mad_rich

Thanks for this. Very easy to follow guide :-) My only mistake was that I picked the wrong part from Eurocarparts (I thought my reg number made it foolproof, but the part they provided only had 2 pins, not 4. Quick visit to the dealer and I had the right one).

Yep, did that fairly early on to give me peace of mind. Pretty much as soon as the car had proved itself to me! It's got 45k and 3.3 years on it now, so technically it's due again next summer. I'm tempted to play cam belt lottery for a year or two though...

Well I thought I'd better update the forum, as my Fabia has just ticked over 200,000 last week. (My estimate of 6k a year was out by a factor of 2 - partly because the running costs are so much cheaper than my old Saab!) 'Strong as an ox' puts it mildly. The car has been absolutely solid. Apart from servicing and consumables, it's barely needed anything. Alternator went last year (I should've followed my own advice above), and that's about it. I even treated it to a new clutch this year. Done a few 'comfort' repairs and replacements. Still haven't cured the Fabia back door leak, despite following all the tips on here, but I just give it a good going-over with a Vax every couple of months. And it the irritating intermittent tailgate won't go away, but I've been very happy with it. Here's to the next 50k!

Hi. Yep, they're original.

Radio gone, bump for the rest.

Wow! The hose didn't turn up today so I bodged it with some tape for the time being. The difference is amazing. 150 miles this morning with turbo all the way! Definitely found the problem. To think Škoda wanted to sell me a new turbo for over £1k, and it wouldn't have fixed the problem...

Thanks. That makes it sound pretty painless. I'll see what I can rig up for a mirror. The hose didn't turn today so it'll be next week now :-(

New 4mm hose getting here today. Can anyone help with the Q above? It's really awkward to get at. I have visions of breaking the nipple and/ or not being able to get the new hose on as it's out of sight.

I've just used this to adapt a used key I bought off eBay this week. First I pressed unlock on the new key 200 times to clear it. (Just to be sure.) Then I followed the slightly adjusted method above. It maybe just fluke, but I tried it several times unsuccessfully with the new key remaining in the door lock. Then I tried it after removing the key and it worked. Also, the horn didn't sound, but everything seems OK.

Thanks for the pics, Dave1953. I've just done your draught excluder fix. I haven't tried the other method (taking off the door card) so I'll see if this works. I'm not sure if I dare look under the carpet on a 12 year old car...

From a 2002 Mk1 Fabia Estate Owner’s Manual & Wallet £10 Front ashtray £5 Skoda Radio cassette model 402 £15 Under radio cubby & slip mat £5 Pair of boot dividers (they go behind the wheel arches to portion off a section) £5 Collect from Newcastle or we can sort post.

upon Tyne! I changed the whole thing http://www.skodaparts.com/product/fabia-servo-vacuumpipe-2000-2004-35384 including the junction. (Assuming thats what you meant)

Well the brake booster has been ordered and fitted. Picked it up from the dealer today. Sam84 was right about the Reasonably easy to fit. The tricky part is getting enough force to push it into position in the bulkhead. It needs a good shove, and there's not really much room around there to get your weight behind it. Managed in the end though. My silicone hose turned up too, but the 3mm stuff looks *really* thin by the time it's stretched over the nipples. I've ordered some 4mm stuff and will see how that goes. Two further questions: 1. Some of the hoses run very close to the engine block. Do these need protecting further? 2. What is the hose that runs down back to the underside of the engine? Is that the turbo itself? That one is badly damaged, from heat I think. I suspect it will be the culprit. Not looking forward to replacing it though, as it's out of sight. Cheers all.

Thanks. I'll give the WD-40 trick a go. I've sprayed it liberally everywhere else in the car so a bit more can't hurt. Just to be sure, you squirt it into the vacuum box and hoses? Now I'm more confused about the brake booster. Hopefully they can identify it by the chassis number.

I have a couple of problems with my 02 plate 1.9 Tdi Fabia which I believe may be related to vacuum hoses. 1. The turbo disappears completely after 10-30 minutes of driving. This is fixed by cycling the ignition. 2. A handful of times in the last few months I've had the brake pedal go hard. I've already tried disconnecting the MAF (made it worse) cleaning the turbo vanes with Mr Muscle (no change) and have replaced the vacuum box (it was making a fizzing sound anyway). Reading these and other forums suggests these might be related. Particularly this post (although it's about an Audi, I think it's relevant?) So I think I need to change the vacuum hoses and brake booster hose. I've ordered some silicone hoses off eBay. Hopefully that's easy enough to do. Do I need one of these one of these for the brake booster? I'm not hugely confident in what I'm doing, so was looking for some step by step instructions. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be grateful. Thanks in advance.

I'd be interested in the tyres/ wheels if they're still available. You have mail.

Hi folks Last week I had to have a new alternator on my 2002 Fabia (1.9Tdi). When the garage phoned me with a price, they said it 'might need a new battery as well'. Fair enough. It was old. When I went to collect it, sure enough they'd fitted a new battery. With one hour's labour and VAT, the total was a shade under £300, including £55 + VAT for the battery. I was giving the car a once-over today before MoT, and decided to check the battery. The one they've fitted is Toyota branded. 53Ah, 430 CCA. This sounds very low to me. When I stick my reg into ECP, all the batteries that come back are 70Ah or over, and more CCA too. So have they given me a crap battery? Or is the one they've fitted enough? I can't find an official spec anywhere - if I go back to them, I'd like to be able to say 'Look - this is the spec you should have fitted. Please replace it'. Cheers

Thanks. I'm still not clear what it is I'm going to be removing. Hopefully things will become clear when I start attacking the windscreen wipers.

Just bumping this thread. I'm about to clean the scuttle drains on my Fabia. Am I right in thinking that I need a supply of these, and one of these, and that's it? Also, I may be being dim, but I can't find anything in my Haynes manual. Nothing in the index for 'scuttle' or 'plenum' and I can't see anything in the service schedule. Can anyone point me to where to find the procedure? Cheers, Rich

Thanks for the replies. I was fairly sure I was right, but had begun to doubt myself!

I'm looking at getting new wheels & winter tyres for my Fabia. It currently has 185/60 R14. I was half thinking of using the spare plus one other 14" Fabia wheel I have, and just buying two more wheels - either new or used. Popped into a tyre shop (an independent on an industrial estate) to ask what they had. He said he had 4 15" VW wheels with Hankook tyres on them that they'd taken off a customer last year. He looked things up on his magic computer and said they would fit the Fabia. Tyres looked good and had 6-7mm tread so I took them for £150. I checked when I got home. As it turns out, they're 195/65 R15. Looking on e-tyres, that's a difference of nearly 10% and way outside the acceptable range (2.5%). They also don't appear on this list: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/217351-oem-tyre-sizes-and-alternatives/ I've just been back and, while helpful, he was quite adamant that they'd be fine. He kept saying 'you can put 15" wheels on', and I kept saying 'yes, but with 195/50 tyres, not 195/65'. Anyway, he's looking up some prices for 195/50 R15 tyres, and some 185/60 R14 tyres + 2 used wheels. Just wanted to check that I'm not going mad. The 195/65 R15 aren't suitable, are they?

Thanks. Sounds like they'd be a bit big for what I'm looking for. Cheers, Rich.

Hi Are these still available? What size are the wheels/ tyres? I have a 2002 Fabia currently on 185x60R15. Looking for something to put winter tyres on. Cheers, Rich.

58.6 average over the 9,000 miles I've had the car. Easily 75 on the motorway if I stick to 60mph.

OK. Cheers. It just seemed strange that it's never kicked in, but I didn't realise that the fan operating would be unusual. No A/C.