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Actually, surprisingly perhaps, it doesn't matter if it's on, so don't worry too much. Just screenshot this and point it out to the tester if they try to fail your car for EML on. Your car is too old for the EML to be testable:

A couple from testing at Silverstone on Friday. No spectator access so garage and pit only.

Eventually i found the picture of my Cortina i did a full respray on in 1978 and wrote off not that much later. LOL at the free tat fitted, wiper deflectors to keep them down at speed, door protectors, AA / RAC badges or is it 2 X AA of which i was not a member.

@nta16 Square plates were cool then or so we thought, and we made up square plates where i worked and as with everything else when you have no money you beg borrow or steal. Boys on tour @ the Linn on Dee, Mar Lodge back in the day when camping at the old Canadian Logging Camp was free for all and long before the NTS got it. I must off hopped off to take the picture.

Modern coolants work off a Silicate based OAT - Organic additive technology these additives carboxylates and triazole are a form of mild acid hence why leaving them on paint work is not the best of ideas. They are perfectly safe for in engine use and are fine for plastics, metals and rubbers they come into contact with. The reason newer pink/red OAT anti freezes are used with aluminium/alloy parts is the carboxylate acid inhibitors are what are put in to prevent oxidisation and corrosion of aluminium parts. If older blue anti freeze was used this would allow the alloys to corrode and in some cases become permeable. Its just a mild warning to prevent paintwork damage and cover their backs.

I had a Nissan 300ZX which was a Japanese import and speedo and odo in KM's, there was a resistor pack you could get which would make the speedometer read in miles rather than KM's and Odo count in time with that (meant when it pointed at 30kph it was really 30mph. One of the worst strip downs of all time to get that cluster out to fit and while I was there I went to change the odo so the current mileage would be accurate as miles. Someone had been in there before me, absolutely gutted, cogs had been off locking pin had been out etc and a few evidential finger prints. Here is a random throw back to the older days (which I am sure I've shared on here before) of a wee run around Astra I bought to tow my bike for one journey then sold. I got one nice timing on the wee 1.6 8V

Well as expected that was a bit of a pain. I re-routed the rear cam cable at high level down the driver side of the car tucking it in all the way to the ceiling trim until the C pillar where I had to remove the trim to fish the cable through to the tailgate flexy rubber. Pics below show where the DAB aerial connects to the rear glass & the camera cable routed behind it. Ferrite core suppressor snapped onto the cable right next to the camera which is hanging at this point. Getting the rear tailgate trim off proved as difficult as I thought it would be. The lower tailgate panel has to come off first after removing the tailgate light fittings & the tailgate close button. All on spring clips - no screw. The upper part of the tailgate trim has two T25 screws & the rest are spring clips. It was much cooler today so I had to tread carefully in case I damaged any of the clips or their retaining sliders. All went well & they all survived. Bit of a mess in the boot while all this was going on. WD40 used to get the flexy rubbers off a bit easier & to grease the inside of the flexy rubber for the new camera cable to slide through into the top of the tailgate. Not sure if I could have removed the rear trim without the use of the vehicle trim tool kit I got on Amazon a while ago. £20 well spent which has come in handy for a few jobs around the car & the house since then. Putting the tailgate trim back on was reasonably straightforward & the reverse of the removal. Everything snapped back into place with a bit of a thump & no rattles. I used 3M double sided tape to stick the camera high up on the rear screen. The only snag is that currently the camera is positioned outside the sweep of the rear wiper. Hopefully this won't impede the view too much when the rear screen gets it gets dirty - as it is now. If it does impede the view / picture quality then I may have to reposition the camera a bit lower on the screen - think I'm gonna have to do that anyway just to make sure. There was only just enough cable to run all the way to the back of the rear screen on the Superb estate & there was a push fit cable joint behind the DAB aerial panel which I wrapped in tape to make sure it cannot come apart 🤞 & there does not seem to be any DAB interference now from the camera. The smoked rear glass means the camera is well camouflaged. As such it won't act as a visual deterrent which is a bit of a shame. I wonder if I should put a "smile you are camera" sticker on the rear glass? 😏. Probably not. The Cobra dash cam screen up front now is spit & shows front & rear cameras. I suspect the overall picture quality might now be a bit lower with the added rear view camera but that's ok. Well that's just about enough car tinkering for this weeked. Overnight we seem to have got another bunch of Sahara sand dumped on the cars so I guess I'll have to give them a wash tomorrow. to save money I have decided to stop using the local hand wash car cleaning drive through service as they were getting a bit expensive (inside & out £18 for the Superb & £22 for the Karoq). Instead I have invested in some extra kit to wash the cars properly myself. Time to try out my new swivel short trigger pressure washer gun, foam lance & Bilt Hamber Touch-Less pre wash snow foam. Got some acid free BH wheel cleaner as well which by all accounts is the best of the bunch & won't rot your wheel caps like the hand wash drive through stuff does. I reckon it will take about 4 washes to re-coupe the investment in all the extra gear I bought but after that it will be savings all the way.

