bit of a shock when it happens. Also engine revs up and down when stood sometimes, from about 500 to 1000 rpm.

Can't relate anything to why it happens, eg. temp, or damp or engine cold or whatever.

Apparently the revving 'problem' ay idle, is normal because the ecu constantly monitors emissions and consumption and makes changes to account for variances and when no pressure is applied to the throttle it will do this. This is what I was told in 2000 anyway and I do remember thinking it was the biggest load of bullsh*t even then, can't believe new owners are still having the same problem!

[Ixy]

Like you say, will probably leave it be, (if it ain't broke - don't fix it syndrome).

It's not a problem, it's just a bit strange.

Other than that, car is superb, will definitely have a look at vRS when it comes out!

[devonutopia]

Originally posted by Ixy in this post

It's not a problem, it's just a bit strange.

Other than that, car is superb, will definitely have a look at vRS when it comes out!

Which is why I've asked my dealer to contact me as soon as one comes into their showroom

[kalongie]

The wife has a fabia, the thing is that the car loses power on inclines and stalls! It restarts immediately, but the thing is that this power reduction in way to common!

My dealer kinda said it had to do with a resistor that controls the power of the car! The bloody thing is so weak, that on inclines in drive the car rolls backward, and this is a very smooth gradient!

If this sustem is governed by a resistor, then Skoda should upgrade it!

Have any fellow fabia owners out there had their motor suddenly lose power while scooting along? What happens is the engine suddenly drop RPMs, as if the engine is about to cut out, and then shoot back up to normal RPMs. The whole thing lasts about a second. I can't figure it out and neither can my dealer. It is rather unpredictable, and infrequent, but nevertheless a bit concerning.

[zhangzheng]

Hey all i am from singapore too and yes i just encountered some weird things with my octavia 1.6 55kw too it started when the car apparently started to die when the car's ac was on brought it back to the dealer and now it too bounces up and down when it stops and the lights its as though some thing is wrong went to the garage not the dealer and they said it was something wrong with the throttle control and that they had it cleaned and deleted all its memory and it would go away after a while that the electronics are learning or something dont know if it is true though anyone would like to comment?

[Tech1e]

possible engine speed sensor fault ?

Done two of them on the 1.4 16V in the past month, symptoms random cutting out.

Looks possible.