I'm having an intermittent problem with my 1997 petrol 1.3 Felicia (yes I know it is old, still only 60k though in its favour...) but two garages can't seem to find anything the matter. The problem is best described in layman's terms (the only terms I know when it comes to cars) as 'dying randomly':

It is going along quite happily then suddenly judders/lurches (i.e. surges forward then loses some power, as if putting foot on and off accelerator) a few times - either it then carries on happily (this seems to be more likely if I quickly ram hard on the accelerator) or the engine loses power then cuts out (like a stall). It doesn't seem to be associated with how fast it's going, what gear it's in, or how much it is revving (i.e. not a simple stall). If the engine cuts (only the normal lights and no unusual warning lights), it will then restart again straight away in most cases, though it then seems more likely to suffer the same problem again a few minutes later. If after cutting out I 'rest' it a bit before re-starting, it often seems to go a bit longer before happening again. For a while it was mainly happening quite infrequently, but then it started happening fairly often (culminating in an AA rescue - they were crap by the way - recently).

I've had two garages look and neither can see what's wrong. On the last visit, they made a guess and replaced the coil pack; it seemed ok the first few (shorter) journeys but then started doing it again.... Sending it to the Garage in the Sky without knowing what the issue is seems potentially wasteful.

Thanks Skoda experts!

probably way off, but have you had the timing checked?

Sou ds like a blocked fuel filter to me, or a sticky injector. I would go for a filter change followed by a good dose of injector cleaner

What did they try at garage?

Judging by your description, one garage scratched their heads and did squat, while the other changed coils.

No OBD check and live data reading?

Not any attempt to replicate the symptoms?

Random issues are hard to solve, but still... many things can be done.

Tell us if they could eliminate for sure any system as cause.

From a distance it could be anything from dirty fuel to bad sensors or ECU.

Hi, what you've described isn't a million miles away from what I suffered previously on my Felly. Initially I went down the route of plugs, HT leads etc but that didn't seem to do the trick. Then turned my focus to the throttle body and accessed/cleaned with a proprietary cleaner and reassembled. In my case the next step was to disconnect the ecu or if it's easier for you battery and then reconnect after a short period. Turn the ignition position to on and leave for around 20-30 secs, then fire her up. After that I haven't thus far had any repeat of the problem in question. Worth a try as it's relatively easy to do and throttle body's are a known problem area.

First up, have a look if there are any codes on the ECU - they can be quite helpful.

Cleaning the throttle body may be an option - certainly from what's said above it sounds like a good place to start. I would also look carefully at the flywheel sensor on the top of the gearbox - if it plays up, it's a definite show stopper. You should be able to get a S/H one cheap enough, and it's a 5 minute job to fit it.

I wouldn't go with fuel filter (as it wouldn't perform like it is, tends to lead to a more progressive degeneration in performance) or a 'stuck' injector (as it would lead to a misfire if stuck shut and a real serious problem if stuck open, plus they are generally very reliable), but the filter is easily replaced and the injectors easily tested (no cost if you want to 'ghetto' it by removing the fuel rail and cranking the engine while the injectors are in small jars to catch the fuel).

Edited 10 October, 201213 yr by djaychela

i have vag com if any help to you

It could be something simple like a fuel pump relay - it's in position 5

check the condition of the lambda sensor wires, mine started slowing down with me pushing the go go pedal and then zooming. After finding a lambda sensor fault code with vcds I had a look and 2 wires had snapped and 1 was hanging on by a thread, all fixed now

Hi there, I had the same problem with my felicia fun. I was told it could be an air leak or fuel starvation. It did this for a week then stoped and has been fine. I reported it to the garage stating its fine. They reckon it was bad fuel.

I've go the same problem with my wife's 1.6 Fun. It feels like someone has pulled a couple of HT leads off while you're driving along. Back off on the throttle and it usually clears itself. I was thinking along the lines of a dodgy coil pack, having replaced the plugs and leads.But given the above, I might try thr throttle body instead.

