StevesTruck

I'd be interested in the whole car. I tried to pm you, but I think your inbox might be full or pms turned off?

It's normally a thin wire in the pad material that goes open circuit when it wears away. Either fit the right pads, or put a loop of wire in the plug if you're not bothered about such things.

I'd totally agree with @rum4mo - if you're planning in advance to use the jack of doom, it's not an emergency, so get your hands on a safe jack and use that instead. If I were changing a wheel at the side of the road, and was bothered about scratching the stonechip on the seam (unlikely on a single usage) - I'd probably use a bit of thick, flexible plastic. Maybe a bit of Damp Proof Membrane, or chop a bit out of a heavy plastic shopping bag. Lay it on top of the jack and let it sink into the groove as the sill puts weight on it. But yeah, unless you're utterly up **** creek, don't use the supplied jack.

Don't know if it's still the case, but in my tradeplating days, they used to buy loads of ex-hire cars.

3k on the clock? That's an amazing find! My main concern would be anything made from rubber. I'd be changing the timing and aux belts as soon as possible. Then my main priority would be have a good look at the state of the calipers and replace discs and pads. These don't normally rust, but do give it a good looking at all round in case it's been sat with moisture trapped somewhere.

Anything that may seem unrelated?

Go somewhere that does a free tracking check, tell them you're skint til Friday. Go home, give it a tweak in the right direction, go somewhere else that does a free tracking check...... Doing it with a bit of string at home works, if you've got a dead level surface to park the car on.

30Nm, careful because a lot of torque wrenches won't be accurate that low. The plugs should be pre-gapped when purchased.

Have you been able to do a code read at all?

Start simple, check your battery leads and all the heavy leads to the ground, starter and alternator for damage and corrosion. There's a little fuse box on top of the battery with your maxi fuses in, I'm pretty much expecting one of these to be damaged, probably just a hairline crack. Inspect these carefully and give them a prod with a little screwdriver to see if the crack shows.

I've got a Makita one, basically what I'd call a floorboard saw. It's a handy little tool, just don't expect too much out of it. I go with the rule that if I can bend the material with my fingers, it will do it, or in other terms, if the jigsaw will cut it, this will, just a bit quicker. Ryobi stuff's alright for occassional DIY use.

There's not a lot between them on paper, so I'd go on condition of the individual cars. Personally, I'd generally avoid any small turbo'd petrol engine, particularly in a bigger car. I'm not convinced about their reliability.

He's asking about updating a "Swing" radio on a 2017 Skoda Octavia and providing the version numbers.

Yeah, that's pretty poor. If it's an old style skoda key, they're pretty easy to rake. Give me half an hour with my cheap and nasty pick set and I can normally get them and I don't really know what I'm doing. If it's the newer-style VAG door locks, they're pretty trivial if you have the right lishi pick.

Set the cables evenly, whip the drums off, back the adjusters off. Check the end of the cable at wheel is sat evenly on each side. Get an assistant to gently work the handbrake lever while you watch how much free play there if before the shoes start to move. I'm guessing you've got a stretched cable. If it's not a stretched cable, take it all apart, clean, lubricate (including the backplates) and reassemble.

I just push the pin hard with my finger and put the clip on with a pair of combination pliers. If you can't push down hard enough, put a 5p in the finger of a pair or gardening gloves and push with that.

Not exactly hard to check, just grab the tie rod and give it a pull in and out, feel for a knock. You change the joint with the rod "drumstick" as a lot of places call them. They're not expensive, but it's worth paying that bit more for a good brand. It can be a bit of a mare to change then, even with the right size crowsfoot socket, and the car will want re-tracking, so I generally get somewhere to do them for me.

If the window is open a bit, I'd probably start with either a long bit of stiff wire, some pallet banding or even a bit of string and see if I can get on either a window winder, or a lock pin.

Might be a bit out of your way, but these are good at what they do https://lincolncarkeyman.co.uk/

I'd always try to pick a problem apart before throwing parts at it. Actually, this is confusing, are you both talking about the same fault on the same car?

If it's a diesel, it's highly unlikely to be an immobiliser fault. Most likely the fuel pump relay (feel if it's clicking, if not, tap it with something metal), the wire to the stop valve, or the stop valve itself (whip it out, remove the plunger). D's need the stop valve, SDI's don't really need it, so you can pretty much just leave it with the plunger out if you're not discerning.

If the caddy jack is a dogleg one it should be fine* to use on the skoda. I'd just get a brace off any random scrap VAG car. Maybe a wheel and tyre too if there's space. *When I say "fine" I mean no less dodgy AF as they are to use on the Caddy.

Personally, I: Build the shoes up in the vice, biggest spring down to the smallest spring. Yank the handbrake cable out of the spring it's in with a pair of pliers,push the spring back and hold it with an old blunt set of side cutters. Hook the cable on the arm Hang the shoes on the back plate (you might need to take the bottom spring off to get it over the hub. Brake spring hooks are amazing tools and dirt cheap.

Which lights? I'd suspect a battery issue, battery connection issue, damaged maxi fuse or a clocks fault personally.

Removed the errrr... racking