StevesTruck

Fair play. I've not worked on that part of a roomster, but normally there's two separate bits of trim. The lower plastic one covers the belt, and the upper one (normally part of the soft headlining) covers the curtain bag. I don't know if it will be the same on your car? On the fabias, the seatbelt trim has a lip down the sides that sits in the door rubber, and 4? Triangular shaped trim clips that push into the door pillar on the cars shell. It's worth using something plastic to release the trim from the door rubber, then if you want, you can take that bit of rubber off the door frame so the trim isn't twisted, and run a small prybar trim tool up the back of the trim. Get it as near as you can to the clips, then it's a straight pull away from the pillar to release them. If you're a bit more fatalistic, as I am, to can also just wiggle and pull the trim off the pillar. All of the above, assuming it's the same as a fabia.

How frayed is it? If it's a few straggley bits on an otherwise good belt, it is possible to tidy them up with a cigarette lighter.

Do these have a stop valve/solenoid? Could equally be that as much as the immobiliser.

Avoid the 1.2 petrol in all it's forms, and generally anything with an Aluminium block. I'm also not a fan of any direct injection petrol engine.

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My last two have been small traders listing their p/x's on ebay. Both have had niggles, but nothing major.

To be fair, euro do send what you've ordered when they say they're going to send it, the down side is trying to work out what you want to order from their website. You'll have a choice of two parts. One will say something like 3 bolt fixing, the other will say something unrelated like 270mm diameter. I'd rather ring my local parts place and have a chat with someone who knows what they're doing. Cheaper too.

A couple of people that I go kayaking with use a combination code key safe that's like a padlock and hang it on the roof rack or the towing eye. I just take my van and leave the keys in the back. If you don't know exactly where to punch the back door, it's not opening

I don't rate autodoc at all, slow despatch and delivery. I paid extra for a Hitachi sensor off them and they still sent some random crap that lasted 3 days.

Can't go wrong at that really. We've had a couple of Luk flywheels not last well in transit flatbeds, bit that could be in part down to how they're treated

Same here My general rule buying cars at this end of the market is to spend half my budget, and save the other half for making sure it's right. I tend to think the only difference between most £1000 cars and most £2000 cars is a wax and polish. I bought a mk2 octavia 1.9 in a hurry back in November, spent about £1000 on the car, and left myself some budget for what it's needed (wheel bearing, header tank, battery, MAF), which is stuff I'd be suspecting most cars it's age would be needing sooner or later anyway. £300 and some spanner time and I'm happy that it doesn't really need anything.

It's got them, it's still terrible.

Having done a couple of 80 mile round trip commutes in the ice and snow in my 2wd 1.9 DSG.... I can see very much the point in the 4wd version. Mine's terrible at winter driving

If I'm doing a stab in the dark, I'd say it's going to be a roller/pulley/tensioner. Did they say were replacing a full kit? Is it worse if you start the engine from cold and stick the headlights on (basically load up the alternator)?

Yep, doing that with it on the car worked well. Thanks chaps

Looks alright. Any radial (clockface) play innit?

Just bear in mind that if you over cook it with the chisel, it's really easy to split the collar that goes around the hub as it's all cast metal.

Thanks folks, should be fairly straightforward then. If I can get into the spline head bolts with a half inch socket set, it should be alright. I've done the ones on the 2k Caddy, but like yours pdmc, that was on the bench because I was replacing all the suspension (250k will do that to a van). I've gone with SKF just because that's what the local factor supplies as their good one. Got to support small businesses and I like being able to take something out of the box and look at it before I spend money.

You should be able to do them with the car on a decent pair of ramps. Give the unions a bath in your favourite release spray the night before and use proper brake/flare nut spanners.

I need to do a front wheel bearing, so I'm doing it the lazy way and changing the bolt on assembly. It's the 4 bolt fixing. Has anyone changed one of these with the hub carrier on the car, or does it need to be taken off the strut and done on the bench?

Before you jack the car up or take the wheel off. Get a mate to stand on the brakes while you slide a pipe over the breaker bar and use it to get the nut cracked off. I use the handle off a 3 tonne jack as an extension and it works every time.

Start by seeing what's not working as well as it should. Boost leaks, intercoolers with holes in, sticky turbo vanes, electronic issues, worn bushes. That might point you in the direction of what to uprate first. I found the rear ARB worked well on my old Ibiza, I'm not so convinced it's doing anything useful on my Fabia

I've never found the Fabia to be too bad at warming up. The SDI Caddy I have is terrible though. Changing the glow plugs and the oil cooler (for other reasons) does seem to have helped it a little. Also don't be tempted to get in and turn the heat all the way up, all you're doing is putting a fan across the heater matrix, which is another radiator. You might as well set it to blow cold, outside air until the coolant has warmed up.

These are what I use. I've got other kinds as well, but I find these sit well and don't twist and slide about. Like wino, I've done a few sets with them. You can grease them or spray them with whatevers lying around the shed before use if you want, it makes things a bit easier.

So, due to a dodgy shoulder, my Fabia vrs is sleeping and I'm using a MK2 Octavia 1.9 diesel DSG. Its poverty spec, hubcaps, balloon tyres, black door handles that you have to put the key in to lock. It is really comfortable for what it is though and it seems happy enough doing 120 miles a day on crap roads. I've done a basic service on it, it's on 180k. Should I change the gearbox oil, or is it best left alone if it's happy?