StevesTruck

As I told the mechanic that fitted it. it can't have been that bad, I did a track day in it 2 days earlier 😁

I had a 2002 ibiza with a pd130 in. Had the Cambelt done in 2016 with about 150k on. We dont know if the belt was original, but it did have holes in 😨 So yeah, don't do that 🤣

Which engine does the car have in? When I've done them on 1.9's, I've had to use a really long spanner to get the leverage to wind the tensioner off, doable, just needs the force/ As far taking the pin out, I think I've normally just used a pair of grips or heavy pliers and just wiggled and pulled

I personally think it'll get scaled back to the point where they're just sticking Jaguar badges on random chinese EV's

The 5 speed was a far better option than the 6 speed, unless you're looking for some silly top speeds.

I just use brake cleaner.

I think there should be a part number under the lid. If it's the same as a polo one, I bought one of the cheap ones off ebay and it's fine

I've had this issue a couple of times with Brembo discs from Eurocarparts - wonder if that's what they used?

It could be any one of a number of places, Door seals, rusty windscreen surround, blocked scuttle drains. Best thing to do is sit in the car while someone goes round the car an area at a time with a pressure washer

Does it still do it if you rapidly pump the clutch a few times first?

228 In WB & Sons Auction https://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues/fine-car-auctions/catalogue-id-fine-c10040/lot-e2d4cc13-da37-422c-ad7a-b3a000f98a48

When you consider that everything else had about 100hp over the Mk1's and 2's, they didn't do badly. The mk1 fabia took a hell of a lot of speed off quickly under braking, I'm guessing it was on the standard brakes and got heat fade.

If you like it and you know it's had a good life, then why not? It's definitely not expensive. It takes the doubt out of wondering what sort of a life it's had before you got it. When I went back self-employed, I bought a van off the fleet of the company I'd been working for because I knew it'd been looked after and it's been great

It was about a trader keeping cars on the road, insurance, and being a problem neighbour. From my standpoint as someone who trades vehicles, I'm explaining why they may not show as insured, and suggesting a different line he could go down to if he wants to raise his neighbour with the authorities.

If he's a trader with the appropriate policy, they can be insured but not shown on MID, depends a bit on the policy. Ours only shows if we've specifically "fleeted" a vehicle onto the policy, but, subject to a few conditions, we're insured on anything in our custody. Road tax is more likely to be the issue because you can't use trade plates to store vehicles on the road.

If you fancy VCDS, the main UK supplier is on this page. https://www.gendan.co.uk/vcds_chooser.php The USB versions to use with a Windows laptop are a lot cheaper (£200-odd) than the ones for a phone/tablet (£400-odd). You will find cheaper copy cables that work with older versions of VCDS, they're a bit of a lottery and a taboo subject on here. To be fair, what you need doing isn't particularly specialist any more, and most half-decent diagnostic should do the job, so if it's for a one-off, it might be cheaper to pay someone else to do it.

Splitting hairs, you can scan as many cars as you want on a VIN-limited cable. You only need to use a VIN if you're going into detail. I normally say £20 cash in hand for a scan and report on my driveway, so if it's a garage doing that for the same money, I'd say that's excellent value.

Looks about right for a retail price for a genuine item. Here's another supplier for comparison. https://skodapartsdirect.co.uk/product/skoda-2012-2024-sump-plug-washer/ At the end of the day, you're buying 2 small items as a retail customer, so, in the nicest possible way, they've got no reason to want to do you a favour on pricing. If it takes 15 minutes to take your order, process it, go fetch it and charge your card, that's probably £4 worth of wages and NI they've paid the parts lad before anything else. The only way to really save money on small stuff like this is buy a few online or with something else and have them on the shelf for when you want them. Even then, I'd question how much of a saving you really make. I've got a rack full of sump plugs, washers, nuts, trim clips, bleed nipples, bulbs, standard fuses, micro fuses, maxifuses..... Yeah, it's a lifesaver when I need one, but I bet I've got a few hundred quid of outlay sat there waiting for the day I might need it.

Did you pre-fill the caliper with fluid? I've found it helps a lot on VW rear calipers.

No reason not to, I'm of the belief that keeping the oil fresh in a diesel makes it live longer. Just make sure you're using the right spec oil for your engine, and check you've got the right tools for removing the filter before you start.

Interested to see see how you get on with the MG. I've heard they're utilitarian, but in a good way.

That's anything with a canbus to be fair, so most cars made in this century

It mostly goes down to the level of systems it can read and change, and the cars it can work on. I have a £20 Lidl's scanner in the glovebox. It'll tell me ECU and ABS fault codes so I can go Google them, turn a service light off on most older cars, and that's about it. When my van put an engine light on 100 miles from home, it gave me a code to google so I could make a decision whether to continue, and turned the light off. That's all I wanted. My brother's got a Snap on Solus. It'll give him the fault code, live data, test a systems operation (power it up, see if it works) and a guide as to what the fault means and some common fixes. I was chasing a fault on a Peugeot, it told me what the code meant, a few things to check with a meter and how to fix it. Then you've got stuff like VCDS, which will be able to look at all the car's systems, give fault codes, show the live data from the system, do output checks, let you recode modules.... but only on VAG. I've got it, when I bought it, it was the thing to have. The level of stuff it can do on VAG cars is pretty comprehensive (except security systems), but it's a bit clunky to use and you really need a laptop. Last time I used it, it identified a faulty injector on my Polo, told me which one it was, what was wrong with it, and then allowed me to code the replacement in. Then there's the Chinese stuff, Topdon and the like. Mine was £350, it can do pretty much anything VCDS can do, but on any car, and it's fairly easy to use for most things. But.... some of the interface is a can be written in Engrish, and there's no real guarantee that it's going to do the right thing to your car, and still be working a few years down the line. So really, it's down to what you want to work on, what you want to be able to do on it, and what sort of brand do you want to buy? Yeah, VCDS is amazing, if you want to spend a few hours geeking out changing settings or tracing an awkward fault on a Skoda, but it's a no real use when your mate's Fiesta throws an ABS light.

Guessing it's the bit closest to the camera giving you the trouble? As long as it's not the actual arm itself, only the sleeve inside the bush that's touching the subframe, that's fine, just knock it in unless it's obviously well over sized. If in doubt, wind the bolt in and out without the arm there to see what it feels like. If you're reusing the original bolt, it'll probably want a good wire-brushing to clean it up. At risk of stating the obvious, leave the outer ball joint (the one that goes in the bottom of the wheel hub carrier) until last.

Depends what you're carrying?