toonartist

Does it open via the keyfob at all? If it does, there maybe a broken wire in the handle mechanism that is shorting out. I just recently repaired mine when the handle didn't work but the key fob did. If neither do, then I'm at a loss. Hopefully someone else may be able to shed some light on it!

+1 Never made a mk1 fabia vrs estate

When my turbo went there was no cloud of smoke, slight pop and everything died. Engine management light came on and would not restart. Like the article above, I coasted in to the side of the road. The AA guy came out and didn't think it was the turbo either as there was no smoke signs of oil etc. When I got it to the garage, it turned out the the turbo had blown and instead of dumping the oil towards the exhaust it dumped it all into the intercooler and shredded the 1st 90 degree bend from the turbo.... like shrapnel In fact, even after the new turbo was put on, there was still a boost leak and I only found the last few small holes through the metal pipe beyond the bend when converting to the FMIC. So if it sounds similar to that, pop off the pipework of the SMIC to see if it's been turned into an oil can!

My vrs is rolling road mapped by Jabba... must be 12+ years ago now. 180bhp and 340lb torque. At the time I asked them to set it up so it was fuel efficient when I wasn't playing and of course, good extra kick of bhp when I was. They toned the torque down initially to give a few extra months on the clutch and then when I went back for the uprated clutch, they released the extra torque then. Still find it easy to get 54mpg avg with a mix of play and steady driving over a 100 mile drive. If I'm being very relaxed I can get it to 66mpg average.... but that's ticking along at 60mph. When this next clutch goes, it will have the LSD and single mass fly wheel fitted as well I think. Turbo lasted 10 years after remap and it had a fair bit of playful driving so no complaints there. The car is going through a major refit at the moment.... mechanics and bodywork with the intention of keeping it for a good 5-10 years or more. You'll have probably already sorted insurance but just for the record, take a look at Chris Knott insurance. I've used them for many years and they always get a really good price and match anyone better. Easy to add new modifications to the policy etc. The missus had to make a claim on her VRS when someone drove into her at the lights..... the service they provided then was excellent!! Edit... just found my rolling road pronto out when it was done, June 2006. 185bhp at the engine and 152bhp at the wheel with 355lb ft torque

Very nice..... use a some wire wool to loosen tough bits and a aerosol brake cleaner to finish off. Just finished mine but painted red this time. Looks in really good condition, keep the polishing up etc and it'll last for years. I paid the price of not doing this and it's now booked in for respray everything bar the roof. Not cheap but just didn't want to get rid of it.... they become addictive there are plenty of things to tinker with!

Ball joint possibly. Mine was wearing a bit on one side but both sides were wearing like that on the inside. Turned out it was a ball joint failing that was throwing out the alignment. This went on for about 12 months for me before it became obvious enough to nail it. I had mine aligned by a garage and they failed to spot it as well.

I had no warning at all that it was about to happen. It had always started perfectly before this (touches wood), one minute it worked the next it didn't. I wish I had taken a couple of pics as it would have been a lot easier to understand what I will try to explain. 1. First off, I detached and removed the battery along with the battery casing. 2. Before taking the base that the battery sits on I detached the Maf Sensor from the air filter housing and removed that as well. 3. Once the filter housing is off the base that the batter sits on easily comes out and you can see the starter motor. 4. The cable that caused the bother was fairly thin, a little thinner than a mouse cable and runs from the loom (left side of the car) towards the starter. The cable attaches to the starter motor via a small plug and the wire managed to severe itself inside the plug. 5. I removed the plug from the starter, picked out the silicon plug that stops damp getting into the plug and used a junior hacksaw to remove part of the plug to expose the point which the wire was attached to the connector. 6. Using a soldering iron I attached a longer piece of wire (slightly thicker) and prepped the cable that came out from the loom. I attached a female connector to that wire and a male to the new piece of wire that I had attached to the plug. 7. Re-attached the plug to the starter motor and the male connector to the female connector and applied a healthy coating of electricians tape to all newly exposed connections. 8. Put everything back together again..... held breath and turned the key..... hey presto, worked again :-) It took about 45 minutes and that was taking my time and it is a fairly straight forward job if you are used to servicing you car. Of course, if you are not sure it is best to get someone who likes mucking about with these things. If you replace the section of wire like I did, make sure you cut a fresh section that is a good 2-3 inches longer than the old bit, the cable must have been quite tight and the vibration would have eventually snapped it as a result. A bit extra length on the cable would have prevented this from happening. Hope this helps anyway. Cheers Duncan

Thanks everyone. Spent an hour tonight stripping out the battery and filter housing etc to get to the starter motor and found the positive wire had snapped. I took the plug out and soldered a new length of wire and connector, put it all back together and it fired up perfectly.... What would we do without Briskoda! Saved quite a few pennies for a fairly straight forward job. Duncan

When I tried to start the car this morning the engine wa completely dead. Lights etc all worked but the engine would not turn over at all. When you turn the ignition the lights dim but the engine does not turn over. When the AA came out the battery booster did not start the car but it could be bump started. I have seen in posts about thecable breaking from the loom that goes to the starter motor but wouldthe headlights dim if this wire had broken or is it more likely to be a duff starter motor? Any help with this would be appreciated, don't want to fork out for a startermotor if I don't have to. Also, would any faults show on vagcom? Thanks Duncan

Humm right, I guess I would still go for coilovers provide the handling was good and didn't loose to much comfort.

Hummmm, see what happens with the visit to the garage but I do fancy tweaking the suspension set up in the new year. Seems along time since I was last sat under the car working on a canny project.

I guess if the garage says they can't find anything then I can live with the odd clunk safe in the knowledge my front wheel isn't going to over take my bumper :-) Going to use the other one this weekend when we head down south to London..... Just to be on the safe side

I'm starting to think this is the problem. As I menione earlier it is'nt really slopy when cornering but the over vrs that has had the suspension done but no rear arb feels more planted. This was never the case before.

I wouldn't worry to much about changing the springs. Mine have been on for about 3 years with no problems. Fitted them myself without adjusting the bump stops and this is the first problem I have had. It could (apparently) be worn bushes but time will tell.

so I take it you have had problems. We have two vrs fabias so don't mind one of them being a little firm. What problems you had?