badgerdisco

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice you gave. The head gasket blew on my Mk1 Fabia and I'm ducking out now! Off to buy a MK2 Jazz. Please delete my account - I can't see an easy way of doing this.

I know. I'm not in love with it enough to keep going though. I'm base in Cambridge if you're interested! I might post it on here, be good to see it go to a fan!

Definitely not a job for me no! ha!

I bought it a year ago for £500 with the aim to get a year out of it. But it seemed so good (despite the occasional misfire!) I thought I'd gamble on another year! Just passed her MOT a week ago and now dead. I could spend £200-300 on a new head gasket but it's 17 years old.

To conclude, I just figured out the problem - it was the head gasket! It just blew on my way into work. Susan's (my car) dead! Bugger.

Thanks for your help - a very easy job (great to know about that little plate), and I did replace the plugs whilst I was at it. The car is starting promptly now, rather than turning over briefly and so far I've not had any loss of power or flashing engine light. Power lower down the revs seems better, too. Fingers crossed this cures it. Cheshire - you shouldn't be too surprised that the man who asked for advise to replace a plug 'n' play part doesn't know the proper name for it

I'll have a look, probably find one of them laced with oil ; ) if not then I can keep them for next service.

Actually, think I'll pick up some new plugs whilst I'm at it. Do it all at once!

Thanks Retro, my friend changed them for me about 5k ago, but seeing as I'm going to have access to them, you're right! I'll be lucky if it's still running tomorrow! haha!

I bought a HAAS one from Euro Car Parts (413440381) and with the magic of the internet, got it down to £50.24 - otherwise it's £71.99 and ebay would be better) - for users of the internet browser Chrome, there's an extension called Honey joinhoney.com which, when you approach an online till, searches for discount codes. It works with lots of websites, but for some reason, Euro Car Parts always have discounts running, and some of them are really good. So for this part it found a 35% weekend discount voucher.

Wow! Thank you very much for taking the time to find these photos! And great tip about the plate, too. Feeling much more confident about it now.

I followed the advice of TripleMcB as the cap was incredibly loose when removing the engine cover. Also, the reason I removed the plastic casing was because there were fumes coming into the cabin. Another thread somewhere pointed out that this was because of a small gap between the case and the engine. Needless to say it's all sorted now.

Hello there! I am about to fit a new ignition coil. I had a quick look tonight and it seems it's held on with two bolts and is hooked up to a power lead. Some questions: Is there a particular way to release the power clip? I don't want to break it! Should I disconnect the battery before doing this? Is there a knack to seating the rubber connectors over the spark plugs? Thanks a lot! I'd be ££££s out of pocket without the help of the kind people on this forum!

Good work! I drove my parents Mk2 with 1.2 TSI and was struggling to get over 50mpg on a long journey.

Yes it is! I quite enjoy the growl at 80-90 ; )

hands like pit shovels,

BLT sandwiches are no replacement for petrol

I thought I'd have a look to see if there was discussion on this. I've had mine for a couple of months now and through some small changes (replacing temp sensor + wheel bearing) and learning to drive it well, I've seen the MPG increase steadily. I usually reach 350-380 but on this particular tank I did a large journey to the airport and back (Cambridge to Gatwick) and then shorter town driving. You can drive 80-90 on the motorway as long as you don't floor it to get there. Really like this car!

My £500 fabia took us to the Lake District...

TMB - thank you for your advice. I replaced the seal and it popped on nicely. Smell of fumes has gone and I'm very happy! Cheers

Cheers! Ordered! : )

Thanks, this is really helpful. I will purchase the seal then (thanks for the part number) - it's a light enough fit that if the car were somehow turned upside down (!) then it would slip off. I've not come across an oil cap like that before.

I wanted to get rid of the plastic engine case because it's letting oil out onto the engine and fumes are coming into the cabin. The spare cap underneath the engine cover is not tight enough! It has a rubber o-ring on it but it will surely pop off. I cleaned mine up and put it back together again with the cover back on. Looks like the Felicia cap is the solution.

Apologies, I saw the really helpful code in the earlier replies! Best, Alan

This is exactly what I was looking for! I've had this problem for ages and have to use the air circulation fan when stopped in traffic. Could you recommend a replacement part? There's lots on ebay ... Thanks a lot!