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All fixed! Got a new cable from skospares.co.uk (next day delivery and good price too ) and have just returned from a short test drive with the new cable fitted. It's smooth and the clutch doesn't slip - what more could i want? I applied a liberal amount of CarLube Copper Grease to the exposed inner cable at each end. Working as much grease as i could down into the outer cable. Tried two or three paths for the cable from pedal end to clutch end and finally found a perfect route with the cable taking as smooth a path as possible. Also arranged the heat protective sleeve exactly where if needs to be to protect the cable from exhaust manifold heat. I'll be checking the cable frequently over the next few weeks and hope that finally this cable is well fitted and will last a good while. Martin.

Well i invested in some high melting point copper grease and have just finished removing the clutch cable, lubricating it and re-installing it. A short test drive and it is again smooth in action with no clutch slip. Upon inspection i saw that the cable was slightly damaged on the end that connects to the clutch arm - opposite end from pedal. A few strands of the inner cable have snapped - maybe 5 strands or so, not many. And the engine oil that i'd used to lubricate the cable had all accumalated on the lowest end - the damaged end near the clutch arm. The accumulated oil didn't stop it getting damaged on that end though. When fitting the cable from new i'd painstakingly ensured that the cable coming from the pedal was taking as smooth a path as possible. But after getting both ends connected i clipped it to the various other cables around the exhaust manifold area and that pulled the cable slightly from it's optimal path to make the end nearest the clutch arm a tighter bend than it would have been without the clips. I'll get a new cable ordered tomorrow, copper grease it and fit it so that it takes the best path possible from pedal to clutch arm. Looks like i can get a new cable for just £4.00 plus vat and postage so not too expensive: New and salvaged cars spares for sale and special parts deals Martin.

Thanks for the reply. The clutch cable - inner and outer - is a sealed unit (is that the right term?). There's no way to remove the inner cable and apply any lubricant to it's entire length. All i could try would be to apply grease to the exposed inner cable on the end that attaches to the pedal. I'll visit a local motorbike shop later or tomorrow and ask about non-melting grease. Martin.

Hi forum. Got a question to ask about my Favorit (1995 LXiE) and it's clutch cable. It's been a problem before - the protective sleeve that protects the clutch cable from the exhaust manifold heat slipped to the end of the cable leaving the cable to get badly damaged by the exhaust manifold heat. See http://briskoda.net/forums/rwd-skodas-others/favorit-clutch-slipping/64674/ for a thread i started at the time. I replaced the cable and a year later it snapped on me - that was new years eve 2007. The cable had been snapping strand by strand for some time it seems and finally the remaining strands weren't strong enough and snapped. Snapping on the short length of exposed cable that connects to the clutch pedal. The rubber bush that protects the cable as it goes into the car was still in place by the way - the cable hadn't been rubbing again the car chassis. I replaced the cable with a genuine part... Had problems getting the remains of the old cable off the pedal but succeeded after an hour and a bit. Got the new cable located on the pedal and quickly finished the job off by connecting it to the arm that engages the clutch. The clutch worked but had an awful action. Slipping frequently and requiring me to put my foot under the clutch pedal and manually raise it to dis-engage the clutch. I'd routed the cable too tighly from where it enters the engine compartment to where it attaches to the clutch arm. So while doing some other work on the car the garage re-routed the cable and it worked perfectly again. No slipping and no need to manually raise the clutch pedal. Then about 4 weeks ago as i pulled up to park i felt the cable snap again. Being just a mile from home i walked home and had my tea, planning to return to the car with my dad and start it rolling then drive home mid-evening when the roads are clearer. So a bit later i returned to my car and had a look under the bonnet. Tugged the cable where it goes from the engine compartment into the car and pedal - expecting it to come off (snapped) in my hand. But it was still connected! Many of the cable's strands had bust but there was about 1mm diameter of strands remaining intact. I adjusted the clutch to take up any slack and tested it. It worked, so i drove home. Careful not to change gear more than was essential. What had happened i think was that some of the cable's strands had snapped and the remaining strands stretched. So i again replaced the cluctch cable - genuine part again off ebay, cost me £20. I'm now a bit of a dab hand at Favorit cluctch cable fitting and soon got the new one fitted. Prior to fitting it i hung it up and poured clean engine oil into the rubber washer/bush that sits on one end. The bush acted as a funnel and slowly the oil drained into the outer cable and emerged at the bottom - the cable now well lubricated. I took maximum care to route the cable correctly through the engine compartment of course - making as gentle a bend as possible in it to connect to the clutch arm. Once again the clutch seemed to be working perfectly. Nice smooth action and no trace of slipping. Now after 4 weeks or so (maybe done 400 miles) i suspect the inner cable is experiencing resistance from the outer cable. I got a mate (the Fav's previous owner) to slowly engage and release the clutch and i felt the cable as it comes into the car from the engine compartment. The cable that i could feel was ok - no signs of any broken strands. But my mate noticed same as me - the clutch cable just didn't seem to be moving freely within the outer cable. So now i'm wondering what to do. I'll probably remove the cable, examine it, lubricate it and finally refit it. There's no better way to route the cable from pedal to clutch i'm sure - the required bend to connect both ends is as smooth as possible. Can anyone suggest why i'm having these problems with the cable? Is clean engine oil a suitable lubricant or should i be using something more suitable? Thanks. Martin.

