Jelibeli

I had a lot of smoke when one of my intercooler pipes disconnected itself a few years ago. When I say a lot, it was like a comedy James Bond smokescreen on anything but the gentlest of throttles. Have a look at the pipes behind / beneath the bumper. It's basically putting loads of fuel in, because it thinks it's getting loads of air, but it's not.

Hi. My car started making a noise from under the bonnet, it sounded like something was trapped in the fans & catching on the blades. Opened the bonnet and the fans aren’t spinning even with the aircon on, but something is buzzing. Fans seem to move ok by hand. Any thoughts? It’s a PDI 140 (BKD).

Hi. Since I got my Octavia several years ago, the rear RH door has never stayed open, always closing by itself. Is there a way to adjust the check strap so it grips a bit tighter and holds itself open?

Thanks. Unfortunately MicMac, my car always comes up as a lower-powered 8v, not a 140PS 16v, which often gives the wrong brake part numbers. Cryonut - Thanks, that sorted me out.

Hi. I need new rear pads, and according to by PR code list, i have 1KF rear discs. It's a pre-fl 2005 Combi 140ps TD PDI (BKD), which I believe means it has 260mm rear discs. Can anyone tell me the part number for the pads I need? I'd prefer a set with the shims & bolts, so getting ones for the correct thickness of disc would be useful, although if you can only give me a number for a pad set, that would do. Thanks.

They use a variable swash-plate compressor that is always running, but when the swash plate is set flat, the compressor just turns and does nothing. When the swash plate is angled, it pumps. This all happens inside the compressor and externally, you see no difference. This gives an idea of how it works:

They don't last long without oil - mine was re-gassed by a friend for free, but he didn't add oil, saying there would be enough left in it. Next day, screeching noise, ancillary belt torn to shreds and dead compressor. You probably had oil.

Kenwood DNX525DAB plays FLAC, and presumably the newer Apple Car-Play compatible successor will too. It's a VAG-specific unit sold & fitted by dealers as an approved option, also available via aftermarket, fits the slightly narrower Octavia 2 aperture, but it will also fit the wider aperture with a gap either side. Not cheap new though, and while I don't know what the successor is like, the 525 is disappointing for the money in term of functionality. However, it sounds awesome and I can clearly tell the difference in my 2005 BKD Ambiente Diesel (with standard speakers) between 320kbit m4a (Nero AAC) and FLAC, even when travelling at motorway speeds.

Hi all, In a few weeks' time, I'll probably need to fit & code a gateway module (battery drain) and a body module (front fogs). I've got the body module, and revision Q modules are on ebay for £30-40, so I'll probably supply both of them myself. Can you guys recommend somewhere or someone reliable & trustworthy to do it?

Stay. Better the devil you know. :devil:

Thanks Mike. For the extra £8, I've gone for the front-fog-compatible switch. I've also ordered the front fogs, and the appropriate CECM (also £18, funnily enough). But I may wire it through a separate fused relay circuit instead. I've got another thread asking the relevant questions for this, so I'll leave this one as it is. Thanks again.

Fair enough. So, next question - this suggests that I would be OK to use high-output +150% lamps in my fog lights, or should I stick with standard output? In my last car, I had nightbreakers everywhere, including the low-mounted fog lights, but I didn't encounter fog quite as bad as I faced the other night.

I found this interesting: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/light_color/light_color.html I also have a pair of 'sports' yellowish-tinted sunglasses that I bought many years ago, and I find I can see better through daylight fog (and very heavy rain / motorway spray) if I wear them.

Hi again. I've finally ordered the front fog lights and the light switch, and I've ordered the high-line version of my CECM (1K0 937 049 N, to replace 1K0 937 049 M). However, I'm thinking of wiring straight from the switch instead (via a relay) and not bothering with the CECM upgrade, as it will involve being fitted by someone who can copy the coding from one to the other. So, here are the inevitable questions: 1. will drawing enough current through the switch to drive a relay cause any issues to either the switch or the modules it is attached to? 2. is the dash warning light wired separately from the unused pin on the switch, or will I need to wire that as well? I've been told that just fitting the fog light capable headlamp switch will make the dash warning light operate when it is pulled, whether front fog lights are fitted or not. 3. Is there a wiring harness available to make either CECM or relay installation easier? I can wire up the relay and so on myself, but a harness to take power to and from the lights themselves (with the correct plugs for the bulbs) would be useful. Thanks.

Hi. I'm in the throws of fitting front fog lights to my Mk2 Pre-FL, and I've been wondering about either All Weather or Selective Yellow (french-style) bulbs. I'm fitting the lights because the last few days have been really foggy, and I've been caught out a couple of times in situations where I just cannot see the edges of the road. I was wondering if anyone has tried selective yellow or all-weather bulbs in their fog lights, and if they have been any better than normal bulbs for visibility? ABD sell selective yellow bulbs, and Halfords still stock their own brand and Bosch all-weather bulbs. As a side note, I have Philips +150% bulbs in my headlamps, would I be able to see better in dense fog with normal output bulbs? Once the fog lights are fitted, I know I will be able to run with just fogs to help this situation (when the weather makes it appropriate of course, not just when I'm wearing my baseball cap backwards).

Just found this thread, so I thought I would update it - Turned out to be a damaged turbo, had both it and the oil feed pipe replaced, and it's all good as new-ish, apart from the dent in my bank balance. I've blown a bottom intercooler hose since then, which the RAC bloke thought was down to the overboost (worn clipping points on the end). £40-ish quid and ten minutes and it was fixed.

