Gonzini

Hi all Just high jacking this thread as I've been having a nightmare with condensation this winter. Appears more than just normal condensation. Seems the VAG group cars all suffer with this problem having been trawling the web and threads on here. I notice the passenger footwell carpet seems pretty damp say a month ago. Been trying to dry it all out ever since, airing the cabin when ever possible. These drain holes in the plenum chamber, are they in the corners deep down in the wings? I noticed a whole load of leaves down there, not sure how I'm going to remove them yet. Might involve a vacuum cleaner and a flexible pipe gaffer taped on the end... How easy is it to lift up the plastic cover over the chamber, is it screwed down or anything? I tried to look earlier in the dark with a torch, i think i found the inlet hole for the air blower. I think mine had a mesh over the front of it so not an open hole. But I'll check again tomorrow in day light. I'll check the cabin filter and see what states that's in, if its soaking wet i guess that's a bit clue. I'm going to run a dehumidifier in there tomorrow, i just cant get it dried out! Had a problem for a while but seems much worse this year, its starting to smell damp in there. I don't think its a leak with the door seals / card or windscreen seal but need to have a good look now. I have a memory of reading somewhere about the windscreen washer reservoir leaking or something that could also cause a damp passenger footwell? But maybe i imagined that... Think I'll pick up some of those Pingi bags as well, seems like people have had good results with them. Cheers

I always turn off the start stop anyway, its really annoying. Can't see it really doing the engine any good over the long term. Depending on the situation mine will turn off and immediately start again, like it didn't leave enough time before activating. Sometimes i forget to turn it off and that's really annoying as well... Obviously if end up being parked up on the motorway or whatever in hardly moving traffic that makes sense than just idling there going nowhere.

I changed mine out a few years back as started to get a yellow warning on dash. It was to do with the start stop i later found out. VW stealers quoted me maybe up to £400 to replace. A local 3rd party place quoted me £150. I asked if they do the coding for that and they said they didn't bother on these cars, only the higher end ones. So i picked up a battery myself for £100 delivered and fitted it myself. Never bothered with updating the battery details with the ECU. Not had a single issue since (with the battery anyway...) One thing to note with these Fabias with the start stop and possible other makes. I found most of the time it's only actually charging the battery when on over run. So by that i mean for example, your driving along whatever speed, you lift of accelerator pedal and now the battery charging kicks in. Foot back on the accelerator, charging stops. I've changed my driving style now to incorporate more of these cycles. I'm sure the battery might well get charged outside of doing this depending on charge state and conditions, also the BMS doing whatever charge cycles it does. I thought my alternator was shot when i first discovered this, but monitoring the voltage on the cigarette lighter socket whilst driving revealed all. Occasional manual charging as others have suggested is good to do as well, usually end up doing that in the winter months when it takes a good kicking with sub zero cold starts and shorter journeys.

Cheers for the replies. It's had the annual dealer services like i mentioned. Spark plugs could probably do with being changed, I'm at 26600 miles now. Just to rule those out. Last service back in August was at 24000 odd. I couldn't see the point of spending an extra £155 on 3 spark plugs at that millage. Those links are quite concerning regarding the oil leak around the cam belt area due to loose / missing bolts. Seems to be affecting other engine variants as well. I can't remember which my one is. Guess its the EA211. Not noticed any oil leaks on mine but maybe i should have a closer look now... No problem with cold starts so far either so i would expect it to be the throttle body issue with the broken internal spring. Mine fires straight up, fairly newish battery as well so cranks over fast. It also helps now i know how the charging system works so can drive to help that.

