Alasdair1

I wouldnt drill thermostat but try squeezing top rad hose with engine running. Squeeze and hold then release and keep repeating. Have had similar airlocks on other vehicles and in my case you eventually get big bubbles in tank. I havent come accross an elec control thermostat but some I believe have heating elements in the body which may be what you mean. I think its for quick warm up icabin temp in cold weather so shouldnt affect low temp. Check the pipe thats leaking for corosion and also if its still round. Alasdair

Originally sounds like either an airlock or blocked heater core and by flushing heater you have cleared it. The fact that the hose is new and still leaking may be that its slightly too large internal diam. Is it a genuine VAG hose or a length of replacement. I have found in the past that the external diameter of aftermarket hoses can be the same as original but the internal diam can be larger. ie thinner hose. Also check for continuous bubbles in expansion tank as if the head gasket has gone it could be pressurizing system and venting coolant out of expansion cap when driving as well as the leak. If the heater core is leaking then you normally notice wet/ damp carpets and car steams up all the time. Alasdair

I remove mine and replaced with standard bolts as I have had on two occasions broken the only key I had when changing wheels Managed to just remove them the first time it happend but second time had to get a garage to weld a nut onto the locking bolt to remove. My local Skoda garage used to keep a range in their workshop but its now part of VW group. Local tyre service hates them as they quite often break. Worth a quick call to see if yor local dealer can help remove them and replace with standard bolts unless you have expensive tyres and alloys I doubt there a theft risk these days.

My mistake, Mine is a pd 1.9tdi Alasdair

Not sure if the biodiesel/veg oil is suitable for the engine. On all my diesel skodas 1.9tdi and 1.6tdi it says on the filler cap No biodiesel. Its ok with upto B7 but any higher I think can cause problems with seals etc. if your using that amount of oil I wonder if the stem seals have gone. Alasdair

Glad you got it sorted and it was a fairly simple fix. Alasdair

Very probably over boosting. Same happened to mine. Loss of power, turn engine off and on again and it was fine for a while. It could be stuck turbo veins but in my case the actuator was sticking. I sprayed it with oil and moved it manually for a long time until it freed off. It could also be a dodgy EGR valve. Get the car read for codes and see what comes up. You will probably have an EGR cooler on that engine if its the same as mine and theres a small plastic vacuum valve at rear of engine that caused the same problem on my old Seat altea (same engine). Its I reckon overboosting or insuficient egr flow and its going into limp mode. As said see if there are any codes stored. Alasdair

Glad you got it fixed. It would be expensive as the labour cost of removing matrix etc would have been pretty high. At least you now know it will be fine and no more wet carpets. Alasdair

Are you sure its not the actuator thats sticking. My 1.9tdi had similar code but the actuator was sticking at a certain point. Loads of spray oil and manual operation for a good while and its been good ever since. I have read that the problem with Mr Muscle etc is it can eat alloy. Personally I would remove turbo and clean it on a bench or replace turbo core. Aladair

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