T****y

As the part number that I was finally able to read says it's the correct pressure/part for the car, the one I had already ordered will either stay on the shelf (or might be sent back).

Hmm, cheapo Febi Bilstein unit is what I've got. Maybe it'll stay on the shelf - we'll see. Glad to hear it's an easy job - the Youtube vids seem OK.

Yeah, I've already bought the replacement filter (Febi Bilstein aftermarket job), I ordered it at the same time as the O2 sensor as I was not sure what is currently fitted. I'm holding off replacing it to see whether replacing the O2 sensor has had a beneficial effect. On the principle of change one thing at a time I'm going to wait until I've used a couple of tankfuls and see whether the intermittent 'too lean' faults have returned - and whether fuel economy has improved or not.

I hope this nearly wraps up this thread and proves useful to somebody. In addition to failing the MOT the car had been hesitating a bit on moving off - especially first thing in the morning. Me being more assertive with the gas pedal seemed to get around this problem - at the risk of damaging the clutch. Also a couple of times a few months previously I had had the check engine light on (MIL) with P0171 system too lean and P0402 EGR flow excessive codes. I changed the MAP (intake manifold pressure and temperature) sensor and the MIL stayed off. My (very cheap) V-Pow hand-held OBD2 scanner showed no DTCs but after the car failed the MOT I checked with VCDS lite and found intermittent P0171 and P0402 faults which had not got bad enough to trigger the MIL (or show in the hand-held scanner). After several attempts I finally managed to run the pre-cat O2 Sensor Ageing Test. I found some sources which described how to do it. But this is how I did it: In VCDS lite with engine running at idle but up to operating temperature open the Engine Controller and go to Measuring Blocks. Select block 034. The four fields shown are: 1) Engine RPM 2) Exhaust/cat.temperature bank 1 or 3 [°C] 3) Dynamic value bank 1 or 3 [ ] 4) Result [Test ON / Test OFF / B1-S1 OK / B1-S1 n.OK] The O2 sensor is also the temperature sensor for this field. Field 2 ought to be somewhere around 200-300 degrees or more. [When I first tried this a few days ago Field 2 showed 72 degrees - which is an impossibly low temperature for a running engine.] Select *Basic Settings* Press and hold the foot brake and bring the revs up to around 3,000 and hold. One source suggests it should be OK to just floor the gas pedal and the engine management will self limit the revs - but I didn't have the courage to try this. Field 4 changes to 'Test ON' and after a few seconds changes to 'B1-S1 OK' (we hope). I found a thread on VWVortex (https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/vag-com-procedures-for-testing-the-maf-o2-sensors-and-catalytic-converter.1265064/) which suggested that Field 3 should be above 0.80 and that a new sensor would read 1.99. However, the thread referred to something other than the BBZ engine. So Field 3 should change to show a number greater than 0.80 or the sensor is considered shot. In my case Field 3 changed to 0.60 so I guess the sensor is beyond its useful life - especially as it suggested the exhaust gasses were at 72 degrees at one point. Directly after running the O2 sensor ageing test you can select block 046 and test the Cat efficiency. You trigger the test in a similar way. Select block 046, press and hold the foot brake and bring the revs up to about 3,000 RPM and hold. It takes maybe 20-30 seconds and I got 99.6% - I don't know what's 'good enough' for this but this feels OK. Immediately after the new sensor was delivered I ran into a completely different problem: the front passenger door window regulator broke, so I took the car off the road and had the door in pieces until I fixed that. When I finally fitted the new sensor and after clearing all DTC fault codes in VCDS lite (which should also reset the learned fuel map), I took the car for a long test run. Trying to get the onboard monitors to get into the 'Ready' state. On re-running the pre-cat O2 Sensor Ageing Test Field 3 changed to 0.84. It's a cheap Ridex sensor but I guess from the number it's better than the old one. Directly after running the O2 sensor ageing test I also re-ran the Cat efficiency test. I got 99.6% again. I ran it for a few days and checked the DTCs again - no intermittents, but then I don't know how often they were being recorded before. It may be my imagination (or the weather) but the car seemed less hesitant. I keep detailed records of the fuel I put in and the mileage I get - I've been averaging just over 40mpg (around 7l/100km) over the last few tankfuls. I hope I'll get a slight improvement. I'll maybe add another brief update in a few weeks after it's used a couple of tankfuls. I'll wait until then before I change the fuel filter.

OK. Maybe not so gentle - but it worked without denting the door. The outer skin of the door was actually dented when I bought it and I took the opportunity when I dismantled it to press the biggest dent out from the inside. If I get the rest of the car working OK I may bother to get a proper door repair. The lesson to be learned is that when reconnecting the outer door handle (for whatever reason you disconnected it) don't pull the lock cable head too tight before sliding it into the handle. If you do it will stop the door catch fully latching. When you lock and then unlock the car in that state the inner and outer handles will remain unable to activate the catch. Thumping the outer handle in with your hand may resolve the problem. Hope this helps someone.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, gentle thuds of increasing desperation... I'll continue to try today.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, unfortunately I took the lock out attached to the regulator. Wish I hadn't, but that's what I did. To do that I had to disconnect the outer handle (and inner, of course). Both the inner and outer handles feel like they're attached (pulling against sprung cables) but my guess is the lock is in a half way state not fully closed and needing to finish closing before it can be opened again - probably due to me misaligning it during reassembly. My hope is to get to the lock mechanism and physically 'wiggle' it to see if that can free it. I've thumped the door around the lock from the outside but so far without success - perhaps today with a bit more time...

