Evening all, I own a 2004 Fabia vRS on 91k miles, after 40k miles of happy motoring I have just experienced my first problem and am hoping someone is going to tell me its not serious! Driving home tonight I was cruising at about 75mph, I went to overtake and the whole car began to stutter / hesitate and would not accelerate as normal. My CEL light has been on the dash for a while because of my EGR delete pipe but weirdly my ASR light came on? When I came to a junction the car seemed to idle very 'lumpy' and I could feel huge pulses through the car that rocked my body!

When I got home I had a quick look under the bonnet and the engine seemed to be moving a lot more than usual, I turned the ignition off, gave it a minute then when I started it back up the ASR warning light had gone and would rev and sound as normal!

If anything I could possibly here a slight knocking noise from somewhere - I'm going to take it to my local VAG Indy tomorrow but do you think this is something to with the gearbox / dog bone mounts? I was at Bedford Autodrome last Friday so this probably hasn't helped but would make sense if something was loose

Is it safe to drive 2 miles to the garage?

Thanks for the help all. John

Could be any of the following.

Injector or injector loom.

Hydraulic tappet(s) worn or sticking.

Excessive cam lobe wear

Fuel filter or pump.

Dual Mass Flywheel.

Damaged tyre.

Engine and gearbox mountings.

If a code scan doesn't give any clues, it will need a decent mechanic to pin the fault down.

Replace fuel filter and see how it goes

So I got in my car the other morning to take it down to my local VAG indy and all dash warning lights had disappeared (including the CEL light from my EGR bypass pipe), the engine was also idling perfect and further more drove like a dream! When I got to to the garage they scanned it and said there was two fault codes - the first to do with a mis fire on the second cylinder and the second was something to do with the wiring loom or something. I explained I tracked the car a week earlier and they said it could of just threw a wobbler when the wiring loom was hot??? They cleared the fault codes and told me to see how I get on, so far its been fine - my EGR CEL light is back as normal but apart from that its all good?

John

I have a spare injector wiring loom if it turns out to be that.

I have a spare injector wiring loom if it turns out to be that.

Thanks Jason, good to know - driving to London this morning it happened again so it deffo wasnt a one off. It'll be going back to the garage on Thursday when I get back home but to me it does feel like an injector problem, my ASR light came on the dash as well so some kind of electrical gremlins would definitely help explain this. Anyone know if the injector loom could be at fault if the car is hesitating when idling - it rocks the whole car back and forth?

John

I just found from searching that the guy I bought the car from on this forum (MikeB) had reported the very same problem at 61k and he said it turned out to be a blocked injector. It is now on 91k - is it possible it could be the same fault or would this be unlikely?

John

Well looks like I'm on the hunt for some second hand diesel injectors! Anyone got any of them knocking around?

John

Little Update.... I have managed to source a used diesel injector for £50 which I think is a good price and has a 30 day warranty on it which should be enough to discover any problems. I didnt have many options to be honest, it was going to cost me £160 for a company called Holts in Sheffield to send the injector to Bosch to clean plus the removal and fitting and I'd be without the car for however long, or pay for a new inector which is roughly £350 or source a used one.

Anyways I have it booked in for next Thursday at a place called Dolby Auto Haus http://www.autohausdolby.co.uk/, a VAG specialist in Sheffield - its not my usual VAG indy garage but they have been really really helpful to date and could get me booked in a little earlier. Apparently the guy I spoke to is currently doing the same job on a T4 which is encouraging. I also spoke to Awesome GTi which were incredibly helpful as well but as It's not a quick workshop job I had to keep it local. Sorry guys, but thanks for the help !

John

I'd start running an injector/fuel treatment through the tank on a regulkar basis now I do it with my Octy

I'd start running an injector/fuel treatment through the tank on a regulkar basis now I do it with my Octy

Top tip bud! Yes I will definitely do this going forward - how much is the stuff and how many treatments do you get from one bottle? This has to be one of the more expoensive things to fail on our PD engines surely? At least Im only looking at the one injector!

John

A few quid for a bottler of RED X but i'm sure there's lots of alternatives RED X has 2 treatments for 2 full tanks of fuel

I dont always fill the tank and add it, normally i add the treatment at about 1/2 a tank

HTH

Millers eco power!!!

THAT was the other one

THAT was the other one

Thanks guys... right Im getting on board this stuff! As I collect the car next week Im dumping a bottle in to be on the safe side. I cant stomach this happening again in the near future, I bet the garage labour will be a damaging sum!

John