Alasdair1

I agree so far I have had three octavia and two fabia. Only problem I have with octavia body is rusty front wings and also where the sills meet the wheel arch near rear wheels and front wheels. I did the timing belt on mine and the amount of crap stuck behind the plastic wheel liners causes the problem. I removed all of them and powerwashed as much of the inside including the sills as possible and treated with waxoil then also undersealed anything that the liners didn't cover. Be a lot easier on a ramp though. Alasdair

Thats a very nice job. Did it once on an old volvo940 and it drove like new and also lasted for years. Need to do that on my 2012 octavia estate before it gets too bad. The older 08 plate I reckon is now past it. By the time I rubbed it down and treated all the rust its going to be cheaper buying another one plus guaranteed I would find a few holes that need welding which I am not very good at and hate doing anyway. Got loads of space at my place so old cars just end up sitting as parts donors. It is turning into a bit of a scrapyard/graveyard though but has saved me a fortune over the years. At the moment I have 8 various vehicles or so called projects plus 2 on the road. Saving up for a 4 post lift. Alasdair

I had to replace slave cylinder on mine when doing clutch and when bleeding it afterwards found the fluid between the reservoir and slave cylinder was very old and dirty probably because it had been in the pipes/master cylinder after the reservoir for years or perhaps the seals in the slave had broken down and contaminated it. Its fed on mine from the same reservoir for brakes. I kept bleeding the slave until I got nice clean new fluid coming out. Didn't want old dirty fluid in the new slave cylinder in case it damaged seals.

When bleeding slave keep going till fluid is clear again. Mine was absolutely awful. Almost a dirty green/brown colour. Reckon it was the same fluid from new and that would have been over 18 years old.

High chance its a DMF flywheel unless someone else has converted it to solid. Have seen a few posts where folks convert it to solid for reliabilty. I had a fabia 1.9tdi that was DMF and luckily the flywheel was still in perfect condition when I did the clutch so just left the DMF in place. If yours is rattling then reckon its on its way out. You can get a full kit and personally I would use Sachs,Luk or Valeo. Check the condition of CV joints and gators and drive shafts etc and also Wheel bearings while your at it. I did my sons in his fabia and got a cross engine bar that goes across front wings from ebay to support engine and gearbox. Made life a lot easier especially raising box to get it back in again as I did mine on axle stands by myself. Changed a front bearing while I was at it. Not sure what more has to come off for the octavia. I would personally change the slave cylinder while your at it. If its like the fabia its external mounted but push rod and gator are internal so if it fails or leaks then it could contaminate the new clutch. Can't be much original left on your car judging by the pile of bits. Well done, bet it drives like new now. Alasdair

If the internal switch works then I assume the actuator is ok. It could be as said be control module but it may be that the sync of the keys didnt work. I took ages with my Seat to finally get them to work. I only had one key and tried a You Tube method. It was on a SEAT Altea but might work. Put key in ignition and turn to position 2 (dash lights on but don't start car), Leave key in ignition and lock car from inside using door button, Press lock on key fob while still in ignition until red light on key starts flashing. Remove key and unlock car. I did it with rear windows open in case I got locked in. Can't get the wing mirrors to retract but everything else works. Alasdair

If the EPC light is dim or flickering it may be similar to the few probems with an octavia 1.9tdi I have DPF light flickered and was slightly dim as well as ABS and also engine managment light. None were bright but almost half bright. Turned out to be a bad dash connection at rear of cluster that was throwing up random warning lights. There were no fault codes stored. I stripped out dash and cleaned the connector to the cluster with electrical cleaner and reconnected and it cured it. I worked out it was electrical as my octavia didn't have a DPF being a bxe engine. Make sure you remove battery before disconnecting as on the octavia you can enable the engine imobilser if you try to remove the dash. Not sure on the fabia but better safe than sorry Alasdair Before looking at dash Just remebered that there was a small rubber pipe from under engine/removable cover on my sons fabia. Its about 10-15mm and goes from the engine cover to I think rocker/manifold. Not sure what its for. May be a crank/rocker breather pipe but might be worth checking its connected and not blocked.

MIght be the door lock actuator thats failed. Have the same problem on a Seat Altea. Something to do with a circuit board or wiring in the drivers door. Also my 2012 Octavia only unlocks drivers door when button pressed. You have to press unlock again to open others. not sure where the locking control module is. Maybe drivers door or in dash.

reseting cables only takes about 10mins. Worth a try. Also Not sure what linkage you have on top of gearbox but I had a SEAT 1.9tdi bxe with a plastic selector that I didn't realize was seizing and very stiff to get 3rd and 4th gears. It eventually snapped I should have lubricated it. Might be worth a look. The one on my sons fabia is alloy/steel. Alasdair

Good to hear. Had two blow over 24hours yesterday. Going to pick up a coupe today. Unusual for both to go but thats cars for you. Have been using 150% but might try the 220s. Problem I have is seeing verge on the roads around here when cars come towards you with superbright LED. They seem to cancel out halogen plus they just resurfaced our road and theres no markings (been about 2 months) and the tarmac they used seems to absorb headlights and not much grip. I reckon they used the wrong grade as we now have danger slippy road signs for about 2 miles on the corner sections. Alasdair

I use breakerlink or parts gateway. Make sure the quotes include mileage/age etc.

