About a week ago a neighbour who has the 105ps 1.2TSI popped up to see me. He brought his car with him (no, not actually into my house...that would be just plain wrong!). He is one of six guys who bought new Fabia's in my street largely based upon...ahemmm! my recommendation. So cowering in fear, I invited him in. He's an elderly guy, and only does very low miles (2,600 last year!). But his miles are very important to him and he can't get by without a car. The reason he had come to see me was for an opinion on why his TSI was running so rough. Like many in my road, most know I worked for Starfleet full time in the main spannering department and it's not uncommon for sick cars to suddenly materialise on my drive. His car was actually misfiring at times and was very sluggish. Fuel consumption was very poor also at around 28mpg most of the time. A light on the dash comes on periodically he said. I said to leave it with me for a while and could I drive it (I'm insured)?

So to cut a long story short, I checked the usual things, leads to plugs, sensors etc and all seemed fine as they should be of course. I established the lights causing concern on the dash were emission control. I cast my eye over the rest of the engine and bay area checking the oil and other fluids as I did so. The car is nine months old now with 2,100 miles on the clock so there shouldn't be much wrong. Oil looked a bit manky and ever so slightly overfilled (but not problematically so) but otherwise ok. So lets go for a drive...off I went.

It didn't take long for me to realise the car was down on power and as tight as a drum. It misfired a couple of times too. No lights on the dash yet! Now this car never much gets over 40mph and most of the time is doing 30mph. So that was the clue...to find a big road and when it had warmed up to just open her up gently to start with and then just a bit more. I found the road, the engine was warmed up, and I pressed the throttle. It complained with more misfiring at 3,000rpm at which point the dash lit up like a xmas tree but I kept going. The car smoked considerably, a blue, grey smoke, the misfiring stopped so I pulled over to the nearest layby. I idled the engine for a few moments and switched off. I had only revved it to 4,500 rpm at this point and had covered just 8 miles. I restarted the engine and the dash lights remained out as normal now. So off I went again and drove her normally on faster roads for over 30 miles. I picked up some items from one of the big sheds in Ipswich and then drove home along the A12. This time I let the car fly a bit and revved it a bit harder. No misfiring, no lights on the dash, good power and no smoke. It sounded a hell of a lot quieter too at idle. The catalyser was almost certainly becoming constricted with soot and particulate mater of all kinds but the run had heated the system and burned it clean.

I left the car on my drive in a nice flat area so I could check the oil again. I'd only driven 45 miles but if my theory was correct the oil would need topping up even though it was ok when I started to drive her. Sure enough, the oil level was just above the half way mark on the dipstick. The oil hardly ever reaches normal temperature with our neighbour behind the wheel and over the previous nine months the car has used oil, which has been replaced with condensation which has built up in the oil (and also turning to sulphuric acid in the process and turning the oil manky). The oil filler cap was cruded with white mayo too. When our neighbour came back to get the car he could barely believe how quiet it was. He phone me last night to say how well it was going now. Fuel economy was 36mpg all the time now. But I warned him to take it in for an early service due to the acidic oil in the engine and told him to take it for a good run now and again and to check the oil afterwards.

Morale here is...if you do low miles (petrol or diesel) take her for a decent run on a regular basis (especially in winter) to heat up the oil and evaporate the condensation, burn the cat clear, and keep the plugs, valves and pistons clean! Of course with the new diesels this will help keep the DPF clear too! Drive safe everyone.

Thanks, interesting story and one I can concur with. Wife's Fabia TSI goes through phases of little use and fairly short journeys, so where I can I take it on the 36 mile trip to work and likewise oftern find it under performing and heavier on fuel but with more miles this improves and she's back to normal.

Had the same thing with the historic aircraft while I was on the BBMF, in particular the Dakota; regularly flown ran a sweet as a nut, but periods of idleness or short trips meant hours of work for us engineers, as she would keep going U/S :S

TP

Dakota! Brilliant aircraft. Had a ride in one 30 years ago. I was airframe and turbines (Rotary) in the services when I was very young and we based hopped in one. Occasionally we get a Dakota fly over my home doing all sorts of tight turns to stay over the military sites - those engines make a wonderful noise. What is she like to work on?

You can't beat a good Italian tune up. SWMBO car turns the sky black when i drive it up the motorway sliproad (PD130).

Dakota! Brilliant aircraft. Had a ride in one 30 years ago. I was airframe and turbines (Rotary) in the services when I was very young and we based hopped in one. Occasionally we get a Dakota fly over my home doing all sorts of tight turns to stay over the military sites - those engines make a wonderful noise. What is she like to work on?

The BBMF example was a bit of a mare to be honest; heavily modified by Farnborough when she was a flying test bed with them and had a mixture of A/F, BSF and BA nuts and bolts as a subsequence. Engine reliability was also questionable due to the quality of the firms contracted to carry out the major overhauls.

TP