AnnoyingPentium's Adventures - Once, twice, three times an MOT

[AnnoyingPentium]

I spent all of last Summer (yes, all three days) absolutely feckin melting because my air-con decided to die. So, to prevent me from becoming a melted heap when operating this motor, I farmed out the regassing work to Auld Arnie Shark's. My Mum works for them so I got a wee discount off the work being carried out. She brought the car home again tonight and it's like a fucking fridge, as in, it's warmer outside - which is a hard feat in Scotland. Well pleased with it now... plus they washed (properly, I ran out of soap in the power washer halfway through) and hoovered it, so I don't have to do that now.

[grogee]

Cool runnings. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

3 minutes ago, grogee said:

Cool runnings. 

Bloody baltic. It's like having a hell of a lot of ice cream when it goes tae yer heid. 😆

[grogee]

And you Scotch* types know a thing or two about being cald.

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

And you Scotch* types know a thing or two about being cald.

I'm a suvvern one in comparison, so I'm not sure I count as much! 😆

[RoverFolkUs]

So it really did just need a regas m8!?

Sorcery!

[RoverFolkUs]

In other news, I have found my matching Pedro the penguin! He was indeed also an ice scraper thing. 

Now I need to decide which steed he could live in. 

Xsara Picasso has icy cold air con, Focus #2 has mediocre cool air con, and Focus #1 has inop air con...

Being a penguin, it probably wants to live in a cool environment, so the Picasso it will be! 

[AnnoyingPentium]

12 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

So it really did just need a regas m8!?

Sorcery!

It's a miracle! I think they've replaced some pipework too. Either way, I got out of the car and it was like that blast of hot air you get coming off a jet when going abroad.

6 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

In other news, I have found my matching Pedro the penguin! He was indeed also an ice scraper thing. 

Now I need to decide which steed he could live in. 

Xsara Picasso has icy cold air con, Focus #2 has mediocre cool air con, and Focus #1 has inop air con...

Being a penguin, it probably wants to live in a cool environment, so the Picasso it will be! 

That's the exact one, aye! Picasso has a rear quarter like the Duster, so you can have him there too. The Fabia doesn't have such a thing so I can't use my own penguin (comes with a scarf), called Phillip. 😆

[RoverFolkUs]

5 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

It's a miracle! I think they've replaced some pipework too. Either way, I got out of the car and it was like that blast of hot air you get coming off a jet when going abroad.

That's the exact one, aye! Picasso has a rear quarter like the Duster, so you can have him there too. The Fabia doesn't have such a thing so I can't use my own penguin (comes with a scarf), called Phillip. 😆

Nothing beats air con that works on a hot day! I like getting air con jobs at work in the summer because you can justify to the gaffer why you're sitting in the car doing nothing for 15 mins ("just testing it out m8") 😂

Unfortunately the parcelshelf is missing so not sure where he could perch 🤔 will have to do some thinking. Or buy a sodding parcelshelf just to put a stuffed penguin on 😂

Gowan, I've got to see 'philip' now 😁

[AnnoyingPentium]

11 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Gowan, I've got to see 'philip' now 😁

As you wish. 😁

I reckon it's worth buying a parcel shelf. Plus you may find the noise is reduced in the Picasso somewhat with one added.

[RoverFolkUs]

5 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

As you wish. 😁

I reckon it's worth buying a parcel shelf. Plus you may find the noise is reduced in the Picasso somewhat with one added.

Ha! 🐧

That's a good point. I'm going to track a Picasso down in a breakers somewhere to get some odd bits and pieces of trim that are missing/damaged here and there as with most cars of that age, so will keep an eye out for a parcelshelf

But I must get the battery drain issues sorted first. Order of priorities etc!

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

In other news, I have found my matching Pedro the penguin! He was indeed also an ice scraper thing. 

Now I need to decide which steed he could live in. 

Xsara Picasso has icy cold air con, Focus #2 has mediocre cool air con, and Focus #1 has inop air con...

Being a penguin, it probably wants to live in a cool environment, so the Picasso it will be! 

How about a box? "It's a puppet" 😀

[RoverFolkUs]

2 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

How about a box? "It's a puppet" 😀

I know its ridiculous. Mostly said in jest. But I'm a daft sentimental bastard lol

[AnnoyingPentium]

Have you ever had a car shit out a bit of dust shield? This is a new one on me. 😂

Death wobble seems to have fucked off somewhat.

