Hi Everybody !

 

First Question from a newbie, please be gentle

 

Have a MK I Fabia, 1.4 16v manual 

 Had the car from new ( 2002) and has approx 50K miles on the clock.

Most of the time it just sits in my (damp)garage and I use it for the three mile round trip to the shops at the weekend ( it does get a longer run out every so often, honest)

 

Has now started to run a bit rough; when it is warmed up it is very lumpy at idle& when you change gear and the revs drop.

Also had the temperature warning light come on last week, but not today.

 

Briefly checked under the bonnet and couldnt see anything obvious, like low coolant level or low oil

 

Really need to get this looked at, but I would like to know what this might be, so that I have some idea of where to direct the garage to look.

 

Advice appreciated,

Thank you for your time

 

Tom

Give it a treat.  Take it out and drive it for 50 miles like you stole it.

Rev it hard, get it good and hot.  Preferably at least 25 of those 50 miles on the motorway/dual carriageway at 70 mph.

It will work wonders.

Repeat once per month.

 

As above is a very good shout, although could be your coil pack/spark plugs causing misfire - hot engine changing resistance in the packs maybe?

Regarding the warning light, unless the gauge went high up the scale indicating its hot its likely to be the coolant level light. Easily resolved by fitting new expansion tank (£10 from ecp)

Wow, Thanks both for speedy reply !

Looks like a day at the seaside is in order with Umbrella etc

Were the 16v engines not the ones with the dodgy piston rings? If so i thought the best way to avoid issues was to thrash the nuts off it every week to keep it clean

Hi all,

 

have now taken the car on a long run (40 miles, including motorway)

The idle problem has now got worse (runs just fine at higher speeds), very low idle speed and the engine management warning light is now flashing.

Appears to also be an issue now when just starting up (ie not as previously when warmed up only); otherwise no other issues,no overheating etc

Grateful for all further input/suggestions

Thank you

Sound like a missfire issue if eml is flashing.

If you have access to a fault code reader try plugging it in, vcds is best shout but if not a cheap ebay reader will show basic codes