chrisund123

I've not taken one all the way off on an Octavia yet, but I've pulled plenty off the car quite a way for trim removal etc and not encountered any clips or fastenings yet.

I've used Torque for live data and I think it will read fault codes too.

I've got a 59 plate L&K, it has a rain sensor. It closes the windows when it rains (think there's a setting for it in maxidot), and opens/closes the windows via the fob. It doesn't close the windows after 12 hours though, despite saying it should in the manual. I actually posted a thread about that when I got the car, and the general consensus was that the manual was a book of lies and nobody had the windows closing after 12 hours

A lot of cars have a big "dead zone" for the temperature needle, on my old Rover 45 it was between 75 and 104!

Yeah Mr Muscle/oven cleaner is a thing. The VNT vanes on the turbo get clogged up with carbon/oily deposits and makes a nice thick gunk that seizes them up after a while, resulting in boost issues. Common sign is the car goes into limp mode due to overboost protection, and trouble code P0234 (i think?) can be read from VCDS. You feed the oven cleaner into the VNT part of the turbo via a thin tube into the EGR pipe/manifold, and after a while you can work the VNT actuator lever free and restore the full range of movement. Then take it for a spirited drive and enjoy the feeling of a properly working turbo, until it seizes up again! With my fairly low mileage, it seems to last about 14 months between treatments.

Didn't look very far I did mine today, although I have a BKD so it's a bit different. Lasts about 14 months with my driving (not many miles).

As J.R. says I think they're all much of a muchness due to the fairly low Res TV signal they use. That said I did buy one that professed to use a better quality sensor than the really cheap ones, but I doubt it makes much, if any, difference. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MYR8KBJ?ref=pd_basp_dp_primary I'm happy with the one I got, but definitely don't pay any more than that!

Almost half the price (£20.69 delivered) at Aliexpress if you don't mind waiting for the delivery: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001094393209.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.533c4299fTa22g&algo_pvid=67ead851-b26f-4edd-97bd-87b0f9fbb44f&algo_expid=67ead851-b26f-4edd-97bd-87b0f9fbb44f-0&btsid=0bb0624115992215727985247e3fc0&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

The replacement unit ones are the way to go, and coding them properly allows them to be run without load resistors which is infinitely preferable.

VCDS is the most widely used, you'll get a lot more support for it if you get stuck.

Yes - that's exactly what mine looks like, on my 2010 L&K set to Australia mode

If you want it to look good - take it to a body shop. If you want to do it yourself, and not look crap - practice! Try painting a few things that aren't your car first. Watch a few YouTube videos to brush up on techniques. Generally speaking you'll want to sand back any rust to bright metal, apply some rust treater if required, filler, feather in the repair and key up the surrounding paint up to a suitable point, mask off, prime, flat back the primer, paint, lacquer, wait for it to harden, flat back then polish. Even if you do it all right, it's difficult to get a good finish! Try a few different places for the paint, maybe take a bit of trim in the correct colour and get it matched.

For the 6 speed it should be done every 4 years iirc. The dealer fixed price is £200 I think, or if you're not afraid to get stuck in its not too difficult to DIY it, I think I spent about £90 on the genuine oil and filter. When I got mine there was no mention of the DSG being serviced (or the cambelt, more alarmingly) so I made sure I did it at the first opportunity.

To get the display into MPH, you need to change into Australia mode with VCDS iirc: Dunno about the Bluetooth, but the technology has moved on quite a bit since 2012 so you may not end up with the experience you're after if you retrofit the Skoda kit. Is there a box under the driver's seat? I think that's where the Bluetooth controller lives. Is it the DSG7? They're supposed to be filled for life, but there was a recall as some came filled with the wrong oil.

For getting cables into the cabin, this grommet on the passenger side is what you're after I expect. On my 2010 model it has a few spare entrances you can utilise, as you can see I've shoved a wire coat hanger into mine to draw a cable through.

Only half joking, I've regularly driven to the petrol station with the range on zero miles. They usually err on the side of caution, there's been plenty of features on how much is left in the tank when the guage says zilch. Top gear did a hypermiling challenge once, Clarkson did it in a Jag I think and even after he'd tried to run out the tank and completed the challenge, with his guage on empty apparently there was 100 miles worth still in the tank (that's from memory, so may not be accurate). Range anxiety is a thing though.

Why? There's at least another 40 miles in that tank, probably more!!

I went down the passenger side along the floor when I did mine, and then repeated the process later as I fancied reliving my boy racer days and installed a sub!

Did you measure how much came out? It sounds like the oil level is low.

How much oil did you put in when you changed it? Is the clutch dragging? If you put your foot on the clutch does it disengage fully?

To change between the "bolero" shape and the "Columbus" shape, you just need a new fascia. I got an aftermarket one for £15 which looks absolutely fine, the genuine piano black one for my l&k was about £130!

I've got an Xtrons stereo, not the model you've linked to but similar. The one you linked to has the PX5 CPU, which is slightly older (current model is the PX6, which isn't as common as the PX5) but it has 4gb of ram which will be a lot better than the ones that come with only 2gb. If you're going from the Bolero you will need a new fascia to swap over as that Xtrons uses the Columbus type shape. Generally speaking I'm very happy with my Xtrons stereo. It has a few quirks but in terms of functionality it's streets ahead of the Columbus, and even further than the Bolero, and cheaper than the Columbus too.