I have a Fabia 1.4 around 10years old (petrol, automatic, low annual mileage  52,000 miles total) and overall a good little runner. From time to time however it won't start. Plenty of battery,engine just fails to engage. Had breakdown service out a couple of times and on second time  he said they get air lock in fuel system from time time, you just need to pump throttle a bit and it will start. (Just to add I never let fuel tank run down to empty.)

 

Last week it sailed through its MOT and I celebrated with a new battery. Two days later it wouldn't start again and this time it took around 10 minutes to get it to engage. The battery was clearly not flat but the engine would not turn over. A delivery driver parked nearby wandered over and said it was the alternator. Was about to call breakdown service when it sprung into life. No problems since.

 

In garage for service yesterday they could not find any cause as nothing wrong with starter,  alternator, electrics or battery. Any ideas on problem.? Would can of Easy Start help?  I have noticed it seems to happen after it has been very cold overnight. Car is parked outside. 

Edited 5 March, 20206 yr by honeyrose
Typos

Not easy start. & not pumping the accelerator. 

 

I would visit a mechanic and get things checked. Just incase it is an issue with the Park position with the gear shifter or the immobiliser.

?

Is this a tiptronic gearbox you have?   

I know nothing about the engine your car has.

 

What servicing has the car had, Spark plugs last changed, Air Filter Changed, Fuel Filter Changed.

It might even be a duffish relay issue, ie the one for the electric petrol pump.

 

Very surprising that a proper garage could not check for things like a faulty engine coolant sensor, these can go out of "cal" but still hand out possible but wrong temperature readings, now if that garage was fit for looking at/after VW Group cars, they could have checked what the sensor was reading, although maybe the duff reading are only happening at low ambient temperatures.

 

Another thing that seemed to plague these 1.4 16V petrol engines was the EVAP system valve, but roughly 100% of its failing only ever affected starting in very hot weather in the way that you have described, ie the engine got force fed too much fuel at cold start in very hot weather.

 

I'm sure that there will be other possibilities as well, just needs a proper garage to sort it out and having it in over a few days - no quick "service - check" will sort this one - as you are finding out.

 

I have heard of cheap and not so cheery air filters causing much older 1.2 3 cylinder ones to have trouble starting cleanly every time - a mate's daughter ended up with that, sticking the original air filter back in - binning the new one and buying a better quality new filter sorted that out.

 

Avoid talking to delivery drivers who like to throw a new alternator that these issues, and as said above, pumping the accelerator pedal on a drive by wire throttle car will not do much other than make you feel good, personally I've never heard of these engines suffering from fuel locks.

 

Edit:- I think EasiStart is magic, works a treat on my motor mower when wakening it up for the first grass cutting of the season - especially when I've left stale petrol in the tank - but I'd never end up using on any of my cars - it was handy when you could whip an air cleaner off a much older car, but these days have gone.

Edited 5 March, 20206 yr by rum4mo

Can I ask, when you say the engine just does not engage, do you mean no turn-over at all? Or does the engine turn over but just not fire? I ask as I have a similear symptom whereby the car will show lights and wipers work but on very cold days it takes a few seconds extra to make the engine turn over. Its like the electricity is sort of slowed down or prevented from reaching the starter. It will turn over fine and start but before I fitted a new battery, suspecting the old one of being weak, it took a heck of a lot longer so power was almost certainly contributory to the issue! My vehicle is a totally different engine, being a 1.4 diesel so I am suspecting something like a decayed earth wire or starter motor wire, etc but with a new, well charged battery it is fine and it only ever effects starting the very first start and in colder conditions. 

Ok it is regularly serviced, has full service history  and in very good condition - sailed through its MOT two weeks ago. Then a week later with a new battery installed, I had starting problem described.  I booked it in for service  and mentioned starting problems and they promised to check it out.They are very experienced well regarded garage. Incidentally they didn't say they hadn't checked the engine coolant sensor. When I picked it up, they said they had checked all the usual suspects and could find nothing wrong. In fact  I mentioned the engine coolant sensor among a little list I had complied of possible causes and they said they had checked it wasn't that.

 

Mgrf: it sounds a lot like your issue. When I turn the ignition, everything springs into life, dash lights up and engine starts to engage then stops . I am only a lay person but the best way to desctibe it is to say it  sounds like it won't "catch." Normally it fires up after another 3 or 4 attempts at starting atbut most recently this did not happen. 

 

 

 

Edited 5 March, 20206 yr by honeyrose
Missing words

@honeyrose, despite the way that you are writing your posts, I am guessing that the engine is being turned over as normal but not firing - which is not the situation that @mrgf is describing.

 

So am I actually wrong and the engine starts to turn when the starter is engaged, then sometimes stops turning while the starter is still engaged - but the instrument lights remain on?

Engine turns and seems about to start up but never quite manages to do so..

So if it turns, with a new strong battery, (Old and worn don't produce the "Juice needed to fire properly... Dunno why, they just don't)!  Then things start to sound like electrical as in spark timing, etc or fuelling as in not getting fuel/week fuel/incorrect fuel added but then, if it does start, it would smoke like an old chimney stack, if you added diesel to it. 

 

rum4mo was correct in me saying i have/had a kind of "delayed" start, where it was like the power was taking a while to flow along the electrics and reaching the starter. Started fine just a delay, as if I had not yet turned the key. (Slow reflex).

 

BTW, have you checked the battery terminals are a nice clean and tight fit?

VW/Skoda are also very particular in saying DO NOT put stuff like grease/petroleum jelly/terminal sealer onto their battery terminals, despite it being quite a normal thing to do, perhaps on older vehicles or older types of batteries. Good, clean untreated contacts!

Edited 8 March, 20206 yr by mrgf