Hello all!

Two months ago I created an account here and also created a first topic called "Favorit - things worth to check in".

 

Today I want to write a kind of helpdesk for all users of Favorit, who has got similar problem to me.

 

Firstly - my car run poor, very poor - strange noises from engine, totally lack of power from 2000 to 4000 rpms, after 4000 rapidly increases power for a while, gigantic fuel consumption (17 liters per 100 kms) and the LPG/GPL installation works not very fine also. 

 

Well, so I replaced the timing chain and changed all spark plugs with wires, after that I realized that all vacuum pipes were in bad condition, so I replaced them.

I had a leaking fuel problem (also because old rubber pipes leaked everywhere), so I changed it to new. 

 

After that repair, car started run smoothly and much faster, but... It couldn't go above 130 kmph - badly ingition timing - set +5 degrees (instruction says 0...4 for 135 and 3...7 for 136, fuel is LPG so i set 5 and it runs correctly)

 

There was a new problem with temperature. When I push accelerator hardly or driving faster than 110 kmph, the temperature of engine run rapidly above 100 degrees C, so I changed... water pump, radiator, thermostat, I flushed all cooling system, there was no improvement at all. I'd like to add that the compression was good for all four cylinders and there was no smoke from exhaust, and the oil was clear, without cooling fluid. 

 

So, I had the lack of idea, what to do. I bought new head gasket (old one was in bad shape, rusty), skimmed head 0.2 mm and folded it back.

 

Well, it was a problem! For today, my car runs easily above 140 kmph and it hasn't any cooling problem despite of hot weather in Poland (about 35-37 degrees). 

 

Very big thanks for @RicardoM and other members of Briskoda for such a great help with topic about older car. 

 

For today I must only replace LPG filter and carburetor decanter (google translate, I think about fuel reservoir), because the old one crashed and I have fuel leaking. With your help my car will go to Greece and come back without problems, I hope! 

Here is a test question. What "tells" you the old head gasket and the cylinder head itself? Any clues related to overheating?

 

PS

If you took more photos during the head gasket job, please share them all.

About head gasket - it's common failur, including symptoms. Oil/water mixing occurs in later phases.

I had same failure on same cylinder - one closest to water pump. Have you checked if liners have right nip clearance (hope it's right term)? In my case it was somehow smaller on cylinder, which leaked, but after 50k km it still seems working properly.

 

You were lucky that head material was intact - corrosion caused by bad coolant is common.

About checking liners - of course I checked it before mounting engine head, everything was ok. 

 

I haven't any clues related to overheating, so I tried to repair everything about coolant system without touching the head gasket, my mechanic said that it is impossible that I have a heat gasket failure, because my Favorit had right compression ratio and there was no visible fumes from exhaust, also the oil was in great shape. Fortunately, after head gasket repair, Skoda stopped overheating. For sure it will be pleasure for my car that it has a new radiator and fluid I was really happy when I saw head and all engine without damages from Fridex coolant. So, I have three more photos with parts of engine.

4 hours ago, sagitarius said:

my mechanic said that it is impossible that I have a heat gasket failure, because my Favorit had right compression ratio and there was no visible fumes from exhaust, also the oil was in great shape

Well, your mechanic should learn that a head gasket failure could start with a very small crack between coolant passages and combustion chambers. It is not always an explosive failure like we see at car rallies. That might escape to a compression test (not compression ratio, which is a constant). The definitive test is a cylinder leak down test.

 

If you have more photos that documented this job or any other repair job, you can create an account on imgur.com, or Google Drive, or Yandex.Disk, etc. to upload them or you can send them to me by mail.

16 hours ago, sagitarius said:

my mechanic said that it is impossible that I have a heat gasket failure, because my Favorit had right compression ratio and there was no visible fumes from exhaust, also the oil was in great shape

 

So far I had 2 failures, once between 2nd and 3rd cylinder, once near 1st cylinder and first symptom in both cases was overpresure in cooling system with some overheating. No missi g coolant, no fumes or oil degradation. So I think that this "impossible" thing is more like rule for Skoda engines.

 

Most of gasses get into coolant circuit during higher loads (once one of my cooling hoses exploded after short full-throttle ride)

Compression pressure test won't show anything in this phase, since pressure in combustion chamber during expansion is much higher than during compression.

Edited 12 August, 20187 yr by Papez

So, dear friends, I have a new problem with my Favorit - engine runs well despite of wavy idling (above 1100 rpms waving dissapear) on LPG and petrol. Car accelerates good from 0 to 90 km/h, above it I had a feeling like dropping the anchor behind me. Maximum velocity declined to 115 km/h and there is no way to go faster. I checked all vacuum connections, checked plugs and wires and everything looks ok. Do you have any idea, where I should seek a problem? I didn't notice more problems except very weak 4th and especially 5th gear. 

4 hours ago, sagitarius said:

... engine runs well despite of wavy idling (above 1100 rpms waving dissapear)

That is usually a clear symptom of vacuum leaks. Oh, rough idling is not "engine runs well". On the contrary.

 

Other typical reasons for rough idling are:

• bad spark plugs or spark plug wires
• carburetor problems
• head gasket leak

Edited 29 September, 20187 yr by RicardoM

Hi! I have an answer to my problems. 

 

Firstly, I noticed that the support under carburetor has a split, I bought new one and replaced it. The second problem was in hose from engine to brake servo - it was cracked and I also replaced it. So, problems solved, main reason was unwanted air from these leaks.