hetty1

I have read all of the contributions now. The point about the line not aligning with the heat symbol and you just to keep turning the knob until you hear a click was very interesting and I would never have thought of that, I will try it when the weather gets really cold and damp and see if the heat works then The symbol may not light up as was said in the posts but if they are being heated its easy enough to pull in briefly and check the glass in the housing to see it it is warm/hot. Thanks very much to everyone, it does seem once again that the Skoda handbook is not as helpful as it should be and its not just me being ultra thick!

Yes indeed, you need to lift up the knob and then it works fine. If the handbook had said that I wouldnt have had any problem at all. I still havent been able to work out how to get the mirrors heated as the knob definitely cannot be aligned with the heating symbol. I very rarely use that function so am not too bothered about it, Maybe there is a temperature sensor that activates it when the cabin heating is on? That doesnt explain why there is a symbol for heating though as that suggests its something that I have control of whereas a sensor would take all control of it away from the driver? Both the mirror adjustments, the left and the right are on the right hand side of the knob, right at top right than 0 next then left hand nearer the bottom right. The heating symbol is on the left hand side of the knob but if you carry on turning the knob to the left you definitely cannot align the knob with the symbol which is why I think there may be a sensor involved. As I say, that doesnt bother me much at all and if it remains a mystery so be it. Thanks very much to all who posted and who put me on the right track.

Hello, I have got a March 21 Fabia estate in SEL trim. I tried to adjust the wing mirrors from within the car and got nowhere at all. I looked up the instructions for this in the handbook and expected it to be easy but it isnt, I used the rotary knob to go onto left and right and try as I might I couldnt adjust either mirror nor could I align the knob with the heat function. This is very frustrating to say the least. I would like to be able to do this if for no other reason than to reset them if someone knocks them, either accidentally or otherwise.I spent ages trying to get the glass to move but I couldnt do it. I tried joggling the knob, I tried pressing it but I couldnt get the glass in either the right or left hand side to move at all. I had interior adjustment of the wing mirrors on both my previous Skodas and only had to use it once when the milk or the paper was being delivered and one of the mirrors got knocked and that worked fine but this looks a bit different on this car. I dont want anyone to advise me to read the car handbook ; I have done that and am none the wiser. The handbook talks about arrows but I couldnt see any at all. . I have asked the Skoda garage to help but havent heard back. I could go to my independent but I dont want to be seen as a complete imbecile by either and am wary of the Skoda garage charging for the advice. I really need a step by step "idiot guide", nothing else is going to help and if I dont manage to get that on this forum I shall just have to forget about it . Thanks for reading.

Hello, I have a 21 plate Fabia 3 estate 95BHP in SEL trim. That has just been serviced at my usual independent. It was the 4 year Skoda service so it was new 0w2o engine oil, new oil filter, new cabin filter and new spark plugs and also a new Skoda sump drain plug and washer, All the parts were obtained from Trade Parts Specialists ( TPS) so I dont have any worries about any of the parts being sub standard, I have always found TPS to be really good, no problems ever. I went out for my normal weekly 40 plus miles round trip to keep the battery in good order and discovered the following. Before the service, on a motorway run , in warm but not extreme temps( 21 degrees C) the oil temperature showed as 97 degrees C . That was at speeds of between 70 and 80 mph with a very brief 85 to get past a dithering driver. Before the service, at about the same temps and the same road speeds it would show at 94 degrees C, i do not recall it ever going higher. Now I know that the oil has to get hot to do its job properly and 3 degrees C more isnt really that much more. My understanding is that the new spark plugs will give a better spark than the 4 year old plugs and that will increase the oil temperature. Likewise, I believe the new engine oil being that much purer than the stuff that had been in there for 3700 miles will also increase the oil temperature. Is my understanding of these two things correct? Because my wife has been very ill and is now in a care home, probably for life, I havent spent as much time as I used to really looking at the various things like oil temperature and reading the handbook. That will probably not surprise anyone reading this. However I did have a good look at the handbook today and it says the Mark 3 Fabias have a warning light and a message if the engine oil is too high. I have had the usual low oil pressure warning lights for quite some years now and low oil level too if I am remembering correctly. I am positive I have never had a warning light and message for too high an oil level in any of my previous cars. I realise the handbook does list things that vary by trim but I would have thought an SEL trim would have had this if it was listed in the handbook. Can my fellow Briskodians tell me whether my car will have had this from new? If I have it will be a "first" and I think could be a useful thing to have if a careless fitter had accidentally overfilled the engine oil. If anyone knows how overfill it has to be before the sensor operates and the light and the message come on that would be the icing on the cake to know. Thanks, I look forward to reading your posts.

