Thread: Some advice for a new owner

Hi all,

I've just bought myself a Felicia - absolute bargain on Ebay and a great little car. It's a 2000/W hatch, the 1.3 Popular (entertainingly basic )

I just have a couple of questions if you could indulge me:

Firstly, at speeds above about 60 the car feels very unstable - a slight crosswind or bump in the road will set it off swaying across the road in a manner that I'm fairly keen to get rid of. I had exactly the same problem with an old Favorit estate that I owned a couple of years ago, so I'm wondering if it's a common problem with this platform? If so, what causes it?

Secondly, how long does the timing chain normally last? The car's only done 55,000 miles but I don't think it's been serviced properly in the last 5 years or so, so I'm wondering if I should change the chain as a precaution. Is the chain hard to get to? I'm going to assume it is - any particular knacks to getting in there? There usually are in my experience!

Thirdly, when the throttle is released, ie between gear changes, the revs dip right down to about 500rpm and then pull back up again. I'm wondering if this might be related to the fact that the coolant guage never moves far off its stop - faulty sender messing up the fuel injection system maybe? If not, any ideas what this could be?

Last but not least, where is good to buy parts? My usual sources seem to draw a blank at anything older than a Fabia.

Cheers for the help!

Hi there, I have an S reg Felicia Estate, a bargain at £120 over a year ago & has just passed it's 2nd MOT since I've had it with no problems!

My revs dip too on when changing gear & when you slow down/brake to a stop. I'm so used to it now it doesn't bother me anymore. It must be the norm with these. I used to panic it was going to stall but it's never cut on me even on freezing cold mornings we've had of late.

Also, I have the same thing with my coolant guage & I thought it was faulty until I sat in traffic for a while & it finally moved & in the Spring/Summer when the weather's warm then it does actually move & stay around the quarter mark.

I cannot advise on the timing chain but I know mine needs changing as it's extremely noisy. The car sounds like its the tappits but they've been done recently. My brother is a mechanic & tells me the timing chain is quite a big job.

Hope this helps a little!

Hi,
Cheers for the reply - if it helps at all, I figured out the cause of the revs dipping. The walls of the throttle body were thick with oil from the crank case. A bit of WD40 and a q-tip sorted that out, and it runs just fine now, feels much less of a banger to drive after that!
Sorted the timing chain as well, really wasn't a particularly big job, quite accessible in these. Worth doing, again makes it feel much nicer to drive, if only psychologically not having that horrible rattle, and also it's bye-bye engine if it goes, wouldn't want that!
Also, the temp guage problem turned out to be that the thermostat had fallen to pieces in its housing, it's fine now I've replaced it.

Thanks again for the reply!

Thanks for the reply. Think we'll try the WD40 trick for the revs!

Just how big a job was the timing chain to replace if you don't mind me asking? Are we talking taking the engine to bits? My brother said he would like to tackle it for me but is unsure on just how big a job it is on these as he's not used to Skodas.

Not a big job at all - timing chains / belts are usually horrible, but this is alright. There's a cover for it on the end of the engine block. This comes off and reveals the chain, which comes off with its gears without too much hassle. If your brother's a mechanic he'd have no trouble with it.

Did you have any luck cleaning out the throttle body?

Thanks for that, much appreciated, I'll let my brother know. He'll be chuffed it's a relatively easy job, he's sick of working on old cars (he's not a "working" mechanic anymore, he's an Aviation Engineer now).

Haven't had chance to try the WD-40/throttle fix yet.

About the timing chain, did you replaced it in place? where are the locking location on the engine? ie, is there a hole to insert the drill bit as usual to lock the cam and crank?
Im think of gaving a go a the timing chain of my favorit,
but is the distibutor geared to the camshaft?
I never had expiriance on petrol engines , only diesels.