I bought a 98 felicia about 2 months ago after the head gasket going on my previous car, after 9 days it kept jumping out of gear and finally the gear box went. I've changed the gear box, clutch and gear linkage with the help of a haynes manual but the car now won't start. The battery is charged and when turning the key the engine tries to turn over but doesn't fire.

Everything looks to be connected and all electrical connections appear to be fine, if left in gear the car lurches forward when trying to start. The haynes manual doesn't show where the fuel pump is but i'm guessing it's the cylinder with 2 pipes coming from it right next to the battery, am i right about this? Also could there be a fuel cut off switch? ANy other ideas would be very much appreciated.

the fuel pump is in the fuel tank which can be accessed by a cover under the back seat.

Did you transfer the engine speed sensor over?, or damage it whilst changing the gearbox? Did you remove the fly wheel and put it on 180 degrees out?

Thanks TeflonTom, i thought there were 2 fuel pumps, i'll check the one in the tank and start my search from there.

fordfan i'm pretty sure i bought the speed sensor over, there are no loose wires or any sockets with nothing in, i'll consult the haynes about where to find it and have a look though. the fly wheel has 3 locating dowels so there's no danger of it being 180 degrees out, i could be wrong though, correct me if so.

Thanks both of you, i'll let you know how this saga turns out.

OK so it seems there was fuel being pumped to the engine, next to check was that i was getting a spark from the plugs, i wasn't so i checked all the cables, they were all in. I took the hall sensor out and found the bottom was broken, this must have happened when fitting the new gear box. The skoda dealership in coventry want

try a breakers yard. but if you have no luck then my local yard have got about 5 or 6 1.3 felicia's. i could allways pop down to see if i can find one. but it's funny, they never seem to have 1.6 engined felicia's.

HI Tom,

where's your local yard, have you got a number? I'm still trying to track one down as quick as possible and having no luck, if i'm having no luck with that how much would you want for sending one up to me?

**Edit** Ignore this now, i eventually found the part at jhmbuttco.com after finding out the part number from the skoda dealer adn the fact that it's generally known as a speed sensor. Please god let this be the end of it.

Well this aint the end of it yet, i fitted the brand spanking new sensor and it started first time, i made sure to charge the battery up and set off for the weekend. Over the weekend the car was parked, came to it sunday and it was completely dead, i got charged up a little and jump started it only to get a mile down the road. The AA said it was the alternator so i took that out and found worn brushes, after getting a new alternator last night it started but this morning wouldn't start again, the engine tries to kick over but nothing fires, any ideas?

is the battery holding it's charge??

if your getting fuel, then it must be a sparking problem, would point to the immobilizer playing up, then coilpack, then spark plugs,

Fuel is fine, there's not immobiliser, i'll check the sparks and what is a coil whatsit?

if it is a petrol model there isan immobilizer, it's up behind the dash near the steering wheel. tbh that would be the first thing i would check.

Bloody thing started first time when i got home, must have been the damp that stopped it this morning, looks like it's back to the haynes manual troubleshooting guide.

i been thinking about it a bit more now!!!!!!

have you considered that the battery in the key (for the immobilizer change code) might be getting a bit tired? batteries can be funny like that, it might work somtimes, then say a change in temperature might stop it working or somthing.

the other thing i thought of, when you changed the clutch did you re-attach the earth strap to the gearbox when you re-assmbled it all? they somtimes get a build up of corrosion around the terminals and it could be causing a problem somewhere?