just bought fabia classic, just a cpl of questions...

[l3ights]

Hi guys, i have just bought a 2001/Y skoda Fabia classic 1.4 8v today from auction, on way home i noticed speedo part aint working but rev counter n other stuff is, are these easy to fix n how much?

I checked oil cap n dip stick and all fine but checked water and there is alot of milky stuff there, does this mean the head is gone?

also

how much does it cost to change cambelt and water pump, as there is a knockin sound comin from where the belt is.

i think i have bought a nail just hope i'm wrong

thanks

Edited 15 May, 2010 by l3ights

[TriggerFish]

What engine is it? If it's the 1.4 8v engine, there is no cambelt, only a chain. Other than that, the cambelt kits are around £90, plus labour.

Other than that, not much I can help with, other than to suggest disconnecting the battery for 10mins or so, to reset the ECU, which may make the speedo work. (If nothing else, it's something to try while someone more useful answers!)

Hopefully they'll be easily fixable issues though!

[l3ights]

What engine is it? If it's the 1.4 8v engine, there is no cambelt, only a chain. Other than that, the cambelt kits are around £90, plus labour.

Other than that, not much I can help with, other than to suggest disconnecting the battery for 10mins or so, to reset the ECU, which may make the speedo work. (If nothing else, it's something to try while someone more useful answers!)

Hopefully they'll be easily fixable issues though!

Thanks for the quick reply, it is the 1.4 8v, does this have a chain then? do these have to be changed? what are the belt i seen then?

thanks

[TriggerFish]

Does indeed have a chain. They can be changed if they get rattly, or you don't want to run the risk of it breaking, but in theory it shoudn't need doing.

Belts, maybe for the alternator or aircon? Not really too sure, but guess someone can tell you. Have a Haynes manual for sale if you're interested.

[rum4mo]

Thanks for the quick reply, it is the 1.4 8v, does this have a chain then? do these have to be changed? what are the belt i seen then? thanks

The belt that you will be seeing is called the auxiliary drive belt - ie used to be called the "fan belt" - it drives external stuff like alternator etc. I think that the chain gets replaced when its become noisey, might need to change some chain wheels as well if they are worn as they will quickly wear the next chain.

[anewman]

The belt at the side of the engine is the auxiliary drive belt (sometimes known as fan belt). The cam chain is in the same general area at the bottom of the engine, these can stretch with age leading to a rattle noise, and if there is excessive rattling it is probably a good time to have it changed. I imagine the chain including labour and vat should cost no more than £250 at a dealers or under £200 at a good independent place.

The build up on the dipstick and cap - this could be attributable to a combination of both short journeys and a knackered thermostat (common problem on Fabia). If it takes a while for the temp gauge to get to the middle you almost certainly need a new thermostat, the best one to get is the adapted one from jorily.com as it is redesigned with a circlip to prevent the most common failure issue (the clips in the housing breaking). Temperature sender failure is common too, and the easiest way to check the thermostat is to remove this (with engine stone cold) and see if you can move the thermostat inside.

Does the ABS light come on then go off when the car is started? My thinking here is if the ABS system and bulb is working, it would stay lit if the ABS sensors (which also measure the speed I believe) were faulty. I think there's a chance you need a new dash panel, which would need to be coded and as the immobiliser is part of the dash panel the keys would need to be coded too.

Edited 15 May, 2010 by anewman

[l3ights]

The belt at the side of the engine is the auxiliary drive belt (sometimes known as fan belt). The cam chain is in the same general area at the bottom of the engine, these can stretch with age leading to a rattle noise, and if there is excessive rattling it is probably a good time to have it changed. I imagine the chain including labour and vat should cost no more than £250 at a dealers or under £200 at a good independent place.

The build up on the dipstick and cap - this could be attributable to a combination of both short journeys and a knackered thermostat (common problem on Fabia). If it takes a while for the temp gauge to get to the middle you almost certainly need a new thermostat, the best one to get is the adapted one from jorily.com as it is redesigned with a circlip to prevent the most common failure issue (the clips in the housing breaking). Temperature sender failure is common too, and the easiest way to check the thermostat is to remove this (with engine stone cold) and see if you can move the thermostat inside.

Does the ABS light come on then go off when the car is started? My thinking here is if the ABS system and bulb is working, it would stay lit if the ABS sensors (which also measure the speed I believe) were faulty. I think there's a chance you need a new dash panel, which would need to be coded and as the immobiliser is part of the dash panel the keys would need to be coded too.

the dipstick and oil cap are fine, the milky sunstance is on the water cap which i think is the coolant bottle

[l3ights]

Hi guys, i'm gonna get the chain check tomoz, if it is the chain is this the right one to get

http://www.jorily.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_18&products_id=240

[devonutopia]

I believe the speedo readout is driven from a speed sensor on the gearbox - This has probably died.

