juanse_2691

Thank you Pete, helpful as always. Now that the question is answered I'll delete this thread. Cheers!

Hello people, I'm just about to order some parts to service my 2007 Mk1 16v Fabia hatchback. I used to know which pads were which but 5 years had passed since the last time I replaced them, so my question is, FS III carriers mean I have 256 mm discs? Thank you all in advance.

Why?

The pre-cat only helps by accelerating the warm-up phase. Theoretically, with a properly warmed-up engine, there should be no difference but I don't know the nuances of the whole operation, whether there are differences in lambda probes part numbers, ECU values, etc. I give my car a good ol' Italian tune-up before going in (just to make sure its cats are up to temp) and it passes with flying colours.

Wonder how many millions of engines have already blown up due to a single drip of E10 touching the virginal, pure, undisturbed fuel tanks and engines many claim to have. Judging by the reaction and sense of urgency of many round here, must've been zillions!

Any estate can be a funeral home victim. And now that car brands aren't bringing any more estates here because of them, they're switching to minivans and SUVs, so even a Yeti is a prime candidate for transportation to the "neighborhood of the lying ones". Any colour, any trim, slap a couple of stickers and that's now a hearse. Good God...

Seems like a Combi would suit me quite nicely. My hatchback has moved, among other things: -Those things in the picture, plus another 50 kg bag of onions in the rear seats. -A complete elliptical trainer, unfolded. -An industrial deep fryer. Three times. -A table for four, plus seats. -A stovetop oven, a queen mattress plus bed sheets, and luggage for two, all at the same time. Only thing keeping me from getting a Combi is they have a bad rep thanks to funeral homes, power users of the things round here, sadly. Maybe a Mk2 would be nicer as it doesn't look as hearse-ish as the Mk1.

Replaced the valve stem seals, I think after 15 years and 150000 km it was fair to exchange them. Also solved various oil drips and leaks around the engine block and crankcase cover/oil pan. But the new stem seals didn't do much to stop the blue smoke after coasting. Oil consumption seems to have diminished a little, though.

Curiosity got the best of me, so I had to go and check out the cubby to see whether it was an original part or not. Turns out it is original and quite more practical than having to 3D print custom stuff. There's the part number if you're interested. Also it has its own little rubber mat so coins/objects don't make so much noise, and makes it easier to clean.

I wouldn't be so sure. It looks original, fits nicely in the center console, has the exact same colour as the rest of the trim and has the corresponding tabs, pegs and everything

Doable? Yes. Have I tried? Absolutely. But then I needed the filler trim piece so that's why I left it like that.

Interesting. Similar to mine, but in my case there was no need for additional fascias, apparently.

True. My Fabia coolant gets to 100°C (per VCDS measuring) before the radiator fan gets going at full speed. The cluster gauge could indeed show those variations in temperature, but it doesn't. It stays glued to the 90°C mark even if actual coolant temperature is 10°C higher (and the gauge is scaled in 10°C steps, mind you).

True. Truckloads of torque. Having owned both variants, the 2.0 is way more pleasant to drive daily than the 1.4 16v. My BBZ Fabia only moves decently because the gearbox ratios are extremely short, anything over 60 mph will have the engine running at 4500 RPM+ and it tops at 118 mph at 6300ish RPM. That gets old quickly in motorways. The 2.0 used much longer ratios, which ultimately even saves fuel and makes trips bearable. The 2.0 pulls from any gear, at any point in the rev range. The 1.4 16v is gutless under 3000 rpm but it gets to redline in the blink of an eye. It's good to let the BBZ breathe every once in a while but I still miss that 2.0 dearly.

Hopefully it will help.

Nothing catastrophic happens by just filling up with E10. Yes, in this part of the third world where I live there are 70 year old trucks still working all day every day with plain old carburettors, old fuel lines, neglected maintenance (only the bare minimum to keep them running) and guess what... They suffer more brake failures than they do engine fires or fuel leaks of any sort. And we have no choice, E10 is in every grade of fuel we use. In fact it is touted as beneficial because it "oxygenates" petrol and boosts its octane rating. If the base fuel is 95 RON it is theorised (by gov agencies anyway) that the 10% ethanol content elevates its rating to 97. In short, the best way to get rid of E10 is using it... no, really. That's the antidote. Burn it as quick as you possibly can, use your car. Don't leave it sitting there in the tank for months. That's it. That's what we do. Yetis were sold here too, nothing goes particularly wrong except the usual valvetrain problems which come as a result of using low octane fuels more than anything. This whole E10 scare is a first world problem if I've ever seen one. If you're a car collector with dozens or even hundreds of very valuable, rare cars that you don't have the time to move around your private racetrack or around the estate, this is actually a non-issue because you can afford the premium stuff anyway. If you're a normal citizen with normal cars using them for normal chores going to and from your normal job and doing the routine maintenance your normal car demands... relax. Just use the normal stuff. "bUt gUvMinT wAnTs Me CaR oFf ThE rOaD tHaTs wHy TheY'Re sHoViNg E10 DoWn oUr ThRoAts"... Set up your very own petrol refinery then.

