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tony_ack

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    Leeds

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    Fabia VRS MK1

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  1. Not quite the same but I did this conversion, shoehorning a MK4 Golf Climatronic system into a VW Corrado. The whole dash had to come out, I relocated some relays behind the dash, drilled some holes in the bulkhead and spliced a fair few wires to connect it to the power, various sensors and OBD. It was a mammoth job, and undertaken mainly because the manual dials in the Corrado are prone to failure and like hen's teeth now. The Fabia has some advantages over the Corrado in that there is already aircon, already a recirc motor and the heater flap must also be electronic? Also, I believe that Climatronic was an option on the ibiza, so it should fit the bulkhead. On the negative side, you'll need the dash out (and there's a lot more under the dash of the fabia), and probably need to replace at least the heater box assembly. You may also need to splice in some wires, and I would guess there is at least a sunlight sensor to install somewhere. Good luck if you decide to do it but having got the decentish manual system in the fabia and having done the conversion before, I wouldn't personally bother.
  2. It's not normal for the turbo to whistle on idle. If it's been mapped and it's got fsh, wouldn't the owner have kept receipts for any engine modding? And old mots so you can verify the mileage? Mines on 175k and although the leather on the gear stick is worn, the numbers and logo are fine. You know what you're doing so if it doesn't quite add up in your mind, save your money for one that does.
  3. 1. Depends on your commute - if mostly motorway, and you nurse it all the way, you could see 60-65mpg. 55 more likely. 2. Try vwspares.co.uk if you don't want genuine. Go for the arb drop links and bushes first as they are easiest to change and pretty cheap 3. Probably. Push down each corner of the car and release - it should return to normal in one movement, without bouncing up and down. Also check visually for leaks. Just keep regularly servicing the car, particularly oil and filters - service intervals will be about every 3 months on your mileage. Keep on top of any issues that come up and keep some money aside in case any big bills come up (turbo, clutch). With the rear calipers, it may be worth cleaning and re-greasing the slide pins every 6 months or so to reduce the chance of seizing.
  4. Take off the door card, remove the dash undertray and pull the carpet back if you can from over the sill and up the a pillar. Dry the floor if it's wet and dust the sill and a pillar with talcum powder. Close the door and window and empty a watering car over the windscreen and drivers window. Hopefully the water will show as streaks in the powder and allow you to trace the leak. 30mm drop is a little harsh but bearable as long as you keep tyres standard
  5. It's happened to me recently, it ended up being a perfect storm of broken load sensing wire, old battery, knackered alternator pulley clutch and broken aux belt tensioner. To test the load sensing wire - does the battery light come on with the ignition before you start the car? If not it's broken, you'll need to reconnect the wire, otherwise the battery won't charge at lower revs Check the aux belt (with engine off) if it's loose or missing, the tensioner has gone With the engine running, and at idle, check the voltage across the battery. If it's not putting out around 14v then it's not charging Cost wish, you're looking at 50 quid for a battery, about 100 quid for a decent exchange alternator, 30 quid for tensioner and belt, and just a bit of wire and solder for the load sensing wire
  6. Buy a newer one in better nick, or go to a golf or a3 with similar performance. Or take one 'fix' at a time and get yours back up to scratch. There's nothing more rewarding (or costly) than a project
  7. It was unfortunately just whatever garage could recover the car at 5.30pm and 150 miles from home. I rechecked and voltage at idle was now 14.3v and dropped to 12.7v with the engine off. I'll see how it goes
  8. I've had a bit of a nightmare this week. Last Sunday night I was on the way to Oxford with work, when the lights started to dim, and then one by one, warning lights appeared on the dash. I opened the bonnet and the aux belt was completely free from the alternator - the tensioner spring had snapped. I got the car recovered, and asked the garage to replace the tensioner, but also check the alternator pulley, as I know these can be prone to failing, taking the tensioner with it. I picked up the car a couple of days later - they said they'd only changed the tensioner as the alternator pulley looked okay. The car was fine for about 50 miles, then on the motorway, there was a loud bang under the bonnet - it had blown a turbo pipe. I got off the motorway, temporarily resecured the pipe (it had blown at the intercooler), and went to start the car. The battery was completely dead. Luckily someone managed to jump start me. I rang the garage who told me that everything was fine when I left, and I was too far for them to come out to me. I found the alternator load wire had broken under the car, so temporarily fixed that, and managed to limp the car home. I got home and there was smoke in the cabin. I popped the bonnet and there was smoke pouring out of the battery. I disconnected the battery and removed it from the car. I swapped the battery for a new bosch one, and the alternator for a recon bosch unit. I fitted them today. After fitting, the voltage across the battery was 14.2-14.4v at idle. I took the car for a test drive, and when I got back, the reading was 14.05v (the voltage dropped instantly when the engine was turned off). Is this normal, or is there something I else that might be causing a problem? It's a Fabia VRS by the way, an early one. Both the alternator that came off (looked like the original) and the replacement unit were 90A
  9. Sounds very much like the noise mine made when it needed a regas. I took mine to ATS using an Amazon voucher which included an aircon 'service'. They checked the pressure and the system for leaks before doing the regas, and shouldn't charge you if it doesn't need one.
  10. Change the air filter first - a new one is peanuts and easy to change diy
  11. As above, aircon compressor activation is routed through the fan controller, which you can get to from underneath or behind the nearside front wheel arch. It's a black box with two plugs into it. Check the wiring into it first. The fans are needed to blow air over the condenser while the car is stationary
  12. I do 80 miles 4 days a week and 100 miles 2 days a week. Perfect car for it really - small, economical, quick enough and easy to maintain. Average on a 'nurse it' tank is 62mpg, about 52mpg if I am a bit more hasty. Only thing to watch is at this sort of mileage, the oil changes come around pretty quickly. Keep on top of maintenance, and fix the niggles before they become problem and it is much less likely to let you down.
  13. Mine was the same - not very cold and hissing - regassed and it's as good as new now
  14. Is the AC light illuminating on the dash when you press it? If not have you tried it on speed 4? The AC only works with the fan on so if the resistor doesn't work, it won't come on at lower speeds. Failing that, check that the wiring to the compressor and (engine) fan controller are okay, though if it wasn't I'd imagine vagcom would throw an error. Note that you don't usually detect a drop in revs when engaging the aircon in the fabia Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
  15. The VRS is on 163k, but I'm doing about 30k miles a year, so it'll reach the moon soon. I just sold a MK2 Golf with 218k - still pulling strong, but the rings were starting to go. My Corrado VR6 is on 240k and shows no signs of giving up. Regular oil services help massively, and fixing niggles as soon as they happen, before they become major problems.
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