[AnnoyingPentium]

The adventures do keep going with the car, even if it doesn't want to.

So, let me bring you up to the present day. I drove to Largs the other day and the bloody thing threw a paddy on the A78, killed the engine and brought the brakes on to a nearly dead stop, culminating in me nearly causing a pile up. Anyway, I didn't know what the fuck to do, so turned to Briskoda. First things first (Peter Kay intensifies), checking pipework. Started with the crankcase breather hose... no issue.

I then moved onto the brake servo hose. Turns out it had split at the wee joint bit. It's a common issue on the Mk1 Fabia, especially as they age. There's few with the original hose there, but mine happened to be one. I couldn't find a split at first so had to check blindly at the back side of the hose, my fingernail slipped into a fairly decent split at the back. I've now bodged it with some insulating tape until I can get the replacement hose ordered up. 👍

The hose is definitely original though.

As said, these hoses tend to split at this little joining area thingy. I don't know if it affects other VAG-shite, but if it does, then you'll know when it goes.

In addition to this, I've got a fairly damaged alloy from a mild incident with a kerb in February.

It was causing a lot of vibrations, especially when driving at speed. So, since it's just a standard VAG alloy, I jumped on eBay and bought another one.

Out with the old...

In with the new. The tyre that's on the new one has good tread, but the plan is to swap the tyres over between both and use the damaged one as the new alloy spare.

Anyway, that's all... for now. If the brake servo fix doesn't help sort out the car then I'll probably start looking at moving it on and looking at something else that's smol, but not too smol.

[RoverFolkUs]

You Satanist. Remove the breakers yard paint marker AND SWAP THAT MANKY CENTRE CAP RIGHT NOW!!! 😂

Very common thing on VAG diesels, seen it a lot where the main vacuum hose splits so no boost, EGR or servo assistant. Usual complaint is "down on power and brakes are very hard"

[AnnoyingPentium]

12 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

You Satanist. Remove the breakers yard paint marker AND SWAP THAT MANKY CENTRE CAP RIGHT NOW!!! 😂

Bloody make me! 🤣 The old centre cap will be getting knocked out at some point since the one on the damaged alloy matches the rest. Otherwise I'm waiting for the breakers yard marker to come off in the rain as I can't be arsed cleaning it otherwise.

13 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Very common thing on VAG diesels, seen it a lot where the main vacuum hose splits so no boost, EGR or servo assistant. Usual complaint is "down on power and brakes are very hard"

Basically the same thing on this petrol one. Brakes were intermittently hard, and sometimes down on power (it's only got 64* horses that I can't afford to lose). I don't have an EGR to worry about anyway, some BME and AZQ codes came with them, mine doesn't, so I can be smug.

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Bloody make me! 🤣 The old centre cap will be getting knocked out at some point since the one on the damaged alloy matches the rest. Otherwise I'm waiting for the breakers yard marker to come off in the rain as I can't be arsed cleaning it otherwise.

Basically the same thing on this petrol one. Brakes were intermittently hard, and sometimes down on power (it's only got 64* horses that I can't afford to lose). I don't have an EGR to worry about anyway, some BME and AZQ codes came with them, mine doesn't, so I can be smug.

Well the down on power aspect would be from the lack of turbo actuation and other performance enhancements. 

Your fine steed does not bless you with things as luxurious as a turbo, so less applicable here

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Well the down on power aspect would be from the lack of turbo actuation and other performance enhancements. 

Your fine steed does not bless you with things as luxurious as a turbo, so less applicable here

Probably a placebo in my case. 🤣

My P0171 fault code hasn't went away yet, but I'll clear it and see if it returns.

[RoverFolkUs]

Courtesy of Google (I'm not that much of an encyclopedia, honest!) P0171 is a lean code...

Probably a vacuum leak, it's sucking in unmetered air from somewhere

[AnnoyingPentium]

26 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Courtesy of Google (I'm not that much of an encyclopedia, honest!) P0171 is a lean code...

Probably a vacuum leak, it's sucking in unmetered air from somewhere

That's what I was looking for today, the only vac leak I could find was the one at the brake servo. Other things it points to is a crankshaft position sensor (according to a guy on Briskoda who is sending me up one to try FOC), the MAP sensor, the throttle body, or the throttle pedal position sensor, to name a few things.

