OK so am going to get the little blue '52 Fabia 1.4MPI 68bhp this saturday and have just spoken to the previous owner (via the log book) and he said it was a great car, no problems with leaking doors or anything else

but...

the only problem he had was some days the engine seemed nippy and quick and other days it was really flat and a lot of power loss, even up to 50% he thought, flat as a pancake. The "flat" days got more and more common until he sold it (and bought another Fabia!).

He had changed spark plugs for Bosch ones, done oil changes, fluids n filters but nothing seemed to work.

Any ideas?

This is a great car bar this and I dont mind tackling it if its fairly straight forward and not expensive! £00's etc

Hopester

Thank you by the way if you are reading this Mr Ex Owner!

Without a fault code, it could be one of several things. You can buy a Code Scanner from Gendan for £39. Most likely MAF or throttle body needing cleaned.

Without a fault code, it could be one of several things. You can buy a Code Scanner from Gendan for £39. Most likely MAF or throttle body needing cleaned.

Moggy you are a star, was leaning towards the MAF anyway!! Dont want to not buy the car because of this becasue the rest of the car is a spanker! Plus got it for a good price so can use the spare cash I saved on getting it right.

Will post more once I own the damn thing!! Roll on Saturday

I don't know the answer to the question, but pretty sure it wouldn't be the MAF, as the 1.4 doesn't have one. :P

Throttle body is a good possibility, or a MAP sensor.

I would say it is very refreshing to meet such an honest seller.

pretty sure it wouldn't be the MAF, as the 1.4 doesn't have one. :P

haha doh, guess not then. Think I will still buy it and get it looked at a diagnosed. Ex owner said he had taken it in a few times but they never found anything wrong with it and it got frustrating.

Is it true that the 1.4's have a rough, lumpy idle (not bad, just noticable from a smooth 1.6 petrol Astra? Or is this dealer speak for "Just buy it mate"?

Could the 2 be related?

REALLY want the Fabia but not if its going to buy me a load of repair bills :(

Is it true that the 1.4's have a rough, lumpy idle (not bad, just noticable from a smooth 1.6 petrol Astra? Or is this dealer speak for "Just buy it mate"?

Could the 2 be related?

REALLY want the Fabia but not if its going to buy me a load of repair bills :(

I'm not sure mate, mine is the other 1.4 engine, the VW 16v unit.

I would say that the two could certainly be related though, and a clean of the throttle would be the place to start (from my VERY limited knowledge).

mine has "lively" idle, it is noticeable but not a problem. As for flat some days and not others I can't say I've really noticed it, only ever had a sneaking suspicion. If you do find anything then let us know. But as they go its not a bad little car.

My wife has a 1.4MPi, and it does occasionally feel a bit lumpy on idle - more so if the air con's off. I gather it's something to do with emissions, as the ECU throttles the engine back to the point of stalling when idling to minimise the amount of fuel used. Sure, it's no V12 for smoothness, but like I say, keeping the air con on helps a lot. It doesn't make a massive impact on the fuel consumption either, as it's "semi-automatic" so only produces cold air when it's needed (more or less - it's not proper climate control!)

^^ Yeah, the A/C brings the idle up from around 900 to 1000 and stops that problem, though tbh I tolerate it because I need all the fuel I can get.

The lumpy idle is most likely due to the EGR value at idle revs. The EGR only works under light engine load conditions, so you will notice it's effect at idle.