Hi Skoda drivers,

I'm new here but looking for help with an on-going problem. The engine light comes on for no apparent reason. Sometimes it goes off but usually stays lit until I "make my way to my nearest Skoda dealer". It's been in 5 times in the last year for this problem and no one has been able to give me a satisfactory explanation. It's on again and I'm now out of warranty and not wanting to spend hoards of money for something no one can seem to claim is finally corrected.

Also, the steering column has started to make a rubbing noise when I turn the wheel left or right. Any ideas on this?

Other than this, we love our Fabia estate. Just saw the pictures of the new one and could be tempted if I thought it would come without the engine light! I've been thinking of putting a black sticker over the front of it so I wouldn't see it since the car seems to run fine.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

:confused:

Worth checking whether your brake lights are working when the engine light is on. The brake light switch is a known weakness and seems to match your symptoms - Fabia-vrs.com - Brake Pedal Switches

For the rubbing noise, worth checking that you have plenty of power steering fluid in the reservoir. You don't mention which model you have, but on my old TDI it was conveniently placed under the battery so you'll need to whip that out to get to it (unless you have x-ray vision )

Chris

I think you'll find that a failed brake light switch brings on the EPC light. The engine management light is more likely to be a lambda probe or EGR valve problem, a search will provide plenty of info. The dealer should have checked for any fault codes logged.

An engine light could come on for any emissions related reason, if you let us know what engine you have it would help as some engines have common causes. An 8 valve will commonly do it for a temperature sensor, whereas a 16V will for EGR faults. If you have the fault codes it would help.

Can't be any use, I'm afraid, but for most of the first year that I had my Fabia 1.4, the engine light would come on intermittently and not go off until reset at the garage. And then it tended to come on again about 5 minutes after I had driven off (but never during their test drives, of course).

Various suggestions were made regarding emissions and the like, but they could never pin down the cause of the problem. In the end (1 day before warranty expired) they decided to strip the engine down. Which they did. And still nothing.

It hasn't really been the same since. The light also continued to come on for no apparent reason. There was some slight misfiring occasionally, but never linked directly to the light.

However, a year later, they recommended switching to higher octane fuel. I did and the light has never been on since... Not exactly cheap and may be a complete coincidence, but it seems to have done the trick.

I too have the same problem with the engine light being illuminated. I panicked on the way home from work (today) and popped into the local VW dealer who kindly linked it to their computer. He told me that it was showing as the LAMBDA sensor which purely controls the output of emissions into the atmosphere????.

The rough price quoted was £90 for the sensor with 1 hours work £59 approx.

I have also been informed of other people who have had the problem for numerous years. When it comes to MOTS the just take it for a big run before they go to the garage and it usually gives a reasonable readout for the emissions..

Personally speaking I bet we had all these problems with the older cars but now we have to over react because a light appears and tells us to panic...!!

My daughter's 2001 Fabia Comfort 1.4 16v (AUB) with 56000 miles has a similar problem. Engine management warning light comes on - so far it has had 2 Lambda sensors, EGR (twice), plug leads and piston rings replaced.

3 different garages have checked it over including Skoda dealer, resetting diagnostics etc. Each time the light comes back on again - sometimes after 30 miles, sometimes sooner.

Skoda dealer's last suggestion is new engine!

Engine runs fine. Oil consumption low. Emissions well within spec (no prob with MOT).

What have been your symptoms for needing rings changed - is it the warning light, or reduced compression or oil consumption???

Any fresh thought on the light problem?

I think that 98 ron is recomended by VAG for the 16V engine?? I dont know if that would make a difference but I'm sure the handbook states that youre supposed to use it , but that 95 RON can be used 'with loss of engine performance' if necessary.

Engine runs fine. Oil consumption low. Emissions well within spec (no prob with MOT).

What have been your symptoms for needing rings changed - is it the warning light, or reduced compression or oil consumption???

Any fresh thought on the light problem?

How low is low oil consumption? The light means theres an error code to be read, e.g. one of the things the engine computer is monitoring through sensors is not within limits.

You need the error code. You can buy a code reader from internet for example search ebay 'u280' for one type or get the garage to give you the error code.