The throttle pedal position sensor is in a wonderful* location, being part of the pedal itself, but that involves pulling the lower half of the dash off. I replaced it last November as it was seriously impacting the drivability of the car, I just got one with a matching p/n from the breakers and hoped for the best.

[RoverFolkUs]

In any case....

[AnnoyingPentium]

On 5/5/2022 at 2:51 PM, RoverFolkUs said:

Remove the breakers yard paint marker

I did.

Just used some Arnold Clark shite I got from my Grampa. Does a great job of getting brake dust off because my Eicher premium* discs like to shed the stuff like GSD's do fur.

Also used a wee wire brush thing to agitate the shite. This is as close as I like/can be arsed to get to detailing the car because...

In other news...

Still trying to trace the cutting out issue, it does feel like it's being starved of fuel, which is worse when warm. Still doesn't help much, ach well, it's fineeeeeeeeeeeeee. 🤣

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

I did.

Just used some Arnold Clark shite I got from my Grampa. Does a great job of getting brake dust off because my Eicher premium* discs like to shed the stuff like GSD's do fur.

Also used a wee wire brush thing to agitate the shite. This is as close as I like/can be arsed to get to detailing the car because...

In other news...

Still trying to trace the cutting out issue, it does feel like it's being starved of fuel, which is worse when warm. Still doesn't help much, ach well, it's fineeeeeeeeeeeeee. 🤣

Woohoo! I'm now satisfied

I still get the feeling the cutting out is a bad earth somewhere, remind me - does everything else die as well?

[AnnoyingPentium]

6 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I still get the feeling the cutting out is a bad earth somewhere, remind me - does everything else die as well?

No, just the engine. Stereo, blower, etc still runs fine. I've had bad earths before, being the first problem I had with this car, used to cause the PAS and ABS to pack in, often when manoeuvring around car parks (as I learned in Sainsburys) along with many beeps and all the electrics having simultaneous spasms. It doesn't demonstrate any of this anymore since I relocated (not by choice) the earth wire that went to the inner wing and fitted another one from a Nova that leads down to the PAS pump area. They've been off and cleaned up too.

[RoverFolkUs]

46 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

No, just the engine. Stereo, blower, etc still runs fine. I've had bad earths before, being the first problem I had with this car, used to cause the PAS and ABS to pack in, often when manoeuvring around car parks (as I learned in Sainsburys) along with many beeps and all the electrics having simultaneous spasms. It doesn't demonstrate any of this anymore since I relocated (not by choice) the earth wire that went to the inner wing and fitted another one from a Nova that leads down to the PAS pump area. They've been off and cleaned up too.

Righteo, makes sense, likely not an earth issue then 

Now you've got one of those ELM327 scanners, check for hidden codes (may not always light up the EML light) and any related freeze frame data. 

If there's info there but it's all jargon to you, let me know and I'll try and decipher it

Could be a duff cam sensor, they're a bit more sensitive on chain driven engines because they're exposed to oil. Belt driven engines you don't get much trouble out of them, but I see them fail a lot on chain engines. Usually would log a fault code though

Maybe injector wiring..

Maybe anything!

Hope you've got lots of ammo for that parts cannon, or just add it all to the ignore list, because ignorance is bliss

[AnnoyingPentium]

5 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Now you've got one of those ELM327 scanners, check for hidden codes (may not always light up the EML light) and any related freeze frame data. 

That's how I managed to pull back the P0171 code.

So far I've been looking at the following:

• Cam sensor
• Crank sensor
• The Lambda/o2 sensors - this seems the most likely, at least to me.
• Throttle Pedal
• Throttle Body

It's still due a service where I'm changing the spark plugs too. So I'll get that done on a good day.

[RoverFolkUs]

1 minute ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

That's how I managed to pull back the P0171 code.

So far I've been looking at the following:

• Cam sensor
• Crank sensor
• The Lambda/o2 sensors - this seems the most likely, at least to me.
• Throttle Pedal
• Throttle Body

It's still due a service where I'm changing the spark plugs too. So I'll get that done on a good day.

I knew I was forgetful but not as bad as that! I have no idea why and how I had forgotten so much, we were only discussing the P0171 code the other day and it had completely escaped me 🤦

Anyway, my poor memory aside!

