I am hoping that someone may be able to advise me on my next step.

I am th owner of a fabia 1.4 16v elegance 2004, two weeks ago i had the engine management light come on. Took it o my local garage. ( great garage used them for 20+ years). They diagnosed a faulty egr valve so i let them replace it. They put the light out all was fine then a week later the car began to idle lumpily as though it was misfiring. the light cameback on. I took it back to them today they scanned it and error P0402 came up excess flow (or something like that) I left it with them. They phoned up and said they made it misfire on some diagnostics machine and had multiple errors across all cylinders ( again something like that is what they said). They then said they checked the engine over and had to add 3 litres of oil. I am no mechanic but i had only topped up the oil 6 weeks ago. I had a golf 1.4 p reg before this and it never used any oil between services. 3 litres of oil is a lot to loose without a puddle and no smoke. My questions are as follows.

1. is this the piston rings

2. should i get shut and get a diesel.

problem is i love the car it makes a great noise.

and i only use super unleaded.

any opinions gratefully received!!!

cheers Tom

Ohhh ask anyone, I had the exact same problem! (Light came back on in excess of 10 times!) Was a faulty EGR about 3 times, then something else which I really wish I could remember the name of but they replaced it, then I got the excess flow and it was one of the pipes for this thing I can't remember the name of had cracked. I will try and find out what it was. Sorry I'm useless lol! I have a 2003 1.4 16v Elegance

If its excess flow I agree with Jayney of course, if it's insufficient flow then it's a blocked EGR port below the throttle body.

Ohhh ask anyone, I had the exact same problem! (Light came back on in excess of 10 times!) Was a faulty EGR about 3 times, then something else which I really wish I could remember the name of but they replaced it, then I got the excess flow and it was one of the pipes for this thing I can't remember the name of had cracked. I will try and find out what it was. Sorry I'm useless lol! I have a 2003 1.4 16v Elegance

that would be good and will pass it on to my garage, in the hope they can fix it. i am still unsure as to the huge oil loss.

Seeing as they only hold 3.5 litres im a little sceptical.

Seeing as they only hold 3.5 litres im a little sceptical.

sceptical in what way? the mechanic also said they only hold 3.5 litres so he could not beleive how much it took. i was sceptical as i would have thought the oil warning light would have come on? I am no mechanic but i always like to think i look after my vehicles to the best of my knowledge. Having read about problems such as oil loss and general oil use on this engine i always have a bottle of castrol edge in the boot.

Maybe its like a whisky cask and the angels are taking their share? LOL

cheers Tom

sceptical in what way? the mechanic also said they only hold 3.5 litres so he could not beleive how much it took. i was sceptical as i would have thought the oil warning light would have come on? I am no mechanic but i always like to think i look after my vehicles to the best of my knowledge. Having read about problems such as oil loss and general oil use on this engine i always have a bottle of castrol edge in the boot.

Maybe its like a whisky cask and the angels are taking their share? LOL

cheers Tom

Really? I see people reporting practically no oil usage more than heavy oil use. Certainly for the 18 months I had mine it's stayed in very much the same place on the dipstick - although I'm a bit peeved that the garage only filled it to where it was when they serviced it as opposed to filling it up, and with the minefield of oil types I'm completely uninterested in trying to find out what to use to top it up!

I doubt it would have lost almost all it's oil without the dash screaming at you.....3.5lts max is what they take.....either they have now overfilled it....or are charging you for something you didn't get......check the dipstick with the engine cold (2hrs after it is on) and the car on level ground!....And these engines hardly use any oil at all!! ERG's can cause faults....mainly because the engine likes long hot runs and better grade 98ron fuel......."Italian tune" ..thats what it likes....

I doubt it would have lost almost all it's oil without the dash screaming at you.....3.5lts max is what they take.....either they have now overfilled it....or are charging you for something you didn't get......check the dipstick with the engine cold (2hrs after it is on) and the car on level ground!....And these engines hardly use any oil at all!! ERG's can cause faults....mainly because the engine likes long hot runs and better grade 98ron fuel......."Italian tune" ..thats what it likes....

I will check it in a couple of hours. I only use super unleaded whether it be from tesco (momentum 99) or sainsburys super. I just cant justify the price difference for shell V-power at 1.48.9 as aposed to 131.9 for sainsburys super unleaded. I dont know wether this is a false economy, but where i live and on my budget 17p per litre is quite a chunk of cash!!

