Some of you may know I've been getting a misfire every now and again, mostly when cold and under partial throttle, when the car changes at between 4k and 5k rpm. it then drops revs and for the first 1-2 seconds the car wont pull, then it will accelerate harder,all this happens without me changing the throttle position.

As well as this, when in manual and changing gears when giving it some welly the changes are really violent, this tends to happen on gears above 3rd.

Then tonight it was pretty warmed up i think the 50C had just come up, I pulled on to a round about and had to boot it, it wheel spun the traction control light flashed it cut power then the car changed to second and wouldn't go there was nothing tried flooring it but it just limped along in D2, so i took my foot completly off and tried accerating again which it did do but very jerky, then it went fine :S

I have had the car back to the unhelpful dealers who said they have had a good look over and updated the ECU which I'm not convinced they have, they said they checked the plugs and they were fine, which I don't considering this pic of the old ones:

So to eliminate them I changed them for the colder ones and the revo/ seat approved ones.

Can anyone suggest anything to help me?

I'm no mechanic so struggle to answer the missfire issue, but 5 k recap sounds high for when the car is cold. Also my understanding is a warm engine is over 70 degrees not 50?

Only a thought but maybe running it too hard when not up to temp isn't helping your issue?

Agree with the above - could be forcing a misfire.

So does that mean you both have these problems when cold?

No never had a problem. Not sure if a coinsidence but drive it gently until oil over 70

Actually sounds to me like you might be calling up too much power and triggering the XDS. It will try to counter torque steer which the car would do something chronic without it. When its being triggered the esp light will light up, power is retarded no matter what you do with the throttle, when it feels it can give you the power without torque steer is hands back the power.

Problem is really that the Fabia vRS in standard form does probably have a little too much power and low end torque for the chassis to deal with so its very easy to overwhelm. I think Skoda had no choice but to add XDS to the car for drivability sake.

Misfiring with the 1.4 twinchargers is very common when new, ours did it until it had a few miles under its belt but hasnt done it for months.

Also wouldnt recommend driving it too hard when it hasnt warmed up properly, the oil will not be sufficiently lubricating the engine until its got at least 60 - 70 degrees of heat through it.

I've had the odd misfire Hayden regardless of oil/engine temperatures, so I'll check with the dealers.

Thing is though, if it weren't for the EML flashing, I would never know there was an issue. The car doesn't splutter or cough, just flashes that light

Does anyone know if Skoda have ever issued an official press release concerning the misfire issues ?

It seems that only the tuners are the ones who have a clue about this at all. How many times have I heard that these engines have 'issues' but surely this has filtered through to Skoda in order to put an end to it. Even when I spoke to the dealer they never mentioned about this engine having any issues whatsoever. This is what puzzles me, has this 'update' that Skoda do to the ECU the answer that owners with the misfire issue looking for ?

Is there anything officially documented from either Skoda or VW ?

I'm into my second period of misfire with EPC and engine light on briefly.

I have purchased a set of spark plugs and booked the car in today to have investigation and possibly plugs fitted.

Previously plug on cyl 3 was the problem, so I am expecting a similar diagnosis.

If I did not need special tools I would do the job myself.

Plugs are not covered under warranty.

Tony :S

Actually sounds to me like you might be calling up too much power and triggering the XDS. It will try to counter torque steer which the car would do something chronic without it. When its being triggered the esp light will light up, power is retarded no matter what you do with the throttle, when it feels it can give you the power without torque steer is hands back the power.Problem is really that the Fabia vRS in standard form does probably have a little too much power and low end torque for the chassis to deal with so its very easy to overwhelm. I think Skoda had no choice but to add XDS to the car for drivability sake.Misfiring with the 1.4 twinchargers is very common when new, ours did it until it had a few miles under its belt but hasnt done it for months.Also wouldnt recommend driving it too hard when it hasnt warmed up properly, the oil will not be sufficiently lubricating the engine until its got at least 60 - 70 degrees of heat through it.

I dont drive it hard when cold its just for example setting off from traffic light, not flooring it but getting a move on so i can pass traffic, i never drive hard when cold but for the odd ocassion when you have to floor it for example pulling out on a round about and you relaise the gap wasnt as big as you thought it will pull fine when giving it full throttle this misfire only happens when under partial throttle. By the time I get to work my oil gauge still reads --- lol 3 mile to work doesn't help.

