FabiaJames

I wish I had a grinder at one point the nut on the first one on the offside I changed was seized on and the bolt had a slot for allen key to stop the ball turning when undoing the nut. The allen part threaded I managed to squeeze a small hacksaw behind the half a mm gap I managed to move the nut and saw the bolt off. Omg what a pain haha the new ones you can use 2 spanners. So much easier!!

Tyres and brakes all round are near new it does kind of feel a little spongey I guess. Could it make the steering feel heavier do you think? I can hear the pump working when I turn the wheel at a standstill or moving slowly/maneuvering

Morning all, I've posted about this before but couldn't work out what the issue is. I was just thinking about it and in the past I had a seal go on one of the lines into the pump. I replaced the seal and topped up the fluid. The seal went after about 6 months of having the car and the steering has always felt heavy to me. Do you think its possible air may have creeped into the lines and thats causing the heavy steering? If so do you think its worth bleeding the sytem and is this an easy job to do? It cant do any harm can it. If its easy enough I'll attempt it myself if it doesn't solve the problem I'll leave it be. My front shocks need replacing in the near future, is it possible this is causing the problem bearing in mind I've had the car 4 years and the steering has never felt like its been getting heavier as the shocks are wearing? Any help much appreciated as always, thanks

Can anyone help me

Grab the drop links and try to twist or move them, you may not hear it knock doing this but they should be fairly tight and definitely not move in/out/up/down if you can twist them quite easily then it could be those that have worn. At least this was the case for me. Its a very easy job to do

From personal experience my mapped Fabia vrs runs better on Shell vpower, I love the stuff it burns cleaner I seem to get a decent amount more miles from a tank, more than enough to justify the extra cost. It pulls smoother and the engine doesn't sound as rough as when I was using supermarket fuels of course it still sounds rough, its diesel.. after a couple tanks of vpower after changing from morrisons fuel I noticed the engine was smoother. I used normal shell fuel for a while and it was very slightly more smokey but still my MPG was much better than with supermarket fuels maybe due to the vpower clean out but I'd guess any ones experience with either shell or BP fuel would be a few extra miles per gallon. I'd give it a chance to work, at least 2 tanks, even just use normal shell or BP diesel for a month and you should be noticing differences, chances are its dislodging particles of soot from inside the engine causing it to sound a bit lumpy and not burn as efficiently (this should only be temporary if thats the case) Check your glow plugs are working too, I replaced all 4 of mine (£37 for 4 bosch plugs at EuroCarParts, very easy to change if you squirt them with penetrating oil while the engine is hot and leave it for half hour, give it another squirt wait half hour and they should come out very easy) The engine starts faster with a little puff of smoke rather than a cloud and the engine generally runs better and seems more responsive. Take a glow plug out and you will see just how much soot accumilates in the bowels

As far as I know that siren noise usually indicates turbo wear. I could be wrong. My Aunt had the siren noise and not even 10k miles later the turbo blew. Have you checked the top mounts and springs on the suspension, if you take a torch and shine in the wheel arch and look at the top of the strut is there lots of wear to the rubber? If not it could also be the top mount bearing. Check the springs because one may not be seated properly and its twisting and scraping on the strut as you turn the wheel. As for the remap when I had mine mapped (3 years ago now..) I didn't notice any difference to the noise the turbo made. It always had a whistle like most diesel turbos do. On mine the rev limiter was moved up to 4800rpm I think (I havent really pushed it that far that often) but I think the standard limiter is at 4500rpm, that could indicate a remap unless they didn't adjust the limiter if it has been mapped. A rolling road will be the easiest way of knowing I don't think they cost much to have the car tested and they may test for any fault codes that aren't showing at the same time. They could probably check your suspension and steering assembly whilst you are there for a small fee.

