I have a Fabia Classic 1.4 8v (02). The engine has just started to cut out whilst driving along around town at 30mph, and at standstill. The battery warning light comes on once the engine cuts out.

At the moment I pullover and standstill for a minute before starting the engine again, but cuts out again!

Does any one have any ideas what the problem may be?

Throttle body needs cleaning, or faulty coolant temperature sensor?

the battery warning light will come on when the engine isn't running because the alternator isn't turning over

i would check the two things mentioned above first

Following on from the previous post yesterday, I took the car to my independent garage that has VW diagnostic computer. They managed to look at the fault history and found that each of the injectors was going to earth sporadically (hence the engine cutting out). But they do not have the software for the Skoda 1.4 8v engine so sent me on to the Skoda Dealer.

The Skoda Dealer having interrogated the ECU has diagnosed that the software program in the ECU that controls the injectors is corrupted.

They have proposed to re-load the software on the ECU (one hour labour

Has the ECU got damp? I think it's in the passenger footwell...... Doing the other two things will not do any harm, but from what the two garages have told you, it doesn't sound related....

Chris

Hmm... As said, that problem has come up. In terms of repairing it, I'd be inclined to tell the garage that you want to pay only for the correct remedial work. I.e. if it's not the ecu and could be sensor (or housing) or anything else for that matter, you could be on a mountain climb of bills till they get there.

Perhaps try to make it clear that it is for them to diagnose the fault correctly, advise you and then repair it accordingly with your permission to proceed at a specific cost. As it's a proper Skoda garage, they should be able to do that. I see no reason why you should be paying for them to learn how to diagnose faults.

Just my thoughts.

Mo

the ecu is in the engine bay on the right hand side next to the coolant expansion tank. so there is a poosibility that it has got damp.... but to be honest they normally hold up very well against water ingress

the problem continues....

The Skoda dealer reinstalled the software on the Friday and informed me that the problem was sorted!

Over the weekend the engine was still cutting out. Though this time I noticed the symptoms in more detail. While driving along the accelerator does not respond all of a sudden, changing down a gear from 3rd to 2nd shows that the engine is still running, but with the foot full on the accelerator there is no response, until have to pull over and stop which make the engine cut out.

The car is back at the dealer, who has diagnosed the problem that I need a new Engine Control Unit. A large bill he has assured me! I am a little suspicious, and have yet to get the reasoning behind this.

Does this sound likely for a 5 year old fabia and should I ask about them checking the throttle body instead? Has anyone else had this problem, or could it just be damp/water ingress in the ECU?

All thoughts gratefully received Thanks

^ I've a terrible feeling your garage might be telling the truth, I'm afraid. The dirty throttle body thing will make the car sluggish and unresponsive, but not to the degree you describe AFAIK. Likewise, things like the coolant temp sensor can make the engine run erratically, but there are other (obvious) symptoms with something like that.

Breaking Fabias seem to turn up quite regularly - I don't know about the technicalities, but it might be possible to source a 'second-hand' ECU to try?