Edited 11 October, 201213 yr by justbuggin

I've go the same problem with my wife's 1.6 Fun. It feels like someone has pulled a couple of HT leads off while you're driving along. Back off on the throttle and it usually clears itself. I was thinking along the lines of a dodgy coil pack, having replaced the plugs and leads.But given the above, I might try thr throttle body instead.

Yeah that's pretty similar to what mine felt like and it was only momentary. I'm convinced attention to the throttle body cured the issue (it's ok I'm touching wood right now!). Interesting to hear it's your other half that has the Fun, does she enjoy owning/driving etc? Just passed the 4th anniversary in mine & would be happy to go another 4 if she'll hold out!?

Of these, the throttle body reset is free (but may need battery or ECU leaving disconnected for hours rather than minutes).

After that, I'll need another question answered - Does the problem tend to show up more (maybe only) when the fuel level is low (below 1/4 tank)? If so, then I'd suspect loose paint flakes in the tank or another fuel pickup problem.

Hi.I'e suffered similar issues...very embarrassing at traffic lights, when the engine starts revving and blipping it's throttle with out input from me at all.... everyone starts looking at me as if I'm a boy racer!

The problem is the throttle body..or rather the stepper motor .[if that's the correct description?][throttle position sensor]..on mine, it seemed to be getting misleading signals from the temp sensor [atop the thermostat housing]..

This caused the throttle motor to open and shut the throttle a wee bit, quite rapidly. Occasionally, if actually moving, the engine would cut out, but restart on the bump.

I replaced the temp sensor, and re-set the throttle position sensor as per robk1's post.

This seemed to cure things...touch wood! [temp sensor only cost about a tenner and is easy to fit..don't break the plastic circlip though!

Also make sure the throttle cable itself isn't too tight.......sometimes the cable outer can get dislodged.....leave a tiny bit of slack but check/alter adjustment using the circlip where the throttle cable meets the throttle body unit......on mine, there are several grooves it cans it in.

Edited 16 October, 201213 yr by alastairq

sounds very like the intermittent problem i had with my felicia... ended up being the inlet-manifold gasket. cheap and easy fix if none of the above suggestions work out.- best of luck.

Hi all, and thanks very much for the advice! I've so far tried changing the fuel filter and cleaning out the throttle body (and putting reddex through with the fuel) and it's not done the trick... I'll keep you posted on progress...

Worth checking it's not a collapsed catalytic converter, seen it several times on various cars causing your symptoms. Broken bit gets pushed into the exit, blocking the exhaust gases from escaping. Engine stops, broken bit falls back into the casing and the engine starts again.

This sounds very similar to the problems we've had with out Felicia.

Our usual garage couldn't find abything wrong and put it down to "character".

Took it to a VAG speciallist and initially they couldn't find any faults. As they said the Felicia's a basic car and doesn't store intermittent fault codes like a more modern car might. Went to drive it home and it would idle at 2,000 rpm.

A blip of the throtle settled it down. But next time you lifted of the throttle it would stay at 2,000 until you blipped it again.

Drove back to the specialist and this time they could find an error code. They replaced the throttle body and the idling was OK, but the misfire was still there. A new coil pack and all seems well.

Cost probaly as much as the car is worth, but then if I scrapped the car, Which Mrs Z loves, and I quite like as well, any replacement would cost far more than the garage bill. Although I do fancy a Fabia next time.

Good news! Dedicated garage chap (quick plug: Causewayside in Edinburgh, in case anyone is near) finally drove my car about until it did it to him - and the answer was [cue drum roll]: faulty crank shaft sensor. A couple of days and a few pounds later and we were back on the road :-) Driven a few long journeys with no problems - touch wood.... Thanks to everyone here for their suggestions though.

Thanks for coming back with the solution... It's crazy the way those little crank sensors can cause problems like that.. It defies logic, the engine wont run without it, but it can still be broken...

I subscribe also to Tom's thanks for taking the time to share the solution with us

Too many times we try to help other people, hoping they'll have one day the common courtesy to get back with their findings so we all learn something new.