Alasdair1

I would start spraying with penetrating oil now and keep doing it every few days. Saying that I changed the clutch on my sons fabia and all the bolts for the gearbox came out no problem at all apart from one which I reckon was cross threaded from new. Was a bit worried as alloy and steel don't mix over time. Managed to clean it up with a tap and got it torqued up again. Alasdair

Wasn't sure re MK2. My sons MK1 is press in. Changed one a while back and it was a nigtmare to get out. Went bang and finally came loose. Thought I had broken something Alasdair

Same on my Octavia but I just bought a second hand knuckle for £15-00 on ebay. If your getting a second hand one on the Octavia some have three and others have four bearing bolts. Not sure on fabia. Alasdair

Check that all the warning lights on dash pre ignittion are lighting up. Its not unknown for an led to fail or someone bypass or blank them off. You could also get it scanned for fault codes. My sons fabia did similar and noticed ABS/brake warning light wasnt coming on.I removed cluster and reconnected and it came back. The warning was a broken fuse in front of the battery that supplied ABS that would randomly break circuit. Alasdair

Not sure but if the fan isn't working on number one it could be the resistor or perhaps a bad switch. The resistor I think is below glove box so it has to removed plus airbag if fitted(disconnect battery first). Have a good look at the elements on the back window. All it takes is a slight scartch and it breaks the circuit as my dog did to my Octy. You used to be able to get paint style repair kits to bridge the break. The dodgy boot light on my sons Mk1 rear is the same. Reckon its a bad connector or broken wire. If it was a short it would blow fuses. havent haad time to trace cables back to see. Alasdair

If the fluid level is ok then I reckon its either master or slave cylinder thats letting fluid past seals if pressing slowly. If the fuid level is dropping its a leak somewhere. When you press firmly theres enough pressure to operate clutch even with either a leak or bad seals. When pressing slowly theres not enough pressure. Check fluid and if its low then check for leaks.

I would get them to do both at the same time. I always replace shocks in pairs plus you might as well do the top mounts at the same time. I know some get away with doing just the one (normally for MOT) but the chances are that the non leaking one is now weaker than a new one and for handling I would definitley advise doing both. Alasdair

I reckon its probably a skoda only part but try lllparts. They have diagrams and part numbers. https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs From memory after car details look under fuel exhaust cooling section if its part of the exhaust/manifold and you get a part number then chuck into google and see what comes up. You might be able to pick one up from breakers? if not its probably the dealership. Alasdair

If theres an expansion hose from top of coolant vessel try puting the open end in a plastic bottle to see if your losing any while driving. It could be a cylinder head failure and its exhaust gas over pressurising the system or a failed release cap on the vessel and its dumping coolant. If its either once cool the level will drop to zero. Alasdair

Reckon you shoud be ok especially as the weight is being distributed. I would keep the support as close to above the support as possible. Alasdair

No I gave up as the car needed an MOT that I forgot about and reckond I couldnt do it in time so ended up buying a cheap 1.6tdi to keep me going. I must get onto fixing my old cars when I get time Getting to be a bit of a collection.I have eight of various makes waiting although some are well past fixing but are great donors for parts. Hope the thermostat solves the prob

Hopefully its just a bad or wrong stat that was fitted. If a new stat doesn't fix it it may be a broken wire. Get the garage to check the actual temp using VCDS or similar and compare it against dash guage in case its a faulty guage. Another obvious point which I am sure you would have noticed would be is your cooling fan running when it shouldn't. My old Octy used to do the same. Only ran near temp in the summer. In winter never got above 55-60 degrees. Alasdair

Try parking it up either in a garage with dry floor or covered car park over night and see where the coolant is dripping from. It will give you a rough idea where to look. If its losing an entire tank overnight then it should be noticeable on the dry ground. Check for crystals around pipe joins etc as well. I have used cardboard in the past to check for leaks but needs a dry night. Last leak on mine was from base of rad where fan switch is fitted. Alasdair

Did read a while ago similar problems. Think it was due to bad connection or dampness in wiring to Gearbox ECU which from memory is under drivers side carpet. Post I read was that water can get in and wet carpets etc and cause corosion at connections. Alasdair

Was wondering the same? Alasdair

Once the tank is empty and filled with petrol again it should be fine. Might be a bit smokey if the car has been run after filling. The people coming to empty tank will keep you right. My old mum did similar but put petrol in her diesel. Got it emptied and refilled with diesel and no probs. I always thought that diesel nozzles wouldnt fit in a petrol? Fill the tank to the top so any diesel left will be very diluted. Alasdair

If I remember correctly I removed air filter plus housing and disconnected pipes. I thinkyou should be able to get to the selector/cables once removed although I was changing clutch so battery and housing was removed anyway. You may have to remove them as well to get access. The gear stick gator unclips and you pull it up to gain access to lock the gearstick. Mine was a 1.9tdi BXE 08 plate. Alasdair

Might be a wiring fault to CTS. Check for corosion or broken wires etc. Alasdair

If its a droning sound that changes with speed and gets better/worse when turning wheel I would suspect bearing on its way out. Have done a few on Fabia and Octavia. They didn't have any play or feeling of roughness with wheel off ground and they past MOT but definite droning noise. I ran them for a while as I didn't have time but I changed them as soon as I could as I didn't want to risk them failing completely plus if they aren't replaced they tend to heat up and can wear out faster and wore case scenarion seize if really bad.

They will stretch slightly over time but on my Octavia it was the end connectors that fit on the selector lever on top of Gbox that were slipping. The ends are replaceable and easy to do. Theres a process of locking gearbox with a small lever on mine and then locking gearstick with a 6mm drill bit. You then release cables and reattach to make sure they are in the correct position/length. The selector on Gbox can seize as well nd has plastic bushes that can wear out. Alasdair

Is the beam wide enough to go to the outside of the wings. You may be able to build up something either side of car for it to sit on or perhaps inside the engine bay where the engine/gearbox mounts are. Alasdair

Glad you got it sorted. Its a lot simpler on the Fabia. My daughter has a VW Up and the front flexi is part of the Cat. I managed to patch hers up for the MOT but will have to remove Cat and see if I can get a flexi repair. Problem is the angle it comes off the Cat so may have to replace that as well or get it welded. Why they don't make it simple I don't know. Alasdair

I am not sure but I did read that if petrol has to be from petrol and vice versa re diesel due to different imobiliser systems. You then need to retrieve original cluster code and reprogram new cluster etc. I think it reguires VCDS or similar to access and recode. I looked into it for my old 08 plate Octy but got a bit too complicated for me. Alasdair

Be careful with autodoc. A lot of the parts are RHD although I assume arms are ok. It may depend on engine and gearbox fitted to your MK2 Alasdair