Fabia 1.4 8V 51 plate Occasional starting problem

[minyrafon]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum so please excuse me if I'm posting the obvious.

When starting the car it will fire and start and then cut out. Pushing the accelerator after starting doesn't help, it will still cut out. When I restart it will fire and start and be OK.

It's more annoying than anything else. There are no fault codes showing as we've had it checked. There's about 2 months to go on the warranty.

Any thoughts, please,

Thanks in advance

[ap0gee1978]

Like when the remote control on the telly doesn't work properly, the battery's often the first place to look when you're having trouble getting your car started! 6 years is apparently a pretty good innings for an OEM battery, so unless it's been replaced in the past, it may be on the way out...

[ruku]

I had this problem a few times a while back, but havent had it since, It got suggested that i may need a throttle body realignment

[Duggie]

I have this problem about once a week, same engine, same car. Perhaps it's the fact that it is not a VW engine (it's a skoda), the battery sounds like a good idea.... however, perhaps Duggie doesn't like mondays.

[fordfan]

At first it sems like an immobiliser problem, if the immobliser light isn't flashing and you say that there are no fault codes (instrument panel checked for codes?) then I would discount this, the engine will show start blocked by the immobiliser.

Fisrt off I would clean the throttle body and put it into basic settings, you may be able to put it into basic settings by leaving the ignition on (engine not runing for a minute).

If there are no fault codes showing in the engine there may still be a fault. We had a 16 valve Fabia in last week with a similar starting problem and no faults showing. Did a check on the engine temperature readings as it warmed up and they were all over the place, one reading at a common sense value of 60 degrees and the next at 20 degrees, up and down like a see saw. Replaced the sensor and they were in a steady upward progression as the engine warmed up. The 8 valve uses the same sensor.

[ap0gee1978]

If fordfan's on about the coolant temp sensor, may I humbly point you in the direction of my technical guide? It's got pics for your model and all, although latest thoughts seem to be if you're doing it yourself, you may want to change the thermostat body at the same time (the two bits come together from the dealer's if you do it that way...)

[fordfan]

Nice guide, it is worth looking and feeling down the hole that the sensor comes out of to find out if the thermostat has broken up. That guide would also be applicable to the Felicia 1.3 MPi.

If you look on the underside of the engine cover there should be an additional oil filler cap that will fit, to allow the engine to be run without the cover.

[ap0gee1978]

If you look on the underside of the engine cover there should be an additional oil filler cap that will fit, to allow the engine to be run without the cover.

I thought that was what it was for, just always forgot about it whenever I've had the engine cover off either of our Fabias!

[Mark raw]

Mine does it now and again thermostat been replaced seemed to be major prob but still does it now and again.Skoda know of no reason whybut it so annoying

[minyrafon]

Thanks for all your help.

At one point I thought it could be the HT leads not working properly. They haven't been changed.

Could you please tell me where the throttle body is?

Thanks

[ap0gee1978]

Top-middle of this picture, under the black plastic dome thing.

(Ignore the circle, it's a picture from something else... )

The dome's held on by a couple of bolts, but then just pulls off. You can do a rough-and-ready cleaning job with the throttle body in situ, but if it's really bad, you may need to remove it in which case you'll need to get a new gasket and reset it once you've put it back (it's drive-by-wire). If you do clean it without removing it, take care what cleaning products you use, as you don't want any lint getting into the induction system, nor too much cleaning fluid unless it's something like carburettor cleaner...

HTH

[fordfan]

Your car doesn't have HT leads or even a distributor. If you look at ap0gees picture there is a coil pack on top of the plugs which replaces them.

There is a guide on cleaning the throttle body

VWvortex Forums: DIY - Removing and cleaning a MKIV throttle body (throttle valve control module)

This is for a V6 VW engine, but part II is quite relevant.