My son has a lovely 1.4 2001 Fabia with only 40,000 miles on it (genuine-he knows the first lady owner). Has been dealer serviced every year but now needs half a litre of oil every couple of weeks. It has GTX 10w-40 oil in it and I wonderd if a different make or grade would help it use less.

Also wondered if the previous owner not only drove it too gently but if used on short journeys caused premature cylinder bore wear.

I know I can't undo bore wear but wondered if anyone has experienced this problem. It doesn't appear to smoke at exhaust.

We are a 5 Fabia family so love every other aspect of Skoda ownership especially getting such well engineered and reliable cars at reasonable prices.

Has anyone else noticed that 2-4 year old Fabas are holding their prices recently.....

If its a 16v with an AUB or AUA code then yes it's very common. Issue with the piston rings cause excess pressure in the crankcase breather system with causes the engine to ingest oil, check the intake manifold, it's probably quite blocked up with carbon. Oil consumption is permitted up to 1 litre per 600 miles by Skoda figures, but that's a fair amount.

If its a 16v with an AUB or AUA code then yes it's very common. Issue with the piston rings cause excess pressure in the crankcase breather system with causes the engine to ingest oil, check the intake manifold, it's probably quite blocked up with carbon. Oil consumption is permitted up to 1 litre per 600 miles by Skoda figures, but that's a fair amount.

Thanks for prompt reply. How can we unblock intake manifold? Seems like old fashioned de-coke to me! Do we just take it off and clean it out or will a good thrashing clean it?

It would be a take off and clean up. However as this isn't the root cause then it won't improve the consumption.

Gleaned from Honest John Website concerning the MK I Fabia.

"Like contemporary Polos, 1.4 engines are suffering severe bore wear at around 40,000 miles. If no help forthcoming from Skoda and the engine is beyond saving by www.fer.co.uk this can effectively write off the car".

Use high-octane fuel and spank it ruthlessly, it should improve. Mine did this and now doesn't, but it took a few months, I suspect stuck rings rather than bore wear actually since number 4 cylinder was the main culprit on mine, 10W40 is fine, hell use cheaper stuff if you're topping up frequently. You are however correct in your analysis that the car has been driven too gently by the previous owner.

Anybody got any thoughts about minimising oil consumption? I wondered if only filing halfway up the dispstick would help, giving more compressable air and less oil to pump out. Obviously keep a good eye on level.