1.4sdi 03 fabia

Been having problems with the battery so had to jump start it a few times of late. Was away to buy a new battery tomoro for it. Went to pick up the car today after i had left it on riverside since saturday as i was down in glasgow. As was expected, battery was flat. So jump started it and fired up eventually, mate drove off and ready to roll....i shut the bonnet and heard something clunking and clattering under the bonnet, i was like WTF is that?? Opened it up again and the engine was clatterin, clunkin and shaking and vibrating quite violently! Turned it off and rolled it back into a space.

Checked the oil and looked like there was plenty, maybe looked a little dark, but plenty of it!

I suspect maybe bottom end....but when my bottom went on my corrado VR6, the clattering was a consistent rotational noise! but it seems like this could maybe be a timing issue, as the clattering is inconsistent and its random when it shakes. Checked the timing belt and its still on there, still got to have a feel about to check its tension though.

So what do you guys reckon?

I'm just trying to go over what the hell i can now do! I phoned insurance to see what the situation would be if i went down that road. But but they said i'm not covered on a mechanical failure :thumbdwn:

So what do i do, source another engine, same engine, different engine....or torch it :lol: Could i replace the bottom end? if so....what other cars have the same bottom end as the 1.4sdi??

Advice please guys....spirits are pretty low :( Don't really have much money to sort it out either which is a problem!!! :tdown:

The car was up forsale anyway, so i would prob rather just stick the same engine in to save costs.

Engine mounts? The oil will be black on a diesel anyway, so that's OK. If the cambelt had gone, I think you'd have worse signs than (extremely) rough running.

How much of an effort was it to get started? I don't really know about flooding diesel engines, but could it just be that the cylinders are awash with unburned fuel?

Engine mounts? The oil will be black on a diesel anyway, so that's OK. If the cambelt had gone, I think you'd have worse signs than (extremely) rough running.

How much of an effort was it to get started? I don't really know about flooding diesel engines, but could it just be that the cylinders are awash with unburned fuel?

Thanks for the reply dude....engine mounts have also crossed my mind.

Its the painful clattering that sounds worrying....there is a lad coming tonight to look at the car, so when i start her up i'll take a video and let you's hear it.

Well i tried to start it, but battery hadnt got enough charge...so left it another 10 mins, and then tried again.....fired up first time....it sounded just normal for the first minute, shut the bonnet and was away to jump in, and it started clattering....opened it up again, and was just a soft clatter, so shut the bonnet again....the car then started jerking slightly, so opened up the bonnet again, clattering was inconsistent but louder and every few seconds or so the engine would rock and pull back quite violently. so shut it off and locked her up.

Whats that sound like to you?

Could simply be a glow plug failure resulting in a misfire. Let it warm up and see how it runs. Bottom ends fail slowly, they don't just start rumbling all of a sudden. If cambelt had broken, it wouldn't run at all.

I don't think that's 'engine failure' - it doesn't happen like that.

Could be a number of things. I would suspect maybe a fuelling problem first.. Possible DMF failure - although for it to happen very suddenly would be unusual.

If the car ran OK before and then very suddenly is running bad its likely to be things other than 'engine failure'. I take it the oil pressure warning light is not on?

Whats that sound like to you?

All I can suggest if it's OK to start with but gets gradually worse is to give it a little bit of throttle for a moment or two and see if that helps. It may be there's a problem in the fuel line or with the fuel pump, meaning the engine's actually starved of fuel. Certainly, a stalled diesel engine makes a hell of a clonk, so I can imagine one that's effectively misfiring would be noisy and shaky... :ne_nau:

I'm not the most knowledgeable at the best of times, though, and without being there to see / hear what's up, I couldn't say what's up. You might have more luck later once you put up a video...

Thanks guys.

Its something i can put towards the mechanic tonight.

Nope oil pressure light is not on, so i'll keep my fingers crossed that you's are right that its not anything TOO serious.