If you want to stay current with petrol and diesel prices locally then register with Free UK fuel prices. 9,762 petrol stations covered - PetrolPrices.com. Register, give them your postcode and they send you regular emails telling you the nearest cheapest fuel available to you. I get a weekly email on Mondays and generally find my local Morrisons is the cheapest, but not always. Shell are sometimes cheaper by a penny or less! Martin.

How's about this for a Favorit... Starsky & Hutch style of course. It was on Ebay a few months back - can't remember the details, just saved the pic. Martin.

My 1995 Favorit LXiE has a rev counter! No centre console though - and steel wheels instead of alloys. Martin.

Here's a mod for you Favorit owners out there. The Favorit duck pond. First step - you need a small leak in your Favorit. My leak was rear passenger side right where the rainwater collects in the hatch gutter when i park on uneven ground (that's most of the time!). This slowly leaks water from outside into the hatch floor - soaking the carpet and more importantly it collects in the well that holds your spare wheel. Step two - now forget about the leak for a while. That leak of mine has been with me since i bought my Favorit just over a year ago. Step three - puzzle at why you can hear spalsh sounds when breaking sharp or accelerating fast... It's not the petrol tank - can't afford to keep that more than 1/4 full mostly. Step four - happen to need to use the hatch and give it a clear up - carpet's a bit damp in small places so investigating i look underneath the carpet and at the spare wheel... There's the spare wheel sitting there in my new Favorit duck pond. I had about an inch of water in my pond - it would have been more if i'd not discovered it!! In fact with the wheel in the water the water level looked much more than an inch. Had to bale it out with a plastic beaker and then an old towel to soak up the last of the water. The drain plugs in the wheel well were both unmoveable in their holes so i couldn't drain the pond from underneath - had no tools with me. Shame i didn't have my camera with me too. Martin.

On the Windows platform the mrouter utility works well. I just had a search for more info on mrouter and it seems that their homepage is gone: Domain Name Renewal and web hosting from Network Solutions As always - google is your friend! Take a look at Sony Ericsson K810i mrouter - Google Search It's a common question - someone's bound to have posted an answer somewhere! Can you run any virtual os type software on your Mac? If so, you could run the Windows version of mrouter... First you need to establish whether or not the K810i supports the necessary bluetooth profile to enable mrouter to work. Martin.

