Alasdair1

Make sure that a decent belt like gates is used. There are a lot of cheap ones out there. If your doing it yourself from memory you will need the tool for locking up engine. On mine I needed need some triple square spline drives. When I did mine the amount of dirt behind the plastic wheel arch was worrying so I cleaned it all up and waxoiled it and when I had time I removed passenger side as well and cleaned it plus waxoil. They tend to start rusting at wheel arch especially at base near door pillar. I assume its because everything gets clogged up with dirt and salt. Alasdair

If the wire is shorting to chassis or maybe trapped/nipped by any other metal it will still show continuity unless physicaly broken. Unplug both ends and check theres no continuity from any of the wires to a known good earth on car to rule out a direct short to earth rather than other wires. Sorry if this seems basic but its quite often missed. Just noticed Pete may have sugested the same. Alasdair

They dont have to have much play to cause a knock which I reckon the ARB amplifies. Chances are the garage checked same as you did and there was no noticeable movement or visible damage. The problem with MOT tests is that they dont drive car so can only check visually or some have vibration systems to check ball joints etc but not the same as driving on bumpy roads. Check the condition of the ARB bushes as well. Hope its a simple fix. I ran mine for about 3 months before getting round to changing them as I didnt have time. They also started knocking about 6months after my MOT. Alasdair

get a couple of droplinks first before removing the old ones. In all my cases I ended up cutting them off especialy the lower bolts as they have an allen key to hold bolt but any corosion and it will round itself and the ball joint just turns. There not that expensive and the last thing you need is to be stuck at your mums

Had similar on my Octavia. There didnt seem to be any wear or movement but I changed drop links. They looked fine on the car but on removing they were shot. Probably as they are held in tension by the antirollbar etc. Check bottom ball joint as well. Alasdair

You could give it a good spray of brake cleaner if you are worried but a bit of oil shouldnt cause any problems. Alasdair

Have had three cars with 1.9tdi pd engines fabia,octavia and seat. They all were excellent and generally trouble free. No DPF on any of mine and excellent mpg plus loads of power when you needed it. Now on a 1.6tdi but would swap back anytime. Treat it to a new alternator belt while your at it and it should be good for another 50k at least. Alasdair

I used to change my 1.9pd every 60k or 5 years (same as all my cars) although skoda have increased interval by a long way on some of I think newer cars. Personally I would change it at that mileage as you have no previous history. Not too bad a job on the 1.9tdi. I got a cheap kit on amazon to lock up camshaft etc and fitted a Gates kit including tensioner and water pump. Kit was around £65-00. There are from memory a few different ones depending on age and vin number. Alasdair

Might be worth getting wheel/tyre/steering etc checked depending on how hard you hit kerb. Hope its just a blip and cars returned to normal.

Try Tayna batteries. Prices fairly good and next day delivery. Have used them a good few times and so far so good. Most petrols are 027 battery but random ones are 096 (same as diesel) Think from memory 096 is physicaly longer but both fit.(check first) The 096 is also highter Ah and more capacity so probably fitted to car with all extra electrics. I have an 096 in my 1.6tdi but the insulated battery cover is too small so should probably have an 027 Alasdair

I may be wrong but the car will have crash sensors that can cut fuel/deploy airbag etc during a colision. Maybe the impact on the kerb with the full on braking has activated the fuel shut off. You could get it scanned as there may well be codes relating to crash sensors stored. Alasdair

Check there are no bubbles in expansion tank when running and as pete said check level of coolant regularly. If its water its normally thick white smoke and if its oil then greyish white and can have a slight oily burning smell. Check the oil level regularly and also check filler cap for emulsified oil. If its burning oil then it might be the HG or stuck piston rings /bad valve stem seals. From memory my old mechanic friend used to use a mix of ATF and Acetone added to cylinders and left overnight to soak the rings then turn engine over by hand a few times and then boot it down the road. If its water then you could try some kseal or steel head head gasket repair. Not ideal but kseal managed to keep my old toyota lucida on the road for another couple of years. As for scrap value its pretty low these days but a bit better if you can take the car to them. Probably around £150 I just got about £1000 by breaking my daughters old Figaro but the parts are difficult to find so you get reasonable money. Alasdair

