......for a 1.4 8v.

Everything I have read on this forum points to lumpy idling being the norm due to emission controls but mine,being perverse, seems remarkably smooth....just the occasional judder but never any real fear of stalling.

Regularly serviced but fuel consumption seems poor (and getting worse) ,even for a model known for poor economy, and now,at idle, I can smell petrol after a short while but no obvious signs of leaks and

no warning lights or fault codes have appeared.

Haynes Manual hasn't helped ...or maybe I haven't read it sufficiently thoroughly... so would be greatful for any suggestions as to where to start looking or,rather, where the person who looks after my car should look. He is cheap and honest but admits that he is not a Skoda specialist.

Thanks.

What RPM does it idle at?

Phil

I've averaged 41mpg over the last 20k but others have managed less. Idle is reasonably smooth with an occasional judder, it seems to hesitate about 2.3k rpm when cold going up the slip road on a morning.

As for a smell of fuel look under the car about where the drivers side B pillar is, make sure your fuel lines are secure to the filter as it tends to get overlooked at service time not even being drained, as the fuel filter is alloy it won't rust but is susceptible to damage. It should be fully clicked in on each of the 3 prongs. If you can't find anything then trace the lines up to the injectors. The likelihood is you'll find the smell stronger somewhere along the route.

The other suggestion for economy is have a look at the black 'slug' at the top of the engine bay, the throttle body may be gunked up, while it's not a service item it's worth the 15 mins to clean it up. A lot of owners have found that a bigger intake helps as in stock guise the mpi seems choked for emissions compliance rather than economy but before going down this route you want to identify the existing issue.

Could be worth spending £6 on a VCDS cable and downloading VCDS lite to see if you've got any fault codes logged.

This may well be what philje 123 is hinting at, but it sounds like your engine may be slow getting out of cold-start enrichment mode. This could be due to a coolant temperature sensor fault, a thermostat fault, or a bit of both. Because there's such a wide range of possible temperatures, the ECU won't necessarily flag up a fault if the CTS reads way lower than reality, misleading the ECU into thinking the engine's much colder than it really is.

I guess VCDS would be one way to establish whether crazy temperatures are being reported, you may also be able to do something with a multimeter directly on the sensor.

When my thermostat stopped holding a solid 90c my fuel consumption went down by circa 12.6% but I don't see how that would explain the fuel smell.

You might be right, a thermostat problem alone wouldn't account for it, as the engine would still be getting fuelled appropriately for the temperature it's at. With a CTS misbehaving though, it may be getting much more fuel than it should, for its real temperature.

Thanks to everyone who has replied thus far.

I will pass all suggestions on to my mechanic (who does have fault finding software - possiblly generic rather than Skoda specific).

Car idles around 950/1000 rpm if the gauge is accurate.

Seems to get up to middle range temp fairly quickly...obviously longer on cold days. T/stat was replaced last year.