Hi all i'm back with another 'little problem' on my 1995 Favorit LXiE. A few days back i wound the driver door window up and the window failed to rise and close - it dropped at the front and i needed to manually support the window as i wound it up to closed position. Today me and my mate took a look at it and it looked like the front regulator channel had simply lost it's grip on the window and dropped to the botton of the regulator rail. We spent a little while forcing the window back into position but then trying to open and close the window just pulled the front regulator channel free of the window again. After a bit of inspection we came to the conclusion that the regulator channel should be fixed to the end of a cable that is enclosed in the rail that holds it. The winder mechanism simply winds the cable one way or the other and that causes the window to open or close. (We originally thought the rear regulator did all the push and pull and the front channel was a guide only). Here's a few pics to show the problem: Rear regulator guide - in place but a little dis-lodged due to my fiddling today. No front regulator guide! My wonky window! I have to manually pull the window up from inside and outside to properly close it. The front regulator guide - that's my finger at the bottom of the pic holding it up - else it just drops to the bottom of the rail it's attached to. Am i right in thinking that the front regulator guide is supposed to be attached to a cable inside the rail it's attached to and it's now broken from that cable and needs replacement? Or is the front guide simply in need of being firmly re-attached to the window? Hope that's all clear!! Martin.

Try setting a password for the Guest account - same password on both machines. Right-click My Computer and select Manage. Expand Local Users and Groups - select Users. Right-click Guest and select Set Password. Go through the next two or three prompts and set an identical password on both machines. Might be worth rebooting both machines after setting the Guest account password but i don't think that's necessary. Martin.

TDK Outloud are excellent! Available in mono or stereo versions - lovely sound and good value for money. I ripped the CD wallets out of my (mono) Outloud and it leaves a bit of storage space for other essentials - spare battery for my mobile, spare batteries for my digital camera, a set of headphones and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor. Mono version requires 2 AA batteries and the stereo version requires 3 AA batteries. tdk outloud - Google Image Search Martin.

Good news to report - all fixed!! (Barring acts of god) New driver side front wheel bearing and a recon cv joint on the passenger side. The garage did a pre-mot check too and founds a few other minor jobs to do. All ready for an MOT on 3rd March - hope it passes..! Martin.

Well diagnosing the noise was no problem for the garage... They soon found the cause. Passenger side CV joint and driver side front wheel bearing both in need of replacement. Not a cheap job but at least it'll be money well spent once it's all done. Martin.

Can't you get lion dung pellets these days to do the job? Sprinkle them around the area where you keep your car and hopefully the cat will stay away... Martin.

Bit by bit i'm getting closer to establishing what the noise is... It's been playing up - on and off - for the past few days so i jacked up each front wheel in turn and tested for any free play. Passenger side front wheel seemed ok - so i then tested the driver side wheel. Lots of movement in the '3 and 9 o'clock' horizontal plane but none in the 12 and 6 o'clock vertical plane. By lots i mean there was definate free play there but not that it seemed like imminent failure was looming. Also seemed to be a bit of uneven wear on the outside of the driver side front tyre - but again nothing excessive. The local garage is going to take a look this Wednesday - they're also doing a pre-MOT check for me at the same time. Will update this thread when i have more news. Martin.

The noise is back! :( After nearly a week of no noise it has returned. Just an occasional noise to start with on Monday, then Tuesday it was back as loud as ever. Driving with the windows down i think the noise is coming from somewhere other than the engine compartment . I suspect something is loose - maybe a part of the exhaust (not the rear box). I'm going to have a pre-MOT check next week so plan to leave it til then and ask the garage to have a look underneath for anything that could be knocking and causing the noise. Martin.

Well it's not quite a week since i had the rear box replaced but so far the mysterious noise hasn't returned. Prior to getting the new rear box i'd have expected the noise to have returned at least once in that time, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's all now fixed. As for my original reports of sloppy steering - i think that was a combination of the very strong winds when the noise first appeared and my panic at being a few miles from home and thinking a wheel was about to fall off!! Half real and half imaginery... (I've had the Favorit about six months now and it's the first car i've had for many years - so my experience of driving and the effect of strong winds is/was somewhat dusty i think). MOT's next on the list of stuff to do - it expires 2nd March and i'm hoping the Favorit will pass without needing any major work done.... Martin.

