Hi have a 2008 Fabia MKII.  When I start engine this morning the Inspection light came on and whilst driving after a few minutes notice a lot of vibration from engine especially while i was stationary at the lights.  After 6 miles the exhaust system warning light came on and I was sure the car was going to stall.  I pulled over and sat for two minutes.  When I started again the light had gone off but it was still vibrating slightly.  Managed to get home?   Anyone know what the problem is?

Welcome to the forum! To help it would be a good idea to tell us what engine you have. Sounds like it has been misfiring so I presume its petrol?

Good to be here thanks for your reply.  It's a petrol engine.   Spent a lot on the car this year as it's getting pretty old now but has done 61,000 miles - just use for short trips to work 12 miles 4 days a week.

And.......

 

How about enlightening us with some engine details, we are not mind readers.

 

Is it a 1.2 htp 70ps for instance?

 

5Dr Hatchback 1.2 HTP 60 1

Edited 20 October, 20187 yr by soles62

1? is the trim level not the engine.

 

I am going to presume it is 60ps 1.2 HTP which is a 3 cylinder engine.

 

Based on experience, my best guess is that rough running and EPC light is almost certainly a failing ignition coil pack or a bad spark plug or both. There are 3 of each.

 

If it's more than 30,000 miles since the spark plugs were changed, they need to be changed. They cost about £3 - £4 each. If you still experience problems you need to buy a new coil pack, they are about £25 - £30 each, and by a process of elimination, swap it out, start with cylinder one, if problem persists, swap cylinder 2 with the removed one and so on.

 

If you get this done at a garage it will cost considerably more because of labour charges.

 

A diagnostic scan can point you to the offending cylinder straight away but Skoda or other garage charge usually at least £70 for a scan.

 

If by the inspection light you mean the spanner symbol in the LCD display, then that is a service indicator, saying it's time for a service, meaning it's either a year or 9300 miles since it's been last reset, which should be done when it's serviced.

 

Prices quoted are from online places such as eurocarparts, carparts4less, gsfcarparts, opieoils, eBay and Amazon. Garages will charge a lot more for parts.

 

 

 

 

Edited 20 October, 20187 yr by xman

Thanks Xman I really appreciate you reply and advice.  I have a eurocarparts about 4 miles from where i live - will head along there.  Thanks again.  Soles. 

Edited 23 October, 20187 yr by soles62

They deliver free of charge. Order online and use the current discount code. Click and collect or free delivery.

Edited 23 October, 20187 yr by xman

ok will check them out online.  cheers again.

Discount online usually 30-50%

even better

or carparts4less have a lower discount code but dont inflate the prices first. Same company btw, just usually end up a little cheaper.

Just now, Tech1e said:

or carparts4less have a lower discount code but dont inflate the prices first. Same company btw, just usually end up a little cheaper.

 

Most of the time a bit cheaper, occasionally the 50% ECP megasale promotions work out cheaper. Two advantages to ECP, first ypu have click and collect and (only) if you have online orders delivered there is a whopping 365 day returns period.

 

If in a hurry, go to the ECP counter and ask them to price match carparts4less. Often they oblige.

Either way, might not be a bad idea to get it diagnosed.

 

Had a lot of injectors play about on these engines too.

Diagnostic scan will cost twice as much as a set of plugs and a coil and iirc when a htp fuel injector goes dicky (much rarer than coils but happens sometimes) all the diagnostic will tell you is a misfire on cylinder x error code. So inevitably, the plugs and coils get changed first.

 

And dealers/mechanics sometimes interpret completely wrong, one member had a cylinder head changed instead of an injector.

 

Do the cheap things first, which also happen to be the most common faults.

 

Edited 23 October, 20187 yr by xman

xman, you are getting me worried a bit there on the limitations concerning the 365 day return thing! 

 

I panic ordered an AC compressor last year, an online order with click and collect, after carrying out a proper look at that car’s compressor, I realised that it was not leaking a the body gasket, so took the compressor back and got my money refunded.

 

This year after my daughter complaining about strange things happening while braking heavily, and ECP having a Black Friday event, I ordered new discs and pads to have in case I ever got hold of that car to check the brakes - I still have them and am hoping to be able to return them like I did with the AC compressor.

 

So, I think that the 365 day no quibble returns apples to all on line ordering, both click and collect or delivered from main warehouse, time will tell!

23 minutes ago, xman said:

Diagnostic scan will cost twice as much as a set of plugs and a coil and iirc when a htp fuel injector goes dicky (much rarer than coils but happens sometimes) all the diagnostic will tell you is a misfire on cylinder x error code. So inevitably, the plugs and coils get changed first.

