StevesTruck

I've not done a MK2 fabia, but the 6L Ibiza was pretty bad for all the same reasons. I ended up using a long pair of bent-tip pliers and doing the whole job with them. It was like something off the crystal maze, but it was possible.

Why would you call the RAC if you're not a member? Might as well just ring a local firm direct and cut out a layer of profit. Or come to mention it, why ring the RAC at all, they just find any excuse not to come out then send a randommer several hours later. Options (assuming it's dead locked, so pulling an internal handle won't work): - Get a second key sent - Wedge the back door and slide something down to unwind the window if they're manual - Brick - lock pick / locksmith - order a replacement key

If you've got vcds, it's worth having a look at injector quantity and fuel rail pressure live data, particularly if you can get someone to watch the data while you reproduce the fault. An old-fashioned leak off test can also tell you a lot. Another suspect would be EGR valve needing a clean.

I believe the sensor is in the heater intake. It's worth doing a HC "sniffer" test. I shouldn't think it is head gasket, but it's worth discounting before you go down a rabbit hole like I did with my Octavia. You can get a test kit on eBay/Amazon for under £20.

I fitted SKF on my old Octavia and were fine, I probably put about 20k on them before the car died from head gasket. Pretty sure I used them on a 2k caddy as well without issue.

Been there myself and was convinced I'd be taking the door apart. Get the latch and door seal sprayed when it's dried off. Silicon or cheap furniture polish for the door rubber, white grease for the door catch.

Has it definitely totally thawed? In the first instance, I'm not to catastrophising and assume there's a bit of moisture got in the mechanism or latch somewhere and frozen up.

I drove an ex-police sprinter once, those windscreens are like the reverse of an anadin. Guaranteed headache with every drive

I have a 1.6tdi in a polo. It's alright, but you need to accept that sooner or later you're going to be replacing injectors. Wouldn't be my first choice of engine, but if it's what's available in budget, there's far worse stuff out there.

Clean looking truck I like that a lot. I love the cube vans when they're lowered. I think the caddy forum exists again (I have a couple of Seat Inca;s.... strangely also sold as a Caddy at exactly the same time and the Felicia pickup was), but last time I looked it was very, very quiet.

All they do the first one or two times is write to you and tell you off anyway.

I'd start by giving things a thorough inspection first for signs of being the source of the smoke, was there a little or a lot? Any wiring looking crispy? Check voltage and load test the battery, even if it's just as far as sticking the headlights on and see if they go dim over 30 seconds/1 min. Once that's done, get a helper to turn the car over and see if you can hear the starter solenoid click. Check fuses, clean connections, see if there's a voltage at the solenoid/exciter wire. I believe this is meant to be 12v, someone else said 5v though, so verify. Then if it is 12v, and it's easy to get to, bodge a test wire to it to see if it drops the solenoid and turns over. If everything else is good, get someone to turn the key and give the starter motor a smack

What car have you got? Did they give you a copy of the emissions print out? Failing that, what's the exact failure described as on the fail sheet?

Stick 12v to the lift pump, pull the hose off the filter.

The transits electric isn't it? Seem to remember the range is really low on them. I've had a few DPD notifications saying that my delivery is on its way in an electric van..... The depots about 50 miles away if you don't go anywhere else on the way, strangely always shows up in a diesel.

Looks like the shell is derived from a Daewoo Matiz, have a look on AliBaba / AliExpress, you can probably get one for the price of a decent lawnmower.

I've been pretty unimpressed with Brembos in recent years. Performance hasn't been amazing, loose fitment on pads making them rattle, definitely not what they used to be. I just fit something along the lines of ATE or TRW now, loads cheaper and they're basically OEM anyway. The eurocarparts brands (Pagid and whatever they call the cheapo ones) are just dog****. I always used to fit Mintex, only stopped because I switched parts suppliers, my brother still uses them and says they're decent.

I believe the filler neck detaches from the tank. Have a look on an online parts catalogue like 7zap and it should show you.

Reminds me of a Mitsusoka? Viewt where they grafted a jag front end on a Micra. I'm guessing it's a chopped MX5?

No specific knowledge of your car, but it's probably worth spraying some contact cleaner in the seat controls.

A lot of them do take them to copart, generally if it's clearly going to be an economic write off, rather than go to the lengths of sending the assessor out all over the place, when they can just walk down a row of cars in the yard, or use coparts own assessor.

My suggestion would be have a browse on copart's auction for a cars like yours and see what the PAV is listed as,

If you let them play that game they've got you against the wall to start with. I'd be adopting the "it's not going anywhere til it's been paid for" stance. They can send an assessor out.

We had to tell a customer on our campsite that - no, you can't "just" plug your EV in a "spare" hookup and charge it for free as whenever you want while you're on our campsite. 🙄

It's overpaintable stone chip. If you're not bothered about an exact match, you can get aerosols that aren't bad.