Hi all Been noticing a bit of hesitant engine response lately when accelerating. Doesn't always do it but becoming more often than not. I have to very lightly put pressure on the accelerator pedal at times to smooth it out. This also happens with motorway driving where you might be on overrun with your foot off the pedal for a short period, then when reapplied you can feel it. I know this could be any number of things but is there a common problem that has come to light with these engines of late that might cause this? Other than this at present its behaving as normal, but i guess something's brewing... It gets the normal annual servicing schedule at the dealers. Cheers

I changed my pollen filter at last service back last Sept. Its was either £8 or £40 odd if the stealers done it! So £8 it was. It was a posh Bosh one. Pretty easy to fit, just getting the cover aligned again was a pain. Quite a lot of swearing if i recall 😆 Cleaned the glass twice as struggled to break the greasy crap down, was much better this morning and had the windows cracked open all afternoon at work. Its going to be like -4 C here in the morning so see how it goes getting moving...

I cleaned mine earlier as driving me mad every morning. Proper glass cleaner then Autoglym glass polish. It's probably a mess as it was dark by the time i was trying to buff the polish off, guess I'll find out in the morning.... Might try some IPA next time to break the greasy crap down. Looks like it might be 'sunny' tomorrow so think I'll leave the windows cracked open all day and give it a good airing.

I was just looking for suggestions for my mk3 2019 Fabia. Its ****ing terrible for misting up. I don't think there any leaks, not that I'm aware of. I try and leave the windows cracked open when i can and crank the heater up with the windows down a bit in an attempt to evaporate any moisture in the air system. Was looking at that anti fogging stuff you can get but read more negative reviews than positive so held off buying some. Anyone tried it?

Hi all Something I've noticed for ages but never bothered to ask other people experience with these Skoda factory fitted infotainment systems. With mine i use a USB thumb drive with a mixture of FLAC's or mp3 with playlists for each album or custom. Everything is in directories no deeper than 2 deep. Everything is tagged up in a consistent manner with artwork. Sometimes it forgets what playlist it was using and defaults to the root of the USB thumb drive when first turning on. It doesn't seem to always pick up the tagging data or cover art will be missing or unknown artist is the best it can do. Is there a file limit I'm not aware off? I'm at 2595 files as of today on a 64Mb thumb drive. Tried all sorts of ways of turning it off and on, leaving it on but doesn't seem to make any difference. Even if its been in use for a while it doesn't seem to update in the background. I've not found any software updates for it either. Is there a way to factory reset the infotainment system? I see there's some resets in one of the menus but never attempted to do that. The model i have looks like the pic below, i guess an Amundsen variant.

I did cheers. Ebay, damaged box. I took a gamble on one. There's Bosh ones on there for £11 I found a few YT vids earlier, looks really easy.

It seems i can get a replacement pollen filter, a Mann FP26010 which is the Biofunctional version for £10. Much better than £44 at the dealers...

Yep, thats cool. I always get the oil temp up on the dash display

I remember it being mentioned when i asked it a few services back. But i guess policy changes weekly... Notice there's a few different filter types mentioned to choose from. Particulate, Activated carbon, Biofunctional With the oil temp i do check that on the dash, its usually up around 70 / 80 after about 7 miles on the morning work run. It will be at 90 by the time I've got to work. I don't rag it anyway, but i do get the rev's up a few times to clear the tubes out.

That's what i figured! Bit like the extended warranty / service plan i got hit with this morning. Never had that mentioned in the past. The last car i did an oil flush on was an Vauxhall Chevette about 35 years ago, which was probably a complete was of time anyway being a £160 jalopy 😆

Actually one other thing i didn't mention was when i first booked it in i was also offered an oil flush for £30. Said it was recommended by Skoda. I said just the normal oil change would be fine, thanks. So is this Skoda thinking they might have an oil sludging problem brewing they're not admitting too?

I think they used to plug the scan tool in to check on the codes. I guess that way if they found anything amiss they could try and get more money out of you.

I remember those prices. Been getting dealer servicing done for a while, with a VW Bora and then a Fabia mk2 which is what i had before this one. Always wondered if everything they said they would change did get changed.

