Ayyarr

After reading the forum I had checked the silica bag and it was fully in tact but I have since removed it (coolant was replaced not long ago so no need to do that). When I did call a few places for quotes on a replacement mateix, one chap said that he believes the silica bag is just a coincidence and he's never seen one that's been open when he's had to chance a heater matrix on a MK3 Octavia (VAG specialist garage) 🤷 Suffice to say, he said they do replace the old coolant overflow with a new one so is it coincidence?

Mine in this instance is diesel.

Turns out because I had only had the car for 4 months and not ran it during cold weather - I didn't realise that it was the slowest car on the planet to heat up. The journeys I do are pretty short for the most part during the week with only 1 or 2 that are extended. Long story short, after the car is up to temp, mine heats the cabin fine. After I found this thread it appears to be quite normal (unfortunately!): https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/415705-takes-ages-to-warm-up/

I've got the same problem at the moment. Run engine to temperature, put heating set to 'Hi' and it's cold on the driver's side but lukewarm on the passenger side. Just checked the matrix pipes and the bottom one is almost too hot too touch which I assume in the inlet and the top one is only very lukewarm. I understand it's likely that there is likely to be a disparity between the inlet and outlet - like central heating return but for it to be this much colder I can only assume that there is insufficient flow for the matrix to get hot enough to output heat. I'm not sure if the thermostat could be at fault too but I'm not sure. Edit for info: checked the coolant expansion tank and it's one with the silica bag in and it's still in situ.

The thing is, the brim to brim average is being affected by this too.. used to seeing over 50 but with this it's more like 45 or less which doesn't seem right to me (and my 'long' has also dropped under 50 now too. I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks for the reply.. Would it be 'normal' when doing the active regens for the average mpg to do what it's doing and dropping to 6.9mpg and not really shifting? Seemed a bit odd to me?

Hi all, I have a 2013 Octavia MKIII, 1.6TDi which had 75k on the clock when I bought it 3 months ago and have since put 2.5k on it. Recently, I've noticed that the radiator fan will kick in as the engine has started and it'll idle at around 10k. Along with this, once I'm driving, I usually have the average mpg per trip indicated in the dash display, and it'll drop down to 6.9mpg during the trips where the radiator fan is constantly on. The engine/car definitely feels like it gets warmer than usual as the cabin feels warmer even without having any climate controls turned on. There's no other real distinctive issues whilst driving the car, pulls well, everything works as it should. My trips aren't all long ones but it does get a weekly outing on a dual carriageway for 20-40 minutes and I do try to remember to drop it into 4th for a while but don't always remember. I have read that this *could* be the car trying to force a DPF regen, but I'm not sure this to be true in this instance? Does the DPF light appear on the dash when it's doing a regen? Unfortunately I don't have the car with me now as it's in the garage for this reason (along with a potential oil leak) else I'd have downloaded VAG DPF and attempted to see if my dongle is supported. Would really appreciate any information on this please. If you need any further information, let me know. Thanks, Alex

Sorry to bump this one but its a great post. My Octavia Mk1 1.9tdi 110 has been in limp mode a couple of times but since the first time it's not been running quite the same - quite a distinct lack of power compared to before the limp happened and when you put the power down, its making a kind of 'grunt' I guess you'd call it. You can still hear the slight whistle of the turbo so I know it's still working. I've not had chance to read any codes yet but is this method likely to fix?

Brilliant info, thanks very much for the time.

Just wanted to thank you all for your replies, very much appreciated. @KenONeill as you mentioned a broken front spring, I've not seen anything broken or hear anything that I've heard in the past with broken springs, is there anything I can do to check without removing the spring itself? As I'm on a limited budget with any repairs due to having it quite recently, I didn't want to 'fork' much out on it just yet. How much roughly are we talking for a local independent to replace the top mount struts?

Hi all, Recently bought a MK1 Octavia and have been hearing a 'squelch' / 'twang' kind of noise when turning the steering wheel. After checking out under each of the front arches, I couldn't see anything that would be making the noise. However, upon opening the bonnet and turning the wheel, I noticed where the noise was coming from. What's happening is when the wheel is turned, the bit on the right hand side of the picture is twisting and catching the metal which is the squelching noise followed by the twang when it gets pulled down through the metal slightly and twang when the wheel is centered. Please see the pictures attached to see what I'm talking about. I've tried to unscrew the nut unsuccessfully and wondered if there was a knack to it or a tool required? (I've been using an old spark plug remover from a previous car). If someone could tell me what this part is called, that would be a big help. Thanks in advance.