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Bought a 1994 Skoda Felicia 1.3 SPi yesterday. It drove it for 1/2 an hour before putting it away. The fuel gauge doesn't read too well, and I assumed there was no fuel when I came to start it this morning as it wasn't firing up. Put 3l of fuel in and it's trying to start but won't before the battery dies. Took the plugs out twice and they were damp (I opened the throttle a bit), so put them on the stove, etc and it's trying to start again and doing that spluttering thing like it wants to, but it's not, before the battery is dead again!
Is there anything I can try now while I charge the battery up again?
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You must be doing some amount of non-start cranking to drain the battery. Not a great idea. Also, the Felicia wasn't launched until 1995.
Start with your basics. Check the rotor arm and distributor cap, the HT leads and the king lead, and then the coilpack.
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Might not completely solve your problem as it sounds like you have an ignition system fault, but check the valve clearances aren't too tight. These engines are a bit rattly and some people try to quieten them by tightening up the clearances making them hard to start from cold.
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It starts perfectly all the time. I let the battery charge up and then gave the plugs a proper burning on the stove and cleaned them up and then just turned the engine, and it started again after about ten seconds. I took it for a drive and it went ok. I've always had Vauxhalls which seemed to love the old dip of the accelerator if it wasn't starting OK. These don't seem to like it at all!! The engines are a bit rattly, but the one I've got has been serviced religiously, just receiving one before I took possession. I'm poo-ing myself as I'll be doing two weeks of THIS everyday (if I get the job) until I can find accommodation down there. Do you have any bits of info on these engines, is there anything I should do before I head out there?
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So your going to do a 280 miles round trip every day?
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I once went to a breakdown on a Skoda Favorit 1.3 SPi and took me a while to sort it out. In the end I removed the flywheel sensor and found it covered in swarf. Simple wipe and car running perfectly again. Worth a look ?
Paul H
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Yeah, about 280 miles. I'll have a look at the sensor. I also remembered I gave the engine bay a quick blast with the jet wash when I did the rest of the car. It was too dark to do anything today, I even went out for an hour's drive, so will have a look tomorrow. Maybe it's cured itself. Also do the valve clearances - does anyone know what the clearances are on these? I've had three different answers so far.
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Also do the valve clearances - does anyone know what the clearances are on these? I've had three different answers so far. If nobody has answered this by the time I've found my Haynes manual, I'll post them up for you
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Valve clearances (1.3 litre engine) Inlet: 0.25mm Exhaust: 0.20mm If you need anything more, just give me shout
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Thanks for that, I dug out my old Estelle Hayne's book and it said the same thing (cold)! Does it say anything about thermostat removal - I've heard you can break the casing, which costs 30 - 50 quid to replace (which I don't have). I want to avoid breaking the casing, but replace the stuck open stat! The Skoda forums are fairly sub-par, the info on them is sparse! BTW, the car started OK this morning. I'm certain it was water getting into ignition components. Won't do that again!
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Last Edit: Jan 2, 2012 17:13:08 GMT by DavidB
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^ was about to say that - almost certainly condensation in the diz cap. Take it off and dry it out.
You can remove the t-stat casing easy enough - 3 10mm bolts, but they do crack often if you aren't careful. Just go easy and don't tug at any of the pipes.
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:)It's the MPi engines that have the curse word thermostat housing...it's plastic.
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Oh so it's just the Mpi with that big thing with loads of pipes coming off? Phew.
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:)It's the MPi engines that have the curse word thermostat housing...it's plastic. I've cracked a few alloy SPi ones too
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