Silver Bullet

I had a similar problem, bought 2 new rear calipers + b/pads, offside bled ok working fine, when I came to do the n/s (using pressure bleeding from the master cylinder) nothing, no fluid came out. Garage thought the ABS block had packed up or had a bad airlock. I bled the ABS using VAG-COM process still nothing. My final attempt was to replace all of the nearside brake line with Cunifer + flexable hoses from the ABS to the wheel cyinder. Bled it SUCCESS !!!. I think this hose is the culprit, and as was said earlier had collapsed and was acting as a one way valve. When I took it off bits of the inner wall came out :- The offside one does not seem to have such a severe bend, but I do plan to replace it as well. Also I would suggest fitting return springs to the hand brake mechanism (see below)

Have a look in here, air con' is in Section 87 Page 50, I think its item 2. Note the picture shows a L/H drive car so its on the opposite side :- Octavia Vrs Air conditioning.pdf

I had a similar problem, bought 2 new rear calipers + b/pads, offside bled ok working fine, when I came to do the n/s (using pressure bleeding from the master cylinder) nothing, no fluid came out. Garage thought the ABS block had packed up or had a bad airlock. I bled the ABS using VAG-COM process still nothing. My final attempt was to replace all of the nearside brake line with Cunifer + flexable hoses from the ABS to the wheel cyinder. Bled it SUCCESS !!!. I think this hose is the culprit, and as was said earlier had collapsed and was acting as a one way valve. When I took it off bits of the inner wall came out :- The offside one does not seem to have such a severe bend, but I do plan to replace it as well. Also I would suggest fitting return springs to the hand brake mechanism (see below)

Firstly, a/ Take off each door card in turn b/ Carefully remove or roll up out of the way the plastic sheet (remember to put it back in place before replacing door card). c/ Inside all 4 door shells you will see a multi-plug for the harness d/ Unplug the two halves and inspect for any contact corrosion. e/ If they look ok give both halves a good squirt of contact cleaner and re-connect. f/ Finally carefully wrap the connector block in a plastic sheet using ty-wraps, paying special attention to get a good seal around the cable harness, this is where the water gets in. NB: What happens is water / condensation runs down the cable harness and collects in the multi-plug (these are not water proof) and causes corrosion on the contacts. Some owners have even found that on or more connector pins have completely rotted away. (Replacement pins/sockets are commercially available).

Well Guys and Gals, I got my road tax renewal notice come through today and its gone up toooo "Drum Roll"....... £365 for 12 months, every 6 months....£200.75 or if you pay monthly by direct debit...£383.25 I do it every year for 12 months to get the pain out of the way. NB: Checkiing my records.... when I taxed it in 2007 12 months was £190.00

I got it from Creation Motorsport here is the link, and its on special offer :- https://creationsmotorsport.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=&q=AL0158 Yup its scary seeing young kids with mobile phones etc, we used to make our own toys ie trollies, build rafts (that sunk), I guess thats progress NOT!! Good Luck

Or perhaps one of these kits?

UPDATE I bought the straps from a main dealer £61.80 incl' VAT After giving both straps couple of extra coats of black paint I fitted them today. I Had run fuel down so there was only 1/4 of a tank, I supported front of tank with a block of wood with a rubber pad taped to it and it sitting on top of the trolly jack pad. For the rear I wedged a piece of wood in between the tank and the rear cross beam, then fitted the O/S first then N/S, both fitted perfectly.

Brilliant, thanks both👍.

Thanks, Its a FWD car.

Hi everyone Car sailed through MOT (no advisories) yesterday, however the tester did comment on a lot of rust on the petrol tank straps. My EKTA parts catalogue has decided to stop working. Soo can anyone help me with the part numbers please?. I know the 4 bolts are M8 x 25 Long, I plan to replace them with stainless ones. Car .... 05' Mk1 Octavia VRS, 1.8 turbo AUQ Engine. Thanks

Ahhh, So your going over to the dark side lol, seriously tho' I got to drive a Fabia 1.9 diesel vrs on a standard map and the torque was very very impressive. The only thing I didnt like was you seem to sit very high up, this was one of the early ones. As has been said above forget about engine oil spec ive got no idea what you need.

Try to find one thats been loved and not thrashed by up and coming F1 drivers 1/ Find out when the timing belt was done last, it should be every 30k miles or sooner. 2/ Engine oil changes, how frequent, should be every year or 12k miles. I use Castrol 5/30 Fully Synthetic always with a new oil filter. 3/ Petrol, they love Shell V Power thats all mine gets. 4/ Look at the welded sill lip, if it has been crushed its because its been jacked on them, they should not be used to jack the car, there are jacking points underneath and you will need a low profile aluminium jack to get underneath, (about £100), or the jack with the car if its still there. 5/ The Y breather pipe on top of engine on right side ( viewed from front) gets soft and can split causing all sorts of running probs. 6/ Try to get a standard map one, at the most a Stage One mapped. 7/ They were sold from new with a full size matching alloy spare wheel. The car will have had parts that wear out ie front and rear supspension bushes. If there is a clonk from the front when you drive off its usually the Dog Bone bushes. They are easy to replace many polyurethane kits available, about half a hour with car on ramps or jacked up on stands. Good Luck with your search Peter NB: Mine is coming up for its 18th birthday, there are older ones on here still flying strong

Hi, Well thats an interesting question, I have had mine for 17 years, I've not had it re-mapped, however have done minor mods to keep engine efficiency good, silicone hose kit for turbo (bigger inlet pipe), side vents (in front of wheels) and Audi TT inner wheel arch vent (both for improved intercooler cooling). recent jetex cat-back exhaust, engine air filter box de-finned internally, oil catch-can, plus regular servicing oil, filters etc. I find its still plenty fast enough. There are a lot more faster cars on the roads now driven by muppets than when the Vrs first came out. If its a keeper and it has low milage then I personally would stay standard. Though, there will be no visible indication of a re-map, except when you plant the right foot hard. its really up to you and what you want and how deep your pockets are of course. But Im old so am biased😃,

Top up steering fluid to max, take it round the block see if fluid goes down, I did think maybe air in the power steering fluid line, check power steering drive belt is tight, or the steering pump could be failing Jack front of car up with both front wheels off the ground, try to turn each road wheel as if turning left then try as if turning right. Any play, either track rod end b/joints are shot or lower suspension arm bushes are breaking up allowing tracking to change, or respective bolt that secures the the bush has snapped or is loose. Also while holding the tyre at the top and bottom try to move it to and fro, if it does it could be the big ball joint that goes into the bottom of the suspension strut has failed, they unbolt from the lower arm and can be replaced. Tyre pressures? , I set mine to 32 psi on all 4. At rest, engine off see if there is any play in the steering wheel, the steering box can be ajusted to eliminate any gear play (very rare though). If you find the cause please let us know what it was. Good Luck