Hi all,

Today I decided to clean up the throttle valve on my Fabia 1.4 16v. I had an uneven idle and the car felt a bit rough after having the air con done. The garage that did it took another look using something similar to VAG com and reset the EGR fault code and said this may help (EGR fault showing on dash before I took it in, coming on when air con died last week). The valve area needed doing and was horrible inside! (Pics available if needed)...Now the car appears to idle nicely but I have 3 warning lights. I would like to ask members here if I have broken something inside, underneath where the butterfly thing is? I hope I have not done something stupid here! Are there any sensors in this area to be damaged? Is it possible that after a run things will settle down? It's got me a bit worried that I could rack up a huge bill by my (well meaning) cleaning efforts!

on the 1.4 after cleaning the throttle body, you need to do a throttle body alignment via vagcom... IIRC

on the 1.4 after cleaning the throttle body, you need to do a throttle body alignment via vagcom... IIRC

Hi Big Jase, would this throttle body alignment via vagcom be included in a basic diagnostics charge (I have already paid £36 today for this)? If it's just a restting job then that's good, despite having to pay for diagnostics again. No chance of any other damage by just cleaning?

deleted (duplicate!)

Edited 9 May, 201115 yr by BlueSilver

Ok. Things have just got a lot worse. Just popped downstairs to turn the car over and give it another go. The accelerator now fails to work. I was able to rev it once or twice, but now nothing. When I try to rev it the car revs up and down 3 times by itself, then goes back to idle at about 1100rpm. I feel really sick now. Wish I have just left it...any extra advice would be greatly received as it looks like I may have to have the car recovered plus the cost of any repairs.

If it needs alignment, that probably wouldn't be included in the diagnostics, and depending what equipment the faults were read on it might not be capable of doing "advanced" things like a throttle reset. If you're anywhere near Nottingham or Derby I have a Vagcom cable and would happily come and try a reset for you.

If it needs alignment, that probably wouldn't be included in the diagnostics, and depending what equipment the faults were read on it might not be capable of doing "advanced" things like a throttle reset. If you're anywhere near Nottingham or Derby I have a Vagcom cable and would happily come and try a reset for you.

Gavin Hi, that's a very kind offer, I'm in Worcester though! Any thoughts on the failed accelerator issue? If i can get this working even just partially I can limp to the garage which is very close by...

Not specifically, no, but I know that before I did a reset on a mate's 1.6 Ibiza the other night, the accelerator might as well have not been attached to the car. The revs were all over the place at idle, sometimes it'd rev immediately when you pushed the pedal, other times it would lag for 3-4 seconds before going. The reset did improve things a fair bit, but then his car wasn't quite as bad as yours to start with so I couldn't tell you whether it'll be a solution to your problem or not :(

I *think* you can get some kind of "partial" reset by disconnecting the battery for half an hour or so, then connecting it back up and turning the ignition on for a couple of minutes but NOT starting it. This isn't recommended though (at least not on SeatCupra.net where I read about it). However, at the point your car is virtually undrivable anyway it might be worth a go to at least see if you can get it to a garage for a more thorough look, I'd say it was extremely unlikely that it could get worse. At your own risk though, obviously...

Not specifically, no, but I know that before I did a reset on a mate's 1.6 Ibiza the other night, the accelerator might as well have not been attached to the car. The revs were all over the place at idle, sometimes it'd rev immediately when you pushed the pedal, other times it would lag for 3-4 seconds before going. The reset did improve things a fair bit, but then his car wasn't quite as bad as yours to start with so I couldn't tell you whether it'll be a solution to your problem or not :(

I *think* you can get some kind of "partial" reset by disconnecting the battery for half an hour or so, then connecting it back up and turning the ignition on for a couple of minutes but NOT starting it. This isn't recommended though (at least not on SeatCupra.net where I read about it). However, at the point your car is virtually undrivable anyway it might be worth a go to at least see if you can get it to a garage for a more thorough look, I'd say it was extremely unlikely that it could get worse. At your own risk though, obviously...

Gavin, thanks for reply. I have just tried the car again. I did disconnect the battery for a couple of mins to see if that would work. The accelerator did work for a bit then stopped, like you say, as if is was not connected at all :wonder:. I think I can drive it up the road in limp mode, albeit the hazards on! I hope it's not going to be an expensive fix...

Edited 9 May, 201115 yr by BlueSilver

Throttle body alignment can be done at dealers or vag com

I dont know much about it just on the 1.4's etc

As i have a lupo gti 1.6 avy engine and it didnt need reset thats why i was able to clean my throttle body

Gavin, thanks for reply. I have just tried the car again. I did disconnect the battery for a couple of mins to see if that would work. The accelerator did work for a bit then stopped, like you say, as if is was not connected at all :wonder:. I think I can drive it up the road in limp mode, albeit the hazards on! I hope it's not going to be an expensive fix...

