Hawthorn654

Thanks for all the replies. Confession time - it pains me to say it, but my Fabia is no more :( We had to scrap it when a repair bill was looking like more than the car was worth, especially with gear box problems brewing at the time. We've got a interim car at the moment, but are looking to get something more permanent and appropriate. When looking at some of the stats of potential cars we like, I wasn't sure whether their 0-60 (or mpg figures) were good or bad. Having had the Fabia for over a decade, I thought that would be the best yard stick...

Hi folks Wondered if anyone could let me know the stats please. I've think I've found 15.8 seconds on the 0-60, but not sure if that's right? Couldn't find anything concrete on the MPG. I know there's a bunch of knowledge people here who are likely to know Many thanks

Hi folks Please excuse the embarrassingly long wait for my reply! Between work, renovating our house, and being away for a couple of weeks, there's been zero free time. And with a second car to use at the moment, this slipped down in the list of priorities. Shameful I know! The Skoda has been out on a fair few short runs since I posted. Just as a recap: - It always makes a noise when I take my foot off the clutch pedal, in idle. It's done this for quite some time. - The noise is always silenced when I press the clutch pedal down, in idle. - When driving, I would say it makes a noise around 10-20%. The rest of the time it's fine. I have not been able to work out any pattern or consistencies as to when it makes the noise. It's hard to describe the noise, but if I had to I'd describe it as somewhere between a rattling and a grinding noise. - When I'm driving and it's making the noise, the noise is still there when I press the clutch down / coast. I watched the video linked to above (thanks for that) and found that he had earlier videos which showed the noise with the car actually running. Here are the links to those for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFWnBhGnsbA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSar2KJ86KE (see 2:10 in this video) The sound in those videos is pretty much the same as what I'm hearing. I've been through all the comments and there's a mixture of diagnoses. People are suggesting it could be: 1. Gearbox Bearings / Input Shaft Bearings. @Breezy_Pete - is this the same as the "bearing cassette at the far end of the gearbox" 2. Clutch Release Bearing / Throw Out Bearing 3. Dual Mass Flywheel. (Although others respond saying that my petrol 1.2 would have a single flywheel). 4. Thrust Bearing. (Not sure if this is a different name for one of the above? If so, please let me know). 5. “Clutch or pressure plate have become loose”. 6. “probably the 5th gear bearing broke off, had the same problem on mine I first thought it was the clutch. It's a weakness in 02T gearboxes” Based on the comments above, and the info I've gathered, it seems #1 is the most likely. But any further thoughts, or tests I can do, etc. would be a great help to try to determine for sure what the problem is. The other thing that would be very helpful to know is if the noise I get occasionally while driving is likely to be related or something completely different? RE checking gearbox oil level - is that something I can do myself or is it quite fiddly and difficult? Sorry for the long post and many thanks for all the help.

Hi all This has been happening for a while now... When the car is ticking over there's a noise which disappears when I press the clutch pedal down. A fair few months ago we had the RAC out (for something else). I asked him about it and he said there is a piece that is part of the clutch which becomes worn, doesn't engage properly and makes noise. He said it will gradually get worse, and the noise will get louder and louder (but sounds worse than it is), and that we need not be in a rush to get it sorted seeing as it's an old car (03 plate, 135k miles). Fast forward to now. We've just had the MOT and asked the garage about it. He had a listen, but not while we were there. He said he thinks it is the clutch thrust bearings, and that when you accelerate the bearings spin round and that's what you hear. Didn't comment on the noise while idle. He added that it can stop working with no notice or can gradually deteriorate. The cost to replace/fix would be around £380 - £400. So a bit different to the RAC's view. Up until now there has been no noise other than what I described above while idle and with foot off clutch. But this last week or two a few times I've been hearing some strange sounds while driving. Not consistently - it's either there or it's not, and most often it's not. It's hard to describe the sound, I'm useless at doing that. But I'll go for a drive tomorrow with my partner and see how she describes it. In the meantime, I wondered if anyone could take a stab at any guesses based on the above? Happy to do any testing that may help, so please feel free to ask. And sorry to be vague, I can appreciate there's not much to go on... Many thanks

Many thanks for all the replies, help and suggestions. I'll get them changed asap. The cracked tyres are Cooper Zeon CS8. The two on the front are by far the worse. There's one Cooper Zeon CS8 on the back, which just a small amount of cracking. And there's a Runway Enduro HP on the back that is fine. Couldn't find dates on any of them. Do all tyres have dates and if so is written in some kind of unusual format? Thanks again

