I'm not sure if anyone can help, and this is only my second thread, so please bare with me.

My girlfriends 2000 Fabia 1.4 is a little unwell, she bought it a little while ago and the previous owner wasnt aware (and didnt really care) that something was wrong with it.

The ECU warning light had been on for a while, and when she had it checked out (local garage) they said it either needed new plugs or a coil pack. So, they replaced the plugs, and reset the ECU light. Not much changed, the car was still a dog and acceleration was unpredictable... it either had some or not very much, and was guzzling fuel.

I bought an intermotor coil pack, fitted it, it was broken, got a replacement it worked fine. After a few starts the ECU light went out and hasn't re-appeared since. This is good, but the car is still a dog to drive and is still heavy on the fuel. It cant seem to hold speed up moderate inclines and sometimes it just wont acclerate, i am however comparing this to my own car which is a 95 fiesta 1.25 zetec, am i expecting too much as my own car will haul itself up and down hills/accelerate hard all day without batting an eyelid compared to the furby which just feels slow and cumbersome.

The only other thing i've noticed recently is the smell, a few times tonight (the only time i've driven the thing in a week), usually after coming to a stop or almost stopping, theres a smell which i think smells like burned oil. From what i can tell it's coming in through the ventilation system, if you turn on the fans you get it a lot stronger. Bcau of this i went under the bonnet and pulled off the oil filler cap, the same smell greets you from behind the cap and there seems to be gas escaping from it.

Now... i'm no expert, in fact i've only had my own car for 2 weeks, but i've ridden bikes for 7 years, but i suspect the smell is exhaust gas mixed with oil. The engine is 86,000 miles old, should i be suspecting things like top end damage or bad piston/rings?

Cheers guys, and sorry for the essay

Dave.

I think that you are probably comparing a Yamaha designed engine from the late 1990s with possibly a Skoda designed engine from19??s. The Zetec "S" is well known for performing above its weight. It could just be "bad breathing" with the crankcase fumes - if you remove the oil filler you will usually get something thrown out, normally these gasses are drawn in through the engine and "burnt". I'm just guessing a bit here try to to stop you ripping the engine to bits and rerfurbishing it! Hopefully better advice will come soon. How about buying a Haynes manual, with that mileage you will probably need to tidy things up a bit.

I've no experience of this engine, but the smell you describe could be blow-by gasses which are normally vented back into the intake. I wonder if a breather hose has come adrift?

Which 1.4 engine is it?

The 16V one is known for a piston rings problem.

The 16v is known for bad acceleration as well.

I have the 8v and that's not the best on acceleration and they do use a lot of fuel.