HI every one, hope you can help and give me some advise.

I got a Fabia 1.9 TDi 2002 elegance estate

It’s done 127.5k miles now, 3.5k since I bought in July.

I’ve had this problem ever since I bought it, seems to got worse lately when commuting 200miles a day, every time I go up hill and try to accelerate or keep the speed in really steep once, the engine start revving up without pulling or increase of speed.

If driving at 75 and trying to do a fast acceleration it start revving with the same effect and then revs drops and car pulls away even do I keep constant pressure on the pedal.

When driving it normally it feels a bit sluggish like the hand brake doesn’t release properly on low gears.

The fuel economy is good around 63mpg at 70 mph, however some times when I turn the ignition on it sounds like a high pressure air bubbles when the fuel pump starts up.

There are no smoke from the exhaust at start, normal runnig or when it revs up

I cannot hear any misfiring or bad engine noises more than the normal rattle of a diesel engine.

Got the service history up to 65k miles so not sure if the recommended cam belt and clutch was changed at 70K.

My gut feeling says it’s the clutch, however as this is my first turbo car and diesel, I’m not sure about their common faults.

On a few other threads it was mentioned that it could be a “boost pipe” where and how can I find and check them.

One last thing is it possible to change breaks, clutch, evaporating sensor and drive belt over a weekend in a garage with no lift and manual spanners?? And maybe cam belt (it looked in god condition with no cracks or wear on the back of it and sharp edges on the teeth).

Cheers Weye

I’ve had this problem ever since I bought it, seems to got worse lately when commuting 200miles a day, every time I go up hill and try to accelerate or keep the speed in really steep once, the engine start revving up without pulling or increase of speed.

If driving at 75 and trying to do a fast acceleration it start revving with the same effect and then revs drops and car pulls away even do I keep constant pressure on the pedal.

This is your clutch slipping, reducing the load on the engine, allowing your engine to increase in revs slightly, and then when the clutch finally grips, it pulls your revs back down to where they should be as the load is transferred back to your engine. Your clutch is on its last legs.

Although I have driven my car for 40k (mostly motorway miles) over the past 2 years with it doing exactly the same, just need to be careful when this occurs to back off a bit, so that the clutch can bite and you do not make the problem worse.

The fuel economy is good around 63mpg at 70 mph, however some times when I turn the ignition on it sounds like a high pressure air bubbles when the fuel pump starts up.

Absolutely normal, this is just the fuel pump priming, its the in tank pickup pump, sometimes called the squelch pump, cos thats the sound it makes when you turn your ignition on.

Got the service history up to 65k miles so not sure if the recommended cam belt and clutch was changed at 70K.

If you do not know the history of the cambelt, get it changed, it will cost you double / triple if it fails.

My gut feeling says it’s the clutch, however as this is my first turbo car and diesel, I’m not sure about their common faults.

Your gut is correct, give it a pat on the..... front.

One last thing is it possible to change breaks, clutch, evaporating sensor and drive belt over a weekend in a garage with no lift and manual spanners?? And maybe cam belt (it looked in god condition with no cracks or wear on the back of it and sharp edges on the teeth).

You never NEED a lift to do anything, you could strip it down to its component parts and rebuild it while it sits on the ground (or axel stands).

You will need spanners yes, sockets are useless in tight spaces.

Cheers Weye

Your welcome, many happy TDI miles.