Hi A confession first... While I drove a Skoda Fabia Mk1 my wife has recently inherited a Corsa and it's the tyres on these that I noticed the cracking on this morning. It's in the long "in between section". It runs around the whole tyre and is the same as in the photo for two of them. A third has it but not so bad. And the fourth is ok. Do they need replacing asap? Are they dangerous? Many thanks

Just wanted to update the thread to say all was well after tightening the connection... And more importantly to say a huge thank you for helping. What a great forum! Is there a forum charity or anything like that? I feel the advice I've got on here has always been great and it's time to say thanks in more than words

Thank you - that's fantastic. Is there anything I need to do - or not do - from a safety point of view?

Well, well, well... I've not been with the car since before I made this thread. Got to it this morning and before calling the RAC I did as recommended. Seems the culprit is the neutral battery clamp, which is loose and half way up the pole. I'm no expert, but based on what you guys have said I feel reasonably confident that this is the problem. To be sure though I've taken a couple of photos which I hoped someone might kindly take a look at? Please see below. Presuming this is the problem, I don't know much/anything about working on car batteries so could anyone tell me how to reconnect/tighten the terminal safely please? Thanks again for all the help. I wish most the mechanics I meet and use were as good as you guys!!! I owe you all a pint or ten Cheers

You guys are great and really appreciate your time and help with this. Thank you so much.

Many thanks for the replies. Do the computer things the RAC carry with them fit the above? Or are they something more basic? That's really strange for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if I remember right it wasn't so much him seeing that the pipe was disconnected. I'm pretty sure it was a fault code which led him to it. Secondly, before the "fix" the car would stutter on every journey more or less, most of which were short journeys. Afterwards, it only did it once or twice over quite a few short journeys and a 600 mile round trip. So everything pointed to that being the cause and that it had been "fixed"... Not that I'm doubting what you're saying! On that note... We spoke to a local mobile mechanic, and he said that they shouldn't have just changed coil pack no 3, but should have changed all of the coil packs. He's surprised they didn't, and seems to think if he was to come out that would be the first thing he would do. No-one else mentioned this at the time. What do you guys think? Is it usually best to change all three? A neighbour who is a retired mechanic had a quick passing glance at the battery and said it looked ok. But a tighten and clean up perhaps? And likewise for the earth connections as @mpm222suggests More generally RE the battery, could an old battery cause the problems described? The car has recently had work, and MOPT, and a couple of RAC call outs and no-one said anything about the battery. But it is an old 'un... Regarding the car computer...: - How long does it store fault codes for? - Are the fault codes time and date stamped? When the gizmo is plugged in, does it show when the fault happened? Thanks again. This forum is so helpful!

Hi all I appreciate that this is a long shot asking, but it's out of somewhat desperation. Any thoughts greatly appreciated. I have a Skoda Fabia Estate 2003 (1.2 petrol). It's on around 130,000 miles but has always been a great runner, very few problems at all. It's mainly used for short journeys to work, but recently have had to start travelling back and forth to Norfolk from Wales every 6 - 8 weeks. The first problems started a couple of months ago with the car stuttering whilst traveling during local journeys. No warning lights came on, and nothing untoward would happen, it just wasn't smooth and would stutter along a bit before sorting itself out. It then got a little worse, so I called out the RAC. They said it was an easy quick fix... The little rubber pipe on the left of the engine had disconnected. Not sure what it's called, but it recycles the exhaust gases for further burning rather than releasing them to the atmosphere. Is seemed to the job. Perhaps the stutter happened once or twice more but nothing like it was. No idea if that's related to the next bit, but best to give the full story! So a few weeks later I was driving back Norfolk and the car conked out completely. I'd been travelling on the motorway fine, but after stopping in a service station as I was pulling back onto the motorway the car totally died. As I remember, the oil warning light came on very briefly just before everything died. The RAC initially thought it was kind of rodent damage to the fuel pump. When he changed the fuse, he said it just fused itself and nothing happened so he wondered it mice had chewed some interconnecting cable. However, he then said he put in a higher voltage fuse than normal and the car started and ticked over (although very chuggy). This lead him onto coil pack no 3, which he said dead shorted, and that I needed a new multiplug and coil. He said it had also burnt out the connecting wires (see photo's). He didn't have the parts of board, so I later arranged for my mechanic to do the work. The car has been working fine since its trip to the mechanic. Up until now! I had to come back to Norfolk a few days ago. It was absolutely fine on the main journey and a few shorter journeys once back. But then, after dropping my partner off, I went to start the car and it completely died again. It was as if the battery had been disconnected - no internal clock or mileage. Nothing. A few minutes later, and the electrics came back on. The car started fine. But a couple of restarts later and the same thing happened; completely dead. That was all a couple of days ago. Today it's starting fine as if nothing has happened, but I haven't tried taking it out for fear of it dying whilst being driven. Any ideas would be gratefully received. Also, any opinions on whether this fault could be related to the previous one would be really helpful. I've since noticed that where the burnt out cables were on the coil pack, they are now covered with tape. I'm not sure if this is a problem or could be causing the problem as I'm wondering if the mechanic taped up the wires rather than replacing them? Also, somebody mentioned that the wires could have burnt out because the RAC put in the higher fuse? Would that really be possible? I'm going to call out the RAC to see what they say. However, my concern is how certain can they be what is causing the problem? I'm not keen on heading back onto the motorway without knowing it's a 100% fixed, but I'm not sure how possible that even is with an intermittent fault. Plus, forewarned is forearmed, and I know a lot of people here know their Skoda onions and so might have some leads on what might be going on. Huge thanks for reading

