hi all,

after some advice on the following few issues any help appreciated!

1) white mayo-ey stuff on oil filler cap, but the oil on the dipstick looks as it should,

2) temp guage is not moving unless i'm at a stop, at which point it rockets up in no time to being close to too hot!

3) my fuel economy has dropped from around 40mpg to just under 30, which is quite painful, any suggestions what could cause this? i have not changed my driving style in fact when i first noticed an issue it had dropped to 24mpg, which i've changed my style to be more economical, and am now averaging around 29mpg, but what can cause such a fall in economy?

You lucky fellow, 40mpg! I am struggling to reach 30mpg. :'(

Has the mayo suddenly appeared? Has the gauge suddenly stopped working? Do you have to top up the water a lot?

The mayo is sometimes an indicator of headgasket problems, but I have learned from this forum and my own car that it is down to driving style too. Short journeys, especially in the cold mean the engine doesn't get hot enough. These engines are prone to condensation as well, i believe. Mine was full of it when I bought it, but it barely happens now.

The guage issue may be a broken stat, which often happens with the original design. This happened to me, the needle would not move unless still. Plenty of hot air from the vents though. I replaced the stat with an improved version, Jorily is the cheapest for it.

Losing water could indicate head gasket, however it tends to manifest itself as rapid overheating I think.

Others on the forum will be able to help more i am sure, they are a good bunch.

Edited 7 March, 201016 yr by myjalopy

cheers mate, the guage hasnt worked for a while, was the first time i looked under the oil cap, so not sure about how long its been there, the coolant level doesnt appear to change, and the heater blows through the vents very nicely,

i've bought the issues up now as my partners dad is buying a new car, and hes been offered a really low price and im thinking bout offering him the same amount for his y reg scenic but the insurance is only an extra £10 a month and it is a 2.0 auto averaging around 27 mpg just weighing up my options, on whether the drop in fuel economy will pay for itself on the scenic over the cost of sorting the skoda to how i'd like it

That's funny. I've got a 2.0 Scenic too, Sport Alize. Not auto though and gives me about 38mpg. I must say it's much more refined than the Felicia and has all the toys.

Presuming you have 1.3 mpi, a new stat will cost £20 from Jorily on ebay and takes 10 mins to fit. It didn't improve my mpg though. It's possible that your temp sensor, £5.50 same place 10 seconds to fit, is not working so tricking the engine into drinking more fuel than it needs. This is an option I am following up at the moment as my Felicia mpg is crap I think.

When you say about getting the Skoda to how you like it, what else is wrong?

Edited 7 March, 201016 yr by myjalopy

That's funny. I've got a 2.0 Scenic too, Sport Alize. Not auto though and gives me about 38mpg. I must say it's much more refined than the Felicia and has all the toys.

Presuming you have 1.3 mpi, a new stat will cost £20 from Jorily on ebay and takes 10 mins to fit. It didn't improve my mpg though. It's possible that your temp sensor, £5.50 same place 10 seconds to fit, is not working so tricking the engine into drinking more fuel than it needs. This is an option I am following up at the moment as my Felicia mpg is crap I think.

When you say about getting the Skoda to how you like it, what else is wrong?

theres a few marks on body work nothing major really,

the mrs dads scenic is a privalige + top of the range, is very nice, the price hes been offered is stupidly low which is why im tempted

They're nice cars, as you have an estate you will like the loads of room in the Scenic when you take out the rear seats. That's something that all the other midsize mpvs can't do. It's in the family too, so you know how it's been treated. My only worry would be the gearbox, Renault don't seem to be good at auto's . Mind you, your partners dad will be able vouch for its condition.

I sound biased, but I've had mine 6 years now and it's 10 years old.

its only done 65000 miles, my partners dad has had it since it was 3 years old, so been around for a while now

Mines clocked up 106,000 now. Depends what you want really, better mpg or better car. Though at the moment, your felicia isn't even giving you better mpg, so no contest !

i'd better stop now, this is supposed to be a Skoda forum, not anti Skoda forum. It's just that the Felicia I bought a few weeks ago as a cheap runaround has been anything but so far.

Mines clocked up 106,000 now. Depends what you want really, better mpg or better car. Though at the moment, your felicia isn't even giving you better mpg, so no contest !

i'd better stop now, this is supposed to be a Skoda forum, not anti Skoda forum. It's just that the Felicia I bought a few weeks ago as a cheap runaround has been anything but so far.

yeah and the scenic is 2 1/2 years newer! i do about 12k a year so the mpg dont really matter that much,

Once bitten twice shy, Renault electrics are renown for going wrong, and spare parts can be a nightmare; I once carried out a full engine change just because Renault couldn't supply a basic spare part; I bought a scrap car and transferred the engine after waiting 6 weeks for a reply from Renault, only to be told the part doesn't exist!!!

With the temp sensors and sender fixed, and with a sympathetic right foot, you should get 40-50MPG; my son managed 48MPG while learning to drive in his 1.3mpi.

Scrape the mayo out and check under the cap every week to see if it reforms, as mentioned ,short journeys do not help, so give it a longish run once a week if you can.

Once bitten twice shy, Renault electrics are renown for going wrong, and spare parts can be a nightmare; I once carried out a full engine change just because Renault couldn't supply a basic spare part; I bought a scrap car and transferred the engine after waiting 6 weeks for a reply from Renault, only to be told the part doesn't exist!!!

