Skoda Fabia 2007 1.2 cuts out on idle

The Importance of Basic Checks!

I had a customer whose Skoda Fabia 2007 1.2 cuts out on idle for no reason. Basic checks were carried out which means checking oil levels, coolant levels and electrical component connections as well as visually looking for any obvious signs of split breather hoses.

There appeared to be nothing obviously wrong and without an Engine Management Light on I felt that this might be a hard fault to find and cure.

I decided to plug in with our diagnostic equipment to firstly see if there was any fault codes but also to view the live data that could be read.

There was two fault codes present which were:-

17549 load calculation cross check implausible value P1141 short with ground - intermittent.

16825 EVAP emission control sys incorrect flow P0441 not a plausible signal - intermittent.

I erased the fault codes and waited for the fault to materialize and within half an hour it stalled. 

Because it was idle related it was decided that it would be a good bet to clean out the idle control valve/throttle body.

The engine cover was removed and the throttle body was found to be black and was duly cleaned out, in doing so it was noticed that the vacuum hose from the brake servo was badly split.

A replacement hose was ordered and fitted and now the Skoda is back to idling perfectly.

This only goes to prove the importance of conducting these basic checks thoroughly.