HI everyone, a little while ago my 2006 Fabia Elegance (1.9tdi 100bhp, ATD engine) started a phase of being reluctant to start (not the battery) and occasionally stalling and losing all power whilst driving. This has been an intermittent thing and I thought I had pretty much got to the bottom of it. I came to the conclusion is was some crap, somewhere, clogging up something. Probably in the fuel system, or a build up of gunk somewhere preventing the correct airflow into the engine. I thought this because it feels like the engine is almost being starved of fuel and/or air and just cutting out/ seriously losing a lot of power (foot to the floor and revs fall slowly, let foot off accelerator and it stalls mid driving). 

 

Here is a bit of a background to give you a context:

 

Bought the car with 99500 miles on the clock September 2014 - last service stamp was at 77k (cannot say for sure it was serviced during this interval).

It has not been too well looked after by the previous two owners imo. Some service stamp intervals were over 20k. 

Timing Belt was changed at 62k (i presume this is what 'toothed belt' is in the service book).

Pretty sure the car has had a life of short journeys/ school runs etc (all the right scratches in the right places/ found a babies bottle under the passenger seat etc)

Currently I use the car to commute to and from work, go to the gym, go shopping etc, all of which are around 5-7 mile journeys. I do also travel large distances occasionally, from 70 miles to my parents house, 300 mile trips down south/ up north (I am an avid Mountain biker). 

The car now has 108500k on the clock.

 

 

September 2014 - Upon purchase I serviced almost immediately - oil/filter change, air filter change, fuel filter change, brake fluid change, gearbox oil change.

 

March 2015 - started with this weird behaviour

 

March 2015 to Mid May 2015 - continued with the symptons, sometimes it would happen sometimes it would not. Seemed to come in bouts where it would be reluctant to start for a few weeks on some journeys, then have a major stalling/losing power session whilst driving. Then i'd give it a proper blast and it would seem sure-footed again for some time.

 

End May 2015 - I decided to try a engine/fuel cleaner (Archoil Ar 6400-D). I put this in the tank whilst I was in Bristol, filled to the brim and drove home to Leeds. When I got back to Leeds, i changed the oil/filter and air filter, cleaned the MAF sensor with proper cleaner and put in some Archoil AR 9100 friction modifier to the engine. It has been running like an absolute dream since.

 

Two days ago, it started to be a bit reluctant to start.

 

Today - It has just had another episode or cutting out/ stalling/ losing power whilst driving. DOH!

 

 

What do I do?!? lol. I have plugged in my mates code reader to find zero codes, no dash lights come on at all when it is having an 'episode'. I cannot think what else it could be? 

 

 

 

Summary of what I have done so far:

 

Serviced twice - oil/filter change, air filter change, fuel filter change

Cleaned MAF sensor with proper cleaner

Used one tanks-worth of Archoild AR 6400-D fuel system cleaner

Added Archoil AR 9100 friction modifier to fresh engine oil.

 

 

Really sorry for the essay, I have obviously tried very hard looking for the problem online before posting, but I can find nothing like this anywhere, has anyone any ideas?

 

 

thanks a bunch, Mike.

 

When I say not starting I mean, the starter motor is cranking the engine, and it appears to be firing but not catching properly into Idle.

Must bump this as it is the exact same problem I have with my vRS. Exactly the same! I'm sorry that I cannot offer any advice..... but I have read that the Cam sensor may be a place to start.

Injector wiring loom would be the first place I'd start looking, they're notorious for failing.

Sounds a little like what I've had recently with my diesel Espace.

 

Sluggishness while driving was down to a clogged fuel filter, but then I started having cold-starting problems. It would start find, then cut out just as you went to pull away, and take an awful lot of cranking to get it going again.

 

This came to a head yesterday, when I flattened the battery. The filter was fine, but I noticed air in the fuel lines. On inspection, the fuel filter housing (it's a cartridge type) was cracked allowing fuel to return to the tank overnight (I'm surmising).

 

Looking on ECP, the fabia fuel filter is the sealed type, so it's not going to be the same issue. However, checking the fuel line for leaks might be an idea.

