T****y

Looks like you were spot on. Many thanks again. I put the fuse back in and the fans started up. Found what looked like the controller (It really helped to know where it should be and to be able to find a picture of one in the Autodoc parts online store) and gave it a tap with a stick and a screwdriver handle - the fans stopped. Now if I could just read the part number off the thing before ordering... I'll have to dig out my flexi inspection camera.

Many thanks for the very quick response - I'll take a look this afternoon and see if percussive maintenance (hitting it 😊) will temporarily solve the problem while I wait for a delivery from Autodoc.

Skoda Fabia Mk1 2004, 1.4l 16v BBZ engine with aircon, ABS and ASR traction control - dual radiator fans. Please can anyone advise on this or point me to where I can find a solution. I've looked on 7Zap and there seem far too many options. The radiator fans remain on constantly even after a couple of hours with the engine off. Temperature gauge shows normal warm up and remains stable dead centre. To save the battery I pulled fuse 8 (in compartment over battery) and the fans stopped. After leaving the car overnight, the fans restart immediately on replacing fuse 8. I tried driving the car with the fuse out - the car did not overheat but I don't think that's the long-term fix. I initially suspected the temperature sensor screwed into the radiator but the problem feels more like a stuck relay. Can anyone advise how to test the sensor. Does anyone have any insight into this problem? Anyone know if the fan controller includes a relay and/or where the fan controller is mounted in this car? Also which fan controller does this machine use? 0959455AD or 1J0919506M or something else? Any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks @Carlston and @indars. It helps to see what a full list of build codes looks like. I think I'll see if I can get them for our Fab mk IIi too.

I can't suggest anyone who would do it for you but I'll add to the chorus of considering doing it for yourself. I bought a set of Powerflex front and back bushes. The design of these front bushes means you don't need a puller to get them in. The rear bushes can be pulled out of the consoles using a large (75mm, I think) socket and a long M10 bolt with thick load-spreader washers as a puller. To get the wishbone back in I used a ratchet strap to haul it back and into the front pivot point. One thing to watch for: on the 1.2l HTP (at least) you need to lift the engine off its right-hand mount and slide it forward a few cms to get clearance for the front pivot bolt behind the sump. I enjoyed the process so much that I'm about to tackle it again with another Fab that I've bought... 😞 If you don't fancy the Powerflex bushes (they're a bit pricey) you can get new wishbones with the front bushes ready fitted at a reasonable price from Autodoc. You might also consider using Clickmechanic to see if you can get someone to bid for the job.

Brilliant. Thank you. The machine does have front fogs. The printing is in the usual dot matrix style and I think looks like BWB and FDA but I've seen ink-jet text de-formed on curved surfaces and reckon you're right. Many thanks.

I bought a cheap Fabia I Hatchback (6Y2) 1.4 16V (100 hp / 74 kW) Petrol (BBZ engine, GRY gearbox) as a fixer-upper. Some faults obvious when I bought it and some I'm discovering as I work on it. I noted down all the PR-codes from the label in the boot and in the service schedule and I've found what all of them are apart from two codes which I can't find anywhere. BWB and FDA Does anyone know what they mean? Thanks in anticipation

Shirley I have to decide on the shape first? Round seems quite fashionable these days. 😀

This is all excellent stuff. Many thanks people. OK, I'll assume we'll want to fit trims soon/eventually.

Very many thanks for this Carlston. I'm definitely not going to fit 16 inch (or larger) wheels - it's what SWMBO's car has got. If 185/60R15 fitted to a 6Jx15 ET38 5/100 57.1 steel rim is 'standard' then that's what we'll go for. However, I was thinking of not fitting wheel trims... any comments on that last point anyone?

That's what I thought. Many thanks. Next stop: to see what the insurers have to say. At a guess, 'more money' 🤔

Ooops. Many thanks for finding this for me... I should have looked before posting!

