garethw

They are just held on with double sided tape so if you can get something thin in between the protector and the sill with the aim of cutting the foam part of the tape rather than levering them off that might work. A putty or filler knife with a straight edge is what is used. Otherwise there must still be someone who does generic ones that would fit on ebay somewhere.

You were worrying you could not remove the old ones without scratching the sills

This is in relation to you fitting two one on top of the other

I ended up taking both flanges off as recommended by rbaldwin in the ask a tech section. But even then I had to swivel the engine forward allow the gearbox to miss the crossmember. The hex bolt in the centre is a pain as you have to make up something to hold the flange still and then still access it and push the drive flange in.

Welcome to the Sdi club. Looks like you'll get some decent use out of that. 60+ MPG will be no problem.

Well done on managing to get the gearbox off on your drive. Hope you had some help. +1 for something being wrong with the pressure plate or the release arm/bearing to cause the wear.

Well done on managing to get the gearbox off on your drive. Hope you had some help. +1 for something being wrong with the pressure plate or the release arm/bearing to cause the wear.

I would worry that the thickness would contact the doors, I have this problem on one of my cars with the plastic sill protectors

My first action would be to see how dirty it is on the inside. If you have done >50K miles then it could be in need of a clean out.

ASR would not be the 1st option I was looking for, ABS maybe... The handling of the FABIA is more than competent unless you are going for the higher power versions, which I am assuming you won't be for insurance reasons. The pitfalls are well documented in terms of steering pumps , console bushes and footwells filling with water. In general the day of the MK1 is nearly over, unless you can find a well maintained example that has been garaged its whole life your money is better spent on something newer especially if you want loads of flash electronic stuff.

Thanks for this guide managed to remove the turbo on my PD100 FABIA using substantially your instructions. Some more messing was required to disconnect the EGR cooler.

I'll get it done ASAP

Only enough oil to make the rag dirty in the intercooler, but oil dripping from the centre of the turbo onto the driveshaft. When you accelerate hard you can make a fair bit of smoke.

What size are the brakes, it may be that ABS is 256mm and non ABS is smaller. If you want a wheel bearing fitted I have the tool.

That is good news, the power steering is a weak spot I am on my 3rd pump on my oldest car. If the light is permanently on it is unlikely the sensor will be the only thing you need. There is a comprehensive guide on the technical section to diagnosing the pump so well worth joining up. If you put your location someone near to you may be able to help with VAG-COM etc. Pumps are now more affordable than they used to be, so unless you are really stuck for cash I wouldn't bother with a scrap yard one. The job itself is fairly easy.

The wife's car is starting to get through a fair bit of oil ( 0.5l in 1500 miles) Is it likely to be a turbo issue or could it just be a breather problem ?

Alarm faults can be notoriously difficult to debug. First thing I would look at is the door switches not working i.e. courtesy light does not work correctly. Typically the drivers door would be the 1st to go. Search for this in FABIA and OCTAVIA forums

The boot is pretty huge so the only drawback is the seats don't fold forward to increase the load space. I found my buggy would not fit in the hatch but was OK in the estate. However as long as the boot in big enough for your push chair and the condition is good compared to the price then go for it. In general they tend to be bought by more mature drivers so a high spec and low mileage is typical. If you state the engine/trim/mileage and price people will be able to give you some feedback.

+1 Vote for Mann filters In terms of changing the fuel filter have somewhere ready to pour the diesel in it away i.e. your waster oil can. Also make certain the battery is good and you have at least 1/4 tank of fuel so you don't struggle to prime the new filter.

If you really are using stainless nutserts then you will need a very capable tool with a lot of leverage, maybe steel of aluminium ones would be easier. I have successfully done M4 steel nutserts using a 12.10 grade socket capscrew and stack of washer method but not certain if that will scale to M5. I always held the nutsert with pliers, made certain the bolt and washers were lubricated and drove the bolt with an allen key. If you are using a conventional plated bolt I think it is likely to seize up or break. I know from experience that M6 ones were the biggest I could do with the type of tool shown before I had to arrange the work to use my body weight to force the handles together. Now I have a tool with a cam action and that makes M6 inserts go in easily. Can't find a picture of that type of tool online.

That's quite a bit worse than mine was the last time I looked at it seriously. Get a blanking plug to fill that hole into the sill up otherwise that will be rotting through from the inside. To be fair the bottom of my rear wheel arches will need work this year.

The cap has grooves in so you can stand it on the filler flap. I replaced mine with a similar one from ebay but I am getting more like 8 years out of them....

I have done it on 1.9Sdi the key thing was to remove the output flanges from the gearbox and take off the drop links so you could Flip the anti-roll bar out of the way. ( As advised by R Baldwin ). It is very tight and you need to be strong enough and perhaps have a helper to get past the critical bit. You may have more scope on the smaller engine to loosen engine mounts and move the engine to make more space. Replace the bolts on the gearbox mount as a matter of course. See WINOs post on how he did his petrol 1.4.

Thanks for that insight, but I think my problem is electrical as when it happens you can;t communicate with the ECU over VCDS. I had wondered if it was a fueld shutoff problem, but that is part of the injection pump on the non-PD engine. I have just changed the ECU relay marked 109 on the top with one from ebay lets see how that goes.

A plus 1 for ASR light on after 10 minutes, caused by both Alternator wires completely snapped. Fixed by soldering in additional wire and heatshrink tubing to insulate.