Hello,

1.2 Fabia, 2013 engine code CGP - 12v 3pot - 101k on the clock - 51kw. Power?

Vehicle is well maintained, regular oil/filter services, clutch replaced at 85k.

Last week my daughter was driving home, 10 mile journey, engine management light came on 3 miles from

home, she pulled over to see if there was anything untoward but nothing, vehcile felt ok, no overheating etc

She drove the 3 miles home, stopped for a short while and then had to go back out to her friends a mile away, when

she got in the car the engine light after starting did not come on, she states she thought the EPC light might have come on.

As she was approaching her friends, car seemed a bit ‘off’ and then came to a halt and would not start.

She tried starting it, car seemed to turn over but not quite the same as usual, her mates dad came out to her with

his OBD, error stated camshaft sensor (i think) they went off and bought a new sensor, put it on to the car but it

was still the same.

Prior to this there were no knocks, no rattling, no misfiring no jumping, nothing.

I enclose a short video of them trying to start the car, I’m not a mechanic, but if the timing chain had broke what

would be the tell tale signs?

Hopefully I can enclose a short video of them trying to start it after they attached the new sensor

I’m in the east mids, my daughter uses the car for commuting to UNI, I have no idea who or where or even

how to get it anywhere for a formal diagnosis.

Thankyou in advance for any points/advice given

Edited 21 August, 202521 Aug by Jogon

A simple check. Have a look at the thin wire going to alternator(exciter wire). Its known for it to break causing no start.

Alasdair

Hello Alasdair, thanks for your input.

I checked the wiring, there are two wires, red and blue that go to the top, they appear intact?

I’ve since managed to remove one of the spark plugs and turned the engine over via the ignition

and although it wont fire/start the piston was moving freely inside the barrel of the spark plug.

One thing i did notice was the plug that came out seemed a little dry but came out ok, but the gap

seems artificially wide but maybe thats me, does the plug look healthy/unhealthy?

I checked the spark on the plug (placed it against the engine) and no problem with that either.

Edited 21 August, 202521 Aug by Jogon

That does look like a big gap but I don't know what the proper gap should be. I think it depends on the make of plug but I assume it would be 0.9-1mm. Also worth checking your actually getting a spark. I doubt if all three coil packs would fail at one time. Check fuses as well for fuel pump etc.

The two thin wires on the alternator should be marked L and DFM on the small connector. The L wire is the exciter wire and the DFM is connected to ECU. Cant remember their colours I have read they are liable to break at the connector but still look ok. The wire marked L should have 12V supply with ignition on.

Alasdair

Hello, welcome to the forum.

That plug looks OK for colour (combustion) but as Alasdair says, the gap does look very wide - are you able to measure with gapping tool? Spark will be weaker when in chamber and under compression.

Are you able to measure battery voltage? (with engine both stopped and cranking)

Edited 21 August, 202521 Aug by Warrior193
correction

The timing chain won't have broken, but it may have jumped a tooth or two on one of the sprockets. Cam sensor error can be generated by this.

There is a fairly straightforward way of checking the cam to cam timing, involving removal of some covers at the gearbox end of the rocker cover.

Apologies for the delay, I was away at the weekend with zero internet which was a pain.

Thankyou for your input Alasdair1 / Warrior193 / Breeze Pete

On returning home earlier today it was noted in the cylinder that was open via removal of the plug that when the person removed

the plug for me there was an amount of rubber on the top of the plug which came off, when he removed the plug some of the rubber

went into the opening, I've fished it out luckily but I have a notion they tried to start the engine with that bit of rubber in there?

I confess to being a little out of it with engines, I'm struggling to get anyone to take a look, although it won't start I'm told that

a compression test would help diagnose further.

I'll be fully checking the alternator wires tomorrow, I've checked every fuse under the steering wheel, the only error code I can

find on my icarplus obd is the camshaft sensor which as stated previous my daughter had replaced roadside before it was recovered

back to our address, didn't make ay difference.

I can't even tow it to a reasonably local garage that I sometimes use (they stated they'd have a go at diagnosing it if I got it to them)

because the power steering isn't working due to my not being able to get it started, making it pretty heavy on turning the steering wheel.

I'm at a loss as to what to do, my daughter is fretting as she has Uni restarting real soon and no car at her disposal, I don't want to

write it off as prior to this issue it really has been flawless and she has really gotten on well with it.

If anyone has an idea/ can come take a look, give me a reputable garage in the east mids (I'm near Ashby de la Zouch) or can come

speng a bit of time on it at my address to at least get it diagnoses (expenses paid). failing that I don't have a clue.

