Recently noticed that engine (1.4) takes ages to get up to correct temperature. Also, will not hold temp especially when driving on a cold day. Suspect Thermostat is stuck open Any ideas and is it an easy fix?

Stuck thermostat is a possibility, but have it scanned for fault codes, just in case the engine temperature sensor is packing up. Both cheap and easy fixes.

I know it's hard to do but don't turn on your heaters onto hot until the engine has warmed up. I found when it's cold my vRS takes ages to heat up if I had the heaters on. Infact a few days ago when it dropped below freezing I drove for about 10 mins, then stuck the heaters on full blast while sitting at the lights and the temp gauge started going down. This could be why. Once the engine is fully warmed there's not a problem.

Quite often the thermostats break on the MPi 8 valve engines. You can check it by removing the engine coolant temperature sensor and having a look/feel around. A new complete thermostat with temperature sensor is in the region of £40.

:+1: on that. Depending how long you plan to keep the car, another option is to get the sensor and the uprated thermostat housing separately from somewhere like Jorily, which will avoid the problem happening again. In either case, you will need to drain the system (fully, ideally), and then do a straight swap on whatever parts you end up buying. When I did it on my wife's car, I couldn't get the half of the thermostat housing that the sensor sits in off the block, so just split the new housing and fitted the part with the new thermostat into the old part where the sensor was. If you do it that way, take car not to over-tighten the screws, as they only go into plastic, and will chew up the threads quite easily. In either case, take care with the O-rings if you don't want a leak on your hands!!!

I ordered mine the other day from ebay, grum 1969 seems to sell for jorily, themostat housing and temp sensor £25 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Skoda-Fabia-1-4-Mpi-Thermostat-Housing-Repair-Kit-NEW_W0QQitemZ390126833332QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item5ad55f0eb4

Its not the improved version tho (i think it hasn't arrived yet). It was the thermostat holder that had broken on mine, integral to the thermostat

Edited 19 December, 200916 yr by The Worm

Yes it is the modified version and grum1969 on ebay is Jorily

If you are doing short distances, you can put something to cover a part of the cooler in front of it. Just like the old days.

I have just had this problem and changed the temp sensor and thermostat. at first the problem seemed to continue and my mechanic suspected a dodgy guage. However after a few days of just driving short distances round town I needed to do a 15mile trip on the motorway. on the way back I noticed everything was fine again and its been ok since (a few days) Hope this helps.