Stewart7

Sorry folks, Thank you for taking the trouble to respond, but this 72 year old brain is just confused by your answers. I know from bitter experience that any electronic equipment does not like its power supply disconnected or connected, but prefers a constant steady supply. During previous car battery changes, I've always cringed if I wasn't able to attach the last cable quickly and make a nice clean connection, and thats before the days when cars were packed with electronics.

Dear All Before changing my car's 12volt battery, would it be a good idea to wire some 'D' cells together to make 12 volts, and connect them to the car battery leads using crocodile clips, so as to keep everything powered while the main battery is changed? I wondered if this could be a way of avoiding any sort of shock to the car's electronics, and also to avoid having to reset things like electric windows. Or am I worrying too much again!

What does the #39 refer to? Is there a post number 39? Thank you Stewart

Thanks francisC.

Workshop manual? You have a workshop manual for an Octavia? Where did you get it? How much? Can you give more info please? Thanks

I've used 'Chipsaway' a couple of times and had very good results. And they come to you.

Do you have odd tyres on the front? It could be the the front axles revolving at slightly different speeds causing the differential gears to revolve more than usual.

Sorry. I screwed up my reply.

Thanks Guys Translation please

Translation please

I do, but doesn't the CZDA translate to something like TQ200? Or will I find the CZDA mentioned on Erwin when I go looking for details?

Knowing your car's engine code (and maybe putting it in your profile or signature so people can see without asking) is a fantastic way of helping others to help you with your car. It's listed on the data sticker on the boot floor (and there may be a duplicate in the service book). If you can't work out which letters are the relevant ones, just pop up a photo of the sticker (obscuring the VIN if you're shy) and someone will tell you. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Wino, and all. Thank you for the help so far. Can I take up the offer mentioned above and have someone decode the boot-floor sticker? I would like to know my engine code. Is it somewhere in the sticker? Do I need to know what the other numbers mean? (I am shy, so I've blacked out some of my engine code digits). Thanks Stewart

Thanks Chimble Mine was first registered in September 2015, so MY2016 makes sense now. I learn something new here every day. Thanks Wino

Thanks Wino My 10th digit is indeed G for MY 2016. But my car was first registered in 2015? Am I missing something? Regards Stewart PS. Thanks for the note about the engine code. I'll look for it and add it to my profile.

Can someone please tell me what these terms mean? Some items in the maintenance schedule only apply to vehicles up to MY2016, and some from MY 2017. Thank you Stewart

I'm also very over cautious and try not to leave anything to chance, so I'd be very interested to know how the pulleys fail, and if you get any warning. Do they break up? Do the bearings go? Do the bearings get any lubrication from the cam shafts?

Nice one Scot. Dentist's mirror, toothed belt. I also like a good corny joke.

I've seen or heard nothing on this forum or anywhere else about the pulleys failing so didn't try to check them in any way. They were both nice and clean and shiny. To answer other's questions above, I Used the mirror to look at the belt from the side so I could see the profiles of the teeth, and with the torch, I could see the whole width of the teeth from underneath. It took about 3/4 of an hour to check the whole belt. I made a small mark on the belt with tailor's chalk so I was sure I checked it for one whole revolution. Turning the crank 1 or 2 clicks at a time until about 4 inches of fresh belt came into view, check with mirror & torch, then crank to get the next section into view. I could only crank 1 or 2 clicks at a time before my fingers were hitting the end of the generator pulley. As each piston came up onto compression, because of the angle of the ratchet handle, I could only manage 1 click at a time. Stewart

Dear all As suggested by the service manager when I bought my Octavia, I've just done a 4 year cam-belt inspection. I didn't want to disconnect any pipes or cables so couldn't get the inspection cover completely off, and had to use a dentists mirror and torch to see all of the belt. If anyone is interested, I have some pictures and can pass on some info about what it was like to do. Would this be of use to anyone? And is this the right place to post it? Thank you Stewart

I don't know Ken, but you do have to look carefully to spot these dents. The tyres were fitted on the car from new. I've never had Continental tyres before and all the tyres I've ever had, had smooth side-walls. I can only take what Continental say in their bulletin as gospel. I get the impression that this build method is fairly new technology, (since 2010 anyway). It might be new to the market generally, or just to Continental. Maybe its just Continental's latest method of construction and people started to notice, and ask about the indentations and that's why they had to issue the bulletin. I'm only guessing here. Regards Stewart

Even greater news. I just had a reply from Continental which includes a Service Bulletin from September 2010, so I guess I'm not the first person to ask about these dents. The Bulletin is attached. My thanks to all who replied to my initial query. Stewart Sidewall Indentations in radial tires.pdf

Dear Roottootemoot A special thanks for this bit of research. That's great news. I emailed Continental yesterday to ask about the guarantee, and explained about the indentation, and the photos I took. I had a reply this evening asking to see the pictures. I sent the pics and when I hear back, I'll report here. Many thanks Stewart

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm going to ask the AA to have a look, but I'll certainly follow up on the continental guarantee. Meantime, I'll keep my speed right down. Regards Stewart

Dear all I just noticed a depression in the side-wall of one of my tyres. It is very slight, and I only saw it because of the way the sun caught it. I've taken a photo, and also of one of the other tyres for comparison. All four tyres have only done 8000 miles, and the others are all fine. Should I be worried? Thanks Stewart

I've found that WD40 doesn't help if you have a plastic part sliding against a metal part. You would be better off with silicone oil or grease. But beware that over a few years, silicone grease/oil will creep onto other nearby surfaces.