Italian tune i assume is giving it some beans. Which i do regularly when the engine is up to temp. I like the noise at 5500 rpm.

the only other thing that worries me is the relatively low mileage the car has done for its age. 2004 and now just hit 34,000 mile. I've had it for 1 year and it has done 10,000 of those, so for 6 years it had only covered less than 4,000 miles a year.

I will check it in a couple of hours. I only use super unleaded whether it be from tesco (momentum 99) or sainsburys super. I just cant justify the price difference for shell V-power at 1.48.9 as aposed to 131.9 for sainsburys super unleaded. I dont know wether this is a false economy, but where i live and on my budget 17p per litre is quite a chunk of cash!!

Italian tune i assume is giving it some beans. Which i do regularly when the engine is up to temp. I like the noise at 5500 rpm.

the only other thing that worries me is the relatively low mileage the car has done for its age. 2004 and now just hit 34,000 mile. I've had it for 1 year and it has done 10,000 of those, so for 6 years it had only covered less than 4,000 miles a year.

So it looks like you drive it and feed it right!

Mines 10yrs old and only done 48,500miles....but the shortest run is a round trip of 32miles on open backcountry roads!!...If it's had short 5miles ish runs then defo not good for engine. Has the belts been changed on it, also has the fuel filter been changed, is the crankcase vent breather system clogged up????...and has it had an engine flush and what type of oil is used???

It was the EVAP

sceptical in what way? the mechanic also said they only hold 3.5 litres so he could not beleive how much it took. i was sceptical as i would have thought the oil warning light would have come on? I am no mechanic but i always like to think i look after my vehicles to the best of my knowledge. Having read about problems such as oil loss and general oil use on this engine i always have a bottle of castrol edge in the boot.

Maybe its like a whisky cask and the angels are taking their share? LOL

cheers Tom

Sceptical as with half a litre in the engine as soon as you cornered it would seize up

Same thing has happened to me today on the 1.4 Elegance. Annoyed. For the first time whilst i've had it - about 18 months - it didn't start first time. When I re-started it the light was on. Not sure where to take it, will it need to be someone with VAG Com? Probably going to ring Shark tomorrow if so as they're near where I live.

As for oil usage - mine uses far too much. When I first had it was having to regularly re-fill. Got it checked over by a friend who's a mechanic and he couldn't find any problem. It doesn't drip, emissions are fine, checked a few other things but couldn't find any problem... It seemed to improve after it's MOT/oil change but been getting gradually worse again since (due another soon though). Any advic/suggestions on this front?

Sceptical as with half a litre in the engine as soon as you cornered it would seize up

Ok i see what ur saying. but my family has used this garage for 40 years and they would have no reason to lie to us. I am gonna open a can of worms here but what oil would you say is best to use with this engine. i am currently using castrol edge 5w30.

Seeing as you seem to know a lot would you say that the PD diesels are more reliable. Reliability is all i want!!!

Ok i see what ur saying. but my family has used this garage for 40 years and they would have no reason to lie to us. I am gonna open a can of worms here but what oil would you say is best to use with this engine. i am currently using castrol edge 5w30.

Seeing as you seem to know a lot would you say that the PD diesels are more reliable. Reliability is all i want!!!

5w30 oil??????........eeeeerrrrrrrr I don't think so....5w40 or 0w40 is the best for the 1.4 16v 74kw...

I would check also the crankcase breather, if it is full of whitish gunk then the oil will be pushed past the piston rings and will be burned. That will probably clog the EGR valve too. Check the MAP sensor too, clean it with some isopropanol if needed(might be contaminated with oil). Castrol Edge 5w-30 is OK, if the crankcase breather is full it will eat any oil really fast.

where is this EGR valve? Can i change it myself?

trunks_mk1, have you got a good reason for needing to change the EGR valve, they tend to cost about £100 or a lot more if you buy from dealer, VAG tend to fit Pierburg devices so buying the correct Pierburg one would be cheaper - buying unbranded probably makes no long term sense, but keeps some poor sod in a third world country in a job!

As said already, its the port in the interface flange or newer TBs that gets blocked and needs cleaning out.

The EGR is on the RHS front of the engine looking in from the front and its best to buy a pipe end gasket and 2-off EGR gaskets - just to be safe.

The new EGR needs to be aligned to the engine's ECU so that it knows the end stop voltages.