Alasdair1

Are you sure its a misfire. I assume any misfire would show up if scanned with vcds. I have a weird wobble on my 1.6tdi at certain speeds and only when I accelerate. No misfire logged and changed everything suspension related. I reckon its a drive shaft problem on mine. Weird thing is it randomly doesnt happen. Does it do it in other gears at the same revs when cruising. On mine its felt mainly through car not wheel. Alasdair

Cant see the crank sensor making any difference to compression. If theres zero compression on two of the cylinders it as said sounds like a valve problem or perhaps a catastrophic head gasket failure between the two pistons or the timing chain has jumped and you have bent/damaged valves. Try the third and see how you get on plus try it again on the other car just in case the tester is faulty. Even if you have a poor seal at the sparkplug opening I would assume the needle would move slightly. Alasdair

If you want to check them for tightness it wouldnt do any harm although how to check torque with a plus 90 not sure. I reckon a quick check with a manual ratchet just to make sure none are coming loose. Alasdair

Might be drive shaft related. Check for any play in cv joints. Also check the discs are running true. Had similar proplems with an old volvo. Used a needle guage to check discs were fitting properly. One was slightly out of alignment but managed to rotate it to get it to align properly. Looked like this Doesnt take much on axle stub to put disc off alignment. Mine was only slightly out and couldnt feel it through brake pedal. The larger disc may be causing vibration if slightly out. Alasdair

Might be HT leads? or a failing crank sensor. Might be worth getting it scanned with VCDS. It can ping up things that basic scanners miss or can't read.

Thanks Pete, Reckon I will get one as joining all the extension bars together isn't ideal. Tends to end up drooping. Alasdair

I have been using KYB for a good few years now on quite a few different cars and had no problems at all. Sachs/LUK for clutches etc. Only time I buy OE skoda is if its a part thats difficult to source or skoda only. Alasdair

The flange bolts if I remember on my sons were M8 bolts, Stage1 - 10Nm. Stage2 - 20Nm. Stage 3 - Angle tighten 90 degrees. If the bolts are M10 think VRS they are M10 bolts , Stage1 - 10Nm. Stage2 - 50Nm. Stage3 - Angle tighten 45 degrees. Not sure on the MK3. His is a late MK1. Reckon your ok with 25nm plus 90 Alasdair

If it tries wwith easy start then it could well be a fuel problem or low compression. If the fuel pump is working then next step I would take would be change fuel filter. Could also be an electrical fault at injectors? Alasdair

Not quite. Think the one you are looking at does compression and leak down tests as well. It should do the job though. It comes with both 12mm and 14mm spark plug inserts. I got mine for a very old Ford industrial engine in my forklift. I found if I removed all plugs I got a faster cranking speed and better results. All you need is an aproximate reading to see if there is good compression on all cylinders. Alasdair

Has the rubber come from inside the HT leads cap. Jut wondering if its snapped off inside because its stuck somehow to plugs and broken when you removed them. If it has then a long thin screw driver might be able to loosen them from around plugs and remove before removing plugs from engine. I got a cheap compression tester off Amazon. A cheap one will do and doesnt need to be too accurate. All you want is to make sure that the three pistons are aprox equal and arent all very low This is similar to the one I got for around £15 Alasdair

Had similar noise on my mk2 octavia. Weird almost high pitch rattle but only at certain low revs. Eventually tracked it down to the heat shield above exhaust under car that had dropped as the fixing push on securing washers were rotten. Reckon at certain revs it hit resonant frequency and rattled. Used some cable connector strips to screw onto fixings stubs to wedge it up again.

Have you tried Partsgateway, Breakerlink,etc You put in what you need and if any scrappies have it they send you an email. There are quite a few others if you googl scrap car parts. Found breaker link to be pretty good. Alasdair

Looks the same as my sons MK1 . I did clutch and no oil came out. NS was fairly straight forward but OS on his is longer. Tricky to get to flange bolts from wheel arch. I ended up using quite a few extension bars to get to them. As I was reusing drive shafts I marked their position at gearbox end with tipex just in case. I reused the flange bolts but put a bit of loctite on them again just in case. I think the bolts are supposed to be replaced but I seem to have got away with it. The hub bolt on his is a use once and throw away. Alasdair

I would start with checking there is actually a spark and also fuel getting to engine. If there is then do a compression test. It could be a fuel pump failure/blockage at filter/relay? or coil pack suppy problem. Not sure what the rubber would be at sparkplug unless its come from the socket that was used to remove plugs. Some spark plug sockets have rubber insert. Alasdair

If the ABS light is on and there is a grinding noise it might be better not to drive car any distance until checked properly. For brakes etc it doesnt have to be a VW/Skoda specialist. Any decent garage would be able to diagnose and fix. Someone on here may be able to reccomend a decent independant garage in either preferably london as its closer to you or cambridge. Alasdair

Was looking for a car for my son to learn to drive in and looked at Polo and Fabia manual. Went for the Fabia as it seemed slightly more roomey and there were more 5 door available at time. Daughter had an UP! and it was pretty simple and very basic but gave her no probems at all. I reckon take a test drive in a few and see which one you like best. They are all VW underneath. Alasdair

Mate used to put nailvarnish on nuts and bolts that needed removed for servicing. Put his van in for brakes problem. When he picked it up they said they had checked brakes and cleaned them up and they were fine. Werent too happy when he pointed out that the purple nailvarnish was still on the wheel nuts on rear and asked them how they checked/cleaned drum brakes with wheels on. He refused to pay bill and has never been back. Alasdair

Try removing dash(with baattery disconnected) Clean dash connector and refit. My Octavia had a few dim lights, ABS,DPF and a few others plus fog light symbol on all the time. I realised it was electrical as no DPF fitted. On refitting cluster after cleaning it cured itself. It may also be a dry joint on cluster or poor earth as Pete said. Meant Cluster not dash Alasdair

My folks had one with a lot more miles and gearbox/engine never gave them any probs. They had a clutch replaced at about 100k. If the gearbox is smooth with no noises/whines/crunches I would just repair the bearings/seals and at the same time the clutch if the gearbox has to be removed. Probably worth doing the slave cylinder at the same time.

It could also be a fuel problem? Perhaps its draining back to tank and takes a couple of times to prime system again or its letting air in somewhere? Alasdair

Not sure re superb but had a test drive a while back in a mk2 Laurin klement with really nice leather seats. Slightly firmer than the cloth ones in mine but very comfartable. Not sure how readily available they may be but worth a look. I assume the fittings will be the same. Alasdair

If they damaged it while working on it its down to them to repair/make good. Main problem may be proving it was them? When you pick up a car from a garage dealer or not you trust them that its been done right. I don't know anyone who inspects a car before leaving the garage . Check with CAB as said. If the dealer has refused to repair it you could always point out that any publicity of that kind won't help their reputation. By the sound of it you wont be using them again anyway. Alasdair

Might be worth getting it scanned with vcds as it may ping up something your reader can't read. Check any connectors/wiring that you have disconnected or are in the vicinity of any work you have done in case you dislodged them. Alasdair

Have same problem again. Thats now 4 cars with the same symptoms. 2 octavia, 1 fabia and a seat. Random working and then wiper stops somwhere on rear window then randomly starts again and eventualliy fails to move. Previously I just replaced motors but will check for dry solder joints. It always decides to fail in winter when you needit most. Thanks Alasdair