Maybe the scuttle tray drain is clogged under wipers area. My octavia used to leak there and the drains were clogged. Chances are that its coming in at driver side and soaking back into rear. Another place they can leak is if the plastic door card seal has come loose and the water can travel down via window seal. I would have a look at the scuttle area first. Dont suppose theres a sunroof? Alasdair

Nice and clean. Check the diaphram with a vaccum guage before refitting to see if it holds vaccum. In the past I have bypassed them but on older cars and got away with out telling ECU. Alasdair

Had a friend who bought a 1.9tdi cheap as it wouldnt run right at low revs. Some previous owner had had a go at boosting power but it ended badly and the car wouldnt run right. He got it put back to factory settings and it was spot on. Tell tale sign was loads of black soot from exhaust and it would drive but only at full power plus mpg and emissions were shocking. Hope changing the MAF helps. Alasdair

Had similar on an old car. Would start no problem and idle but as soon as you revved it misfired and stalled. Wouldnt go more than 1100rpm. It was a faulty MAF. I replaced it with a known good one and it cured it. Another possibilty is that its been badly remapped? Alasdair

Mine was really bad with thick black solid crud. It was a lot worse than yours. I left it overnight submerged in some kerosene then used a toothbrush to clean it. Gave it a quick spray of brake cleaner and it came out like new. As for the valves try some liquid moly valve cleaner fuel additive. Its around a tenner on amazon. Havent used it on my skodas as there all diesel but it did work very well on my old volvo 940 petrol. You could also treat it to a tank of high octane fuel while your at it. Alasdair

Sorry not on facebook etc and just realised its a fabia you have not octavia. Son has mk1 fabia Will check when he comes home. I managed to remove trim under glove box in foot well on octavia and got it to come through there. From memory I removed battery and box to access the large rubber grommet with a pile of cables coming through. The upper grommets go into scuttle tray I assume for wiper motor but lower one feeds into car under dash on passenger side. Alasdair

You could try and jump start it from another car or booster next time it happens. If your battery is failing the other should give you enough power. If that works then new battery I am afraid. Think I got my last one from Tayna batteries. Pretty good price and next day delivery. Not sure if yours has start stop etc. Batteries these days just seem to fail without any warning signs. My last one had a bad cell. Alasdair

The ASR button I found out is if you get properly stuck with no traction. As said car cuts power to spinning wheel but if both are spinning then you go nowhere. It might be worth getting it scanned to see if all the ABS sensors are ok if the light doesnt come on. It may be a failing/dirty sensor. Alasdair

I pushed a rigid bit of fencewire through grommet in engine where wires come through and then taped cable to it and pulled it back through as in previous pictures. Think it comes out under glove box area. Alasdair

Same here. Battery was failing and eventually dash lit up with loads of clicking. If you battery is in good condition then I would start with cleaning terminals and then check earths for corosion/damage. If its a bad earth/earths then the connection may be heating up when trying to start and eventually making contact hence it staring after 15mins. You could try another battery to rule it out. Alasdair

On my octavia and my sons fabia the ASR light comes on if you spin the wheels even slightly. I assume yours should be the same. Does the symbol (yellow car with skidmarks on mine) come on at ignition? Just wondering if its been disabled as its useless in the snow as it cuts power to wheels when they start spinning. Had major problems going up a hill last year. Car revs dropped and I lost complete traction and it slid backwards. Luckily managed to steer backwards to hit kerb before hitting car behind. There is a button on mine to disable it but you have to press it everytime you start car. Alasdair

Been using KYB shocks and springs for years and they seem to last very well. Used them on a fair number of vehicles with no problems. Slightly stiffer than OEM but probably cause they were new compared to the old ones. Not sure if they do VRS but worth a look.

Probably a good idea to replace plugs anyway and see if it makes any difference plus you then know plugs are good. If it doesnt improve get the car scanned for misfires etc. Someone on here will know the best most reliable make. Alasdair