Never seen one of these catching fire to be honest. And there are many like it where I live. There is absolutely no way of getting anything other than E10 where I live. I remember they recommended renewing/replacing petrol filters and cleaning tanks just in case, and carburettors do suffer a little, though in no greater frequency than before the introduction of E10. Ethanol does not like sitting for long periods of time. I owned a 1961 VW Beetle which I had parked for two years. When cleaning the carburettor before starting it again, there was a dark green mossy goo inside the fuel bowl. It was quite hard to get rid of, but otherwise the car worked fine and started at the first try. Ethanol is known to cause issues if left sitting for long periods of time, but that's the only issue I can think of.

Back before they introduced E10 where I live (20 years ago) I remember a fleet of Felicias going around for testing purposes. It's been two decades since then and I see plenty of Favorits and Felicias still chugging along quite happily. The panic you guys have about E10 is unjustified.

That's been very informative, thank you. I'll shop around looking for more suitable alternatives, and I'll have to get some sort of insulation around the battery. Getting all the heat from the rad fan is no good.

Checked voltage across the alt casing as suggested and found no relevant difference in voltages, or resistance for that matter. It always has been the case that the car runs between 13.8 to 14.4 volts. Took the car to a garage so they could make some tests, and the charging system did well. The battery, while not completely hopeless, is weaker than it should, and they advised me to get a new one. Temperatures year round are in the high 30°C, sometimes even 40. I wonder if heat could degrade a battery so much that it would make it go weak after a year and a half, as my battery box has no insulation whatsoever and I don't know where to get the factory blanket. The radiator fan blows hot air directly to it. Since my daily usage consists of many starts scattered throughout the day, continuous use of air conditioning and headlights, lots of idling and short trips, is it possible that the battery has no chances of recovering from every start, and therefore degrades faster than say, a car that's only used to go to and from work twice a day? Because if that's the case, I suppose an AGM battery meant for modern Start-Stop cars would fare better, and despite costing easily double or triple the price of a conventional lead acid one, it would last longer I reckon, offsetting the cost of initial purchase. The weird thing is the occasional blinking of the battery light, of which I find no mention on the owners manual.

Battery sits at 12.8 volts with engine turned off, with no appreciable discharge.

Hello everyone. Recently, my 2007 Mk1 Fabia 1.4 16v has developed an habit of showing a blinking battery light after the first cold start of the day. No beeping or any other symptoms whatsoever. The light works as intended otherwise, and electrical accessories work fine. The light goes off on its own after a couple of minutes. Alternator, regulator, earth and positive leads have been recently serviced. Battery is 18 months old at most, though I suspect it's going weak already. Don't mind the engine revving in cold in the video. Only did it to test if the light flickering was affected by engine speed, which it apparently is. The voltmeter video (sits at 14 ish volts) is the reading at the battery posts with the engine running at idle and air conditioning on. As always, I appreciate your input. Thanks. HwVideoEditor_2021_08_03_145208.mp4 HwVideoEditor_2021_08_03_145332.mp4

The "easy" or "cheaper" thing would've been buying a quicker car, but the way you describe it you don't live in a city but in a rally stage. Otherwise not even a car with three times the power will make a difference. I have to make 100 mile journeys regularly for work and study, and I've been in 30 bhp cars as well as 200 bhp cars, and I hadn't shaved any meaningful amount of time getting to my destination because of power, not even 10 minutes, much less half an hour. If your city is all that terrible you should buy a motorcycle to zip through traffic, or move closer to where you work.

Fuel leak solved. A very small crack in the return inlet was responsible for the pooling of fuel over the pump. A bit of epoxy resin did the trick, as I'm not in the mood for shelling out (again) the near £300 they are asking for a new genuine pump where I live.

Turns out I was wrong. The pump gasket was indeed knackered, but it isn't the source of the leak. The pump inlets look healthy, so I guess the clips securing the lines to the pump itself are faulty. Since I have no means of dropping the tank or testing the lines or the clips to rule them out, I'll have to take the car to a shop and solve that problem.