Washed the car, did some photos afterwards 😄

There are smoked finish ones that make the plate letters / numbers invisible from an angle and maybe ANPR's. The Focus RS near me that had them no longer has them, maybe nabbed for them.

We are just trying to find some kind of logical explanation of the situation.

Conversely the sills on my mk1 don't seem to have any rot, they're just dented in a ridiculous amount.

More likely a vacuum leak, have you checked all the hoses, if so just clear it and see if it comes back.

Hi , yes Flamenco red indeed, heated seats, air con, parking sensors. All the stuff old people need! Car isn't here at home at the moment, stored at work as I have to sort parking of the fleet out first. I am doing some little mods to it such as slightly bigger wheels, 15", lower springs (-30mm) and uprate the brakes using Vrs hubs and calipers and a +30bhp re-map. But that can wait. I'm going for the OAP sleeper style I'm embracing the elderly theme so have a small nodding dog on order............

I think the problem is that Skoda are being very business like in their approach, even if it seems unfair to those waiting ages. Whilst they cannot build cars quickly they have a choice of supplying a more recent customer paying a higher price, or supplying an already unhappy customer paying a lower price. If they supply the latter, then need to delay newer order so potentially have 2 unhappy customers. So in a world where can’t build enough, it is commercially sensible to just leave the old orders in a queue, knowing many will eventually cancel. Not what some want to hear, but least worst choice for Skoda. Especially if there are no late delivery penalties in contract. Of course those part built and stored have money invested in them, so completing them and getting paid is beneficial to Skoda. But doing so requires staff time that means the production line cannot run as normal.

Bit worried about your pic tho george your in the woods with a caravan and you appear to have a fellows leg on the bonnet 🤪

The pleasure of seeing an LCD display change in microseconds really does not justify the anticipation, it is a hang up from earlier times and a younger person would need to have the reason for it explained to them or they would simply think that you are weird. As many if not most on this forum are now younger than me I will explain that on an old style speedometer all the wheels would turn over together like a slot machine but very very slowly unless you were driving at warp speed, it put a much bigger strain on the cable and drive mechanism and often the wheels to the left would remain misaligned and look like someone had clocked the vehicle so you would anxiously keep looking down to see them gradually line up, having to wait for 10 miles to pass, then 100 miles finally 1000 miles to finally be relieved that the odometer no longer looks like Arfur Daily has been at it and that the speedo drive, cable and speedo head worm gear have survived the latest attack on their vulnerabilities. These days other than it being a milestone the whole thing is a non event yet we are all, myself included, drawn to it by magnetism.

That's happened me so many times lol

As above. £36

Thanks for estimated cost, which I cannot agree with. All the family car diesels that I've had over the last 10 years have all done in excess of 60mpg making your comparison somewhat biased towards EV. In fact, even my petrol Superb PHEV, easily does over 45 mpg, on a run, which is not great, but is a factor in my current usage. I can do most trips (by number not distance) using all electric which is great, with charging at home. In a year I am ding about 6000 miles on petrol and 2000 miles all electric. Not very far really to justify a diesel but they have better drivability for me, plus the economy. My biggest issue is on long trips, of which I do about 20 a year, all of which can be over 450 miles over a few days, or up to 1000 miles during a 2 week UK holiday, which we now have to do instead of going abroad . My experience of finding a charge point that is usable has been very poor at anywhere other than motorways where you have to queue, potentially for hours, and where there is no queuing system to make it work fairly, which is pretty silly, plus there is no way to put my car whilst waiting. The decision NOT to go all electric is based on wanting to use the latest super fast chargers to get the benefit of not having top stop for 2 hours just to get enough charge to get home, or having to pay over 69p per kwh at current rates on motorways and out of the way sites, where there is no competition. The energy crisis has already hit petrol but the biggest rise will come very soon for electricity both at home and on commercial public chargers, therefore your current rates on not realistic. I will not join any subscription schemes because they are not good value for my limited use. Pay as you go rates will get ever more expensive in an attempt to encourage subscription customers. Until the government "gets a grip", instead of "messing about" with the EV charging system the UK will be a very bad place to be, except for Tesla drivers, who have the least reliable cars , and are overpriced, but if you gave me one I would have it and put up with the problems, maybe !!! I'll reconsider the whole EV thing in maybe 3 year time, but for now its a big NO for me.