Hello everyone, i havent posted on this site for quite a long time due to my wife being very ill and her issues being still unresolved .I am posting today because my car is with my independent in the town being serviced. The 3 year Skoda service schedule says engine oil changed and oil filter changed . I have also asked for the front wheel alignment to be done, have touched a few kerbs so am playing it safe. My post concerns the best brand of engine oil to be used. I have told them it has to be 0w20 viscosity but havent specified any particular brand. I have had various brands in the past, all the major ones. I carry a litre top up can of 0w20 that was given to me as a "freebie" by the main dealer who sold me the car. That brand is Miller and I havent had any occasion to use it yet. Having the car serviced today got me thinking about different brands of engine oil and whether any one brand has any advantage(s) over other brands. In short, is there a best brand or are they all about equal? Because I had a bad fall last year followed by my. wife being very ill my mileage since the last service has been very low, only 2400 miles. The year before it was a bit higher, 3600, still very low of course. I do completely understand the need for annual oil changes with such low mileage, absolutely vital in fact. I may be too late for specifying a particular brand for todays service but I would be really interested to know what my fellow Briskodians think. If the correct viscosity is used and it meets VW spec 5008 does the brand matter or are they all equal? Thanks for reading. /

Hello everyone, Recently I have experienced difficulty when using the starter button to start the car. It doesnt happen every tIme. Its not a question of the engine turning over but failing to start. When I disengage the clutch and press the starter nothing at all happens. If I try again the engine usually turns over and starts. This is a recent development; the car used to start each and every time I pressed the button. I havent used the car much these last 6 weeks or so due to not being able to drive following an accident falling off a ladder. I did start the car each week and had no trouble starting it. I will definitely press the button completely in as it may be I simply havent been doing that and see if that gives 100% turning over of the engine. It could be of course that the battery is low and I intend having a couple of motorway runs out of 20 miles or more with the air con and other accessories switched off . The battery is the original one, it is only the 49 amps per hour as it is the 95bhp engine so not that powerful but, having said that, it is not 3 years old yet. But it could be the culprit maybe? No warning lights come on. I might even try moving the automatic light switch to manual operation in case that has a bearing on overloading the battery or is that over the top maybe? I know others have posted about the keyless ignition not always working but unfortunately I cannot find the threads on Briskoda. I intend monitoring this but have to face up to the fact that the button assembly itself could have problems. I have thought about lubricating the button but am aware that might be counter productive and, maybe, make the situation worse. WD4O may be the way to go or it may not. I also have a couple of cans of Ultion lubricant which I use on the locks on my sheds; this is marketed as a high quality product and may be the way to go. What do Briskodians think of using either of these lubricants? If the assembly itself is wearing out and needs a replacement does anyone have any idea how much a replacement will cost, parts labour and VAT?, The car is still under warranty until early March 2024. I could try claiming under the warranty but I am not sure if they would cover it. Could they try to say its a wear and tear item and not covered by the warranty? Again, if any Briskodians have had experience of claiming this under warranty and what happened I would be really interested to learn about these. So, my first job is to get some juice into the battery and see if the problem goes away then take it from there. Thanks for reading.

I did take the rear wiper off the screen and did operate it as suggested. It was quiet, not noisy, just a hum. So it is the screen. I have taken note of the comment about some screen contaminants being very difficult to remove. I do not want to use even a mild abrasive and am not happy with using alcohol etc. I have used Autoglym Fast Glass on the screen and had hoped the noise would go or, at least, be much reduced but its the same as it was before using the Fast Glass. I have just got it out of the bag hoping to see the composition of it but no luck ,theres nothing on the container at all which is a bit disappointing. I will try it again and if it still hasnt, at the very least, improved the situation, I will revert to just using it occasionally in really bad weather conditions. I am not going to go over and over the screen. If it hasnt at least improved after two applications I am calling it a day on this particular problem Many thanks to everyone who posted.

No, I havent tried that but will try it.probably tomorrow. it makes sense, I dont know why I didnt think of it myself. If it is noisy in that position then its not the screen being dirty causing it its something else, the motor maybe or the wiring. Not noisy means the screen is the issue. Thanks to both of you.

They fitted a Bosch, they swear by them, they have a lot of Bosch products in stock. I will have a really good go at cleaning the rear screen and see if that helps. It looks clean but I will try cleaning it with plenty of warm water and a sponge, dry off with my chamois then use my Autoglym glass cleaner .

Thanks for all of your posts. I did get a new blade fitted by my independent but it unfortunately hasnt cured the problem. I am reluctant to use WD 40 or white vinegar on brand new rubber and am thinking its the motor playing up. It was like that when I bought the car in July 2022 and it hasnt got worse or better. If it is the motor I havent got the skillset to repair it or fit a new one. I have been on the internet to get an idea of part prices and labour costs ( both including VAT) and it is about a hundred pounds minimum, quite possibly more which I really dont want to pay. I dont want to bore the life out of you but money is tight for me( as it is for many others of course) and I will probably do nothing and only use the rear wiper in really foul conditions. I will also have to remember that if I am backing out of my drive and it is raining and I put the front wipers on the rear wiper comes on automatically even in very light rain. . So I will not use the front wipers until i have finished backing out. This is the first time I had any problems with rear wipers and I had them on both my previous Fabias and the three Vauxhall Corsas I had before them, going back to 2003. Just saying.

