Hi guys

 

So at the ripe old age of 24 I am finally resigning my motorbike to be a weekend toy and I have my first car. I picked up a 2003 Skoda Fabia 1.4 MPI 8v with 99,000 on the clock. It had a full service history, seemed to have been looked after quite well, was in good nick and most importantly, it was cheap at just under £900, so I snapped it up.

 

On the drive back to my parents house from the dealer (I've just moved out) I noticed quite a loud tapping noise, so I got the local neighbourhood mechanic to come and have a look. After a bit of research as to what engine and valve set up this car had (no sign of an owners manual) we came to the conclusion it was the hydraulic tappets, so we picked up a new gasket and set to work. As we took the rocker cover off we noticed large amounts of poorly applied liquid gasket round the edge which must have been to make up for the rubber gasket that was pretty much solid from use. This gave us the idea that maybe someone who doesn't know engines as well as they should has been tinkering in this car. Managed to sort the clearances as best we could and he told me a good long journey and maybe an oil change would clear some of the crap out from the hydraulic lifter that was causing delayed pressure.

After a drive of around 90 miles on the motorway the tapping is gone, but now when I start it from cold the engine warning light comes on intermittently and it idles really rough and juddery. Today I started it up, tapped the throttle, the engine picked up hesitantly and then promptly died. When I pull up anywhere and let it idle the revs seem to dip quite low before picking back up to around the 800rpm mark. The tacho doesn't stay still at idle, it's constantly moving about, but only a little bit. I'm worried that maybe we've overtightened the rocker arm adjusters and now that the oil pressure is picking up the valve clearances are all out. Or it might be a completely different fault, I'm at a loss.

 

Does anyone have any ideas what my problem might be? Any help is appreciated.

 

Ben

You have not ended up with an air/vac hose off or cracked from being disturbed. Don't equate any oil pressure disorders to valve clearances or visversa. I don't know these engines at all - but someone on here will for sure!

 

Oh, and welcome - another reason for me to post quickly!

Edited 24 June, 201511 yr by rum4mo

UPDATE: The engine light now stays on and the car stays at idle okay, but it's still very juddery

OK, the 8 valve MPI engine has hydraulic valve lifters. There is only an initial valve adjustment required if the valve gear has been dismantled. The valve adjustment should never be touched otherwise. You can even change the head gasket without touching the valve clearances. I don't know what clearances you used but you might have set them incorrectly as there is no particular measurement. Also, this engine is well known for having an unstable idle, even when everything is OK. It's a side-effect of them having to tune the engine to pass emission regulations as the design of the engine is very old - it's the same engine as was used in rear-engined Estelles/Rapids and even older Skodas. It should not idle seriously badly though and it's a very tough unit, but they do suffer with rattly timing chains.

 

Here's a guide to basic valve set up adjustment  http://workshop-manuals.com/skoda/fabia-mk1/drive_unit/1.0/37;_1.4/44;_1.4/50_kw_mpi_engine/engine_cylinder_head_valve_gear/repairing_cylinder_head/basic_setting_of_hydraulic_valve_clearance_compensation/