I’m sure there’s no need for my input, but have to reiterate that universal CV boots are not worth the time or money IME. I went through four in six years, all on the same axle because the rubber is so thin and easy to puncture with a small stone. Go and grab a proper boot and a universal one and you’ll immediately see what I mean. I paid £40 cash for each universal boot to be fitted at a garage each time, then decided enough was enough and bought a proper one from TPS for not much more than a fitted universal one and learnt how to change it myself. It’s been in a few years now and I’m confident it will last until my 17 year old motor goes to the scrappy in the sky

Reads as though just the filter replaced with what cost maybe £36. Plus the Insurance rip off of £1.33.

Hi all, just joined here as I've purchased the ultimate Grandad car. Having a bit of a commute to work means my 2.0litre 220ps daily is costing quite abit to use so Iwas looking for a cheap daily with decent mpg just to do the work run. I've picked up a 2006 Fabia 6Y TDI Elegance , 90k miles full history one owner. Its finished in what I believe is Flamanco Red. Full Grandad spec , which is quite coincedental as I am a Grandad, yes I know that makes me old but I am a young(ish) Grandad. I've also got in the fleet a 2016 Scirocco GTS, Porsche Boxster 3.2S and a Ford Galaxy for carting the grand offspring round when on Taxi diuties as well as an early Triumph Speed Triple for re-living my youth. Been messing about with cars and bikes for over 40 years, I did mention that I am old, so hope to be able to contribute as well as learn form the site.

Well, we’ve got plenty of time 😉

Not really, just stick to the service schedules. Fuel tank is plastic so I've no idea where you got the idea that it needs cleaning, old steel tanks get rusty on the inside, perhaps that's where that comes from.

Thanks to the help on this thread. My wife had a yeti with an unresponsive touchscreen. £1200 for a new one from Skoda was certainly out of the question, so we rang Ant, who replaced something on the touchscreen and it now works perfectly. Also got a map update as well as removal and fitting. All for a very reasonable price. Completely recommended.

Oddly with the VAT change I don’t think a car charger counts as energy saving equipment, but eddi/harvi/hub do… Now debating doing them separately to save the VAT…

Are you using something sensible to unpack the file... the built in archive tool is pants, especially on very large files. Try Keka or similar from the App Store. Also, when writing to the USB drive, make sure it doesn't crap AppleDouble (loads of hidden dot files) all over the drive - again, there are utilities such as Blue Harvest that will help you out there. Disclaimer: no inherent interest in either of those apps, but long time user of them.

Bunch of Instavolt chargers at Coventry Services Westbound, just a few yards from the shabby 2 Ecotricity ones with just the one CCS, 2 AC and 2 LEAF cons. Now 15, 8 North, 7 South, mega DC chargers on that short but busy stretch between Catthorpe interchange and the M6/M6 toll road split and they join the sad little Ecotricity chargers. Popular sometimes but was quite when I went past this afternoon. 15 Instavolts on the North and South combined to add to the couple of Ecotricity on each side. All just using credit/debit cards. 50p per Kw for Instavolt on credit card, silly Ecotricity on an App that increasingly people are less likely to use despite lower price.

Petrol from 2001 & oil burners from 2005 but this only generally applies to the engine diagnostics for other systems you should use manufacturer specific readers

Maybe the thing is, all/most of these dongles and self contained ones with a display, make it clear that they cover "engine malfunction" faults, as all new cars built since maybe 2000 onwards must comply with OBD codes for engine emissions faults - that makes it easy for simple engine emissions faults, but probably as you know, most newish cars have quite a few smart controllers in them that can assist with fault diagnosing, VW Group seem to be very good in providing an extensive list of fault codes for issues across the complete car. So, to make life easy, you should aim to get either a self contained scan tool that will give you assess to all VW Group smart controllers - that will be in the description, maybe look on the Gendan website for examples that will allow you to read steering system faults on VW Group cars. Unfortunately some time ago, there were a few self contained scan tools for VW Group cars including up to the age of your car and they only cost £35, as they could only be used on VW Group cars up to a certain age maybe 2011 in some cases, they have disappeared from sale and very few seem to appear second hand, I sold mine years ago for what I paid for it. Diagnostics moves on as well as VW Group probably trying to move ahead of the DIYer/non franchised workshops so that cars need to be handed in for fault finding, I've had VW Group scan tools since 2001ish and so far had to trade in and replace with a more modern version of VAG-COM now VCDS twice which costs quite a bit of money, but it does allow me to do what I feel that I need to be able to do while I own VW Group cars.