 

Cheers,

Iain

Do your lights and dash go out when it cuts out?

 

Check your earth cable from the battery.

I would say that you need to get it scanned. It reads like *something* is starving the engine of fuel. Whether that's mechanical - like holes/air in the fuel system or electrical - earthing issues, plate fuses on top of the battery or a bad earth.

 

J.

Thanks all for your responses. I ended up calling Greenflag out to work the other day as it just wouldn't start at all. Sods law, it started perfectly when the Greenflag man arrived. He plugged his scanner in and it wasnt the right connection, so i went and grabbed my work colleagues reader and we linked that up. 

 

This time it did come back with a fault code:

 

Camshaft Position Sensor (G40): No Signal: P3007.

 

The Greenflag man advised me to get the camshaft sensor replaced, which I now have done. It starts fine and has not had an 'episode' since, but the fault was so intermittent I can not comfortably say it has cured it until the problem has not occurred for a good while. A faulty/fialing camshaft sensor definitely fits the symptons I have been getting though, especially as it has been so intermittent.

 

 

I will report back as soon as I am confident it was indeed the camshaft sensor.

 

Thanks for all of your replies :-)

 

Mike 

Do your lights and dash go out when it cuts out?

 

Check your earth cable from the battery.

 

No they don't 

Must bump this as it is the exact same problem I have with my vRS. Exactly the same! I'm sorry that I cannot offer any advice..... but I have read that the Cam sensor may be a place to start.

 

It would appear that you are on the right lines mate. I would get it scanned before you go replacing anything though. My local garage charged £75 to fit a new one and hopefully it has cured the problem :-)

I would say that you need to get it scanned. It reads like *something* is starving the engine of fuel. Whether that's mechanical - like holes/air in the fuel system or electrical - earthing issues, plate fuses on top of the battery or a bad earth.

 

J.

 

Thats the weird thing, I scanned it with the same reader which brought up the error code this time about 5 weeks ago and no codes came up/ were stored  :no:

It would appear that you are on the right lines mate. I would get it scanned before you go replacing anything though. My local garage charged £75 to fit a new one and hopefully it has cured the problem :-)

 

I look forward to seeing how you get on mate. Fingers crossed.

Sounds very similar to problems I had. Mine turned out to be a faulty ECU. While the engine was running stationary the mechanic showed me by slightly pulling / tapping on the ECU box for it to cut out. Hopefully you've got your problem sorted though. 

Update: It has now been two and a half weeks since I had the camshaft sensor replaced. All appears to be well, not had a single problem. Will update again in 2 weeks :-) 

After reading the original post I thought you were writing about my VRS!! Mine is EXACTLY as you state to the finest detail!

Mines in for cam sensor change and MAF sensor tomorrow and really hope this helps!

Things done already:

Oil and filter

Fuel filter

Egr & turbo cleaned

Will post back results as so far this has been the most useful thread on this issue!

Thanks MB

After reading the original post I thought you were writing about my VRS!! Mine is EXACTLY as you state to the finest detail!

Mines in for cam sensor change and MAF sensor tomorrow and really hope this helps!

Things done already:

Oil and filter

Fuel filter

Egr & turbo cleaned

Will post back results as so far this has been the most useful thread on this issue!

Thanks MB

Update - work carried out and so far everything is working again fine! Will update again after a couple of weeks!

It has now been over 1 month since I had the sensor replaced and have had no further problems!. I can therefore pretty confidently say it has cured the fault. Thanks to all who contributed/ gave me advice etc.

 

Mike.

Having the same issue with my fabia, bought the camshaft sensor, can someone talk me through swapping it without taking the timing belt off? Much appreciated

Having the same issue with my fabia, bought the camshaft sensor, can someone talk me through swapping it without taking the timing belt off? Much appreciated

Remove the top boost pipe for best access.

Remove the timing belt cover

Pop out the small rubber cover, follow the wire to find it, just dont drop it.

Remove the 10mm bolt and pull the sensor through the hole.

Follow the wire and unplug, then refit