I'll let it warm up for 5 minutes and give it a little throttle to see how that goes.....could be right that maybe it had been starved of fuel due to it bein sat about and in the cold for 3 days.

I'll update you lads tonight.

My Corrado bottom end popped pretty darn quickly though, had been giving it a bit of welly and hadnt noticed the oil temp had rocketed. came back off the dueller, and a couple mins came to a junction....car just stalled and oil pressure light came on, i restarted the car and there it was.....the evil bottom end clattering :( Goodbye VR6 engine!

Could simply be a glow plug failure resulting in a misfire..

glow plug failure wont cause a misfire, the engine will start and run without them

Its a 1.9 sdi btw oh and there should be a receipt for the battery in the folder of receipts i gave you

Check fuel pipes and fuel filter; if it's sucking in air then you'll get that problem and difficult starting as it wil have to refill the pipes before firing.

so if it is the fuel lines or filter? like an air block, will it eventually force its way through if i left it idling for a couple mins ?

away to jump start it off my brothers car.

Cos even though the battery was replaced last year....its failing to start if i leave it for any sort of period of time. I'm sticking it on a battery charger tonight when i get it home though.

Fingers crossed guys

glow plug failure wont cause a misfire, the engine will start and run without them

It'd be hard to start though and would run rough surely with a bad glow plug? Sounds to me like that's the problem.

the glow plugs have nothing to do with combustion in a diesel, they are only there to warm up the combustion chamber before you start the engine, they aren't switched on when the engine is running. but it would be difficult to start the engine without them

right well went to the car again tonight....jump started her (again) and then whipped the jump leads of the car. When we took the leads off, the car started clattering and shaking again and then stalled.

So jumped her again but this time left the leads on.....all was fine, so left the leads on till i got it up to runnin temp. Took the leads off and all looked good. So got the car home, drove home fine....so left it to charge over night now.

Reckon its either a goosed alternator or the battery has gone. You guys reckon?

if it drove ok with the jump leads off once warmed up then the alternator must be working ok, otherwise it would have just stalled again when you disconnected the leads.

I'd go with the battery theory first. I suspect its not charging properly, and not holding its charge for a long period. If its the original battery then its had a good innings.

The confusing thing is the battery was replaced last year by the previous owner.

Wouldnt the alternator hold a charge for a period of time if the leads are on long enough?

or should it stall straight away when i took the leads off?

so if it is the fuel lines or filter? like an air block, will it eventually force its way through if i left it idling for a couple mins ?

away to jump start it off my brothers car.

Cos even though the battery was replaced last year....its failing to start if i leave it for any sort of period of time. I'm sticking it on a battery charger tonight when i get it home though.

Fingers crossed guys

If it's hard starting but only after a bit of time it's worth checking that you don't have an air leak on the fuel lines, especially around the derv filter.

It'd be hard to start though and would run rough surely with a bad glow plug? Sounds to me like that's the problem.

Na, a bad glowplug would make it hard to start and it might run a bit rough for a few cycles until it's warmed up, but that would take a matter of seconds if that.

They are not needed once running so it isn't going to be them.

The confusing thing is the battery was replaced last year by the previous owner.

Wouldnt the alternator hold a charge for a period of time if the leads are on long enough?

or should it stall straight away when i took the leads off?

You could have something draining the battery, such that it is dead when you try to start the car. The jump would allow the car to start, but there would be no battery to smooth out voltages and so the electrics would be all over the place when you take the jumps off.

Could I suggest leaving the jump leads on your car for 10-15 minutes, then starting the car and removing them immediately to see what effect this has on the car.

yeh thats what i done....left the leads on, started the car, took the leads off straight away and it stalled.

So then jumped the car, left the leads on with both cars running until mines got to running temp, took the leads off and it was fine. I'v got the car home now and put the battery on a trickle charge over night.

I'm just a little worried that, when next time i turn the car off and come back to it a couple hours the battery is dead again. Making it hard to figure out whether its the battery thats goosed or the alternator thats gone.