Glad you got it sorted and it wasnt any wiring fault. Shouldnt be too bad a job to change switches. Alasdair

Did he say what had caused the wire to burn out or was it the ignition switch. If it was a wire I would be a bit worried what caused it. Alasdair

the one ordered appeared identical visually but they said it wouldnt work it was Reference OE/OEM Number 6Q1 423 291 A, 6Q1 423 291 E, 6Q1423291H The above 6Q1 part numbers are probably all the same and perhaps newer versions but I reckon they are from LHD as Pete pointed out. .Yours is 6Q2. The LHD ones may fit but not sure. Found a site https://oemwolf.com/search/?search=6Q2423291&search_mark=0 that if you put part numbers in it sometimes tells you its superseded and gives you the new one. 6Q2423291 became 6Q2423291A then 6Q2423291AX . You could also try https://www.stevensvwspares.com/vw-online-parts-shop They are a VW breakers and list 6Q2423291 as from polo hatch 2002/2003. Says stock check required. Alasdair

Might be worth checking and cleaning the connections if its failed again. It could be an eletrical problem. I use a contact cleaner spray. Have had a few problems on older skodas and its been a bad connection.

Had quick look and I think its now 6q2423291ax Dont seem to be any available but there a few after market ones on autodoc. Try breakers. I use www.partsgateway.co.uk They check with over 150 breaker yards and you get quotes via email etc.

Sorry was thinking of the 1.6 diesel. I think your right mk2 chain mk3 belt. Alasdair

Was recomended by mechanic mate to try philips xtreme vision pro150 h7 They are pretty decent and won't break the bank. He said that the 200% brighter don't seem to last long. Anything got to be better than the standard halogens. Whats the condition of your lenses Mine were starting to go a bit cloudy so polished them up with a holts kit. Made a fair bit of difference on both my sons fabia and my old octavia. .

First one I noticed is timing belt. I do mine every 50000 miles or 5 years. If its anything like the 1.9tdi do the water pump at the same time. Alasdair

Only had the car a few months as reckoned the old 1.9tdi was past getting an MOT without a lot of work. Did notice that the heaters seem to work as said before temp starts rising. The 1.9tdi seemed to warm up faster although before I sorned it it was struggled to get to temp probably due to bad thermostat. As long as its normal I am happy. Alasdair

I cleaned the EGR etc and it was absolutely choked. Also cleaned pipes and intercooler which had some oil in them. Not sure if it helped emisions but car seemed to run a lot better. So far I havent had MOT problems. Did the same on an old Toyota lucida a few years ago plus blocked egr as it was fairly simple and didnt need to plug it in . The amount of gunge that was there I am surprised the engine actually ran. Worst was the intake. Who honestly thought an EGR system was a good idea. Alasdair

Many thanks. All before have been older 1.9tdi and didn't do it noticeably. Makes sense as this car is newer and has more electrics etc. Maybe the battery is getting a bit weak. Will put it on overnight charge and see if it helps. Seems to take at least 20mins to warm up and revs to drop most days especially when its below freezing and car is getting used for only two 5-10 mile journeys most days. Glad its norrmal. I was thinking it might be a idle sensor problem etc. Seem to be having a run of work needing done on my cars and my sons (bearings,clutch,ball joints and thats just the start of the list, and yesterday his needed a new battery so dont need anything else at the moment. Alasdair

Hi have a 12 plate 1.6tdi that the revs sit at 1100rpm when at idle. Sometimes its 1000 and randomly its 1200 rpm I have been trying to monitor it and it seems to do this until the temp gets to 90 and then rpm eventually drops to normal 850/900rpm. Seems to be at 1100rpm for a good while before dropping. Car does seem to take a while to reach 90 degrees. All my previous other octavias didn't do this. Just wondering if this is normal. It has been -3c so I am hoping being a diesel 1.6 and due to the cold weather its taking longer to warm up. Electric fan was coming on after engine switch off when at correct temp which I thought may be a failed DPF regen but thats stopped now its got colder. The fan not coming on might be pure coincidence. Car seems fine otherwise (apart from needing a service) with no fault codes or warning lights. Alasdair

I used to have a stock from lidl. They were good bulbs but my lidl only seems to have H4 these days. Spoke to my MOT tester mate and he said try Phillips Xtremevision pro150. He fits them to his cars and reckons they are about the best for the money he has come accross. £25-£30 per pair. He did say that the headlights have to be alligned properly as they are a good bit brighter.

Maybe turbo seals starting to fail if its done 250000. Had one that used a small amount of oil and was a bit smoky if idling for too long. Few oil spots on rear but nothing serious. One day filled the entire car park at tescos when they went completely. You definitley know when they fail. Got a second hand turbo cheap from the local scrapyard. Glad you got it through eventually. Alasdair