I've had the odd misfire Hayden regardless of oil/engine temperatures, so I'll check with the dealers.Thing is though, if it weren't for the EML flashing, I would never know there was an issue. The car doesn't splutter or cough, just flashes that light Does anyone know if Skoda have ever issued an official press release concerning the misfire issues ?It seems that only the tuners are the ones who have a clue about this at all. How many times have I heard that these engines have 'issues' but surely this has filtered through to Skoda in order to put an end to it. Even when I spoke to the dealer they never mentioned about this engine having any issues whatsoever. This is what puzzles me, has this 'update' that Skoda do to the ECU the answer that owners with the misfire issue looking for ? Is there anything officially documented from either Skoda or VW ?

I once had the same misfire as you after a long motorway journey, got the EML light to come on like you, but never had the light come on with these little annoying ones.

Regarding Skoda they dont have any press realse or any idea about the problem neither had they heard of it when i contacted them, surprise surprise. This is all going on while seat replace: plugs, coilpacks, piston rings, fuel pumps and then new engines lol

I'm into my second period of misfire with EPC and engine light on briefly.I have purchased a set of spark plugs and booked the car in today to have investigation and possibly plugs fitted.Previously plug on cyl 3 was the problem, so I am expecting a similar diagnosis.If I did not need special tools I would do the job myself.Plugs are not covered under warranty.Tony :S

I don't know how they can say that considering the car it causing the spark plugs to give up prematurely and its the second time you've had the fault.

I've made a tool to remove the coilpacks.

I'm into my second period of misfire with EPC and engine light on briefly.

I have purchased a set of spark plugs and booked the car in today to have investigation and possibly plugs fitted.

Previously plug on cyl 3 was the problem, so I am expecting a similar diagnosis.

If I did not need special tools I would do the job myself.

Plugs are not covered under warranty.

Tony :S

Took the car in to City Skoda Basingstoke; really good service.

They tested the car and found no fault; not unexpected, asked if I wanted the new plugs fitted, answer, yes.

Asked if I wanted the old plugs, answer, yes.

Given a free coffee, car returned in 50mins, no charge applied.

Car now running silky smooth again.

Moral of the story; be prepared for new spark plugs at least every 10,000 miles; just like old times.

Could give cooler plugs a try at next misfire time.

Regards

Tony

Glad you got it sorted for now anyway lol.

I've found out how to get the violent gear change, accelerating hard (foot floored) in 4th gear then short shift into 5th, so get into 4th pretty quick then accelerate from about 2k rpm then change to 5th just bellow 3k rpm. This consistently results in a jerky shift. If anyone is going out tomorrow and wouldn't mind trying this, you'll know if it happens as its a lot different from normal. It will do this in most gears above 3rd when flooring it and short shifting i.e bellow 3k rpm.

Il give it a shot later on mate, you had any dodgy shift going down into 1st and 2nd in manual?

Sort of if dropping to second then u go to accelerate again it's very hesitant it i thought this was down to the misfire

Tried the changes you described at they felt normal if not sluggish, naaa mine clunks in and sounds absloutly brutal : (

Right then, that's nothing to worry about, just need to get the misfire sorted which seems to of been behaving itself the last few days, thanks for that stu

its not revving it from cold, I do this all the time and dont have misfires. and just for everyones interests, my spark plugs are 24,000 miles old, and they are fine!

to be honest, isn't everyone assuming its misfires?! sounds very much like a gearbox problem to me, no responsive, limp mode, violent changes...

I think its a gearbox problem and you are looking in the wrong place...

its not revving it from cold, I do this all the time and dont have misfires. and just for everyones interests, my spark plugs are 24,000 miles old, and they are fine!

to be honest, isn't everyone assuming its misfires?! sounds very much like a gearbox problem to me, no responsive, limp mode, violent changes...

I think its a gearbox problem and you are looking in the wrong place...

I think he's refering to the flashing EML Dave, I get it on occasion, basically if I go over 6k revs. I think you saw it when you thrashed my car ... lol

I think he's refering to the flashing EML Dave, I get it on occasion, basically if I go over 6k revs. I think you saw it when you thrashed my car ... lol

but you had that too, if it was the same thing, wouldn't you have had some gearbox issues too? I drove yours with the misfire, and the gearbox worked just as well as mine.... still think he may have a gearbox issue :yes:

That number 2 plug is toasted...

Lol it's been a bit warm by the look of it, I'll have to take them out in order next time, then see which plug is worse I think it was 1 an 3 that were the worst last time