Skoda Fabia owning newbie in Melbourne :)

[twumau]

Hey guys
Greg from Melbourne here.
I'm new to the veedub family but have been a car enthusiast since I saw the wheel invented!
What prompted me to get involved in modern VW's is their amazing small capacity turbo petrol engines.
I LOVE that motors like the 77tsi is tuned for torque rather than kilowatts because as a small hachback fan I have been frustrated to the max that jap car makers insist on putting small weak naturally aspirated engines in small hatches.
Most of my cars have been modified.
I guess it was the hot rodding magazines I read as a teenager that gave me the modifier bug.
Japanese stuff has dominated my car choice until I started hearing about the the little turbo VW donks.
I'm known for oddball project cars.
Like my 2 litre Mitsubishi Mirage.
Latest project- 2011 Skoda Fabia 77tsi manual.
Cheers,
Greg

[mrmomoz]

welcome greg! how you finding the Skoda and welcome to the VeeDub family

[twumau]

Hi mo and thanks for the welcome .
My Fabia 77TSI manual is actually a refugee from a salvage auction (serious bingle) so its future is as an organ donor.
In my usual oddball style I plan to use the Fabia turbo mechanicals in a future project but more about that later.
The Fabia is putting up a struggle!
I attempted a start up the other day just to prove the condition of the engine and its systems and (GULP) I think I have a major electrical issue!
EPC warning light, won't crank nor start, oh crap
Does EPC in a veedub mean the same thing as "check engine" in a jap car? meaning your engine ECU is dead/dying.?
I'm not understanding this fault really.
There was wiring damage as a result of the front end collision but the only wires harmed were for front lighting, washer pump and aircon.
No engine related wiring was harmed nor did the engine itself get bumped.
This topic is probably best explored in a technical part of the forum though...........
Cheers,
Greg

[Snail Style]

Where abouts are you located Greg? Pretty sure you call at my workplace yesterday.

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[mrmomoz]

haha wow greg! yeah it seems best to ask technical questions in the tech section, the guys on here are very knowledgeable! best of luck,

[twumau]

G'day ,
I'm near Lilydale, outer East. I did ring Essendon Skoda to get info about fuses.
They got one of their mechanics to call me back.
If it was you I spoke to you gave me a VERY helpful clue!
You were surprised that the Fabia would not turn over even if the EPC was indicating a serious electrical issue.
I retraced my steps to try to figure out why the starter was not getting power.
When it was towed home the Fabia had a flat battery so I borrowed a battery out of my Mirage.
To hook the very different Mirage battery up to the Fabia I had to twist and pull on the negative cable to get it to reach the battery post.
At the time I didn't notice that the grotty nut holding the negative cable to the body was not done up tight.
The nut could have been loose since first installation but point being when it was new and clean it had been passing current. After I swapped batteries and pulled/twisted the cable it undid itself a bit more and was now only passing minimal current, not enough to turn the motor over.
When I saw that the cable was loose I gave it a clean and tightened it. Fabia started straight up!
The EPC light went out after startup so maybe I'm OK now.
I'm used to jap cars and the only time they go "check engine" is when their ECU is buggered.
I'm guessing its normal to see EPC warning light when the ignition is turned on with a Fabia. Maybe you only panic if the light fails to go out after startup.
Anyway thanks for pointing me in the right direction
Cheers,
Greg

Where abouts are you located Greg? Pretty sure you call at my workplace yesterday.

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