Hello , i have had a very noisy rear wiper since I got the car in July 2022. IT does work every time as does the rear washer but it sounds awful., a real screeching noise. I didnt bother trying to invoke the Skoda used car warranty as its a consumable wear and tear item and not covered. I dont use the wiper that much as I can pick and choose when I use the car as I am retired but if I was driving in all conditions as I used to be I would definitely have taken it to my independent. I had to use it today and it sounded like a buzzsaw so I spent some going through the various possibilities, The blade didnt look grubby but I cleaned it anyway between the leaves with an old( but clean) toothbrush. I made sure to use hot water and i regularly dipped the brush into the jug with the hot water.The brush had a black residue afterwards which I couldnt shift. I didnt have any white vinegar nor any rubbing alcohol, they are are not things I have need of in the house . I did make sure that the rear screen was really wet and took it out and tried it and it was just more of the s I used the rear washer a lot when on the test run to ,make sure the screen remained wet and the noise did improve slightly while the blade was in contact with the wash mixture but it was a very brief improvement. I went onto an Audi website before posting this and a noisy rear wiper did feature on that site on the Audi A1 and others. Some posters on that site said said the blade fittings were reversible and changing the blade around solved the problem. I tried this but it didnt help. I am ruling out wiring problems for the wiper because it has worked first time every single time I have used the stalk control albeit with an accompanying infernal noise. It is definitely the noisiest rear wiper I have ever had. On the balance of probablities I think it will be the blade and my cleaning hasnt hit the spot. I have had no problems at all with the front wipers and they get used a lot more. I suppose the fronts could have been changed by Skoda UK as they were the first owner but why not change the rear in that case? I looked at the checksheet from the dealership done before i got the car and there was nothing at all about wipers, front or rear. I shall take it into my independent this week as I know they wont rip me off and will be honest with me and if its a new blade so be it. Look forward to reading your responses

My apologies to George, you are absolutely right. The post should have been in either the general section or the Mark 4 Fabia section, Thanks AG Falco for your very thought provoking post. I found your post to be very helpful and I will be following your advice.

Hello everyone, I have been looking at the new Fabias in SEL trim with a view to buying one. I intended going down the part exchange route and buying a 1 year old or less with low mileage,t he 110bhp with the 6 speed manual gearbpx, I had assumed that the higher powered version came with rear disc brakes as standard but I was wrong, its an extra cost option. Very few of the used Fabias I have seen come with this option and I would like this on my next car.. Using car wow( or something similar) and getting quotes has shown me that I could get a brand new car for the same sort of money as I would pay for a used one with the same trim etc including the rear disc brakes. I havent bought a new car for many years now and that was another brand altogether so I am a bit rusty If I go down the car wow route there is the one Liverpool dealer who participates. my usual Skoda garage does not but I dont see that as a problem. I could either part exchange or sell my car for cash to my usual dealership. I cant see any particular disadvantages but I could be wrong, it has been a good while since I bought new and things do change. Have any Briskodians used car wow to buy a new Skoda and if they have did the process go smoothly or were there any snags? Thanks.

I had a similar problem last summer soon after I bought my Fabia 3 estate. The normal information display, oil temp, miles travelled etc went crazy and I got a screen that said the infotainment was switched off, This happened again a couple of times shortly afterwards. I contacted the sales department and they put it right and also showed me how to change it. They said it was a very common thing, they had had a lot of customer phone calls about it. I wanted to get it sorted properly and contacted the workshop manager who arranged for the car to come in under warranty. An update was applied and the cost to the dealership was about 32 pounds. The problem has not returned since. I posted at the time, I think it was about August last year. Hope this helps.

Peter 51, I was diagnosed with a failing water pump on my 17 plate Fabia 3 110 estate petrol in April 2021. The diagnosis came completely out of the blue while the car was being serviced by my independent at 26000 miles. There was a slight leak apparently. I had( and still have) absolute trust in this garage. I authorised the repair and a new water pump was ordered from TPS and fitted. The all inclusive bill was around the 400 pounds mark. I posted on Briskoda at the time about this. I didnt know anything about the VAG revisions nor, of course, the parts manager having to order so many pumps. I learnt from other posters about having 2 pumps and it was the electric one that had been diagnosed and changed. I think the replacement pump was plastic but I could be wrong. In over 50 years driving experience I had never had a water pump replaced and it definitely seems this part is poor quality. I have a friend who had the same diagnosis on his 19 plate Octavia petrol hatch and it does seem as though there has been a problem with these pumps for quite some time. It will be a real factor early next year when I decide whether to keep my car and buy a 4th year of warranty or change it for a non VAG product. I hope this helps.