Jasonpaul71

Push that end down and lift the other end up and over the handbrake and gently free it from off the tabs

There's two torx screws that need to come out of the other end of the console as well between the front seats

Have you taken those two torx screws out? Then that end needs pushed down and the other end lifted up to free it from the tabs underneath the heater ducts

I would take the gaitor off and see how much movement there is in the gear lever from side to side. If there is a lot of movement then it's cheap enough to replace the bushes There is also a shim mod that you can add on to the ball and socket as well if need be

On those videos on dieselgeek it seems like if you just change the shaft bushings at the top and bottom of the spring then that may eliminate a lot of the side to side movement. I've not done that on a Fabia but I did it on a mk1 MX5 and it made a big difference

If you go on the dieselgeek.com website they have a couple of videos about how to replace the bushes. Don't know if it's any use but might be worth a look

I've run 2 x Connects 1.8 tcdi 90bhp for the past ten years a 2003 and a 2010 and they have been brilliant. The engine is agricultural but I've had no problems apart from an alternator at 100,000 in one of them. I would always buy the 90 bhp version with a good service history and check the sills for rust. They need a good run out every now and then to stop the EGR's clogging up but easy to work on and cheap to fix. Ideal workhorse.

Rare sunny blast along Honister Pass

DMF maybe?

should throw up the EML in theory and log a fault code

I had the same and when the car did eventually start it belched out an impressive cloud of black smoke Turned out it needed new glow plugs

Sticking rear brake calipers

I have a well serviced 2005 VRS and if I drive it like a nun then I can get 50 mpg if I drive it like I stole it then I get 45 mpg My opinion therefore is enjoy the performance otherwise what the point in having a VRS and forget about the economy

for the gearbox I used Fuchs Titan Sintofluid 75w80 as a lot of people on here recommended it and I've been very pleased with it. For the engine I used a Quantum VW spec 505.01 oil can't remember the grade

I replaced my dogbone mount with the Superpro one as well. Didn't make a massive positive difference to anything but the car vibrates at idle a little more now. The OEM one I took out was fine so changing it didn't benefit me but if your dogbone mount is shot at then it's worth doing.

I had some clutch creep in 1st gear which is why I did the shim mod. It's easy to do and the shim and the cap that you need are cheap enough. Why not change the gearbox oil reset the gearbox cables and see if that sorts out your problem. If not try the shim mod maybe.

I had the same notchy gearbox and difficult to get 1st/ reverse but changed the gearbox oil, reset the gear linkages and did the gearbox shim mod and it's perfect now on my 2005 Vrs fogging up windows will be leaky door seals I would imagine