Billy Balthorpe

Did you do the HG yourself? If not, how much did it cost to get it done? I suppose that while the head is off a new Cam belt and tensioner need to be done too!

To tell the truth, I've always been suspicious that there isn't a thermostat in it at all, it takes ages to warm up in winter. It's not tuned, just a standard 105bhp 1.9pd. I've never seen the temp gauge go above half way. I've never heard of a vw diesel engine suffering from head gasket failure either. Until now obvs.

Both of my front windows squeak, but only when it's really warm.

My 2010 mk2 157k 1.9 pd Octavia has started blowing it's coolant out of the expansion tank, through the little plastic moulded in thing that goes from the top near to the cap, down to the ridge that joins the two halves of the tank together. There is no sludge in the oil filler cap, no sign of oil in the water, no water in the oil, and if you drive it at less than 2000rpm it doesn't lose any coolant at all. It has never overheated, every time it has happened I have stopped and filled it up. To test it, I warmed up the car, took off the tank cap (it was holding pressure) and revved it a good few times up to about 4k, then water came bubbling out of the open tank. Am I right assuming that the HG has failed? Or is there a common thing like a blocked coolant hose which could cause this? Thanks.

I think it's a common problem. When I bought mine, half of the speedo leds weren't working, then they came on for a minute, then went off. I have been gradually losing the leds on the whole binnacle since then. They still flash on and off occasionally, but mainly off. There are companies out there who specialise in repairing the binnacle, fitting new LEDS etc. I found one about an hour and a half away in Leicester, they repair the binnacle for about £185. Not going to bother with it now because I'm selling the car.

I was going to replace the brake lines myself, we have the kit to do it, but after having a look at the state of the connection to the brake hose, I decided to let my local garage do it. It only needed a small piece putting in where it had corroded, they tried to flare the original pipe but it kept splitting so they ended up replacing the whole pipe and hose. It cost £140 but it was worth it for not having the hassle, plus he lent me a car for the Day!

All done, I figured the spool/reel window mechanism out, put it all together minus the little spring/clip on the door lock, and re attached the external door pull cable which had never been connected since i bought the car, and now it all works perfectly. The door opens from the inside, outside, locks, unlocks, the window goes up and down. Pleased with myself!!

Ive fitted clinchnuts with very short screws. But now I have another problem. The window winder "reel" that the winder cable goes around has fallen off and unwound. I didnt even see where it came from, so now I'm doing detective work on how to re wind it and fit it back on. I can find anything on youtube which shows how to rewind it and re fit.

Just a quick one. The picture shows my offside rear door on my 2010 Octavia with the door panel removed. I'm trying to get at the door lock so I can take off the little clip that prevents the door opening sometimes. The question is, is the plate you can see with the winder motor bolted to it supposed to be pop riveted on? Or do you think that someone has been in before and lost the screws? Either way it seems I've got to drill them out.

Isn't there a little microswitch which is activated when the boot is closed? If so, couldn't you "fool" the car into thanking that the boot is closed if you hold the switch in the "Boot closed" position? I'd go and have a look on mine, but I'm in the garage waiting for an MOT test on my Dads Ibiza FR.

Sorry, binnacle not pinnacle.

My dials illumination has disappeared except for the temp, fuel gauge and the left hand side of the rev counter and the needles. I am suspicious that it is water ingress that is the problem. When I bought the car in December it was as I described above, then as we had a bit of a dry spell, the rest of the dash lights seemed to flicker and illuminate for a short while, but they were definitely getting to be more on than off. Then after the deluge we had a couple of weeks ago, I was back to the start again, except that I also lost the fuel gauge light too. This has since come back on. I think I'm going to see if I can get my hand up behind the pinnacle and feel for a connector, or just see if I can find a path through so I can get a tube with a hair dryer on the end to see if I can dry the area out. If it works and the dial lights come on, I know it's water ingress and the nightmare of finding where it's coming in can begin.

Thanks guys!!

Would this be it? BXE? Its on the chassis plate, didn't notice it before.🙄

Thanks Gaz, that seems a lot easier than taking off the exhaust from the turbo as I've seen in the You tube vids. Still wondering how to find out what my engine code is though.