retro

Surely getting a 2nd hand gearbox and new clutch while you're there and fitting it to a known good car is going to be cheaper than looking for another car with unknown problems that could be just around the corner and just as expensive. Take it from me as I've done this plenty of times and learnt my lesson, stick with what you have and just repair it. If you think it is worth 1500 euros when working then it's only going to be scrap value with a broken gearbox.

MOT passed with no advisories after sitting for 18 months! Then after work while I had use of the ramp a colleague who used to work at a VAG garage helped me change the cambelt, tensioner, idler, waterpump, coolant and serpentine belt (which was very perished). Took 2 hours on the dot to do it all. Now the poor thing just needs a seriously overdue wash and polish. The coolant that came out was fluorescent purple! Anyone got any ideas what that's about?

Hi all What type of coolant should I use in the Fabia VRS? Does Comma Xstream G40 from Halfords meet the specifications? The current coolant is purple stuff.

I had JOM coilovers on my mk2 Golf... Just don't they were awful. A previous owner fitted them, they looked quite new and when I took the passenger side one off to inspect it as it looked like it was leaking, all of the oil had come out of it so you could pull the shaft up and it would drop down instantly.

I couldn't bring myself to break it and it is no longer for sale as I will be driving it again.

The engine shuts off instantly so definitely working then. I'm having a go over the car tomorrow so I will check the vacuum lines etc. Thanks for the help

How do I check the ASV? I have moved it a few times and it runs fine still. Interior is just as good as the day it was laid up. Hoping to get it back on the road in the next couple of weeks.

Hi all It's been a while, I have been enjoying my lovely old Volvo barge for over a year now but a new business venture means it will have to be put in to storage as my increased mileage is going to get expensive at 25mpg 😂 So my Fabia is going to be brought out of storage and put back in to daily use as around 60mpg is a tad better. Can anyone think of anything that I will need to check? I have the following for it: Genuine VW cambelt kit and waterpump New rear brembo discs and pads Oil and filters I fitted new brembo Octavia VRS front brake discs, pads, refurbished calipers and flexi hoses just before being laid up. I also changed the brake fluid for Castrol react performance DOT 4 fluid about 6 months ago and bled with vagcom. Thanks all.

Right, the window regulator has failed on the passenger side so that needs changing now. £1100 takes it, no offers. If it isn't sold by the end of the month I'm breaking it as I refuse to spend more money on it.

I'm not on bookface, any chance you could share the link please?

Going in for the cambelt, waterpump and coolant to be changed, also going to have an MOT at the same time in the next few weeks.

It took four attempts and three people to bleed it with all of the wheels off. I had to constantly top up the reservoir when the pedal was being pushed as it drained that quickly the first time the fronts were bled it emptied the reservoir.

Hi all, I have finally got around to selling my VRS. Offers IRO £1400 located in Worcester by junction 6 of the M5. I bought it in February 2017 from a garage, the previous owner was a Briskoda member who traded it in against a mk2 Fabia. The car has obviously been well looked after its whole life and has been tastefully modified by a previous owner. The mods include: Black interior, I believe from a mk2 sport or a mk1 Bohemia Rear mudflaps Arm rest Arch covers Remap (print out shows 169.0hp and 391.2NM) 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE Since owning it I have fitted Octavia VRS front flexi hoses, fully refurbished calipers and carriers with 312mm Brembo discs and pads, they have done less than 400 miles IIRC so are like new. Yesterday I paid someone with VCDS to come over and we bled the brakes and ABS using Castrol React Performance Dot 4 fluid. It needed a fair bit of work doing to it and I have done it the moment I have seen it needed doing except for a few bits I haven't had the time to do, such as fit the new Bilstein B4 dampers to the rear (will come with the car). Since owning it I have replaced every single bush except the ARB D bushes and rear beam mounting bushes as they are fine. So the story, I bought it as I needed a cheap daily as on my apprenticeship I was travelling 15k miles a year and needed a cheap car to insure and run that was still fun. I spent a fortune on it in a year (virtually the same as I paid for it!) In June 2018 just after spending £323 on the Octavia brake set up a rear caliper failed, I then replaced this the next day but I couldn't get the brake pedal to stop sinking. Seeing as I had finished my apprenticeship and I wanted an older car I saw this as the perfect opportunity to get one. It then sat in the garage until yesterday. It has now been properly bled with VCDS and stops very quickly! The MOT lapsed in November but I will be putting it through one soon. It had new Bridgestone Turanza T001 Evo tyres fitted a few months before being laid up at a cost of nearly £350 (no cheap Chinese junk here!) The spare wheel has had the spacesaver tyre removed and a full size tyre fitted, it was brand new until I needed it over a year ago. I did about 350 miles on it and then put it back in the boot. Known faults: Rear dampers are shot (Bilstein B4 supplied) Wiring failed behind the dash for the N/S sidelights so I have wired up a relay and feed from the O/S which now works but I never got around to tidying up the wiring with conduit or mounting the relay. Rust on sills, previous owner sanded it back, treated and stone chipped it. It started to come through again so I redid it over a year ago but it is happening again. Small rust patch on lower part of the rear arch by the O/S sill. Cambelt overdue, I have a genuine VW cambelt kit and waterpump to go with the car. Paint has stonechips all over, spoiler and fuel flap are faded, bumpers slightly faded. I had trouble with the turbo hoses blowing off. So I sikaflexed up the turbo hose that goes in to the EGR valve and a few others, it worked for a couple of days but they blew off again so I have self tapper screwed them together. This holds nicely but the EGR one is stuck solid! I tried removing it but it was just damaging the lip of it, at least it holds lol. Hole in dash where someone weirdly fitted an aftermarket alarm, it has been removed but the hole remains, original alarm is fully functional. Very occasionally the boot won't unlock unless you open the rear left door, it never bothered me so I didn't try and fix it. The exact same problem happened on my wifes Fabia and we just got on with it. Boot carpet pull cord has ripped out of the carpet. Marks here and there inside, scratches on the trim etc. Scratch on rear window where something was trapped under the wiper, also the rear screen sealant has gone strange (see photo) but doesn't leak. Chrome one grille has a mark. I removed the "FABIA" and "VRS" badges from the boot as I was sick of not being able to clean the filth from the edges properly. After removing them and polishing the area I realised the dirt has eaten in to the paint, it has left the outline of the badges sadly, this would need repainting or the easy option would be to put new badges back on it using the damaged paint as a fitting guide. Since owning it I have done the following: All filters fitted in services are genuine VW from TPS. Serviced 24/4/17 on 156,191 miles Air filter Pollen filter Quantum platinum oil Oil filter Fuel filter 21/8/17 New genuine VW headlight back covers fitted from TPS. Genuine VW brake light switch fitted. 2/9/17 Febi front strut top mounts Bilstein B4 front dampers 6/12/17 New Wishbones fitted Meyle Heavy Duty console bushes fitted Meyle Heavy Duty drop links fitted (receipt sadly lost for the drop links!) Serviced 27/12/17 on 166,342 miles Quantum Platinum oil Oil filter Air filter 1/2/18 2x Federal moog track rod ends fitted 2x Federal Moog bottom ball joints fitted 2/2/18 Tracking set Serviced 6/5/18 on 172,075 miles Quantum platinum oil Oil filter Air filter Pollen filter Fuel filter 12/5/18 Bosch wiper blades fitted 12/6/18 Fully refurbished Octavia VRS front calipers fitted Brembo 312mm discs and pads fitted Pagid Octavia VRS front flexi hoses fitted 23/6/18 Pagid rear N/S caliper fitted 26/6/18 Genuine VW cambelt kit and waterpump purchased but not yet fitted 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE 2003 Fabia VRS by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE

Well I just so have one for sale haha.

All sorted, got a guy to come over with VCDS on his laptop, needed to be bled 4 times front and back as there was that much air in the ABS! Time to sell the car now. The guys name was Greg, he was a really nice guy and I would definitely recommend him. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VCDS-Diagnostic-Service-AUDI-VW-SKODA-coding-scan-program-WORCESTER/162462860714?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D72317524fbb04e07a41d9f403c4bcec0%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D293034758226%26itm%3D162462860714&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Af1df7c6a-5889-11e9-910e-74dbd18086d6|parentrq%3Af380fb551690aad37a978666fff76ac8|iid%3A1

Right then, my mk1 VRS has been sat in the garage since November gathering dust and tomorrow I'm going to have a go at getting it going again as I need to sell it. Now prepare for a long back story! November I fitted brand new front Octavia flexi hoses, Octavia VRS refurbished carriers and calipers with new seal kit, brembo 312mm discs and pads. This was great for a week until a rear caliper seal decided to let go when I was driving, I managed to limp home. There I clamped the hose off and removed the caliper, the next day I went to Euro car parts and got a refurbed pagid caliper and fitted that. I bled the brakes using the half pressing the pedal method, this didn't seem to get all of the air out. So I went and bought an ezi bleed kit, I bled it 3 times and could get no more air out of it. Now the problem, I can press the pedal with the engine off and it is rock solid, the moment I start the engine the pedal sinks to the floor and the brakes don't work properly, if I pump them a few times the pedal goes hard then slowly goes soft again. The brakes don't work unless I pump them. What is the most likely cause/repair?

Bump need these bits out of the way £20 delivered for everything.

It's all about form over function these days.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/312mm-calipers-Audi-S3-Skoda-Fabia-Vrs-Skoda-Octavia-Vrs-Seat-Ibiza-Mk4-Golf/153307614136?hash=item23b1d88bb8:g:RDEAAOSwS4VcF-vs

I would want £310 for it and I will still be losing money on it! I have got another master cylinder now so I may fit it and see if I can sort out the ruddy thing and then sell the car first.

Get Octavia VRS flexi hoses as they are a bit longer where as the fabia hoses are at full stretch with 312mm calipers. I might be breaking my VRS which has the conversion on it come the new year. Fully rebuilt and ceramic bake on paint Octavia VRS calipers, brembo 312mm discs and pads (cost me over £300 for the lot and have done about 200 miles). I fitted it all up, then a rear caliper handbrake seal failed and after fitting a new caliper the master cylinder failed. Car has been sat in the garage for about 6 months as I CBA with it.

Bump

I have a pair of new bottom ball joints that I never got around to fitting before breaking the car. I can't remember the brand (parts man at work got them in for me) and they have surface rust on the captive nuts from being stored in the shed. £17.50 posted for the pair I also have a pair of new Meyle HD Console bushes. One is new in the bag and the other I fitted to a control arm and when bolting it all back up the front bolt stripped the aluminium thread. Luckily I had another pair sat in the shed so I fitted them. I will remove the bush before receiving payment in case it ends up breaking when I remove it. £17.50 posted for the pair. Can do £15 for each pair if collected from Worcester Fabia parts by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE Fabia parts by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE Fabia parts by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE Fabia parts by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE Fabia parts by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE

Hiya Yeah still available, I think they are 185/60R14 but I will have to double check.

It has xenon lights. I have never seen an interior like that so my guess is reupholstered. It could just be me but the photos on the website, the rear exhaust doesn't seem to sit central, maybe it has been reversed in to something when parking and luckily just bent the exhaust slightly. Like I say it could be the angle of the photo or just me though.