I need to make a proper post on this as I'm typing it out again :S

Disconnect battery for 40mins.

Reconnect battery

FROM THIS POINT DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE PEDALS!!!!

Start engine and let idle for 35mins (during this time it will sound as if it will stall and it will "hunt" this is normal!)

Switch of engine.

Job done!!!

This process wipes the learned values from the ECU and resets to factory defaults. Then it relearns the idle values which it needs to operate properly!!! This is a usefull "trick" for most engines, but works very well on VAG cars....got it from the head mechanic at local dealership years ago!

Edited 9 May, 201115 yr by fabdavrav

I need to make a proper post on this as I'm typing it out again :S

Disconnect battery for 40mins.

Reconnect battery

FROM THIS POINT DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE PEDALS!!!!

Start engine and let idle for 35mins (during this time it will sound as if it will stall and it will "hunt" this is normal!)

Switch of engine.

Job done!!!

Hey Fab, funky idea, I like the sound of that. Will definately keep this in mind. Got loads of petrol left (at the moment )so could do this tomorrow. Also, will call the garage in the morning first thing and see what the say. I wonder what worse case scenario would be? Don't anyone say New Car

That should work read it somewhere too

Got the car back from my local garage. Now works well! They cleaned out what the guy decribed as "all the cr*p"! Plus they did a full reset. The final bill is TBC...this should be 1 hours labour (that's their quote on the phone). He said he'll sort the bill out in a couple of days, to give me time to see how the car is, and said he'll see what "he can do" re the labour charge. Took it out for a spin (15 miles approx) over varied conditions to help the ECU re-learn some codes including motorway and town driving. Getting to the garage in "emergency" mode was fun. And slow. It stalled four times! Still so far so good. Thanks to Briskoda members for their time and replies, they are appreciated. Nice to have support when you're pulling your hair out! :wonder:

Glad it's sorted, thankfully forums are good for getting a rational second opinion when you're imagining the worst, lost count of the number of times I "broke" my Leon but then after speaking to people figured it was something unimportant

Glad it's sorted, thankfully forums are good for getting a rational second opinion when you're imagining the worst, lost count of the number of times I "broke" my Leon but then after speaking to people figured it was something unimportant

Hey Gav... Absolutely agree. The fuel filler cap fun I had earlier in the year was fixed within 1-2 mins with the help of Briskoda. Fun place to be, some nice members, great info

BTW, does anyone know why the Traction Control warning light came on given this situation? EPC I can understand but a warning for the ASR? What's that about?

Edited 10 May, 201115 yr by BlueSilver

BTW, does anyone know why the Traction Control warning light came on given this situation? EPC I can understand but a warning for the ASR? What's that about?

Funny one that......another random electrical gremlin!

VAG warning lights aren't exactly helpful anyway. For example, on a Mk1 Leon TDI, a flashing glow plug light probably means your brake pedal switch is goosed, and a flashing TCS light possibly means your MAF is broken. The fact there's at least 2 brake related warning lights (handbrake, ABS, and on some models a pad wear indicator) didn't seem to occur to anyone when they were figuring out how to indicate a brake pedal switch fault!

VAG warning lights aren't exactly helpful anyway. For example, on a Mk1 Leon TDI, a flashing glow plug light probably means your brake pedal switch is goosed, and a flashing TCS light possibly means your MAF is broken. The fact there's at least 2 brake related warning lights (handbrake, ABS, and on some models a pad wear indicator) didn't seem to occur to anyone when they were figuring out how to indicate a brake pedal switch fault!

Reminds me of a line that William Shatner said in the Airplane movie (the one with a moon base) when asked what the machines with all the blinking lights on did..his reply "I have no idea...do you?"

Edited 11 May, 201115 yr by fabdavrav

Funny one that......another random electrical gremlin!

Suprised Fabias don't have a REG warning light

Suprised Fabias don't have a REG warning light

Hang on a mo.. I'll have a look in the manual...I think I saw something on that

UPDATE: Final bill for 1 hours labour plus full reset of engine management...£36 including the VAT (he went halfs on the labour). Can't complain. And they took in back the very next day. I called them at 9am ish and it was back there for 10am. Done by 1pm!

I am a new member and have just joined to confirm the advice here really worked,  battery off for 40 minutes and run for 35 minutes.  All lights out and running like a goodun.  Thanks to all and just have to say that this is a fab forum. xxx