Since the last gig, I've been listening to my new Dirt Box Disco albums via FLAC as well. :devil: I've assumed that my car is too old to do that - I think it might work on Octavia FL cars (my car is older than recommended), or at least cars with later CECM/BCM than mine. And the Satnav, despite being updated via both conventional and non-conventional routes, isn't a patch on my iphone any more, so it's redundant now.

Hi, My headlamp switch is looking really tatty - the black has come off in a number of places, and the green illumination is showing through. There are any number of aftermarket manufacturers making new switches with both front and rear fog lights, but mine is rear only, and these are only available second hand. If I bought the switch that had both front and rear fogs, would it work OK in my car? I think the part number of the one I have is 1Z0941431F, while the one that is widely available as 'new' is 1Z0941431E. Thanks.

Me again. Just an update - as there is now the DNX516DABS available, there may be some of the 525 units appearing second-hand, so I thought I'd add a few more comments on living with the 525DAB. I recently started listening to FLAC files instead of 320kbps AAC files, and I'm blown away by the difference, still with the tired, factory speakers. It's only been one album (Never Outdrunk, Never Outsung by The WiLDHEARTS), but the difference really is astonishing. However, as it's a live album, it really highlights one immense drawback of the DNX525DAB - EVERY track gets faded-in at the start. On a lot of the music I listen to, the songs are meant to run continuously into each other, and having each song drop to zero volume at the start and fade-in is really annoying. Somewhere, whether it's hidden deep in the settings or even in the firmware itself, there must be a way to disable this and revert to seamless playback - my previous Kenwood head unit (KDC-BT60U) in previous cars could do this, in fact it did it by default. It's another major annoyance that I really want to find a fix to. I have emailed Kenwood customer support a few times, but never received a response. Anyway, hope this is informative.

Hi, My 2005 BKD Wagon (PD140) went into limp home today. When I got to work, it had stored an 'overboost' OBD2 code, probably from last night when I became a child again for five minutes and raced a van away from the lights!! The turbo was whistling at low revs and again a bit at high revs, and there's a dump-like whoosh when I lift off. I can hear it more clearly inside the cabin than under the bonnet. I reset the fault, and it came back in after about 25 miles. I ran some EGR3 through it (god that stuff stinks!) and reset the code again, and it's stayed off for about a dozen miles so far, but it's still making all the noises. I've also had an insufficient EGR flow code for several days, but I'm not sure that's connected. I'm hoping the turbo issue is a pipe off somewhere, maybe even an exhaust hole. Anyone had anything similar?

Hi, I've been using a DNX525DAB head unit for almost a year now, but I haven't managed to make a working playlist for any of my music files. I'd like to create a few for when I've got different people in the car - mostly Elvis for my Mom, classic rock for my Dad, and Rat Pack & classical for my mother-in-law. I've tried using m3u and pls files using relative paths from the location of the playlist file, and I've tried other formats although I can't remember which ones now. Has anybody had any success with this?

OK, I've been using this for nearly a year now, and I think I've grown to like it a lot. I have largely abandoned the sat nav feature, as the roads for my journey have become hugely out of date since I last updated it, the POI search is very hit-and-miss, and the traffic doesn't keep up-to-date quickly enough & often tries to direct me around problems that aren't there. The advantage that it does have is a very good on-screen speed display, although the speed limits that it shows are also out-of-date. It does seem to learn your travel habits as well - if I switch it on, it often tells me how long it will take me to get to work or to get home, even though I haven't asked it for a route. I've basically switched over to using Google Maps, which although it doesn't show me my speed or the limits, is much better for handling traffic and changing roads. Lane assist on Google is awful & more often wrong than not though - the Garmin nav on the DNX525DAB is much better for this when the road info is up-to-date. I also have Co-Pilot nav on my phone, but Google is still my preferred nav. On the music player side, I've bought a remote for the unit, but I found out that it's easier to use the smaller remote that I had for my old kenwood unit - it allows me to skip folders back and forth, control the volume, select the source and skip tracks back and forth, which is the maximum I would ever attempt to do while driving. I've still got two issues though - the album artwork display is a bit hit-and-miss - whenever I copy the same files to a USB stick, sometimes it shows some album images and sometimes it shows others. The other issue is playlists. I can't find a playlist format that works, and I can't find any information from either Kenwood directly or anywhere else on the internet that tells me what to use. DAB still works well with the stick-on aerial, FM and AM also work great. I really should get round to wiring up the reversing camera to try that out, but my time is pretty much taken up with work these days.

Thanks. I'll check tomorrow at work, and get them ordered. I think I've got the CII brakes, but I'll check.

Title says it all really. I've finally got the right pads, but it's taken so long to find them that the discs need replacing. SkodaParts list the wrong pads for my car (too small) so I expect them to list the wrong discs as well. Finally got pads the right size, but they came with the shim/clips for vented discs on an A3 rather than non-vented (too wide) so I re-used the clips. However, one of the calipers had stuck, and the disc on that side is scored, so I need new discs. I've re-used the part-worn pads from the non-scored disc on to the scored disc for now, so when I fit the discs (hopefully this week), I can fit them with the new pads. Anyone any idea what discs I need? BKD engine BTW. Thanks.

I don't know enough about the amundsen systems to know for sure, but just in case this saves you some money, take a look. It may only apply to older systems, I don't know... http://www.skoda-auto.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/download/maps-update/en/amundsen.pdf