Hi all

We are looking at purchasing a 2005 Fabia Mk1 1.2htp Sport. Having tested the car, it seems to run very smoothly whilst driving, although the gearbox was abit notchy.

The thing I'm not sure/concerned about is that the engine idles abit unevenly, to the point where the car wobbles abit. As soon as your off its fine, revs well, no flat spots in the rev range.

What do you think, should we walk away, or is this a 'characteristic of the 1.2 htp 64bhp engine?

Thanks in advance.

i use to have this engine, it does vibrate slightly more when turning over but once moving was smooth. depends how much vibration you see.

They are a big rough-ish on idle. Nowhere near the MPI however. As mentioned, it all depends exactly how bad it is. Personally, I wouldn't worry unless its really bad.

Edited 27 May, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Doesn't seem too bad and with some research, it does seem a characteristic of the 3 potter. I would have thought the 3 cylinder configuration would be more 'unbalanced' than the 4 cylinder MPI that we have now, due to its design?

Nah, not really. The MPI was designed to run like crap. The HTP just happens to do so. The number of cylinders don't make it run any worse or any better. I've seen 3 cyl engines where you could keep a 10 SEK coin standing on its side while the engine idled. I think Skoda just designs them like this.

Nah, not really. The MPI was designed to run like crap. The HTP just happens to do so. The number of cylinders don't make it run any worse or any better. I've seen 3 cyl engines where you could keep a 10 SEK coin standing on its side while the engine idled. I think Skoda just designs them like this.

Hee hee what to run like crap? Why would they do this?

Our 1.2 did sound a little 'unhappy' at idle until just recently, but no way did it shake the car around.

I found that it had an EGR problem, which I think may be very common at this age unless the valve has already been changed.

With new valve it sounds and feels as good as any 4-pot I've known in terms of idle smoothness.

Hee hee what to run like crap? Why would they do this?

I was told it was because of emissions control. I'm sure its the official reason but I think its bull$hit. They probably couldn't be ar$ed to do any better and put emissions down as a reason. My 12 year old Fabia with over 120k on the meter is not even registering on the scale on the emissions test during the MOT. And I'm pretty damn sure we have the strictest emission control in the EU.

Edited 27 May, 201214 yr by DaKKs_152

Our 1.2 did sound a little 'unhappy' at idle until just recently, but no way did it shake the car around.

I found that it had an EGR problem, which I think may be very common at this age unless the valve has already been changed.

With new valve it sounds and feels as good as any 4-pot I've known in terms of idle smoothness.

Thanks, is that an expensive job the EGR valve? Enough to not buy the car?