Colin170CR

Mine went at 58,000 miles so about the same at yours. Be prepared for a big bill!!

I got mine from Amazon. Just check your model against the listing. There are some on Amazon that are cheaper & some that are more expensive. I went for middle price & a Prime / quick delivery. https://www.amazon.co.uk/HouYeen-Radiator-Coolant-Expansion-Octavia/dp/B0BNN571GX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=142WWY8LUH0VR&keywords=Coolant+tank+for+Skoda+Superb&qid=1705270487&quartzVehicle=106-11675&replacementKeywords=coolant+tank+for&sprefix=coolant+tank+for+skoda+superb%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-3

Well the weather wasn't too bad today so I got it done in 10 mins. As it turned out my coolant reservoir wasn't the double chamber one I thought it was & I might have been able to fish the silica bag out without changing the reservoir. That said there was always a chance of the bag splitting whilst trying to fish it out so in the end I just swapped the old for the new & topped it back up with the coolant I syphoned out. I'll take it for a run tomorrow to make sure there are no leaks & make a note to tell the indi garage what I've done next time it goes in for a service. Now I have to give it a wash cos it is looking pretty grubby.

The problem is if the silica bag breaks & silica gets into the cooling system & heater matrix your are screwed & left with a big bill to clean it all out. £1k+ from what I've heard. Newer cars don't use the silica bags anymore & have a different coolant spec. The silica bag was supposed extend the life of the coolant to 5+ years to save costs. Instead it introduced a problem that was never there if coolant was changed on a regular 2 yearly basis. So without the silica bag we revert to morer regular changing of coolant. Next time my car goes in for a service at my independent I'll tell them the bag has gone so they can replace the coolant with the correct one.

The parts arrived yesterday so I will be fitting a new coolant reservoir in order to get rid of the "Mit Silica" bag one that's fitted to my car. The wife objected to me using the turkey baster to drain the excess coolant out of the reservoir so I had to buy a syringe as well . However, with no cover or a garage that I can get the car under or into I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit before I tackle this job on the drive. By the looks of the weather it may be getting colder next week so it might be a while before this gets done. 🤞the bag stays intact for a while longer.

I spent Xmas & New Year in Finland back in the early '80's when we visited some friends in Helsinki. For the New Year we got a train up to Tampere & I remember standing late at night outside a club waiting to get in. It was -25c & my nose froze up!! As low at the temperature was it didn't feel that cold because the humidity was so low. No need for freezers in winter either. The people we stayed with kept their food outside on their apartment balcony🥶 Also memories of cross country skiing, which we were very bad at.

Thanks. I think my reservoir has two chambers & the bag is in the bottom one which has no access from the top. I've ordered a new coolant reservoir from Amazon (£25.79) so I'll just switch out the old for the new which looks easy enough to do & removes any chance of the bag splitting while trying to remove it.

How easy / hard was it to do? I have one in my coolant reservoir. Looked at it a few weeks ago & couldn't see how to get it out without risking bursting the bag. YT vids I've seen require the reservoir to be drained & removed from the car to get at it.

I opted out of a spark plug change on my last service because I had only done 6,000 miles in it since the last service / MOT. Might be even less this year as we've been using my wife's EV more & more to save fuel costs.

280 is better.....

👍

What's the fuel cleaner you use & is it OK to use with 99Ron fuel?

Who are you with?

It's hard to go back to 2 wheel drive once you've experienced 4 x 4 in winter conditions. I was driving my wife's Kona EV yesterday in damp frosty UK conditions & even in low power Eco mode the front tyres were scrabbling for grip at every roundabout & road junction at the slightest push of the accelerator pedal. No such problems in my Superb.

To my knowledge my tank was not replaced. Just the pump, thermostat & antifreeze. It's a known problem & the replacement parts solve the problem of dissimilar part materials which expand at different rates which over time cause it to start leaking. If I recall the main dealer cost would have been around £1,300 & to get access the front end of the car needs removing!

I would say it's high leak probability. Common problem on these engines. Mine went last year so all I can say is be prepared for a big bill. New water pump, thermostat, labour etc. Can't remember how much I paid at my independent but it was well north of £800.

It's funny how what seems like what should be a simple job on modern cars, turns into a right PITA. Why do manufacturers make changing / replacing a bulb so damn difficult! I had similar experience with our Hyundai Kona when I wanted change the very weak reversing light bulb for an LED. Now most cars have access to rear bulbs via the boot. Not the Kona. Access to the Kona reversing light bulb is from underneath the car between rear bumper & bodywork which involved lying upside down under the back of the car, removing the rear tray assembly & skinning my knuckles & wrists fumbling blind trying to find the old bulb & get the new back in. Madness. I might take your lead & try adding some foam to our Kona's front / rear wheel arch liners to lessen the road noise.

I feel your pain. I did this a while ago to mine & more recently for a reversing camera. My tailgate rubber boots are getting rather full!! Copious amounts of WD40 helped slide them through.

Not the same engine as yours but I got mine done at a local Revo specialist - UK. https://www.revoperformancecentre.com/

🤞

You've done well for that battery to last as long as it has. The OEM batteries normally go just outside of the 3 year warranty! Mine did just that a few years ago & of course, changing a battery is no longer a DIY job unless you have the kit to re-code the car after fitting the new battery.

