Hiya,

First post here... I have a 2001/02 Fabia with the 1.4MPi petrol engine. I bought it a few months ago. Skoda Virgin here, but I have mechanical skills.

The plastic engine cover seems to be just resting loosely on top of the engine. It's secured to the hose leading to the air filter, but on the side near the oil filler cap it's just flapping loosely and vibrating loudly against the top of the engine. It's a noisy piece that really shouldn't vibrate loosely, since the oil cap is stuck to it! The oil cap has a bunch of crud and dirty, white, greasy oil residue on the inside because it just floats freely with the plastic engine cover.

The oil cap engages with the FLAPPY PLASTIC ENGINE COVER (loose) and not the oil filler neck on the valve cover (which would be secure and sensible, but no.) WTF is that all about? Seems like a pretty easy way to get a bunch of crud into the engine if you ask me. The actual freaking oil filler neck is completely open to the world with this stupid engine cover loosely flapping above it. Please tell me it wasn't designed to be this way!

Please help! Is my car missing something? Or has something broken off the engine cover? (like tabs, snap-fits or other securing mechanism) or is this really just designed to be totally counter intuitive?

HELP GUYS!!

Many thanks...

Fresh Wes

The Wife used to have a 1.4mpi and I recall (but I could be wrong) that there were 2 or 3 M6 studs with nuts to hold it down, also when removed there was a dummy oil filler cap fixed to the underside of the cover so you could cover the filler while working.

Take the cover off, use the oil filler cap stored under the cover, chuck the cover in the bin. Task completed.

There's 2x 10mm nuts. One hidden under the badge cover, and the other a different smaller cover.

Yup mine went in the bin.

Thanks a lot guys!

I guess I can pry off the cover near air filter and get the nut there... Since it's so floppy I bet the nut under the badge (if that's where it is) is off already. I gather I just pull straight up and it's off.

Are there any vacuum or oil breather tubes associated with the cover on this car? I hope there's an extra oil cap under the cover somewhere, because I can see into the engine otherwise!

Cheers for the help! I'll let you know what develops.

Edited 3 February, 201214 yr by Fresh Wes

If the cap is missing, and not available separately from the engine cover as a spare, one from a Felicia 1.3 should be exactly the same.

Should just pull straight up once the nuts are off, remembering to remove the oil dipstick first. It's purely decorative and serves no functional purpose, no hoses fixed etc.

Hi guys!

Thanks for the tips.

I found the plastic cover was broken off underneath the Skoda badge when I pried that off to get at the nut. The nut was still secure, but the hollow plastic under there is shot - hence the flapping. Someone must have just tried to lift it off or something in the past.... *crunch!*

When the car's not covered in snow I'll remove it and use the fresh spare oil cap underneath (if it's still there) and put the cover in the bin with Tech1e's! :-)

I kept my cover... And attached it to a piece of wood and now use it as a rather nifty snow shovel! Hahahaha.

It works rather well