Thanks anyway for your input, it's much appreciated.

On 21/08/2025 at 13:40, Alasdair1 said:

A simple check. Have a look at the thin wire going to alternator(exciter wire). Its known for it to break causing no start.

Alasdair

Broken (blue) exciter wire will be obvious by the battery symbol not appearing on the instrument cluster when ignition is turned on to the point lots of warning lights self-test.

If broken it might cause charging issues, but unless this causes a flat battery, will not have any impact on engine start.

@Alasdair1 you might be thinking of the starter solenoid wire instead? When that breaks it causes a no-crank non-starting situation? This engine appears to be cranking OK.

Unfortunately you are too far away for me to help in person.

It has got petrol in the tank, right?

I would start with checking there is actually a spark and also fuel getting to engine. If there is then do a compression test. It could be a fuel pump failure/blockage at filter/relay? or coil pack suppy problem. Not sure what the rubber would be at sparkplug unless its come from the socket that was used to remove plugs. Some spark plug sockets have rubber insert.

Alasdair

As above with the spark ....

Could be the petrol pump, easy enough to check, if the wiring plug is removed and someone has a multimeter and can use it, its accessed under the back seat, on my Polos anyway.

Thanks again for the replies, still stuck on the drive.

I can confirm there is a spark from the plug, I have took a plug out and placed it against the block whilst my daugther turned the ignition, the spark was there.

I can hear the fuel pump engage when first turning the ignition on, or at least I think it’s that, it comes on for a second or so as if priming and then stops.

Thanks re the rubber in the plug, think thats it (from a socket that was applied from a lawn mower long reach one.
In edit to the above, I’ve took off the coli pack to a second plug and that two has a rubber sheath around the top of the plug which makes it impossible to get the plug out with a conventional socket, i’ll put up a pic if i can get one from my phone

How does one compression test it? I’ve stuck it in gear and pushed it a little, seems to be as normal when you trying pushing a car say for jump starting, it engages/jolts a little?

Edited 29 August, 202529 Aug by Jogon

A compression test requires a pressure gauge to be held or screwed into the cylinder and the engine turned at cranking speed.

The test results for each cylinder are compared against the remaining ones and against an expected minimum.

But a first check should be to confirm that the valve timing is correct.

I enclose a photo of the plugs in situ, but one has the rubber surround, the other which i first took out and left some rubber debris when taken out has no longer got any rubber around it?

I have tried to remove the second plug but cannot get the socket round it due to the rubber shield, on the first one it was sort of prised off a little with a long handled screwdriver by the initial recover guy who then managed to get on the socket to get it out, alas when it went back in some of the rubber was still around the shaft and fell into the block, which i then managed to get back out via some stickytape wrapped securely inside out mainly round a long pices of hard wire which lifted it out.


I guess the valve timing is to check the chain hasn’t broke? Thats beyond me at this point

6 minutes ago, Jogon said:

I enclose a photo of the plugs in situ, but one has the rubber surround, the other which i first took out and left some rubber debris when taken out has no longer got any rubber around it?

I have tried to remove the second plug but cannot get the socket round it due to the rubber shield, on the first one it was sort of prised off a little with a long handled screwdriver by the initial recover guy who then managed to get on the socket to get it out, alas when it went back in some of the rubber was still around the shaft and fell into the block, which i then managed to get back out via some stickytape wrapped securely inside out mainly round a long pices of hard wire which lifted it out.


I guess the valve timing is to check the chain hasn’t broke? Thats beyond me at this point

To check that valve timing has not slipped out of correct synchronisation - this can occur if the tensioner is faulty, allowing cam sprockets to 'jump' a tooth or two.

Does this render the engine dead or is it not quite as bad as that?

It depends on how far the valve timing has 'slipped' - I have seen posts where the engine was reported as still running - but not very well - others where it was a non-runner.

In some engines, if the valve timing is far enough out of sync. it can result in serious damage by allowing the pistons to make contact with the valves (so-called interference engines)

I’ll keep trying to get the other two plugs out if i can work out why there is a rubber surround on them making plug socket impossible to get on, I couldn’t see any damage on the one piston, as in if it’s smacked into the valves, i’d have thought if they had even a light tap they’d be some metal damage viewable. I have no idea what these rubber surrounds are doing as photos of the coil packs/spark plugs don’t appear to show any inserts/covers

Has the rubber come from inside the HT leads cap. Jut wondering if its snapped off inside because its stuck somehow to plugs and broken when you removed them. If it has then a long thin screw driver might be able to loosen them from around plugs and remove before removing plugs from engine. I got a cheap compression tester off Amazon. A cheap one will do and doesnt need to be too accurate. All you want is to make sure that the three pistons are aprox equal and arent all very low

This is similar to the one I got for around £15

Alasdair

Is this the same thing? I can get one of these or one like yours for tomorrow, this one is £23. (just thinking it may be more idiot proof for someone like me, or then again more technical?

