Alasdair1

I bought an aftermarket Hella one for mine. It didnt quite fit but a small bead of black silicone cured it. Only problem is that it must be a different wattage as my blown bulb light comes on. Not that bothered as its a works car/shed and the brake light got through MOT Alasdair

Does your tank have a tube from cap for expansion. In the past a failed cap on one of my cars was causing coolant to be forced out as the coolant wasnt getting properly pressurised. I put a plastic bottle on end of expansion drain tube to check and found coolant in it after a short journey. Replaced cap and all good. Clean up the emulsified oil from cap and take for a decent run to see if it comes back. If its very slight it could be down to short journeys and condensation. Alasdair

If there is emulsified oil on filler cap it could be the headgasket thats failing/failed and coolant is getting into engine. It can also happen if you do short journeys and the engine doesnt get upto temp. The fact that the coolant is dropping means its got to be going somewhere. Does the car produce any white smoke when running or can you see any crystal deposits around rad,coolant pipes or under car. Check the front passenger carpet as well in case its the heater matrix thats leaking. The oil cooler I think is near the oil filter and looks like this.

You could also try the trick with a length of hose. One end to your ear and move the other end around till the sound gets louder. It could help to track down the area the sounds coming from. Alasdair

Check the plastic linkage for gear selector. It can get stiff and cause sticky gear changes. Had one snap on an old Seat as I had left it for about six months and it seized solid and wouldnt go into 4th/5th. I put a little grease on mine to free it up. Alasdair

Sounds like maybe a vaccum leak. my sons fabia(same model) had the same symptoms The brake servo vaccum hose is prone to splitting at the joins. His was split in a few places. I taped his up and used some jubilee clips and the eratic idle/stalling was cured. He got a lean fault code as well. Hope its an easy fix Alasdair

You used to get a USB adapter that used the CD multichanger slot if you have one. Not sure if they are still available. Alasdair

Had an 09 plate Seat altea with cd fm radio but it had a USB in flip top middle arm rest. My 08 octavia only had a 3.5mm jack plug. I assume there must be radios out there that would fit with the option of an external USB input. I If you have a Halfords/car audio shop near by maybe have a look or ask them. Alasdair

Check the voltage at battery. If its too low then OBD sometimes won't work and make sure that the fuse is making good contact. It should be OBD2 but as its can bus maybe older scanners won't work? Alasdair

My son has an 06 MK1 and he wanted wifi so he could link his smart phone for music. He got this from Halfords for around £18-00. Its tuned into an FM band and seems to work fine. Its a cheap option and saves replacing radio. Not sure if its what your looking for Alasdair

If by oiling wastegate it improves it might be an idea to replace it. Had the same on mine and oiling cured it. In your case it may be worn out or perhaps faulty/hole in diaphram? In my case it overboosted and caused limp mode. It was also fine when cold but seemed to happen when car was upto temp. As for the o2 sensor if its reading 0v then something is wrong. It could be wiring related or a bad sensor. Have you had car read for fault codes etc. Alasdair

Sounds daft but try hoovering the internal sensor I think near the interior light. My Octavia used to go off randomly and also when I locked car. I gave it a good hoover and it cured it. Something about the sensor getting dust in it causing false alarms. Similar to smoke alarms that go off randomly.

It does look like an o2 sensor but by the look of the situation may be difficult to get a spanner onto it. If I remember correctly there are two one before the Cat No1 sensor and another after No2 sensor You might need a crows foot spanner on an extension bar. I got this sealey set to do ball joints on my sons fabia. Remeber to disconnect wiring first to stop you twisting it as you remove it or when replace it Alasdair

Glad you found it. I personally cut out the bad section of wire and solder in a new section with heat shrink plus tape. I don't tend to join at the break point as it tends to break again as the repair isnt as flexible as the wire.

I agree with Warrior193 only use water as an emergency as it will eventually dilute coolant and you will lose frost protection and also anticorosion. Check the pasenger side carpet for dampness and crystal deposits. If there is no visible sign of coolant leak anywhere else it may be the heater matrix or pipes feeding it that are leaking. (hopefully not). Check your engine oil and cap for emulsification in case the head gasket has blown as well. A good tip is to park up on a dry surface like a garage or covered car park and check for drips. My old octavia used to leak slightly from a rad hose union but only when hot so coolant tended to evaporate. It did leave crystal deposits but was impossible to see as the undertray blocked the view. Alasdair

Think if you lock car and then manually open doors with key it should go off. It could be that the internal sensors are disabled. On mine theres a button switch on drivers door pillar. Alasdair

It could be a break in the element on window or broken wire . Check your getting power to it and inspect with a magnifying glass to see if theres any breaks. Mine got damaged by my dog scraping the rear window. Alasdair

Wonder for some resason cruise control kit is being disabled due to low temp signal. Sounds like a safety feature to stop you belting on on icy roads. Not sure why car would go to idle though unless itrs confusing the ECU. Alasdair

May be a vaccum leak? Another possibility is the speed sensor I think its on gearbox at rear from memory. It may explain why it only does it when car is moving. I would have thought a code would have been thrown up but it might be worth checking wiring/changing it to see. Check the brake servo hose as well as they are very prone to splitting. My sons idle was all over the place so taped his up and cured it. Alasdair

I drained mine for waterpump/timing replacement from bottom rad hose. Couldnt find a block drain plug so when removing waterpump found the excess that didnt drain. There was a fair bit left in engine so I dont think its possible to remove all coolant unless you can find a block drain plug. As long as its topped up with the same or if draining use the same as there will be residual in block unless you remove water pump. I would top up and monitor how much its using. Mine was a 1.9tdi BXE Alasdair

Thumbs up for Pete. Fixed my sons fabia regulator really quick. Got it back pretty near next day and was very reasonable Alasdair

Might be broken wires/bad connection where they come through door hinge. Also read on here that someone had problems with window switch. Windows would go up and down using long press on fob but nothing from drivers door switch. They also had locking problems. A new switch cured the windows and for some reason also the locking. Alasdair

Have a look at fuse 6. On mine it supplies cluster. It may be coroded or blown or loose. It might be a simple fix? On my old Octy I had random warning lights on dash and no fuel guage that made no sense. I removed cluster and cleaned contacts and reinstalled and it was fine. Reckon the connector had come slightly loose. Alasdair

Same here with the 1.9tdi BXE although only 140k on mine and then dreaded highland car rust killed it. Still have it for spares/repair but needs rear subframe and some sill patches plus road tax was high. My now 1.6tdi is only £35 a year. Only other cars I had that was as reliable were volvo 940. Last one had 250k on it from new and only major repair was clutch and centre prop bearing . Alasdair

If a new battery doesnt help then I reckon it may well be cluster/imobilser linked. If I remeber diesels start then stop imediately where as petrols just wont start. The fact that the dash was dead points to maybe a bad cluster connection or cluster failure which seems to be farely common or maybe a fuse? Check theres nothing blown but also check not loose and getting good contact. Did the rev counter and speedo still work or any of the guages? Might be worth getting it scanned with vcds or similar to see if theres any codes or info stored. Hope its a simple fix