With the temp sensors and sender fixed, and with a sympathetic right foot, you should get 40-50MPG; my son managed 48MPG while learning to drive in his 1.3mpi.

Scrape the mayo out and check under the cap every week to see if it reforms, as mentioned ,short journeys do not help, so give it a longish run once a week if you can.

48mpg ! My 1.3 mpi is just managing to do 28mpg!

I've now checked the sensor, it's working correctly. What could I be doing wrong?

Edited 10 March, 201016 yr by myjalopy

Look towards the end of the "noisy injectors" thread, the sensor puts out two readings,it could be one is working and not the other.

If your ECU is constantly reading the engine as "cold" it will run the mixture "rich" all the time, which means you will burn an awful lot more fuel than needed, and also build up carbon deposits in the combustion chambers.

For the price, it is worth getting a replacement sensor /house and sender unit.

My sons Felly may be an extreme example, it had been maintained by Skoda from new regardless of cost, and only did about 4,500 mile a year from new.

Look towards the end of the "noisy injectors" thread, the sensor puts out two readings,it could be one is working and not the other.

If your ECU is constantly reading the engine as "cold" it will run the mixture "rich" all the time, which means you will burn an awful lot more fuel than needed, and also build up carbon deposits in the combustion chambers.

For the price, it is worth getting a replacement sensor /house and sender unit.

My sons Felly may be an extreme example, it had been maintained by Skoda from new regardless of cost, and only did about 4,500 mile a year from new.

Yes, that's my thread !

I agree the cost of a new sensor is not an issue, but I have checked the sensor with a multimeter, it appears to working as it should, however I do not know the correct values that I should be seeing. All I know is that it has greater resistance when cold than when hot, as it should. I can trace one wire back to the temp guage, but not to the ECU, however the contacts that i have been told to check suggest all is fine.

I have only recently bought this car, 10 years old with 45k on it and it too was maintained by the Skoda dealer meticulously, so I am even more p***ed off that it has these issues.

Opps, sorry!! I forget to check the names sometimes.

The only other things I can think of that might cause the symptoms you have is an airlock in the cooling system, a problem with the water pump or a break in the cable that goes from the unit to the ECU.

If you can identify the cable at the ECU end, can you patch a cable across from the sensor? If there is no change it eliminates that theory.

I dont envy you trying to sort it out!!!

if you need more info on the coolant sensor have a gander at this thread

linky

Opps, sorry!! I forget to check the names sometimes.

The only other things I can think of that might cause the symptoms you have is an airlock in the cooling system, a problem with the water pump or a break in the cable that goes from the unit to the ECU.

If you can identify the cable at the ECU end, can you patch a cable across from the sensor? If there is no change it eliminates that theory.

I dont envy you trying to sort it out!!!

Coolant system all seems fine, no airlocks I can find and it all seems to flow around properly.

The wires all go into a loom, so it's not easy to see what's what.

if you need more info on the coolant sensor have a gander at this thread

linky

Thanks.

thanks for advice for me, i'm stcking with the skoda rather than go for the scenic for now, i think the skoda heard me say that i was upset with its economy and the last tank of petrol it has given me back up past 40 mpg, i couldnt warrant having a 1.3 if it isnt being economical, i'd have something powerfuller if i wanted crap fuel economy and so i've ordered a new thermostat to fit, which looks fairly simple, but do i need to empty the coolant system first or will it be fine not draining the coolant?

thanks for advice for me, i'm stcking with the skoda rather than go for the scenic for now, i think the skoda heard me say that i was upset with its economy and the last tank of petrol it has given me back up past 40 mpg, i couldnt warrant having a 1.3 if it isnt being economical, i'd have something powerfuller if i wanted crap fuel economy and so i've ordered a new thermostat to fit, which looks fairly simple, but do i need to empty the coolant system first or will it be fine not draining the coolant?

Yes it's very simple. Three bolts, that's it.

No, you won't need to drain the system. Do it when it's cold and be prepared to lose some coolant, not much. Have some antifreeze mixture ready to top up.

cool thanks, yeah i've looked already at where it is, and thought there was only 3 bolts! and looked simple, haynes manual says drain coolant but i've been told by several people that isnt necessary!

Take it off, it'll drain what needs to be drained to do the job! No need to take any more out. And then re-fill. You won't lose too much.

make sure you dont mix anti-freeze types though, it should have the pink coloured g12 in there, but it may have been replaced by normal anti-freeze at some point

The LXi has the fairly weedy version of the 1.3 (54bhp??); the GLi my son had was the meatiest at 68bhp; it drove VERY well.

His replacement car has the 54bhp and the it feels like it has only 1/2 the power of the GLi.

make sure you dont mix anti-freeze types though, it should have the pink coloured g12 in there, but it may have been replaced by normal anti-freeze at some point

Oh, when I did my stat the other day, I replaced the lost coolant with a blue mix. I thought that as long as it was not methanol it would be the same? What is the problem with mixing G12 pink antifreeze with 'normal' stuff?

Blue and pink do not like each other; flush it and fill it with one or the other. One is glycol based and the other an organic compound.

There ARE a few blue antifreeze mixtures that can be mixed with the pink stuff, but I doubt that is what you used, I have heard of the stuff, but never come across it.

PS Pink is better.