 

And dealers/mechanics sometimes interpret completely wrong, one member had a cylinder head changed instead of an injector.

 

Do the cheap things first, which also happen to be the most common faults.

 

 

I plug in and check the fault code.

 

If it says cylinder missfire on cylinder 2 I swap coil to cylinder 1 and injector to 3. Takes a few mins but then you know exactly what is causing the fault.

Edited 23 October, 20187 yr by Tech1e

Need a code reader though, not everyone has one or wants to buy one. 

 

8 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

So, I think that the 365 day no quibble returns apples to all on line ordering, both click and collect or delivered from main warehouse, time will tell!

 

365 day returns also apply to click and collect, I was wrong, must have changed in the last couple of years

 

https://www.eurocarparts.com/returns-and-refunds

 

Phew xman, sorry but I'm glad you were wrong there!  Otherwise I might have needed to put "plan B" into action, ie replace the discs and pads, younger people tend to be tight wads when it comes to these sorts of things - she can afford a quick trip to KL and Oz at Easter though!  Wait 'till I tell her it is almost time to get a new cambelt fitted to her car!

 

Actually when I serviced that car (late 2009 Ibiza) last week, before its MOT, I found a small hole/indent on both pads on one front brake, Pagid stuff, as she has stopped complaining about braking issues, I just refitted these pads. Problem is that she is a teacher and has changed schools - the braking issue only ever happened at one down hill off ramp from a fast dual carriageway, so changing schools means that she never ever passes that way again!  Someone somewhere has complained in the past about Pagid pads breaking up slightly I think.

Without looking at the defect, I can't comment. However, as you know pads are very cheap from ECP particularly when on special promotion 5 or 6 times a year. Pagid pads brand now owned/exclusive to ECP, I think, no idea who really makes them.

 

For peace of mind I always go up the scale to Bosch, Textar or ATE.

 

If you are stripping down the brakes during a service, its not expensive to fit new if you have any doubt about the state of the existing pads. Although on the other hand unless you're changing the discs, they will also need some time to bed in.

Pagid along with Textar and Mintex are or were all brands within TMD Friction,  VW at least, used to fit Pagid on the fronts of B5 Passats and Textar at the rear, so I don’t have any worries about using Pagid - unless ECP have struck a deal with Pagid to package some ECP sourced pads for them, ECP are the sole aftermarket importers of Pagid and ATE to UK, which is a bit of a nuisance.

 

Along with Bosch, though I don’t know who supplies them with pads, VW are currently fitting Bendix to Polos with the 288mm front discs.

17 hours ago, xman said:

Need a code reader though, not everyone has one or wants to buy one. 

 

 

True.

 

 Fault should be cleared down after its repaired anyhow and readiness codes checked ideally (although not essential).

 

Regardless, diagnosis trumps parts cannon any day of the week. Find fault, repair it. Cars cost money and sometimes paying (even a little ammount) to someone with the right knowledge can save money and trouble in the long run.

2 hours ago, Tech1e said:

 

True.

 

 Fault should be cleared down after its repaired anyhow and readiness codes checked ideally (although not essential).

 

Regardless, diagnosis trumps parts cannon any day of the week. Find fault, repair it. Cars cost money and sometimes paying (even a little ammount) to someone with the right knowledge can save money and trouble in the long run.

I agree with the principal but just look at the practicalities and the cost.

 

In the past, I've taken cars, on more than one occasion, to my local Skoda dealer with an engine problem which has always turned out to be ignition related. First thing they want to do is for me to sign and agree a diagnostic charge which is £85. They find (say with the 1.2tsi) a lead and a coil is faulty. Cost to fix another eyewatering £360! They will waive the diagnostic charge only if I give them the job. So £360 for fitment of parts which I can source elsewhere for under £50 plus £85 diagnostic on top. In the end, I foolishly ended up paying the £360 (and then wait 2 days for them to get parts) only to find over 2 years later they had fitted revised leads but not bothered to change the clips which were also revised, so left the leads dangling, one had melted through its plastic trunking stuck firmly to the heat shield.

 

On the 1.2htp and indeed other engines, pencil coil paks are such a common problem, the swap and see approach is simple and costs far less than even one diagnostic at a dealer or independent. And as far as I can see, the EPC light goes out on its own and doesn't need resetting.

 

Indeed I carry a couple of spare paks in the cars which cost me £18 each, because over 14 years, I've had to change them on 2 htp cars, 3 times. I recognise the symptoms straight away. Its always the OE parts that fail, the cheap and cheerful ECP parts are, on the other hand very reliable. And I can change them by the side of the road if necessary in under 5 mins. Not having to wait up to a week for a dealer to fit me in and then limp the car in to them.

Edited 24 October, 20187 yr by xman