Felicia 1.3 mpi nightmare!!!!

[LKnowles]

My husband and I have a Favorit each and wanted an estate.  As Favorit estates never come up for sale, we got a 1997 1.3 mpi Felicia. When we got it there was a cold start issue although once going, it ran like a dream. Having looked at this forum, we replaced the coolant temp sensor and the speed/hall sender. This partially solved the problem but not completely. .  Car still not right so we took it (under sufferance) to the local Skoda garage. One diagnostic test later and they put new pins and wiring to the connector that sits on top of the coolant temp sensor and also wiring to the coil pack. Picked car up and although it started, was over-revving and running like a pig. Car went in for MOT next day and new rear break cylinders later we have a new MOT. However due to the over-revving, it failed the emissions first time round and had to be re-done. The over-revving was intermittent. Returned car to Skoda garage as it was still not starting well and running worse than when it went in. They have had it for 2 weeks now and have solved the starting issue, having now also replaced the thermostat which they say was sticking open. Their technician has told me that starting the car with my foot on the throttle is throwing out the settings and causing the car to rev all over the place.  They have reset basic settings on the throttle body and say it runs OK now but when tested in the workshop with throttle depressed, it ran like a pig again. Now reset again, I am due o pick up the car Monday. We are now £700 in to a car worth £400 and wondering where to go now.  These 1.3 estates don't come up very often and we have wanted to persevere with it but can't keep forking out more money - does anyone have any ideas????

[RicardoM]

I understand your frustration. From your description we're looking at a typical rip-off. Just out of curiosity, could you make a detailed list of the costs that totaled £700? I hope that the MOT and the brake cylinders are included in this total. These two items are the only ones you really had to pay for.

Before jumping to solutions, I will list the mistakes you made so far.

• you replaced two parts blindly (the coolant temp sensor and the speed/hall sender) without gathering evidence by diagnosing the engine
• you took the car (I know, reluctantly) to the local Skoda garage
• you didn't ask for help in here

My impression is the Skoda mechanic is either incompetent or thief or both. I would ask him what diagnose he did and what evidence he gathered before deciding (conveniently) that it's your fault for starting the car with your foot on the throttle thus throwing out the settings and causing the car to rev all over the place? Because that's a cheap lie. By the way, did you go alone at the Skoda garage? Some mechanics take advantage of women knowing they know (almost) nothing about engines.

 

Now about solutions. You have to know that a "no start when engine cold" issue can have multiple causes. They can be ignition related, fuel related, throttle body related, vacuum related, compression related, etc. The most effective and quick diagnose is by using a VAG-COM cable/interface. That is why I suggest to ask if a nearby forum member owns a VAG-COM and could help. I invite other members to express their opinion on best solution without guessing.

 

PS

The market value of a car has nothing to do with the cost of repairs to make it run like a dream. It has to do with the knowledge about car mechanics of the buyer.

[HeavyMetalRich]

Unfortunately I suspect most of that £700 bill will be in labour?

 

I agree with Ricardo about the value of the car, once you get it running properly, there is no reason it shouldn't run well for a lot more years if you keep looking after it.

[LKnowles]

Thanks for your comments, all advice is appreciated.  The £700 includes the cost of the car and does include the break cylinders and of course the market value of the car is of no importance to me as long as I have a car I can use! 

Yes, I went to the garage alone and I'm no expert when it comes to Felicia's. The Skoda mechanic supposedly has 30 years experience of working on Skodas.

The main problem now is the over-revving and poor idle.

We really like the car so are going to persevere with it.

Looks like the VAG-COM is the way to go from here. .

Anyone in Cornwall got one???

[HeavyMetalRich]

Ah so you've only given £300 to the Skoda garage, that's not so bad then.

 

I would hope the technician would have tried giving the throttle body a good clean out before trying to reset it using VAG COM. Any remaining dirt causing even the slightest hint of stickiness can upset the reset procedure. If you manage to find someone near you, I'm sure they'll check that for you.

 

All the best with it and keep us informed.

[RicardoM]

1 hour ago, LKnowles said:

The main problem now is the over-revving and poor idle.

Can you record a video showing the engine running (bonnet up of course) then a few close-ups around throttle body? Upload it somewhere and share the link to it. We might narrow down the cause without a lot of guessing. By the way, what will you do in case we tell you what's wrong? Who will perform the repair? Let's say if it's a throttle body issue or a vacuum leak..

 

Meanwhile, I suggest to be more optimistic because it's not a nightmare and for sure not one followed by four exclamation points. Maybe one (at most) 

 

56 minutes ago, HeavyMetalRich said:

Ah so you've only given £300 to the Skoda garage, that's not so bad then.

Agree. Although it's much cheaper for a Felicia to learn more about the basics of Felicia engine and associated repairs..

 

PS

There is a list of VAG-COM owners in topic:

 

[LKnowles]

Thanks for that.  I will attempt to upload a video tomorrow.  

My husband is good with cars but we have always had old cars with NO electronics on - a Favorit seems high tech to us.

Is it worth buying one of these VAG-COM units - they seem to be cheap on ebay but are they any good??

[RicardoM]

2 hours ago, LKnowles said:

Is it worth buying one of these VAG-COM units - they seem to be cheap on ebay but are they any good??

They are Chinese clones of the real thing. They might work. 

[KenONeill]

You can download the "real shareware VCDS" for free. It's worth paying for a well made data comms lead from someone who can actually solder data cables and connectors together though.

[LKnowles]

I have picked the Felicia up from the Skoda dealer today and the starting issue seems to have been dealt with.  It is also running OK with no over-revving, although this was a bit intermittent before. I have followed their instruction by not putting my foot on the throttle when starting the car! and OK so far. It revs a bit fast on start up but then slows down as it warms up. They have checked for air leaks they say and assure there are none.  They are saying the throttle body may need replacing at some point. 

[RicardoM]

2 hours ago, LKnowles said:

It revs a bit fast on start up but then slows down as it warms up.

If 'a bit fast' means 1200-1500 rpm, it's OK.

 

2 hours ago, LKnowles said:

They have checked for air leaks they say and assure there are none.

Probably they had to fix the vacuum leaks after the comeback. I'd say there are none now. We'll never know.

 

2 hours ago, LKnowles said:

They are saying the throttle body may need replacing at some point. 

I would try cleaning it first. It's much cheaper 

 

 

[LKnowles]

Thanks RicardoM for all your sound advice  Much appreciated.