Of course, you already said about that lean code. 

Let's take it step by step:

Cam sensor - could cause cutting out due to incorrect fuel/spark timing 

Crank sensor - could cause cutting out or refusal to start 

Lambda/O2 sensors - probably cause poor running. You can rule these out by looking at their live data. Upstream should alternate in a consistent pattern. If it's erratic, the sensor is probably duff. Downstream should be a steady flat line, if it's erratic, the sensor is duff or if it matches or closely follows the upstream waveform then it's got a dodgy catalytic converter. But thats not going to be the issue here.

If you manage to get graphs of these, again post them up

Throttle pedal - I would not expect it to cut out as throttle position is an always-open position. Throttle just opens it more, rather than opens it from closed. 

Throttle body, maybe, if it's full of crap but I'd only expect it to play up in the way of engine cutting out at low revs.

You're saying the engine cuts out for a second, is it actually cutting out as in you have to turn the key to restart or is it more of a hiccup? 

If we weren't literally at the opposite end of the country to each other I'd have been happy to take a look at it one afternoon! 

A service will do it good, can't imagine it will solve the issue but certainly won't make it worse

[AnnoyingPentium]

3 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

If you manage to get graphs of these, again post them up

I can try this at some point.

4 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Throttle body, maybe, if it's full of crap but I'd only expect it to play up in the way of engine cutting out at low revs.

It was cleaned about 5k miles ago or so when my throttle pedal position sensor decided to die off.

5 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

You're saying the engine cuts out for a second, is it actually cutting out as in you have to turn the key to restart or is it more of a hiccup? 

It goes between both when it wants to. Sometimes it's a hiccup such as when changing gear, or when sitting in traffic. Although today it was twice where it hiccupped, tried to catch it, and keeled over forcing me to restart.

6 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

If we weren't literally at the opposite end of the country to each other I'd have been happy to take a look at it one afternoon! 

If I felt a bit more comfortable driving it the length of the country in it at the moment (and my back and chest weren't FUBAR feeling) then I'd have brought it down for a day or two. I've messaged a local guy on Briskoda who has a Mk1 Fabia and full access to VCDS, but he's not on often, so I'm waiting now.

7 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

A service will do it good, can't imagine it will solve the issue but certainly won't make it worse

Definitely. Last one was done last May, so this is my year's interval. I don't know when the spark plugs or anything else were done as I didn't get much by way of paperwork with the car, I should have ran at that point. 😂

[RoverFolkUs]

1 minute ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

I can try this at some point.

It was cleaned about 5k miles ago or so when my throttle pedal position sensor decided to die off.

It goes between both when it wants to. Sometimes it's a hiccup such as when changing gear, or when sitting in traffic. Although today it was twice where it hiccupped, tried to catch it, and keeled over forcing me to restart.

If I felt a bit more comfortable driving it the length of the country in it at the moment (and my back and chest weren't FUBAR feeling) then I'd have brought it down for a day or two. I've messaged a local guy on Briskoda who has a Mk1 Fabia and full access to VCDS, but he's not on often, so I'm waiting now.

Definitely. Last one was done last May, so this is my year's interval. I don't know when the spark plugs or anything else were done as I didn't get much by way of paperwork with the car, I should have ran at that point. 😂

If the throttle body is clean I'd be surprised if it's causing any of the bother. If it was sticking, you'd get a code for throttle pedal/position sensor/body correlation.

Based on what you describe I definitely agree it's like fuel starvation now rather than electrical, whether that's caused by something in the fuel system or a sensor which is throwing a parameter out somewhere - not too sure

Obviously in any case a ~1000 mile round trip would be rather extreme just for me to get no further with it myself, I couldn't promise any magic 😂

VCDS would probably prove very useful if you can borrow access to it

To be honest, while I always harp on about service history, on cars of that age and price point I would be more inclined to base my opinion of how well looked after it is based on the condition and level of the oil, and under the valve cover through the filler cap if visible. If it looks clean, that's good enough

My Focus had no paperwork with it, it's not been looked after the best but it's still a decent enough car

My old Rover 45 had literally zero paperwork with it apart from the MOT certificate and V5, it turned out to be a fantastic car and there was nothing wrong with it

It's just pot luck on this age of car whether you get a good one or not, even when they're meticulously looked after, they're only one major malfunction away from the scrapyard