I'm in a ridiculous pickle. Any help will be gratefully received. The electric window regulator broke and I got and fitted a repair kit. Not a fun job but I've done worse. Window goes up and down smoothly once again. On final reassembly I fitted the door card and checked the inner door opener was connected/attached and then connected the pull cable for the external handle and fitted the blocking piece for the handle and closed the door... and now neither the inner nor outer handle will open the door! The door locks and unlocks and the indicator pin jumps up and down as normal but the door won't open. It's the central locking version with no key hole on the passenger door - only on the drivers door. I tried to remove the door card with the door closed but the dashboard/glovebox won't let it pull inwards far enough to then slide up. I'm looking at removing the glovebox to see if that will give enough wiggle room but I've no idea if the glovebox can be removed without opening the door. I think I'll need to drill out/destroy the plastic blocking piece for the external handle and see if I can get to the pull cable that way. Any other ideas please?

Hello Housebengt, I don't think your handheld code scanner is quite up to the job of diagnosing the trouble. The car has obviously got so out of order that the on-board computer is lighting warning lamps but the hand held scanner does not give enough detail. I'd recommend downloading a copy of VCDS-lite software (for Windows) from Ross-Tech and registering and buying a licence (about US$100) and buying an OBDII to USB adapter from Amazon or somewhere similar (about £20 or so). VCDS-lite is old software but is good for VW based cars up to 2004 - so it should be fine for your 2003 Fabia. I've certainly noticed that my handheld scanner does not tell me about 'intermittent' problems which are detected by and stored in the on-board computer. So, no warning lights and nothing on the handheld scanner, but VCDS-lite reported a couple of 'intermittent' faults. People here will also need to know more detail about your car before they can help much. There should be an information label in the boot/trunk with 'PR' codes for the most important options originally built into your car; engine and gearbox type and type of brakes etc. For this fault people will need to know the engine codes at least. It would probably help to know how many kilometres it's done and whether (if you know) it's been fully maintained and serviced during its lifetime.

Well... have you still got the car? The really good news is that my car lives to fight another year. Despite what I found when trying to run the O2 sensor test it just passed the emissions test and I have another year of MOT. 'Drive it like you stole it' said the guy when he advised me to thrash it. 5,000 RPM for 20mins at a time is scary - especially when I don't know how old the timing belt is! I'll try to remember to update this thread when I get the new sensor in but meanwhile, thanks to you and all the others who advised.

Sorry. Block 34... Block 36 is the post cat O2 sensor and passed its test with 'B1S2 OK'. Found the info through which may be familar to @Breezy_Pete

An update: I'm just about to take it for a retest of emissions but a little earlier today I tried to run the O2 sensor ageing test (Engine controller, Block 36. Basic settings, press and hold the brake) It wouldn't run. Although the coolant temp was 87 deg it claimed the exhaust temp was 72 deg - this after giving it a bit of a thrash. I'm sure now that sensor has failed.

Ta. I managed to shift the fuel filter enough to see the last six digits of the part number ... 201 051 and the UFI brand mark. So it looks like it's a 3 bar filter/regulator. Having cleaned the road muck off it now appears to be an alloy can - not plastic as I said above. No VW brand marks that I could see so probably not a 20 year old OE installation but it's been there for a while I think - so probably worth changing. I've ordered a Febi Bilstein replacement which will arrive from Autodoc when it arrives (with a new O2 sensor too). No disconnecting fuel lines or leaks but had the battery disconnected and a catcher tray ready anyway Everything else screwed into the underside of the car seems to use a Torx head. Why the hell did they use a Philips for this one? I'll reset the intermittent codes with VCDS lite (and thus the fuel map too, I hope) and take it for a 45min thrash in low gear before taking it for a retest of emissions this afternoon. If it still fails I've got until the end of the month before I have to fix it or get it off the road.

I use an endoscope style camera on a cable - still can't see any numbers... Yes, I expect some fuel loss if I disconnect it - I hope to drop it down far enough to view it without disconnecting it from the fuel lines - but just in case I do disconnect it I don't want the fuel pump to decide to help things along. I've got a 3-bar filter with regulator for a PR 1A1 car ordered. Autodoc, so it will be a week or so 😞

Thanks for this. I had a quick gander at the fuel filter/regulator. It seems to be made from a white composite (plastic) material with no obvious part number markings. Most replacements seem to be alloy cans from the images. It does have black 'direction of flow' arrows printed on so maybe other markings are hidden. I'll take it out tomorrow (battery disconnect, depressurise first) to have a proper look (and check TB etc adaptation hasn't been lost after reconnecting battery).