Hi all

After 10 months of Skoda ownership and nearly 10K miles of almost trouble free motoring I had to call the breakdown service this morning as my 1995 Favorit refused to start.

It had started first time as usual and I took the dog down to the river for a walk. 50 mins later, get back in, turn the key - nothing. I still have the original immobiliser fitted and at first suspected that, but the red led was going out as usual so I guessed all was OK and I was un-immobilised.

Starter motor ? tried tapping it, then rocking the car in gear - did not help although I didn't really think the starter motor was stuck.

Managed to hook up a test lamp to the solenoid supply which lit when I turned the ignition key so power was getting to the solenoid ( proving it was not the immobiliser or an ignition switch problem ?? )

Tried to start it about a dozen times - nothing at all.

Wondered again about the immobiliser so disconnected the battery to 'reset' everything. Tried to start again - nothing.

Ended up calling my breakdown service who diagnosed a faulty starter solenoid. Managed to bump start the car ( which again proves it was not an immobiliser problem ?? )

Back home, switched off, tried to start - nothing. Tried again - started OK :confused:. Removed started motor and took it to a good nearby auto-electrician for repair - he fully tested it and said that there was nothing wrong with it. Immediately recognised it as a Skoda starter and as I was about to part with £££'s for a repair / recon I had to agree with him that it was bad news all round. Bad news for him, that it didn't need repair, and bad news for me as we had not solved the problem.

His advice was to thoroughly check all the wiring, but especially the earth, as this was a common problem ??.

I cleaned all the connections back to shiny metal before refitting the starter motor, and double checked the battery terminals. The battery is only 4 months only, replaced because the old one was 8 years old and was struggling to start on really cold mornings. The only really dirty contact was the spade on the solenoid, so perhaps this was the cause ??

Could not manage to undo the earth connection at the back of the engine with the tools I have in the car but sprayed it with penetrating fluid and will take the car to my lock up where I can jack it up and get to the nut properly with a decent socket and extension bar.

I have started the car half a dozen times since refitting the starter without a problem but I'm going to clean up the earth connection anyway.

Could it be an immobiliser problem ?

Is it worth replacing the battery to starter motor lead and battery to engine earth lead anyway in case there is internal corrosion inside the ring terminals ?

Any other advice or tips gratefully received

Hi all

After 10 months of Skoda ownership and nearly 10K miles of almost trouble free motoring I had to call the breakdown service this morning as my 1995 Favorit refused to start.

It had started first time as usual and I took the dog down to the river for a walk. 50 mins later, get back in, turn the key - nothing. I still have the original immobiliser fitted and at first suspected that, but the red led was going out as usual so I guessed all was OK and I was un-immobilised.

Starter motor ? tried tapping it, then rocking the car in gear - did not help although I didn't really think the starter motor was stuck.

Managed to hook up a test lamp to the solenoid supply which lit when I turned the ignition key so power was getting to the solenoid ( proving it was not the immobiliser or an ignition switch problem ?? )

Tried to start it about a dozen times - nothing at all.

Wondered again about the immobiliser so disconnected the battery to 'reset' everything. Tried to start again - nothing.

Ended up calling my breakdown service who diagnosed a faulty starter solenoid. Managed to bump start the car ( which again proves it was not an immobiliser problem ?? )

Back home, switched off, tried to start - nothing. Tried again - started OK :confused:. Removed started motor and took it to a good nearby auto-electrician for repair - he fully tested it and said that there was nothing wrong with it. Immediately recognised it as a Skoda starter and as I was about to part with £££'s for a repair / recon I had to agree with him that it was bad news all round. Bad news for him, that it didn't need repair, and bad news for me as we had not solved the problem.

His advice was to thoroughly check all the wiring, but especially the earth, as this was a common problem ??.

I cleaned all the connections back to shiny metal before refitting the starter motor, and double checked the battery terminals. The battery is only 4 months only, replaced because the old one was 8 years old and was struggling to start on really cold mornings. The only really dirty contact was the spade on the solenoid, so perhaps this was the cause ??

Could not manage to undo the earth connection at the back of the engine with the tools I have in the car but sprayed it with penetrating fluid and will take the car to my lock up where I can jack it up and get to the nut properly with a decent socket and extension bar.

I have started the car half a dozen times since refitting the starter without a problem but I'm going to clean up the earth connection anyway.

Could it be an immobiliser problem ?

Is it worth replacing the battery to starter motor lead and battery to engine earth lead anyway in case there is internal corrosion inside the ring terminals ?

Any other advice or tips gratefully received

cables have a gauge, and that tell you the ammount of resistance per feet, if the cable itself is not giving you more resistance then you dont need to change it. you might want to re solder the tips and clean the contacts, and dont use iron or steel spacers thay would add to the resistance, use copper spacers (or none)

its definetly not the inmovilizer... from what i read in the past, i would start and after x seconds stop.

the started gets dirt inside, and the solenoid do get stuck, if you took it out cleaned it and applyed sone oil, it should give you no troubles for a long time (untl it gets so dirty it gets stuck again)

my advice... you just encounter a "Glich" and i bet i wont present itself for a long time, so, enjoy your Skoda

Favorits didnt have immobilisers did they?

I think it was only the posh ones that had immobilisers,

They were an aftermarket fitment in the UK made by Meta using a separate electronic key to disarm the system.

There has been quite a few threads about them, and how to remove them. The contacts on one of my keys have worn right down but the other was unused, its a bit of worry now as I don't have a spare one so may remove the immobiliser anyway.

new starter is a tenner off the scrappy, i had exactly the same problem on my fav, same model too i thought immobiliser also. i found my starter had stripped 3 teeth so kept getting stuck every so often

cables have a gauge, and that tell you the ammount of resistance per feet, if the cable itself is not giving you more resistance then you dont need to change it. you might want to re solder the tips and clean the contacts, and dont use iron or steel spacers thay would add to the resistance, use copper spacers (or none)

its definetly not the inmovilizer... from what i read in the past, i would start and after x seconds stop.

the started gets dirt inside, and the solenoid do get stuck, if you took it out cleaned it and applyed sone oil, it should give you no troubles for a long time (untl it gets so dirty it gets stuck again)

my advice... you just encounter a "Glich" and i bet i wont present itself for a long time, so, enjoy your Skoda

immobiliser in the favorit doesnt allow the car to start at all.

immobiliser in the favorit doesnt allow the car to start at all.

good to know, thanks

It sounds like you're on good terms with the auto electrician. I'd follow his advice about checking the earth braids, and if they seem good, go back to him and ask him if he can test the "fusable link".