Ah. Not too bad then.

Thanks. I do have curtain airbags & to avoid them I ran the the camera cable above the head lining just left of centre & then sharp left to get to the L/H A pillar. It's not obvious from the photos but this route keeps it away from any curtain airbags. Looking at the uncovered C pillar there's a surprising amount of cabling going up into the headlining on both sides. New trim clips arrived late today so I'll get the last bit of the tailgate trim on tomorrow. Then a damn good wash & polish I think. Next job is to clean & paint the rusty wheel hubs.

Fitted a "Plug & Play" reversing camera. What a PITA that was Either it's my ham fists or just bad luck but it did not quite go to plan or, at least the plan I had envisioned. I was alerted to this kit by 35north who posted earlier on this thread that he had fitted a one from Ali Express £33.22 + Tax = £42.26. Seemed a bit of a bargain at that price so why not. It didn't start well because I ordered the wrong kit (C model instead of A model) so I had to re-order the correct one (I will be putting the unused C model kit up for grabs for the price of the postage if anyone wants it - problem is I don't know what VAG car the camera fits!). Removed all the tailgate internal panels with trim tools but still managed to break two of the clips - new ones on order via Amazon & yet to arrive. Removed the tailgate latch which was a PITA to get access to & landed up breaking 3 of the tabs in the process. Online videos of this procedure make it look like a breeze using just your fingers. I can assure you it's not & I needed flat blade angled trim tools. Installed new camera latch which I have to say was a bit or a loose fit. Found some pipe foam insulation & cut a piece to wedge between the latch & inside of the tailgate to take up the slack. Worked OK & no one will ever see it. Plugged in the camera cable & ran it loose to the front of the car to test it before removing any more trim . Removed the Head unit from glove box & installed interface cable & plugged in the camera cable. Turned on ignition, started car & selected reverse - nothing showing on infotainment screen other than normal Park Pilot screen. Damn. Check all connections & unplugged & re-connected camera cable at both ends - success. I somehow managed to break the locking tab on the multi pin latching mechanism so a cable tie was added to make sure it didn't come loose once back in the dash. I'm thinking that 2016 plastic parts are starting to degrade a bit. Well that's my story anyway. 😏 Disconnected camera from Head units & started feeding the cable from the boot forward. At this point I broke out my cable fishing rods, coathangers & other cable drawing devices. The LH tailgate cable gater (passenger side) is fairly full of wiring already. RH gater has more space but not sure if the camera cable has enough length to run down the drivers side & then across the dashboard to the glove box. LH / passenger side it is then. WD40 in the L/H cable gater made it fairly easy to get the cable through & fished down the rear C pillar. Then attached cable to my long fibreglass cable rods. Went inside the roof lining at the C pillar & much to my surprise found the end of it first time above the passenger door headlining. Fished the cable down the A pillar trim & into the removable panel to the left of the glove box. Fished the cable through to the rear of the glovebox, plugged it into the new wiring loom insert (yellow end in above picture) & tested it - all OK. Then I taped up the camera cable joints at both end to prevent them coming loose. Then came the most frustrating bit. After fitting the extra wiring loom insert supplied with the kit the glove box head unit did not want to go back into its housing. It kept getting stuck halfway in. Much swearing & contortion needed as I tried to pull the now longer bunch of main cable loom at the rear of the head unit to one side via a tiny opening above the pollen filter & the dropped glove box door. Nothing doing so there was only one thing for it & that was to remove the glove box. Removed the glove box light & upgraded it with an LED while I had it out. Popped the passenger airbag switch out but for love nor money I couldn't get the wire plug out of the back of it!! 5/6 screws later & more skinned knuckles the glovebox comes free which gives me the space to push the head unit all the way in & dress the jungle of wiring at the rear into the available space. Offer up the glove box & hold in place with a length of wood while & get some screws in - you need 4 pairs of hands for some of this stuff!! After a bit of "to me, to you" & more swearing having dropped yet another screw in the congested passenger footwell it finally went into place. Reattached the now much brighter glove box light assembly & put all my junk back in the glove box. Done. Test the camera again - all good except the picture is looking a bit dark. Ahha, remove the protective plastic film from the camera lens - much better. This little lot took place over two half days dodging rain showers outside on my drive. I still have to put the lower tailgate trim back on but can't do that until the new clips arrive tomorrow. I'm not sure if my experience is the norm for this sort of thing but it did feel like a major mission & it took far longer than even I had envisioned. The upside is that the camera kit was only £84 which includes the cost of the wrong kit I ordered so, not too bad all things considered. I wonder what the option cost was to have one factory fitted back in 2016? I found the website below that wants to charge £650 for retrofitting one to a Superb😖 https://www.avrmobiles.co.uk/product/skoda-superb-retrofit-factory-style-reversing-camera/ This makes my £84 look like a massive win & worth all the hassle & skinned knuckles. My car now needs a damn good wash inside & out but at long last I now have a reversing camera that my L&K should have been fitted with as standard back in 2016.

11 months old & 4 new tyres? How many miles?