Hey all,

I'm writing from Panama city, panama, where I bought a 1.4L 2001 Fabia second-hand that was sitting for 3 years with no use - only 85,000km, and seems to be running reasonably well after I've done a good amount of work on it.

I have, however, recently been having a major loss of power at idle and in first and second gears. Engine doesn't respond to accelerator and sometimes stalls, especially if there is a lot of load on it like having the A/C on.

I first changed the fuel and air filters, then had the injectors cleaned (was told they were VERY dirty. Panamanian gas I'm sure didn't help). These things helped, but the main problem is still there with very little power in low gears and idle. Once it gets going it does pretty well (though I may just be used to diminished power).

The mechanic told me that upon plugging into the computer he got "High Value" on the knock sensor, meaning it was retarding the timing on engine because it was out of whack. He seemed like he knew his stuff, but the part is expensive and takes a long time to get down here, so I wanted to run it by the forum - 2 questions:

1. Does the High Value on the knock sensor necessarily mean it's broken? (ie could the sensor be a symptom and not the problem?)

2. If the sensor is broken, do these symptoms seem to correlate with that? Would hate to replace it and still have the problem!

Any help greatly appreciated.

Drew in Panama

Hey all,

I'm writing from Panama city, panama, where I bought a 1.4L 2001 Fabia second-hand that was sitting for 3 years with no use - only 85,000km, and seems to be running reasonably well after I've done a good amount of work on it.

I have, however, recently been having a major loss of power at idle and in first and second gears. Engine doesn't respond to accelerator and sometimes stalls, especially if there is a lot of load on it like having the A/C on.

I first changed the fuel and air filters, then had the injectors cleaned (was told they were VERY dirty. Panamanian gas I'm sure didn't help). These things helped, but the main problem is still there with very little power in low gears and idle. Once it gets going it does pretty well (though I may just be used to diminished power).

The mechanic told me that upon plugging into the computer he got "High Value" on the knock sensor, meaning it was retarding the timing on engine because it was out of whack. He seemed like he knew his stuff, but the part is expensive and takes a long time to get down here, so I wanted to run it by the forum - 2 questions:

1. Does the High Value on the knock sensor necessarily mean it's broken? (ie could the sensor be a symptom and not the problem?)

2. If the sensor is broken, do these symptoms seem to correlate with that? Would hate to replace it and still have the problem!

Any help greatly appreciated.

Drew in Panama

it does sound feasible that the fault is retarding the ignition I understand that these rarely fail but it could be "high" as a result of a bad connection --I guess corrosion is a problem downn there with the humidity also the cables from the sensor to the ecu are screened for interference on the 1600 seat leon the cables are to terminal 99 and 106 yours may well be different but I would check more thoroughly don't for get if you do change the sensor it is very impotant to torque it up or it will never work properly hope this helps

bump----sorted?