Hi all,

I am in the process of changing the timing chain on my 1.3l 1999 Felicia. The first kit I bought (BGA TC0560FK), the small sprocket had an inner diameter of 32 mm when the original was 30 mm:

I therefore returned the kit and ordered a replacement from a different brand (FAI TCK64). The small sprocket from this kit appears to be correct, however the large sprocket is missing a boss on one side and so will not sit in line with the small sprocket (original on left, replacement right):

Both of these kits were sold as compatible with the 1.3 Felicia but clearly aren't. Before I waste any more time and money, can anyone recommend a brand of timing kit that they know fits this engine?

Yes, because you have a facelift car with a 30mm sprocket, and pre-facelift was 32mm...

BGA does not produce a facelift timing chain

The part number you need is 6U0198026A

NOT 6U0198026

https://www.skoda-parts.com/spare-part/6u0198026a-timing-set-1-3mpi-czech-republic-oe-producer-47995.html

I advise for this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

https://www.autodoc.gr/esen-skv/17575963

While you are there, I highly advise replacing all the gaskets AND THE WATER PUMP with one that has the original Rubena mount (e.g. HEPU)

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if a kit matching 6U0198026A will also have the boss on the large sprocket? The FAI kit I have at the moment does have the 30mm sprocket, but still doesn't fit because the large sprocket is wrong.

Water pump was done ~5 years ago when the old one started leaking, fortunately seems to still be going strong at the moment.

11 hours ago, areed said:

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if a kit matching 6U0198026A will also have the boss on the large sprocket? The FAI kit I have at the moment does have the 30mm sprocket, but still doesn't fit because the large sprocket is wrong.

It should

On 20/12/2025 at 18:40, Thefeliciahacker said:

The part number you need is 6U0198026A

While you are there, I highly advise replacing all the gaskets

Afte how many Km's we must change this? Mine is the latest model (2000) so it's 30mm?

Even the head gasket?

22 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Afte how many Km's we must change this?

I don't think we will ever need to change it facelift chains with frequent and high quality oil can last 250.000km without even the slightest rattle

Edited 22 December, 202522 Dec by Thefeliciahacker

For what it's worth, at 195,000 miles my timing chain looked like this:

The large sprocket has lost ~14 teeth, probably not far away from catastrophic failure...

And the oil pan is full of teeth and metal shavings:

Shockingly, the car was still running fine before I took it off the road to start this maintenance. Hopefully the metal shavings haven't caused further damage to the engine, we'll have to wait and see.

In conclusion, the replacement interval is probably less than 195,000 miles 😂

WOW, the amount of slop is fine, but the missing teeth are not! Judging from the color of the varnish, I would say you were doing 10.000km changes and using mineral or semi-synthetic (i.e. glorified mineral) oil.

28 minutes ago, areed said:

Hopefully the metal shavings haven't caused further damage to the engine, we'll have to wait and see.

Nah don't stress about it, they cannot get past the pickup and if they do they will be caught in the oil filter, the worst thing is causing some marring on the pump gears

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Even the head gasket?

You have a perfectly healthy gasket with very frequent coolant changes you will not have it fail in the cars lifetime

To anyone reading this in future, FAI kit TCK289 does fit the 1999 Felicia 1.3 50 kW engine and matches part number 6U0198026A as recommended above.

And my engine does indeed seem to be running OK despite all the metal shavings, fingers crossed it stays that way!

Yeah, I am happy its working. Again don't care about the shavings. The larger ones will not get past the screen, the smaller ones down to 20μm will be stopped by the good quality oil filter. Anything smaller is smaller than bearing clearance so it will just float in the oil without causing damage. It can only damage contact-based systems like camshaft followers (flat tappets).

6 hours ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

the smaller ones down to 20μm will be stopped by the good quality oil filter.

A magnetic oil drain plug would help?

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

A magnetic oil drain plug would help?

You can buy 8mm neodymium magnets that fit perfectly inside our oil drain plug. I have done it! But it doesn't grab onto anything tbh

This i had i mind, to buy a drain plug and send it to a lathe machine, then fit a neodymium magnet (cylinder).

I don't trust the cheap magnetic oil drain plugs in e-stores.

Some use magnets in oils filters (external plate) for this reason.

Your comes out clean after oil change?

No you can get it off the shelf

11 hours ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

No you can get it off the shelf

Like this one?

https://www.batteryclub.gr/image/cache

I stuck a fairly strong neodymium magnet that I had to hand to the bottom inside of the sump before I refitted it, I figure that can catch anything left over and I'll clean it whenever the sump next gets removed

1 hour ago, areed said:

I stuck a fairly strong neodymium magnet that I had to hand to the bottom inside of the sump before I refitted it, I figure that can catch anything left over and I'll clean it whenever the sump next gets removed

Good but make sure you have a 1.5x higher curie temp than engine oil op temp