My Mk1 Fabia has a bit of a rough tick over and now and agin coughs and goes into limp mode, any low revs can cause this too e.g. pulling away with too few revs on. The engine runs fine at higher revs. I took it to my local garage who stated the following:

Erased fault codes and found misfire on cylinder 2, swapped coil packs and plugs around and misfire is still in cylinder 2. Carried out compression test to find cyliner 2 at 120 and other two at 200/210. Suggest internal problem with the engine or possible stretch of the timing chain. Issue is only there on idle, would require engine strip-down to investigate fully and cure.

 

Due to the fact that it is running OK generally and the car is only worth around £800 they recommended I ignore it but return if the issue gets worse. This is a petrol 1200cc model. Any suggestions anybody? Is this a known fault with this engine?

common on the 1.2 engines. its the valves burning and not sealing properly anymore creating low compression and poor idling

45 minutes ago, JWvrs25 said:

common on the 1.2 engines. its the valves burning and not sealing properly anymore creating low compression and poor idling

So I guess leaving it alone is the best bet until its gets realy bad then clean replace valves?

Leave it too late and the valve seats will be far too damaged to recut/repair.

 

Its going to be at least a Cylinder head refurb, maybe replacement cylinder head, so several hundred pounds unless you DIY.

 

Car is worth £800?

 

 

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by xman

Looks like I've managed to buy another dud then. Paid £799 so don't know that its worth spending the money on it. This is way beyond my expertise, perhaps I ned to find an apprentice who needs some practice.

It's "buyer beware" with any VW 1.2 6V engine, they all do it, burnt and split exhaust valves are the problem, if yours hasn't been previously repaired then replacing all three exhaust valves with more durable parts is the only permanent cure.

 

Once fixed it's a perfectly decent little engine but it's an expensive fix if you only paid £800 for the whole car since the head gasket and bolts will need replacing to refit the reconditioned head.

 

It's not a difficult job if you fancy having a go yourself, but the head work will have to done by a machine shop.

 

You could always pay a mobile mechanic to take the head off, drop the head in to be done then pay the mechanic to refit it once you've got it back.