My very reliable Fabia Mk2 is giving me problems. On the way back from a shopping trip today it suddenly started spluttering and the glow plug light came on. I did manage to get home with the EML on and the car in limp mode. I do have a generic OB reader somewhere, which I will try when I locate it, but any ideas what the problem might be?

 

 

Diesel or petrol 

Sorry, 1.6tdi.

 

My OBD reader comes up with the following: P0203 - open connector cylinder 3. Any idea what this means?

Start with the wiring and connections to cylinder 3.

6 hours ago, Salopshire said:

My OBD reader comes up with the following: P0203 - open connector cylinder 3. Any idea what this means?

 

Given that it's a 1.6 TDI it's probably number three injector failing so you may need a new one.

8 hours ago, nta16 said:

Start with the wiring and connections to cylinder 3.

Thank you. I have checked that and everything seems ok.

7 hours ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Given that it's a 1.6 TDI it's probably number three injector failing so you may need a new one.

That's what I've seen elsewhere, seems to be a common problem - my car has done 85000 miles. I'm reasonably competent, but I've never replaced an injector, is it a job I could/should do myself do you think?

1 hour ago, Salopshire said:

That's what I've seen elsewhere, seems to be a common problem - my car has done 85000 miles. I'm reasonably competent, but I've never replaced an injector, is it a job I could/should do myself do you think?

 

The new injector would need adapting after installation so you should find an independent VW specialist to do it for you.

Unfortunately there isn't one near me. I have now diagnosed the fault as being number 3 injector. Reading the the resistance of all of them showed injectors 1,2 and 4 to have a resistance of around 190k ohm each. Number 3 read less than 1k. I then put a 190k ohm resistor into number 3 connector and - guess what? - no code. So number 3 needs replacing. I think I could do it ok, but of course it would need coding into the ECU. What would I need to do that, and is it worth doing for (hopefully!) a one-off job?

Labour costs wise it'd probably not be worth it it as a one off job but given your level of diagnostics and checking it might be worth you buying a higher level of scan tool or access level to do this work and other future work on your car (and others), and also given there's at least one thread on here where a garage balls'd the job up leaving the car owner up to his eyeballs in the smelly stuff.

 

Whether the cheap and/or favoured VW systems do this at reasonable cost I don't know but general higher level scan tools are into the hundreds of pounds over here but I think you'd find the information and what they can do and check without the need for other tools and effort with the correct level of scan tool to be very useful and time (and effort) saving, depends of course how much you enjoy the chase to the final resolution.

 

Edited 19 May, 20224 yr by nta16
spelling

Thank you for that. You're quite correct about it probably not being worth it as a one-off job to get the necessary tools, etc. Click Mechanic have quoted me £560 to supply and replace the injector. Having said that, it looks like about £250 labour charge for what seems to me to be barely two hours work. And of course, given the car's age and mileage, there is also the likelihood of another injector failing before too long.

At that rate the scan tool could be an economic investment for this and future jobs on this car (and others) as part of servicing, maintenance and repairs and for preventive servicing and save potential later time and hassle.  Say like checking the condition of the battery and charging system, also clearing historical codes, checking how the car is actually performing before an error code or light is thrown up, diagnostics and wiring and communications for the whole car and not just the engine plus, if you must, fiddle with and alter settings hidden or adjustable on the car via the computer programs.  There can be dedicated updates and links to more information on repairs and problem solving via the scan tool manufacturer.

 

There's only so much you can do on modern cars without the interference of their computer programs, particularly VW (cough, diesellgate).