Many thanks for the helpful replies. One of the front tyres was an MOT advisory and the other front apparently didn't have much more tread. Both Michelin CCs at the 17k miles mark. Both worn on the inside more than the outside, so will get tracking done when I get the tyres replaced. One of the rear tyres is an Avon ZT5 and is quite new with very little wear. The other rear tyre is getting low so time to replace that too. They are 185/60/H14. Excuse the excessive quoting! But from the answers on here, on another forum I posted on, and on the internet generally, I concur 1000% with the "it depends" answer. I've done around 17,000 miles in the last two years. I'd say around half of that would be travelling from Wales to Norfolk (so predominantly motorways). The other half is driving very minor roads in rural Wales, some of them barely fit for purpose! I do check pressure often, so don't think that is an issue. But the uneven wear would suggest the tracking is off and perhaps I'd have got more out of them if it wasn't. As for driving style, both me and my partner use the car so it varies. And even if I was using it just myself it would vary; usually depending on whether I'm running late or not! What I'd be really interested to know is how many miles I'd get out of a pair of the Avons on the front. My mechanic - and the internet blog by the Welsh taxi drive - would suggest around 11,000 miles. I haven't been in Wales long enough to experience it for myself. As such, I'm going to put x3 new Avons on and see how it does. Whilst it is nice to have the CCs, the likelihood of actually needing to drive in bad conditions is tiny with my current lifestyle and work. If that changes then I can reconsider. In the meantime I'll find out first hand how the mileage compares. And if what I've been told RE mileage ends up being true, then I guess it will be CCs all round in the future as they'll actually work out to be cheaper in the long run. Cheers EDIT - I should add also what major disagreement I have come across RE have x2 All Seasons vs x4. And if having x2 whether they should be on the front and back. People seem to argue strongly in favour of both sides. It seems increasingly difficult to get a simple answer in life nowadays!

Hi all I had some Cross Climates fitted to the front of my Fabia a couple of years ago, which now need replacing. They've done around 17,000 miles... I've been trying to find out whether that's good or not. Some of what I've read would suggest it is low. But then I found an article from a Welsh taxi driver (I'm in Wales too), and I also spoke to a local mechanic. Both said that 17,000 miles is in fact pretty good, and that with a more basic cheaper tyre I'd be looking at getting more like 11,000 miles. So I wondered what folk 'round here think to all that? In terms of driving... We're right in the sticks, so a lot of dodgy back roads, but we also have family in Norfolk and so go back a few times a year so a reasonable amount of motorway driving too. Cheers

Thank you both for such fantastic help. This forum always amazes me in how quick and helpful people are in their responses. Massive thumbs up. @Wino - one away from 15,000 posts - very impressive indeed. Pretty sure it will be at least fuse 61, firstly because that's what he has written on the report, and secondly because when it was blowing he was thinking the fuel pump was the culprit. But that's not to say fuse 52 hasn't blown as well... Will let you know if I find out more. At the moment we've no idea where the car is! RAC - who have always been great over the years - have been quite shockingly bad with this breakdown.