silver_fox

Thanks for your responses guys, and to Softscoop for your suggestion of the handbrake caliper springs! I changed the brakes today, and found that both rear calipers were badly seized. Both the pistons and handbrake lever! Managed to get them freed up with a bit of WD40 and perseverance. And all is good now and I installed the springs which transforms the feel of the handbrake. However it turns out that it didn't need the cables as previously thought because it returned to normal afterwards, D'oh.... The springs I ordered were 1K0615295 & 1K0615296 which were £7.10 from germanautospares on eBay. The Brakes were by Pagid from carparts4less.co.uk, part numbers: 104440798, 104440748, 101441398, 101440328 Thanks again

Thanks for the link, I'll look into that. Can anyone tell me if i need 2 of the above cables though? (to do both sides)

Good question, and the answer is I don't know. If they are sticking on, is it easy to free them up? I still think the cable needs replacing because after it has been adjusted in the past, very quickly it needed tightening up again and i hadn't done many miles or used the car that much or put excessive force on it.

Hi My handbrake cable has needed adjustment a few times in the last 12 months and now it needs adjusting again as the slack it too much. My car is due for new discs and pads all round soon so I just bought the parts from carparts4less and ordered a handbrake cable. Im now wondering if i needed to order 2x handbrake cables? the picture on carparts4less only shows 1 cable and am I right in thinking i need 2? http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4l/c/Skoda_Fabia_1.9_2005/p/car-parts/car-body-parts-and-car-exhaust/cables/handbrake-cable/?108441558&1&e0329b0e8ba8299cc9a936566b9b533ed787d19d&000168 Any help appreciated, i searched google but couldn't find the answer

It doesn't state whats its made of on their website, only "MLT" micro lubrication technology. I found my way to it when looking at another product called Nano-oil by StClaire. That product is a similar thing i believe, it claims it uses nano bearings which are basically tiny microscopic particles of carbon called fullerenes. That product claims to not have PTFE, Moly or any solvents. They do an engine treatment as well, but its expensive.

Hey everyone Stumbled across this stuff when looking into lubricants for something else... (Bestline engine treatment), it appears to do great things when it comes to reducing friction and claims to improve fuel economy. Its an American product and isn't available in Europe at the moment. Its basically an additive that you mix with engine oil. I don't know anything about the company or how long its been around but it has good reviews on Amazon.com I was watching a few videos on youtube, both a paid advertisement American shopping channel style, and a private one by someone that runs his own garage in New York i think. The results look amazing, judging by the tests in the videos. I've contacted the company, and although they don't have a UK/Europe distributor, they are willing to ship internationally if I want some. It looks like really effective stuff and reasonably priced. I might try it but still a bit wary of putting it in my engine.

Sorry mate, can't help you with that. Would be good info for the thread though...

Did the car have any work done on it, just before you bought it? timing belt etc? How come the fans were on for fifteen minutes without engine running? radiator fans or heater fans?

Apparently that price does include the aux belt tensioner... and gates do them too which i didn't know. So that's; (for future reference / Vrs 1.9 pd 130) OEM Timing belt kit: 038 198 119A (including tensioner, relay roller) Individually Timing belt: 038 109 119P Tensioner: 038 109 243M Relay Roller: 038 109 244J Water Pump: 045 121 011HX Aux Belt: 038 903 137 AA (6V - 1180) Aux Belt Tensioner: 038 903 315 AH Engine mount bolts (Advised not necessary, but the numbers are): N90628303 N10286205 Gates Kit: Fabia vrs ASZ / BLT K055569XS - Timing belt kit (No waterpump) KP55569XS-2 - Timing belt kit incl waterpump Aux sytem: 6PK1183 - Belt onlyK056PK1183 - Belt and tensioner kit Hope that helps

Part numbers for aux system (1.9 8v pd engine ASZ / BLT + a few others): Tensioner: 038 903 315 AH Belt: 038 903 137AA

The indy I take my car to has quoted me £143 for a gates kit with pump and aux belt (inc vat) £180 labour (inc vat) I'm not sure if their price for the parts includes aux belt tensioner etc. I've done a search on the subject but still not sure - How many parts are there to the aux belt system? belt, tensioner ?....

Update: They have sent me the right clips through the post, so my issue is now resolved and I'm a happy customer. I must say that they dispatched the blinds quickly, and was pleasant to speak to on the phone. Also quick turnaround on replacing the clips, so i was worrying for nothing. Maybe you just need to pester them to speed things up. Peace

I think im going to go for a Gates kit including water pump and hopefully that'll be the end of it. Like you said previously this topic has been done to death when you search using the right keywords. And after much reading of metal vs plastic impeller related threads, it seems to be six of one and half a dozen of the other. The cheapest I found the Gates kit was here (at time of writing)- in stock, free delivery, and PayPal. They responded to my emails really quickly and was helpful.

You can get that kit cheaper from here Never dealt with them before, but they answered my emails pretty quick and was helpful. They're in stock, free delivery, and can pay with paypal. Thats where i'll be going for mine.

I've just been informed that the Gates kit with waterpump has a plastic impeller. So the question is, will it be fine using the plastic impeller in Gates kit, or would it be best to get the belt kit without pump and source one separately with metal impeller?