😁

Mine is also rusting around the number plate lights in the tailgate but it's been like that ever since I've had it and hasn't got much worse. I think it's a common spot for them to rust. I seem to remember some even had to have it fixed under warranty.

You can get the same units off ebay for less than half that, just so you know.

I didn't see the car with the blowing flexi, but that could have sucked in air between the lambda probes, giving the appearance of lean running as per the fault code.

I've got the same warning now and again, and like @totoro I just wipe the code should it come up. Doesn't seem to be affecting mine much anymore.

I used to get that, cleared it but it would come back again weeks/ months later. The car ran just as well with the error as without it so it didn't bother me. I had a coil pack go down and a new one fitted and I've not had an error since.

Not sure how exactly one could be checked except for a visual check, i doubt they would go to the trouble of smoke/vacuum checking the system for leaks. Probably a cursory glace over it and no fuel leaking so say its okay.

You shouldn’t need to look at towbar weekly, it’s basically road grot that splashes up, and gunks it up, so just periodically move it, say 6-9 months The chrome window surrounds are best tackled with a specialist metal cleaner (available in big supermarkets, where tap and stainless steel cleaning trigger bottles are). Should get it lot better, but if they have used something heavily corrosive in past then might never be perfect unless replaced.

I can see the sense in high mileage users going electric, and that is the biggest target for the Government, as it should be for the biggest gain from an ECO point of view. I used to be one of those people, and if I was now, (retired 5 years ago) I would have been an early adopter of cars like the Tesla. Now being in a very different situation, EVs are not going to fit my new lifestyle for a very long time.

Aye that's exactly like the one my Mum had except hers was green. I quite liked it, but she hated it since she knew what she had before.

Sounds great - but why blame hybrid drivers. That may well be your experience but so what. Any stupid EV or PHEV driver doing the same is why it will never work as easily as going to the local petrol station, or home charging. It sound to me as though you the sort of river that stops me from doing the same sort of thing. If I lived next to a free charge point I'd be there whenever I could as well, but I'd never risk it for very long, and I would certainly not sit in the car wasting my life away for hours just to get a free charge. This is most likely people who work near these points, so the fault is really with how Tesco, and other sites manage usage, which of course they don not do at all.

Must be. I've only ever seen one or two that are really much worse than any here as well. Mine and the other local ones suffer a lot since the council seem to have blown their budget on gritters so they get used nearly all the bloody time. My neighbour's old 06 was rotting a the wings, and the 2003 one I saw the other day was going in the same place as @TMB's. Mine has went like this in a matter of months as there was no rust or bubbling on it around November last year. The bodywork was rust-free on mine at the time that I bought it a year ago. It had originally came from West End Skoda, Broxburn but spent some time in Blantyre with the previous owner but only doing abour 2,500 miles a year. It's only since I took it South West that it's received a hell of a beating, with me doing about 10,000 miles a year at the moment. My plan at the moment is just to sand it back, then whack some "rust curing" stuff and maybe some primer on it after I get a quote from the bodywork place that did my mirror.

Liking this shot, nice one.

Nots Sure about IN the cabin, but for around the fuel filler smell check the rubber surrounding the pipe where is emerges. It can ride up and obstruct the filler cap sealing, but still seems to 'lock' on. First time I had this issue the dealer removed rear seat base to look at the fuel gauge sender seal.

The cars including the ones with a DSG perform perfectly well with the wheel / tyre circumference difference. Cars with 6 or 7 gears that use them all at UK NSL's of 60 or 70 mph yet can do double that speed but do not need to or might never get taken over 100 mph. The thing with numbers on tyre walls is run a tape measure around the tyres circumference and see the difference from one set of tyres to the next rather than going by a comparison table. & measure a new set of fitted tyres against the size of the ones being taken off and get a proper comparison. @Carlston what you drive yourself is still a mystery, is it still the Mk1 Fabia estate on small steel wheels and narrow tyres? For 3 years now my nose has bothered me as to what country you are in and what cars it is you personally drive. You certainly know your way around the components and the scores on the doors but do you drive anything with wheels bigger than 15"?

As the lads say... buy cheap, buy twice.

They’d probably nick the conduit 😂😂

Gas bonnet struts gets my vote, first thing I added to my Octavia.

Jurid are listing 312mm front discs for the 184HP 4x4 model. https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/brake-disc-10132/skoda/octavia/octavia-combi-5e5/108648-2-0-tdi-4x4?supplier[0]=48&criteria[100][1]=VA

I agree on your points except the one regarding the TPMS whereby it lets you inflate the tyres to the incorrect pressures. It would have to be a very sophisicated system to detect different tyre sizes and profiles. It would also have to know whether the car had only the driver or was fully loaded, unless this info was loaded into the computer beforehand.