The description for the one in the photo is as follows

Automotive engine cylinder leakage test kit:Cylinder leak gauge set is designed to detect a variety of common engine faults such as worn piston rings, cylinder head cracks, worn valves and blown head gaskets. It checks the amount of leakage in an engine cylinder and helps determine the source.

• The cylinder leak tester is suitable for detecting whether the air-tightness of the cylinder of the automobile engine is within the allowable air leakage range. It can also further judge the leakage location and cause from the analysis of the failure phenomenon, so as to take measures to eliminate the failure.

• Double scale compression testers with measuring range of 0-7bar and 0-100psi, suit for any petrol engines fitted with 12mm or 14mm spark plugs.

• For use with most makes and models of vehicle with petrol engines (12 and 14 mm spark plug thread), the measurement range up to 7 bar / 100 psi is measured with an accuracy of ± 2.5 %, flexible hose with quick connector and dual pressure gauge.

• Car leak tester kit detector tool is designed with rubber protective cover on the pressure gauge, anti-drop, anti-scratch, ensure the safety use.

Will it start using Easystart sprayed into the air intake (airbox)? If it runs using Easystart then its a fuelling matter. Try the easy options first.

Not quite. Think the one you are looking at does compression and leak down tests as well. It should do the job though. It comes with both 12mm and 14mm spark plug inserts. I got mine for a very old Ford industrial engine in my forklift. I found if I removed all plugs I got a faster cranking speed and better results. All you need is an aproximate reading to see if there is good compression on all cylinders.

Alasdair

3 hours ago, Alasdair1 said:

Not quite. Think the one you are looking at does compression and leak down tests as well. It should do the job though. It comes with both 12mm and 14mm spark plug inserts. I got mine for a very old Ford industrial engine in my forklift. I found if I removed all plugs I got a faster cranking speed and better results. All you need is an aproximate reading to see if there is good compression on all cylinders.

Alasdair

Plus you also need to confirm that all cylinder pressures are within acceptable percentage to each other.

I ordered both the sets, they should be here in the afternoon (Saturday)

From what I can make out the rubber is part of the coil pack? see this post on the forum and which i’ve just posted in

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/534182-can-i-use-damaged-coil-packs/

Noted regarding the acceptable percentages, will come back here when i have something more to go on (dependant on what time the items land later today Saturday.

Ok re the easy start, next up is compression testing and checking out the fuel pump

Thank you again those adding input, it really is much appreciated.

Edited 30 August, 202530 Aug by Jogon

If it tries wwith easy start then it could well be a fuel problem or low compression. If the fuel pump is working then next step I would take would be change fuel filter. Could also be an electrical fault at injectors?

Alasdair

22 hours ago, Jogon said:

Thanks again for the replies, still stuck on the drive.

I can confirm there is a spark from the plug, I have took a plug out and placed it against the block whilst my daugther turned the ignition, the spark was there.

I can hear the fuel pump engage when first turning the ignition on, or at least I think it’s that, it comes on for a second or so as if priming and then stops.

Thanks re the rubber in the plug, think thats it (from a socket that was applied from a lawn mower long reach one.
In edit to the above, I’ve took off the coli pack to a second plug and that two has a rubber sheath around the top of the plug which makes it impossible to get the plug out with a conventional socket, i’ll put up a pic if i can get one from my phone

How does one compression test it? I’ve stuck it in gear and pushed it a little, seems to be as normal when you trying pushing a car say for jump starting, it engages/jolts a little?

Normally, if you just turn the ignition but do not start the car then the fuel pump relay is energised (to start the pump) but only stays energised for maybe 5 seconds or so, its definitely more than a second or two to allow the car to start which then sends a signal probably from the RPM sensor to the ECU to keep the relay energised, in the even of a collision or if the engine stalls then the relay is also denergised for safety reasons.

I would just switch on or get someone to switch the ignition on and monitor the time taken before the relay deenergises again.

Edited 30 August, 202530 Aug by Johngerard