Hello,

I have a Skoda Fabia 1.4 16V (51 plate) which has been experiencing strange happenings and I would like your feedback.

For a while now I have noticed the Rev's fluctuating (this usually happens whilst at ideling speed e.g. when stopped in traffic). However, a few times whilst driving along the Rev's have suddenly plummeted resulting in instant loss of power for about a second before the rev's returned back to normal. The result being the car suddenly slows down then speeds up again!

On a few occasions whilst stopped in traffic the revs fluctuated then the engine cut out. On each occasion I have managed to start the car and have driven away ok, only for it to happen again!

I took my car to an independant garage and they thought the Engine Management System was either faulty or needed to updated. They arranged for the car to be booked in and for the Engine Management System to be taken out and sent away for investigation. I booked the car in, dropped it off then received a phone call to say that the Engine Management Company they use did not have the neccessary equipment to test my Engine Management System.

So I returned for my car, they said it would be best if I took it to a Skoda Dealer, which I did. I informed them of the fault symptoms and hoped they would experiance the fault themselves which luckily for me they did whilst out on a road test. They put the fault down to fault with the Throttle Assembly. They apparently disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the Throttle Assembly and returned the car to me. The car drove fine for 10 days, but now the symptoms have returned.

On the bottom of the repair document I was given it stated if the symptoms return then a replacement throttle assembly would be needed.

Has anyone else experianced similar symptoms?

Is it likly to be caused by a faulty Throttle Assembly?

How much does a Throttle Assembly cost (Approx)?

Best Regards,

PAO72

Hi

Sorry this is a tad late.

I had the same problem Skoda dealership said there was no problem? After a while I decided to take it to a garage that deals with VW/Audi/Skoda and they found the same problem you have had and they said if it carries on then I would need a new throttle around £400. The thing that seem to help it is that I put Premium unleaded in and I don't really get much off a problem.

zampa

Edited 6 May, 201016 yr by zampa

I've had all of the symptons you describe on and off for two years and to some extent it is just a design flaw of this engine. A throttle body alignment (needs to be done at a Skoda dealer/VW specialist), EGR clean, service, plugs/air filter helped. A key thing is the breather hose along the back of the air box, this is likely to need a good clean with carb cleaner which you can do yourself. A lot of oil passes through the breather system which you can see around the air filter and may be a sign of developing piston ring problems. I keep my issues in check by regular use of Shell V Power, revving hard once in a while to clear things out and occasional use of Redex injector cleaner. I would only change the throttle body itself as a last resort after doing the above, it seems a lot of money to spend unless you know for certain that this is at fault. Good luck - I've decided I hate this engine!