I would try to bleed the brakes again, I just recently bled mine after changing all pads and discs, I never expected such a huge difference in braking power just bleeding the system and was shocked how much air and thin mucky fluid was in there. I never even realised just how "spongey" my brakes were until I bled them.. I just used a 1 meter length of clear tube from homebase and a clear plastic water bottle, use a syringe/turkey baster and take old fluid out of the resovoir and put it in the plastic bottle (be sure not to take out too much, I took mine down to about half inch below minimum. Then fill up almost to top of the cap and screw the resovoir cap on. Put a spanner over the bleed nipple (10mm I believe) and push one end of the rubber tube over the nipple, then submerge the other end of the tube in the old brake fluid in the plastic bottle (it has to be all the way to the bottom so air cant travel back into the caliper. If the tube sucks up anything it will only be fluid not air. Once you crack the bleed nipple open (1/4 turn) you may or may not see air bubbles coming out at least I did with mine, you can then push the brake pedal all the way to the floor slowly and release slowly, repeat 5/6 times and check the tube on the bleed nipple if the tube is filled with fluid and no air then close the bleed nipple and use a paper towel / rag to hold the very end of the tube and pinch it off the nipple to reduce spillage. Dont forget to keep an eye on the fluid level, if it gets too low then air can be sucked into the master cyclinder and you will have to bleed entire system. This method worked perfectly for me, my brake pedal has never felt so good and solid and the brakes in general other than replacing all the pads and discs, are excellent. Be sure to pump the brake 5 or 6 times as far down as you can whem you are finished before you test your brakes, and make sure that when you bleed the rear brakes that the handbrake is off. It only took me around 35-40 minutes including a fag break and having to do 2 sides at a time due to only having 2 axle stands.. If it doesnt work and your pedal still travels to the floor, then push the brake down to where it does feel like theres some resistance and hold it there. If your foot slowly sinks then it could indicate a leak somewhere in the system or possibly trapped air in the ABS modules? In which case I would try to get a mechanic to look it over. Good luck

Morning guys, Fabia 1 VRS owner - I've had a problem for a while now. When I press the central locking button on the door to lock the doors the rear driver side sometimes pops back up if i open and lock the doors a few times it normally stays locked. My car has been vag-commed so that the doors lock at 10mph and it happens then too, it pops up far more regularly than the odd occasion when it does stay locked. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue or knows what causes it? Any help is appreciated. Thanks, James

Cheers lads I'll get the walking stick cap that'll do nicely. Thanks for the help everyone Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Ahhh so frustrated, just spend 2 hours and a trip to mcdonalds for nothing. Been everywhere I can think of. I cant find any hose or some kind of plug to complete the elephant hose mod. Ive decided ill order 19mm radiator hose and try to find some way of plugging the hole when ive got the hose. Unless any one can direct me to a site or something where I can find a rubber stop or something. I tried plumbers shops and couldnt find anything. Im done driving around today lol. I even checked ***fords used to sell the radiator hose for £3 per Meter but they don't sell it any more.... Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

I read it a couple times and was still confused by it ha. When I actually went out to my car and looked I got it straight away. The pipe just after the MAF is the one thats to be blocked. The other end where it connects to the crankcase is where it needs to be re routed. Easy peasy I'm off to the hardware store to find some kind of catcher and piping, then I can clean up and will probably have to do it again but hopefully the oil starts dissappearing from the joins and the egr won't leak so much. I might plug the egr vacuum but am gonna read into that again to see what the benifits are. This wont effect the anti shudder will it? Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

With the amount of oil laying in my engine bay at the moment I think I shouldn't think twice about using a catch can. I'll have to find an extra large can I think :P I looked at the elephant mod guide once before and thought about it but was tired and found it hard to follow. Ill have another look and might do that today. I may have to settle with the plastic bottle option for now though Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Ah thats a relief I guess I could try the elephant mod and then clean everything up :P it would at least slow down the cleaning process right? Haha. Where do I screw the self tapers? Are there any guides for this or just screw into the joint? I think I'll most likely replace with silicone when money isn't running as low as it is right now lol Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

That is where the leak is from its just oil vapour right? I dont appear to be losing any engine oil. Ill clean everything up and check in a few days I think. Could I use a film of silicone of some kind around the leaky joints do you think? Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk