Pavaotti

I am not getting water to my rear washer. The front is ok so a lack of water is not the problem. I have prodded the nozzle with a needle so no obvious blockage there. I have look behind some of the trim and in the engine compartment by the front wheel and cannot see water spillage to indicate a broken or disconnected pipe. The water reservoir is in the engine bay is in so tightly I cannot see how to get at it Any suggestions guys Thanks AG

Hi Guys Would be grateful for some pointers. My 185k Octavia estate has lost some of its power. It starts ok and run ok but it now struggles up hills. Gradients I used to take in third now need to be in second. Slip roads are a pain as I cannot seem to get up to Motorway speed fast enough and 60mph is about my top speed. I have also noticed that after struggling up a hill when I reach level road I can feel a surge in power without me having stepped on the gas. Will be taking it in Friday but would like your opinions as to what the problem may be. As said it starts and runs. No strange noises at all and no excessive smoke. Thanks AG

Thanks for the tip Freedom. It was a cabling problem. I'd hooked the cable in place but not locked it in fully. Difficult when you are working sort of upside down and the panel is in your line of sight. Thankfully that's fixed but the intermittent open and close response to the fob isn't. sometimes it open ok but closing is a bit iffy. Keep having to check and pushing the lock button down. I have taken the wiring loom out that goes through the door pillar, as suggested, out and it looks fine. No cracks or breaks. Might spray the lock and cables again but I cannot think where to go next. Could it be the micro switch in the lock? But then why would it work sometimes and not at other times. Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks AG

The rear door will not respond to the key fob. I have sprayed the usual bits with WD40 but no luck. Also the passengers cannot open the door from the inside using the chrome door opening handle. It feels limp and spongey. I thought I had not re-hooked the cable when I put the panel back on but this is not the case.. I looked at the other end of the cable but it is not broken or loose but I cannot see all of the mechanism as it's behind a metal panel making up the door.. Any suggestions please about the electric and the cable. I think I can still unlock the door if i carefully prise up the door button Thanks AG

I fitted a set of sensor purchased on ebay and they are fine. I used the information and advice available on this forum to determine the exact position to drill the bumper. I had no issues at all. The particular set came with a corer to drill the exact size of hole. My only problem was measuring and remeasuring then measuring again to get the exact position. The rest was dead easy. Don't know the ebay code number but I can dig it out if you want. The sensor heads come in a variety of colours too to match your bumper. As i say, dead easy no issues and its still working perfectly. I can think of about 3 occasions where they have saved me from damaging my bumper so they have paid for themselves several times over. Cheers

I have had 2 satnav recently. One a new one that takes ages to aquire a GPS signal. I haven't changed my car or the area I drive around. Curious. Can anyone suggest why it's happening Thanks AG

I have a small problem with my wipers. When I start the car and put the wipers on the arms move about 5 or 6 degrees then jam up. Flicking the switch in high, low or intermediate doesn't clear it. I have to physically get out of the car and pull at the blade arm which usually frees itself then no problem. It doesn't seem to matter when it happen. Sometimes first thing sometimes while I have been driving. I have sprayed the wipers with WD 40 but it doesn't seem to help. Any suggestions please. If I need to get into the wiper innards how do I go about it. Anyone got any photos that may help Thanks AG tHANKS ag.

Bugger. May have been a bit premature. It still refuses to open the driver side passenger door with the remote fob. I can now override by reaching in and opening with the interior door handle which is something. I think someone pointed out that the reason that didn't work may have been because the child lock was on. Oooops.. I think it was. Anyway I removed the panel, checked the electrical block and it seems ok. No corrosion on the pins. I checked the wires between the door and the car going through the pillars. Seems Ok. I noted a cluster of wires going to the lock mechanism but I couldn't get the thing to unclip to examine the pins. I am running out of ideas. As I say the door usually stays locked while all the others open. Sometimes if I jiggle about with the remote the door opens which would indicate that it's not a broken or severed pin or wire. Could it be something related. Suggestions please. I am happy that I now know how to take the door panel off and access the innards of the door. Thanks forum Cheers Pavarotti

Hi Guys Think I have fixed it. I think it was lack of lubrication. A few good squirts of WD 40 seems to have eased things up. Thanks for all the advice particularly on how to get the door panel off and to access to the mechanism. The electrical connections seem fine. No obvious water ingress and corroded pins. Getting there was awkward. It always is the first time but your advice was great This is certainly one top rate forum Thanks Pav.

Thanks guys Has anyone got a few pictures that can guide me to what I am supposed to look for and what needs dousing in WD40 Thanks AG

The rear door on my Octavia (drivers side) doesn't respond to the key remote opening. Sometimes it opens but usually it doesn't. I cannot open in even when I reach inside and operate the chrome door opening handle. The rest of the doors operate fine. I am worried about passengers trying to get out in a hurry. Any ideas as to where the problem lies and where I should start trying to track it down. Thanks Pav

I use an FM modulator in my car to listen to stuff on a memory stick or SD card. These run off the cigar lighter but on my Octavia Mark 1 the lighter is located below the arm rest. I would prefer it on the dash. What I did was remove the blank button below the Hazard light triangle. I then found the live from the hazard warning and connected a wire and an earth. In effect hada power source. The idea was to connect these to a FM modulator and power it up. I tried connecting this 12v wire and earth to a modulator and it promptly burned it out. Am I doing something wrong? Surely the small fuse in the FM unit should have blown before the unit. The unit operates on 12V with a protecting fuse and I put 12v across it. Perhaps I was unlucky. The quality control on one or two units I have had recently from China is abysmal Any ideas guys AG

I have been through about 8 of these things over the years. They come from China and are absolute garbage. I only keep using them as they are so cheap but more importantly there seems to be no reasonable alternative. I record from DAB radio via a laptop to an SD card or memory stick. I can then play this via an FM modulator unit through the car's radio. This is fine until the units clap out. Can anyone suggest a system for playing SD or memory sticks through the car radio/cassette player Alternatively and FM modulator unit that is of reasonable quality Thanks Pav

My driver seat lumbar support mechanism wasn't working. It does now thanks to Mac11irl who's very useful write up with photos helped me understand how the mechanism works and how to fix it. In my case it wasn't a snapped cable but a plastic strut that had broken. To vrsmark a big thanks for giving me (free) a passenger seat with the right bit inside that I used to fix my one.. It also helped in that I could practice taking it apart before attacking my car seat. Trouble is now I am running out of things that need fixing Thanks guys. This is one top class forum

Regarding the window. I had a failed rear window. I could hear a faint clicking (yours may be the humming) when I pressed the switch. It was a broken wire. Simple as that. Pull back the protective rubber "bellow" between the car body and the door. You will see a connector and a cluster of wires. Follow the wires back into the door and you will see they are covered in a cloth like tape. Remove this with scissors or a sharp knife (Don't nick the wires) On removal I found a thick red wire (live I think) that had broken plus a couple of other wires where the insulation was cracked. When I reconnected the ire with a connecting clip and reinforced the wires with insulating tape the window operated perfectly. Check out the forum for a write up. Good luck Pavarotti

I intend removing the seat of my mark 1 Octavia 2002 I believe there is an electrical connection under the seat. Do I just remove it and replace when finished or will some lights on the dash flash up that will need a diagnostic set up to remove. If I disconnect the battery will this not bugger up the radio code? Would appreciate some advice Cheers Pavarotti

I record radio via a laptop onto a Sd card. I listen to it in the car via an fm modulator but having got through about 6 in the past I am finding that the (Chinese) quality control is absolutely dire, I have had 2 recently sourced from the UK that malfunctioned and they too were Chinese. There seems to be nothing else available. I know they are cheap, cheerful and with the small remote unnecessasrily complicated but reliable they are not. Can anyone suggest a make or system (preferably European ).that I can use to hard wire it into the car rather than ones that use the cigar lighter for power. Pavarotti

I record radio material from a laptop onto a memory stick or SD card and listen to it on the car radio through an FM modulator. Now this works very well but the quality of these Chinese plug into the cigar lighter units is dire. I have got through about 6 over the years. I ordered 2 on the bay both from UK supplier but neither has worded properly. As you may have guessed they are Chinese. Now I don't want to change a perfectly good radio to one which takes a memeory stick or SD card. Can anyone suggest a make that I can wire in that will do the trick but is a darn sight more reliable than these Chinese units Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Pavarotti.

Had a problem with a failed rear window.. Thanks to the write ups on the forum it turned out to be a broken live feed in the door pillar as experienced and written up on the forum. A great deal of time, money and general aggrevation avoided. Thanks AG

Hi I have a mark 1 2002 Octavia Elegance. I am after a drivers seat as the lumar support has gone. I assume your seat would be the same. Is it still available? Thanks Pavarotti.

First thanks for the excellent item on fitting rears sensors. Finished installing a set on Sunday and they work fines. Cheers I now have a problem with the rear passenger window not opening. Having read through all the good stuff on here it is likely to be a duff motor or a snapped cable. There seems to be a slight clicking when I try to operate the switch. Problem is I cannot check as I cannot get the bloody trim off. I know several torx screws have to come off and a small screw behnd the chrome door opening handle also but I cannot access the two bolts set in the main door handle. The top half is supposed to unclip to expose them but I cannot remove them without butchering the plastic. Am I doing something wrong or have i missed something? Went to a local Skoda dealership for advice but the guy there was only interested in me booking the car in not advising me on opeing the door up. Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated Cheers Pavarottil

Has anybody else had the same problem with changing the light in the glovebox. When i got my Octavia the light was dangling down in around the passenger side. I sourced a replacement but on trying to fit the whole unit (the lens, bulb and switch) I cannot get it into the hole. Haynes manual gives the impression that it can be pulled out, bulb replaced and "procedure is the reverse". No amount of wiggling seems to work. Suggestions please

The mechanism for lumar support on my car seat has broken.. Does anyone know how to take it apart. My Haynes manual is not a lot of help.. Failing that what other year of car has the same seat or which other model has the same seat or where can I get one. Thanks Pavarotti.

Read the very good articles on the forum about fitting parking sensors. Have now got a set but I am a bit worried about the correct positioning on the bumpers. The article does not relates to an estate which is what I have so I think the measurements relative to the black bumper strip may be different. I assume the spacing horizontally is ok .i.e 217.5 mm either side of the centre line then 445mm but I need to know the height above the ground or how far down it is from the top, or is it the bottom of the black bumper strip. Would appreciate some guidance. Thanks Pavarotti.

Brilliant Thanks mbames It was about £8.50 through a dealership Cheers Pavarotti