[l3ights]

I believe the speedo readout is driven from a speed sensor on the gearbox - This has probably died.

are they easy to change?

[devonutopia]

Once you know where it is, I think so - unplug one sensor, insert new one, replug in wire. I am not familiar with the 1.4 MPI engine so cannot really help any more.

[l3ights]

does anybody know what the milky gunk is in the water coolant bottle? i put my finger in there and it is like an oily substance.......any tips on how to sort that out?

thank

[devonutopia]

Hmm, is there any similar gunk under/around the oil filler cap as well? If so, it sounds like the head gasket could be leaking - not cheap to fix and maybe why the car was in a car auction in the first place.....

[l3ights]

Hmm, is there any similar gunk under/around the oil filler cap as well? If so, it sounds like the head gasket could be leaking - not cheap to fix and maybe why the car was in a car auction in the first place.....

there is nothing under the filler cap or on the dipstick

[devonutopia]

Maybe the coolant bottle just needs a good clean then. *phew

[l3ights]

Maybe the coolant bottle just needs a good clean then. *phew

just hope it just needs cleanin, How do i flush it out and clean it

[devonutopia]

I suppose the easiest way is to undo a bottom radiator hose - that will drain out the system. Not sure flushing it through as never done it before - Hose pipe in the bottle top?

[anewman]

With the bottom hose removed it's easiest (IMO) to remove the hose connected to the thermostat, put the hose into this with a cloth this will flush out the radiator, then reattach the hose to thermostat and remove the temp sender and direct the hose into there. Let the water flow a long while. You could also try filling the header tank to try remove the gunk in there. You can also get some sort of flushing stuff from Halfords that you add to water then run the engine, then drain this and flush it. No idea if it does much but it seems to do no harm anyway.

Mine has some ugly looking stuff in the coolant tank that looks very much like oil. I think it could be due to a small amount of the old blue coolant staying in the system (even though I did try to flush it out and renewed the header tank). I took the car for a sniffer test which reveals no exhaust gasses in the coolant, and the oil doesn't seem to be going down particularly fast. When I get a chance will probably give it a more thorough flush and maybe try brake cleaner to get the crap out of the header tank, and see if it comes back.

Edited 16 May, 2010 by anewman

[kenfowler3966]

We got rid of my wifes X reg 1.4 8v a few years ago because the head gasket was diagnosed as leaking by skoda. This combined with failing suspention bushes meant it was un-economic to fix the car, so we sold it on and bought a newer estate model with the 1.9tdi engine which is so much better to drive.

These early cars were prone to overheating, particularly combined with a slight leak from the radiator temperature sensor on ours when hot which kept dropping the coolant level, and a wife who regarded the red stop now warning light as a message to ask what is wrong when she gets home with the engine on the point of siezeing up!! I suspect ours had a warped head due to the misuse and hence the leaking gasket, another reason to move it on.

Other issues on this early car:

The lambda sensor needed replacing for virtually every MOT

The warning light kept coming on intermittently for the power stearing, fortunatley off when it was sold.

Appalling fuel consumtion of 25 mpg on avarage over life of car. Not my wifes driving stykle as she gets over 50mpg out of the TDi.

And before any retorts about lumbering others, skoda took it in part exchange, and probably sent it to the auctions directly. Someone must have fixed it as it is still on the road 4 years on.

Edited 16 May, 2010 by kenfowler3966

[Jim H]

One thing to remember if you do change your coolant. Please replace it with the same colour stuff. If you have ordinary blue/green, replace it with ordanary Glycol stuff. If it is pink or purple in colour (it should be), replae it with Organic stuff which mentions G12, G12 plus or G12 plus plus, (the later being the newest and best). If you don't and they will mix and coarse damage.

Edited 16 May, 2010 by Jim H

[anewman]

All Fabias should come with g12 as standard. G12+ and G12++ are better and do mix without issue with the G12, and both have no issues with blue coolant (but g12 does). If there is blue coolant in the system it is likely this is due to a bad mechanic working on the car, and I would say this would be a good reason to thoroughly flush the system out and stick some g12 or better in.

[Calmore]

To me it sounds like the head gasket IS leaking, but the filler cap/dipstick were wiped before putting it in auction (But they forgot the coolant bottle)

[l3ights]

had the coolant tank cleaned out n flushed today, got home and another problem now.........the red light came on and beeped 3 times for the temp, does any1 know what this might be?

[anewman]

It may be the coolant level sensor which is integrated into the coolant bottle. On older ones you could access them and clean them up but on the newer bottles they're covered up. Cure is a new coolant bottle.

[wja96]

I can't help with the other bits, but the speedo issue is relatively easy to diagnose if you have access to VCDS. There is a diagnostic that tests all the instruments. If it fails, you need a new dashpod. If it passes, you need a new sensor.