aka_pseudonym

I'm sure the original, badly designed parts would be unavailable. The VAG parts list would say "superceded by ....." The chain tensioner uses oil pressure to work. That's why the chain runs slack when the piston ring slots line up - as 2stroke said it's very poor design. Once the oil pressure gets too low there's a chance the chain can jump its sprockets and then armagheddon follows. The design of the chain tensioner was changed at the same time as the pistons so that should be replaced along with the chain too.

I'm coming back to this as I've so far done nothing more. I blame the weather and the thought of sitting outside with the car door open getting soaked. I'd like to replace the loom in the driver's door as, if it hasn't been the cause of the present problems (which I suspect it has), I'm sure it'll fail at some point. But new ones are silly prices (>£200), and a repair kit is just as much as second hand looms from breakers. So I'm going to attempt to spot one of the updated ones - longer bellows and drop fittings - and hopefully it won't have any issues. I have questions: I've decoded my car's option codes and I have "8RM = 8 speakers (passive)". Is that "normal"? Is there anything else that can vary between models which would affect the loom? Is there a "free" way of finding the option codes attached to a vehicle's VIN which breakers often quote? Is the same loom used on any other Skoda models - or even better models across the VAG range? All help gratefully received!

The kits fit any door - front/rear/left/right - cheap or expensive. I think it has to be a break somewhere because it's intermittent - the door is triggering the interior lights again today which it wasn't yesterday. I expect the day before I get around to sorting it it'll all decide to work perfectly! My Yeti had a brand new full engine compliments of Skoda only four years ago so it's worth the trouble.

Thanks for the reply JR. I'll get a repair kit and fit it when the weather is less wet. Are the Febi/Bilstein ones the best option? I have crimp tools etc - might as well do it properly. It happened after a hard frost when the doors were frozen shut - I wonder if that was a factor.

The offside rear door of my Yeti has lost all electrical communication with the rest of the car! The window no longer goes up and down, the dash display doesn't know if it is open or closed, it doesn't lock, it doesn't trigger the internal lights. All other doors are fine. I've looked at the wiring diagrams for it and it seems each section of the canbus (I²C?) has its own positive and negative so I don't know how all these things could have failed together. Is there a main earth connection somewhere? Or something else? I'm bemused. Any advice very much appreciated.

Thanks J.R. I will investigate when the weather improves a bit.

My Yeti's rear door sensor is intermittent, but I think it's just dirt because washing the car usually gets it working again. It can be annoying loading stuff into the boot at a supermarket because the car thinks the door is shut yet senses movement inside, so after 30 seconds the alarm goes off. That said nobody seems to notice so I could easily steal it! The boot light doesn't work either so the sensor must control both the light and the alarm. I've looked at parts diagrams and wiring diagrams but I can't find it shown anywhere. Maybe that's a Thatcham thing and Skoda have to keep its location secret? As it doesn't seem to like dirt I'm presuming it's either optical or mechanical as if it were magnetic a bit of mud probably wouldn't stop it working. Could anyone tell me where the sensor is and how it works please? If I knew where to splash a bit of water to get it going it'd make my day. (It's a '60 plate pre-facelift 1.8TSi if that makes any difference.)

For what it's worth here's something I've noted. When I leave home I have a 3.2 mile run, mostly downhill, on a forestry track, before I get to a tarmac road. And mostly in 3rd or 4th with a fair bit of foot-off-the-throttle for some engine braking. Prior to E10 I always expected my average consumption, shown on the MDI, to be 38-40mpg when arriving at the main road. And that's based on multiple trips over multiple years. When I started using E10 in September that started to go down. By midwinter I could barely manage 30-32mpg by the bottom. Now the weather is warming up a bit so my consumption is going back up. I'm in the 35-38mpg range now. It's not down to use of the heater! I do use it for demisting but otherwise I use coats! So it seems to me that E10 works better when the air it's mixed with is warmer. Or maybe the engine management system is upping the fuel/air mix - making it richer - because not enough heat is being generated in the engine. I don't know. But I'm sure something is different, and not in a good way.

No, sorry, I don't.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It isn't a single part number. It's the list of parts to be replaced when a factory approved repair is carried out.

Error

I've just read through this thread and it's clear that it's not clear if/what could/would get damaged by E10. I have a 2010 Yeti 1.8TSi which should be OK, but everything on .gov.uk is based on the year a car was made - not the year the engine was first designed and produced - plus every other component on it of course. I think the 1.8TSi actually began life in 2006. So: And my question is - is there a known antidote? Can the E10 be "watered down" by occasional fills of E5? Is there a fuel additive that would nullify the effects of the ethanol - eg Redex? Has anyone read anywhere some sensible advice for a routine which would at least at reduce the effects of the extra ethanol? (The fact that there's a disclaimer on the government website makes me think that - as with everything else - they probably haven't a clue: "DfT and its partners will not be liable for any damage to your vehicle as a result of you using this service.")

Ah, good spot! The socket wrench did make me wonder, certainly not Snap-On. I actually have one like it in 3/8" and it has lasted for decades but it's irritating - you have to give a quarter turn to the plastic centre on the top to change from undo to do-up or vice-versa - but it's a clockwise turn to change to undo (anti-clockwise) and an anti-clockwise turn to change to do-up (clockwise). Unintuitive to put it mildly. I've often wished it'd bust so I could throw it away but it never has.

I like the oily hands in the picture on your link - proper mechanic definitely! You say "despite its grandad looks" but look what's being produced now - I'm not so sure that that shouldn't be "despite its long before its time" looks. What do these remind you of: 2022 Land Rover Discovery: 2020 Kia something-or-other: Both uglier of course but you'll get my point.

Fair enough. As I said before they seem to be selling for a lot now on Autotrader - possibly £7,500 or more for yours - so that'd be room for them to sell it on to someone who will do the engine rebuild and then still make a profit afterwards. In my situation four wheel drive is an absolute must and the petrol Yeti is about the only option available which is a proper 4x4 as opposed to a glorified chelsea tractor or something the size of a tank. Good luck whatever you do.