Yes, it was actually 'Skoda Approved' with full Skoda service history. When you mention the 'correct' 15" wheels' do you mean the 15" alloys that are factory fitted if the car is not specc'd with the 16" option? Or the steel wheels that you can buy from Skoda dealers as spare wheels? (I bought one some time back because our old Greenline only had a goo bottle and pump instead of a spare wheel). Yes, I'm aware of the 'modified' question for insurance. My wife's current insurer only refers to fitting wheels that are not available as manufacturer options. Many thanks for the reply and your thoughts on this.

A while back we bought a Skoda Fabia MkIII Estate (110hp). It has low profile tyres and pretty alloys which may look OK but are rather impractical with the scary potholes in our area. Tyres fitted are 215/45/R16 86H (4 different brands!) We'll probably need to change the tyres before winter returns and I'm considering getting some 15inch steel wheels and fitting 185/60 R15 88H tyres rather than just new tyres on the current alloys - it'd probably work out at a similar price. We'll keep the alloys and probably refit them when we eventually sell the car. Are there reasons not to do this? Will the shocks/springs be OK with this? Does the tracking need to be adjusted to take the narrower tyre into account? Any other gotchas when selecting the steels such as rim offset? Any immediate 'I wouldn't do that if I were you's? This is probably a more general question than a Fab MkIII specific one but that's the machine I'm playing with at the moment. Any help, advice or pointers will be gratefully received.

If you are the sort of person who, like me, starts shouting at your screen when you read tales of stupidity... count to ten and try to read to the end. This is a tale of how to *not* correctly diagnose a misfire problem and then recover the situation. 1) I have an OBD2 to USB cable and the VCDS software on my Windows laptop. Thing is, I very rarely use Windows these days so that's on a spare hard disk which I only swap in when I absolutely have to. 2) Years ago I had a Peugeot with a misfire problem which was traced by my garage to an ignition coil - the whole block of four had to be replaced. My Fabia misfire felt similar, not driveable, no power, lumpy as hell. Check Engine Light (CEL) was sometimes flashing or otherwise remained constant... 3) So I bought a cheap HAAS replacement coil for my Fab and started swapping. New coil on cylinder 1 (nearest the pulleys)... No good. Coil from cylinder 1 onto 2... No good. Coil from cylinder 2 onto 3... No good... Rats. It can't be a bad coil... OK swap the coil from 3 onto 1 taking out the new coil. Maybe one of the spark plugs or fuel injectors? 4) At this point I finally dug out my Windows hard disk and plugged in the diagnostics. Clear all the fault codes and then wait for new ones... Cylinder 1: Misfire Detected P0301 - 35-10 - Intermittent. 5) OK take all the plugs out and inspect - they look fine. Rats. Should have kept track of which one came from where... Put them all back and re-run diagnostics. Cylinder 1: Misfire Detected P0301. OK. Swap plugs cylinder 3 to 2, 2 to 1 and 1 to 3. Re-run diagnostics: Cylinder 1: Misfire Detected P0301. Hmm. 6) Fuel injectors: Swap 3 to 2, 2 to 1 and 1 to 3. Re-run diagnostics: Cylinder 1: Misfire Detected P0301. Oh hell, it's either the valves or the wiring loom. 7) Dig out my old compression tester... Damn, need an extension tube to reach down to the plug holes. Go buy that and run the test: all cylinders satisfactory just under 300psi. Damn. It must be the wiring - or the Engine Managment System (on-board computer)? 8) At this point my swearing attracted my engineer son's attention. So I explained that I'd swapped each coil, each plug and each fuel injector and that it's probably not the valves... He asks me to clarify so I demonstrate reading the fault code (Cylinder 1: Misfire Detected P0301) and then swap the coils between cylinder 1 and 2. Re-run diagnostics: Cylinder 2: Misfire Detected P0302. Wait... what?... 9) Lightbulb moment: Swap the new shiny HAAS coil onto cylinder 2. Re-run diagnostics: Cylinder 2: Misfire Detected P0302. Damn. Hours wasted. 10) So I buy a genuine VAG coil from my Skoda dealership and swap it on to cylinder 2. No more misfires, CEL goes out and stays off. Engine running as sweet as it ever did... Re-run diagnostics: no faults. The lessons are: Change one thing at a time, use the diagnostics to check and don't buy the cheapest parts! I hope this helps someone else - I certainly feel better now.