Hi all, sorry for the long post, I have searched on here for an answer to this problem but can't find a definitive answer, so I will describe the symptoms to see if anyone can point me in the right direction.

 

My skoda 1.9d pickup has run faultlessly for years but yesterday on the way to work (15min drive each way) i felt a slight hesitation under acceleration, didn't think nothing of it till I came up to a junction, dipped the clutch and it died.  Luckily the road was clear and I was still rolling slightly so quickly bump started it and carried on although it still had the hesitation.  As a test I randomly dipped the clutch and again it cut out, bumped it again and carried on to work, leaving it in a lower gear to give it some revs which seemed to help.

 

Get to work and park up, pickup is running fine now so think maybe its just the cold weather (minus 5 brrr).  After work I come out and it fires up on the button and runs for about half a minute but then cuts out again. Try again, fires up straight away but dies after a few seconds.  Tried again it fires but dies.  Try again and again but now it just turns over and over with nothing.  Like it's out of fuel, but it has over half a tank and I recently filled the tank too so it's not like I let it run dry.

 

So what have I done since then?  Well I cracked off the injector pipes and tried cranking, no fuel, loosened the bleed nipple above the pump and cranked, no fuel and it seemed dry?  Took the fuel line off from the outlet side of the filter and it was dry, no fuel spilled from the filter which I thought was strange?  Took the line from the tank off at the back of the filter and it too seemed dry so I blew into it til I could hear it bubbling in the tank (took the cap off while doing this). Then sucked the pipe til the fuel came out so I assume it's not blocked?

 

I have now changed the fuel filter for a new one and filled it via the return line with fresh fuel (old filter didn't seem to have a lot of fuel in it?).  I have tried to bleed the air out by connecting a tube to the bleed nipple above the pump.  I am drawing fuel through but there's still a few bubbles (does having the ignition on or off make a difference?  I had it off). So far this haven't improved anything. I can get it to fire by spraying easy start into the intake but it won't run on its own.  Tomorrow I plan to fit a fuel primer bulb to try and bleed the rest of the air out.

 

So that's where I am so far. I am just wondering where to try next with the symptoms I have described really.  If it's the case of a new pump I can handle it but I want to be sure it's the pump and not something else.

 

thankyou for taking the time to read this and hope you can help, my pickup has been great up until now so want to get to the bottom of this!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all, have managed to discover the cause of the problem, the main fuel line had rotted underneath and was leaking in two places.  

 

Guess it was bad enough to draw air into the system and stall the engine, I have now repaired the line and it runs fine now.  Installed the primer bulb too which makes bleeding so much easier.

 

Glad it was something so simple!!

Thank you for letting Felicia community know about the solution to your problem.

 

To all:

On a generic level, when a Skoda Felicia starts having engine or electrical issues after years of proper functioning, don't start the diagnose by buying new parts blindly. Most often the cause is corrosion or dirt/debris/lack of maintenance related. Felicia is a car built to last (more than other "modern" cars) and cheap to repair/maintain but its age starts to show about now, particularly in countries with humid, cold weather.