J.R.

The video seems to bear out your thoughts. Screw having one of those then!!!!

Dead easy to do on the 2.0 TDi, on mine you have to remove a Torx screw to release a sensor (still plugged in and attached) to allow the withdrawal of the old filter, it's tight but once you know it can be done it's not a problem. When its removed your suction pump can remove a significant quantity of old oil from the base of the filter housing and the oil cooler.

active wheel speed sensors must never be subjected to resistance tests: this can damage these units, with the only remedy being the acquisition of a new replacement. That is BS, any multimeter is a high impedance test instrument and will not damage an electronic circuit, certainly not one as robust as a vehicle component which has to deal with HT transients and induced voltages. A megger tester might see off an ABS sensor but I would not even be sure of that.

I cant recall what i did 5 minutes ago let alone what nozzle the oven cleaner I used over 5 years ago came with! I can see no reason why any oven cleaner would have a flexible nozzle.

The sub loom within the wheel boss is different, the multi-function wheel has an extra connector.

Noise when switched off will be the bearing that the pulley runs on, the shear plate broke (eventually) on mine due to me in my ignorance giving the compressor a glug of liquid R134a when recharging the system, I used a pulley and shear plate that had been removed from my old high mileage Octavia and since then there has been a Ron-Ron-Ron resonant noise when driving at low revs with the AC switched off, it never did it before and is silent with the AC switched on.

Lidl oven cleaner foaming spray works just as well.

Bloomin eck! I would flush the system vigorously and replace the coolant with the correct VAG grade. Inconceivable that that level of corrosion could occur within one month, the coolant must be highly acidic.

Repair it for zero cost and a few minutes soldering! I sometimes despair at what the modern world is coming to.

I only had to listen for 1 second to diganose 100% alternator pulley sprag clutch.

Nothing to purchase, simply do what people used to do before they defaulted to buying new or looking at Youtube tutorials, take it apart and you will see with your eyes what is wrong and how to repair it.

Take it apart and mend it, its a very easy job if you can solder. If not there will be hundreds of pattern parts on Ebay.

If the name has been misused as is frequently the case in France then it could be any rubber component but to answer your question, I have never heard of the propshaft Guibo coupling being referred to as a Silentbloc. Also JamieSandford's profile does not indicate that their car is a 4x4.

No talent, just reckless optimism, I didn't expect to finish and just did it for the experience, in hindsight starting off really slowly as one of the very last runners was a good strategy, by half way I was overtaking lots of people which gave me a real boost, several years later experienced and overconfident and wanting to break the 2 hour barrier again (its a very hilly semi marathon) I started too fast and had everyone pass me later which was really demoralising. When you start from nothing the initial gains are impressive and very rewarding, within a couple of weeks I felt I could do the local 5km race, then after a while I thought the 10k might be achievable, then decided what the hell, I'll enter the semi in case i am capable of doing more than 10K. I trained for the Lille marathon for my 60th birthday but injured my knee then my hip through continuing to train, I had reached 31.55km in training but had to retire on the day at 26km and get on the minibus with all the other invalids. I'm looking forward to the initial gains when I start again but at my age you get slower even with high levels of training, i will never get back to where I had got to 3 years ago and I doubt I will even be able to do 5k initially.

Mr Muscle turbo vane enema required.

Good to hear it I have not run since the beginning of the confinement with the exception of 3 sorties the first autumn when outdoor activities were tolerated. Losing the sport and especially my daily exercise running a hôtel single handed meant I have put on 10kg during that time and I am feeling it. I made contact with the Running, Trail & Gymnastique clubs in my new area (I too have moved) yesterday and will be starting again from scratch as soon as this canicule subsides, its 33.4° inside as I am typing this! Frankly its scary but I have the knowledge of knowing what I am capable of, or was because at my age it diminishes year on year anyway, it won't be anywhere near as scary as when I took my first jog over years ago at 50+ having never run since school and being incapable even then, within 5 weeks I ran a semi-marathon and in a reasonable time. I am really looking forward to the reprise, it's such a shame that Parkruns did not happen in France unlike the rest of the world.

Silent Block = rubber to metal bonded bush, probably the engine mounting in this instance likely the dogbone bush. In the 60's - 80's the company with the patents manufacturing them in the UK was Silentbloc, the French division was the André Rubber Company, the bushes are still known generically as Silent Bloc in France, the name has all but died out in the UK.

I have the same spec and age vehicle, I have had it since the confinement so 2.5 years, it had 80k miles on it and I have put another 40k on which is very very high for me but due to changing circumstances, also very high considering the travelling restrictions. I intend to take it to well beyond 200K, my tyres which were not new when I got it still have plenty of tread and have worn equally so I may even beat you for tyre longevity, that has been a real surprise for me, they have lasted far longer than on any previous vehicle and with the 4x4 system I expected less life.

I ordered 2 batteries for my antique Nokia dumbphone, €3.36 each including delivery from China, La Poste want me to pay another €9 for the package. All Ali-Express sales to Europe now include an amount for the TVA which is (supposed to be) paid to the recieving country, this is levied on the price of the goods and delivery charges, these batteries like all the other goods rose at least 25% in price when this happened. I wont be collecting the parcel and I doubt anyone there has low enough self esteem to have a phone old enough to use them!

You do not know that and its also implausible as you yourself have said. Whatever it was I hope it doesn't return.

It's not the Royal Mails job to do that, they will have no information that the supplier is TVA registered and has paid the TVA in thier home country, if you want to blame anyone blame Banacek as they should be selling net of TVA to a non EU country for them to add their own VAT. Editted, after reading your post again I think we are saying the same thing.

If the fault returns then it will be a dry or cracked soldered joint between the connector and the PCB, that would have been my suggestion as the likely cause, wiggling or bashing it often brings a temporary reprise. That has been my experience with the instrument binnacles on other Skoda and VAG vehicles, if someone with Fabia knowledge knows that they are immune then please say so.

What work or modifications if any were done prior to the breakdown?

You have got that the wrong way round, the harder the Haldex works (your words) the less the clutch plates wear. When the Haldex is engaged there is no slippage, no differential movement of the clutch plates and hence no wear. There is always some degree of engagement even in very gentle driving, that produces some wear, its the transition between that and full engagement that causes most of the wear. The wear on the plates is insignificant, the results of the particles in suspension on the pump system are very significant.

Your car has a sticking sleeve on the waterpump, if its not overheating now then it has retracted, all you need to do is disconnect the wiring connector to the actuator and your car will behave perfectly and reliably for the next million miles, it will however be a little slower to produce heat from the heater on a cold morning, that is the only downside. A diagnostic tester will not tell a breakdown mechanic that a vehicle has a blown head gasket, he likely typed into Google Translate "comment puis-je arnaquer ce pigeon Anglais?" (how can I rip off this dumb Brit?) 🤣