Someone please help!!

Over the past couple weeks I have noticed (from when the weather has became colder) when giving my car some beans in maybe 4th,5th,6th gear it feels as though it is juddering and choking slightly. In general the car does not seem to be running very smoothly for some reason. I put it down to the weather, road conditions etc and that the injectors were maybe playing up. THEN, a few nights ago when temperatures were about -10 I was pulling out of a car park and had only driven about 40 yards and the temp warning light and warning bleep activated on the dash and the car cut out on me completely and would not re-start, the car will intermittently start (sometimes only when the throttle is pumped) and run for a limited period before cutting out again. I had a feeling the computer was immobilising it to save from serious damage for some reason. I have since taken the car to a garage and they state that there is no fault codes appearing when hooked to the diagnostics (They do not have the exact Skoda software though that the dealers use). I have also noticed over the past few weeks that temp warning sensor and bleeping warning sound activates regularly on the dash and sometimes disappears when re-started. A friend who is clued up on the fabia VRs said that there is one particular coolant temp sensor to the left hand side of the battery housing that will not display a fault code when playing up and faulty. Is this true and does problem sound like it is likely to be related to this? I hope so as I am at my wits end with it and really grudge paying the big dealerships with the fancy diagnostic software through the nose for a problem that could be maybe be more simple than first feared.

Overall it seems to be pointing towards an issue that is cutting fuel or that there is an air fuel mix problem maybe due to a faulty sensor?!?!??!

Any help with this is greatly appreciated and has anyone else experienced the same.

Thanks

Racoons82

Moved to correct forum...

The coolant level sensor in the expansion WILL give you the warning lights you describe, but WON'T affect the way the engine runs. The coolant temperature sensor on the side of the engine, below the fuel pump CAN cause dodgy running, and doesn't always cause a warning light (although if it did, it would be the orange glowplug light IIRC).

You may be able to get inside your expansion tank to clean the level sensor, in which case that should sort the problem there. If not, you can either swap the tank for a new one (12-15 quid), or short the sensor AT YOUR OWN RISK if you're happy to check the level by eye on a regular basis. The temperature sensor can be replaced following the guide below, although I'm less certain that it's the cause of your problem. OTOH, the sensors don't last forever anyway, so even if it's NOT that, you've done a bit of preventive maintenance!

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/61178-fabia-coolant-temp-sensor-how-to/