Well 2 months later i hope to have finally found my noise and iradicated it. My skodas had a small hole in the exhaust back box which i only discovered because of some recent frosty weather vaporising the leaking exhaust fumes. I tried to patch it up with some exhaust repair putty but then found more rotten rusty areas so today...... Kwik-Fit fitted a new back box and it only cost me

Monday 18th Dec and it's now 10 days since my Favorit developed the noise. My Favorit has run perfectly all week - done about 100 miles - no problems. With xmas ahead i decided to postpone the garage inspection til next year. I had a chat with the chap at the garage and he couldn't suggest what the noise may have been. My thought is maybe that el cheapo oil i topped the engine up with 2 or 3 days before it started making the noise... I usually use 15W/40 mineral based oil but decided to save a few quid and used some 25W/50 cheapo oil that didn't even state if it was synthetic or mineral based. Anyone care to comment on whether real poor quality oil could cause such a problem? As for the steering going sloppy - my only idea is that the night it started to make a noise was an extremely windy night and i maybe underestimated the effect of the wind on the steering? Martin.

Well it's Sunday and i took my Favorit to the carpark around the corner to give it a spin... Drove around for about five mins and there wasn't a single noise and none of that sloppiness from the steering either. Unfortunately the car park wasn't completely empty so i couldn't really do much more than crawl around in first and second gear. Anyway, inspired by the lack of any noise, i took a drive around the one-way system and then half-way down the bypass to a carpark which was empty. Slowed to stop with steering on full lock right and pulled away, drove a loop three or so times and it was as smooth as ever - no noise and steering normal too. Did the same with steering on full left lock and it was the same - no problems. I drove home and stopped at the local garage and had a chat with the owner. He said he'd take a look at it Tuesday midday and see if he could see anything out of order. Will keep this thread updated. Martin.

Thanks for the replies. I'll leave it til after teatime and head for the car park just around the corner to try some of the tests - it'll be more or less empty by then. Will post back with more info later. Martin. PS Would a cv joint or driveshaft just 'go' like that?

Hi all, i'm back with another question about my Skoda - a 1995 Favorit LXiE. It's been running well since i got it in June this year - apart from needing a new clutch cable a month or so back. Well i now have what sounds to be a major problem! Been out today and done about 30 miles before tea - all ok. Then 9ish tonight i need to give my sister and nephews a lift home - a round trip of 20 miles. I drop them off and get about halfway back then notice the steering was going through 'sloppy' periods. I pulled over and took a look at the wheels - no probs there - tyres all well inflated. So i resumed my journey home. Steering still going through patches of feeling very loose and sloppy so i took it easy at 30mph. After about another mile or so i hear a noise.... A regular knocking/mechanical noise which seemed to be coming from the direction of the front left wheel. At 30mph the noise started and stopped a few times until i found a layby to pull into. Again i check all the wheels and tyres - nothing loose or flat and nothing else that looked like it could have been the source of the noise. I pulled away and continued home at 30mph, all ok for about 800 metres then the noise starts again. This time louder and decidedly unhealthy sounding. I pulled in at a garage about 1 mile from home and again examined around the car - having a look under the bonnet this time. Couldn't see anything that looked amiss so headed for home. In that last mile i was wondering if my prized Favorit was going to throw a wobbly and leave me stranded. The knocking noise was getting louder again and more regular. Stopping at some lights and pulling away, the noise took about 800 metres again to resume. At times the steering was very bad and it felt like i was driving with hardly any air in the front tyres - they should be ok as i checked and topped them up on Tueday at the garage. One thing i did was to apply the clutch when the noise was at it's worst - freewheeling along. The noise immediately stopped and the steering felt as solid as it usually is, releasing the clutch and the noise and steering problem come straight back. Anyone got any ideas or recognise an obvious symptom? Thanks for reading my long(ish) post! Martin.

Lucky me! Got a brand new genuine Skoda Favorit clutch cable on Ebay for