Cars back now, i did ask about doing the plugs but it was too late. No worries, i can shop about and if there's not much in it they can do it which will keep the service history up together. I really don't think they need doing at the moment. Maybe at 30K would be more realistic time, but what do i know! I would be interested to see what condition they're in. I guess the other thing is getting them out easily. Might get a bit harder once they've been in there 5 plus years which is where mine are at. My mileage is around 5.6K a year it seems. I think I'll need to find a video on how to change the pollen filter. I think its up under the passenger foot well, but maybe that was another car.

Yeah, i think I'll have a look about locally. There's a few places about. I'm sure it will be a pain in the arse to do and my back will most likely give out bending over the engine... Probably not got the correct socket to get the plugs out anyway and read about one to remove the coil packs. Would probably work out the same money after buying all that. I'll probably break something anyway...

Large over heads, wages to pay etc. Can't be cheap running a dealership with servicing facilities. I get that, just don't want to be over paying... I think l'll shop about, there's a VAG 'specialist' round the corner. Its not something i want to get involved in these days. All this extra stuff would of put another £200 on the bill today.

Just the plugs really. If they can do it for £141 at a later date then maybe I'll put it in again. Its not really lack of use, it does 18 miles day through the week and a few miles over the weekends. Yeah, i know that's not really far in the scheme of things. Not sure why low mileage would be a problem with plugs unless they're getting coked up or something. The engines running OK really, can't see the point of replacing stuff that doesn't actually need replacing at this point. I replaced the battery some months back, cost me £104 i think, delivered. I just replaced it myself.

Cheers for the reply. I've them to change the brake fluid, thats a no brainer. Just seen the video they post up with details. They want £141 to do the plugs. I've not had any misfires yet Im aware off. Maybe some hesitant a few times at low revs but nothing beyond that. £44 on the pollen filter, Im sure i can deal with that bit. Not sure whether to get them to do the plugs or not really, I can't see why they would be worn out at 23K miles. Probably cost me the same anywhere else i guess. I used to change plugs myself over the years on older cars but rather just let someone else get their hands oily these days. And I'd probably break something off with all the plastic about these days.

So, cars gone in for the annual service this morning. I was only aware that the brake fluid needed changing as that came in a separate email or a text a week later after booking it in over a month ago. They also had down spark plugs and pollen filter which they hadn't advised in advance. So searched on here for a while, i see 4 years or 40K on the plugs. I'm at 23.5K miles to date after 5 years. They tried to high jack me on the spot with a 2 year service plan extended warranty offer saying i would save money on this service if i took it out now. Its £900 over 2 years, £37.50pm. The plugs and pollen filter would of been included, not sure about the brake fluid change. Doesn't mention that at £78. I'm sure i can do the pollen filter myself. As for the plugs do they really need replacing at such a low mileage even though they're 5 years old now? I've passed on the service plan... I've already got AA cover which was also included in the service plan. They annoyed me anyway, it was booked in at 9.30am over the phone. I get there at 8.50am and told i was late as it was booked in for 8.30am. There has been no time mentioned on any previous messages or that booking in confirmation thing they do, well down here anyway.

Cheers guys. I've done some digging and its actually valid until the 09/09/24. Its actually had 2 MOT's now. this one will be the 3rd Off the gov website that AG Falco linked to (forgot about that one...) which concurs with the paper one i have. Date registered 10 September 2019 MOT valid until 9 September 2024 The email reminder makes it look as if its due on the much earlier date, its just a wind up... I don't know why the keep moving the date forward, crappy system they have in place i guess.

So, as i understand it unless things have changed you can present your car for an MOT and preserve the anniversary of the expiry date as long as it under a month before times up. The car is due an MOT what i though was the end last week in August, 25/08/2023. Just had the reminder and its saying 09/08/2024. So it looks like they're not honouring keeping the anniversary date for some reason. I was aware of the time limit so i would of book it in under a month before it expired. This next one would be its 2nd MOT from new. Need to dig the paperwork out i think... I've just found the emails... Thank you for confirming the 11/8/2023. I can confirm that as the MOT is being carried out within 30 days of the due date, (9/9/2023) this will keep the original date. The service can be carried out 28 days before or after the due date. ****ers! Looks like I've lost a month already.