Evening folks.

Been a skoda-ist for many years, and used this website to fix the felicia so thanks. The lady wife's fabia is playing up (first time for everything).

I have plugged it in, and the engine fault is in the sensor in the second bank getting too hot. THe water light is also on. It is using water, not at a prodigous rate, but more than usual.

I am thinking it is a head gasket, and the water is heating the sensor up too much.

I thouhght the water loss was from the heater matrix, at first, but the article about wet carpets here makes more sense now, and the lady wife tells me that she has seen water ingress from the outside.

Anyone else experienced this? I have done head gaskets on a type 25 VW and a fiat punto before, is it much more difficult or much of a muchness.

Finally, all of you brit skoda-ists. WHere do you get your bits from. I have been using an independent for years, but they have been very poor recently (4 trips to get the service kit right). My brother gets his VW gear from Euro Car Parts, and thinks they are good. Where do you guys get your pattern stuff from?

Thanks for your ongoing support, Best wishes, Boo1983.

I have already bleed the water system, and I now have the actual code.

p0036 HO2S Heated Oxygen sensor control circuit Bank 1 (sensor 2).

The water light turns off after the engine has run for a little while, and it has plenty of water. THat is what lead me to think that it had an airlock. The temp gauge works, and moves back and forth. Checked the temperature sensor(what had been an issue on my felicia).

Any thoughts folks?

Can't help you with the actual problem sorry but I get my parts from www.vwspares.co.uk as do alot of others

Water light is probably coming on due to contamination, is there a little oil in the header tank?

The sensor in the sphere is a well know cause of your warning light, costs about £15 for a new one. Euro Car Parts for me as well.

@ tech1e- yep, a little bit of cream, another indicator of the head gasket issue i thought. When you say contamination, is that due to the 'sharing from the broken gasket? I can clean out the system, and change over the coolant easily, but if the gasket has gone, it will just keep doing it!

@Soot1e- I will change out the sphere sensor, no worries. The water light will go out with that change, but what about the engine light? Is it just playing silly beggars?

I am afraid I new to this computer guided stuff. My Favourit, Jawa CZ and Ural don't have computers in them. I know I am old fashioned, but I am under 30!

Thank you for all of the help!

Head gasket is really easy to do and costs less than £100 for genuine parts, only takes a few hours tops. Well worth doing I'd say.

And It sounds like you need a new post cat lambda probe to me.

Which engine size valve no is it?????

p0036 HO2S Heated Oxygen sensor control circuit Bank 1 (sensor 2). Sounds like a lambda sensor.....you might have one or two!!! Best is to find them (one between the engine and first cat in the manifold area...the other is under the car after the second cat near the gearstick area) disconnect one and if it reads something like faulty or unable to comm with sensor 2 then it is that sensor. And ignore the bank1...you only have one bank as not a "V" engine eg V6, V8 etc.

Edited 15 June, 201115 yr by fabdavrav

Hi Fabdav rav. It is a 1.4 petrol. I do not know how many valves it has, I'm guessing 8? It is a fabia comfort estate 52 reg.

Going to get a timing belt and a head gasket at the same time,seeing as I taking it to bits....

Thanks for the advice. I really think that it is a head gasket.

I believe if it says mpi on the back of the car this was used to distinguish the 8v from the 16v (mpi = 8v, 16v = 16v).

16v has timing belt

8v has timing chain that is not touched when changing the headgasket - the only other things probably worth doing during the process is cleaning the throttle body and getting the head skimmed/pressure tested.

changed out the header tank, changed the head gasket, cleaned off all of the pistons, and adjusted the valves, cleaned off the push rods, changed the oil/air/fuel filters, and plugs. Cancelled all of the codes, and they went away. There was water in oil, but only a drop, so i think I have had a touch of luck. The engine light has returned with the same code, so I think I will change the lambda out. I am going to change the timing chain over (my mistake, it is an 8V MPi, it appears to have similar archetecture to my Favourit and Felicia) soon. Maybe next weekend! Did all of the work with my brother at the side of the A40 in Wycombe, with all of the traffic going to Ascot it was interesting! Going to do the chain over at my fathers workshop, so it will be a bit less hectic!

THanks for all of the help folks, I will check in again, once I have it sorted.