J.R.

For the reasons that you mention both my MK1 and MK2 Octavia estates were perfect for my itinerant renovation in 2 countries lifestyle the variofloor being superb although it means a lot of offloading to use the spare wheel. I now have a Yeti 4x4 which is brilliant for towing but am faced again with a several year restoration and it just does not cut it compared to the Octavias, I have adapted a MK1 Octavia Variofloor (2 out of 3 sections used) but the remaining load space even with the seats folded forward is severely compromised, I will have to remove the seats and make a front platform to sleep in it, with the Octavias they could simply be folded forwards, and there isn't a spare wheel space under the variofloor, if I carry one on long journeys it takes up all the remaining luggage space. I might just yet revert to an Octavia Scout or 4x4 but the Yeti is great to drive.

How did you remove the barrels initially, using the key?

What bolts are you referring to? 7 hours and you still have not refitted the struts or have I misunderstood? If you did not need to use spring compressors on the front strut springs then you are going to be in for a surprise when you put the car back on its wheels, I hope you like Lowriders!

Yeah right, after all the raison d'etre of a Macpherson Strut rubber to metal bonded top mounting is to not be able to flex 🤣

Not the smartest of moves, the sudden failure you describe sounds like fuelling, idle by pass valve or an air leak, could be the mixture leaning out from a dodgy CTS, whatever it is is very unlikely to cost anywhere near the figure you mention in an honest garage but after being told how much you want to spend it probably now will.

Looking at the photograph contrary to your posting, yours does indeed have 2 pipes connected one of which is open ended. So both Pete and the dealer are both correct, the open pipe is for the datum atmospheric pressure.

6 speed gearbox with concentric slave cylinder? If so then disregard the above advice.

For the next 21 years get in and out of the car using the passenger door then the wear on all the components, lock mechanism, hinges etc will be evened out.

Less than a tenner delivered half way around the world on AliExpress.

Undo the bolts and swing it to one side, if you are concerned about clearance or strain on the cable disconnect the battery then remove the airbag, dont reconnect the battery until it is reconnected. Others will tell you to wait up to 24 hours after disconnection before touching it and ground yourself from static, not me nor anyone else who works with the things day in day out. The only way to deploy one is the direct application of a 12V high current power source and respecting the correct polarity.

People have never misfuelled before they do it the first time, they could have been filling up 20, 30........ 60 years. We have most accidents when we are young inexperienced drivers, then often go 40 years accident free but more likely to have one the longer we go on driving. I probably did not seat a pump properly the first time, maybe you as well, we quickly learn but it will happen again one day. It wont be anybody elses fault, it wont even be my fault any more than will I be at fault the next time I trip over despite walking for 60 years.

Why does the word "fault" even have to come into it? Your action, your responsability, end of story. If you had parked at the filling station and the Tesco sign fell down and damaged your car it would be their responsability. I blame decades of accident chasing compo adverts, everything always has to be someone elses fault.

That could work but could quickly get nasty once (or if) the strut comes out as it would be free to swing around & the wooden block would almost certainly dislodge. I tried doing a similar thing but less dangerous by using my slim spring clamps inside the wheelarch to reduce the effective length of the strut, it does not need much to clear the knuckle, however having taken the spring load off the top bearing that is when I was showered with its ball bearings 🥴. There wasn't really room for the spring clamps & I'm not sure it would have worked, when I had the bearings I removed the knuckle from the driveshaft & it wasn't a big deal in the end. The safe & secure way to reduce the strut length is to thread a pair of ratchet straps though the coil spring 180° apart, jack up the lower arm until the vehicle starts to lift from the axle stand, tighten both straps and then release the jack, it's a variation on how I would safely remove coil over springs from 7's where I would compress the unit in my drill press & secure the spring with the ratchet strap to remove the retaining collar or compress & secure the spring before fitting.

Oh and buy a long reach hexagon drive to be able to retain the piston rod while you remove the nut using a 14mm spark plug socket with a hexagon end to the body, no room for a ring spanner and Allen key.

You have to disconnect the lower swivel, the track rod end (I think), the hub nut and pull the now freeish steering knuckle off of the driveshaft in order to be able to lower the knuckle enough to release the strut. A strut knuckle spreader socket makes life less eventfull, no chisels springing out of the clamp joint at the critical moment. There are some good videos on Autodoc, a bit politically correct in that the mechanic has to be seen to use a torque torque wrench on every fixing whereas in the real world with the exception perhaps of the hub nut they would rely on feel, even they do not use new fixing bolts or nylocs. The videos are good because there is no talk, just the action. And no "HI GUYS! - WHATS HAPPENING!" either!

I have replaced the shocks on the last 2 Skodas and multiple vehicles before, I never replace bolts just for the sake of it but if that is what floats your boat then feel free, Nylocs can be re-used multiple times and you will feel if they ever lose their grip which only ever happens if they are removed from a heavily corroded exposed thread or they have been heated with a gas torch The top bearings after the last job I would always now plan on replacing as one of mine spat out all its balls and I had to abandon the job and run metal to metal for a week (made no difference) until the new bearings arrived.

Anything over £5 for the switch would be a rip off to me let alone the labour.

Amazing, I could write for hours about the cars but instead wanted to say what a great presenter he is for this sort of thing where he has not only to have the trust of the owners to gain the invitation but also the ability to put them at ease and get them to open up. Most Youtube presenters I cannot abide, no matter how interesting the subject their egos smother anything of interest for me, usually the video gets shut down within 3 seconds following the "HI GUYS!................" Johnnys videos are like sitting in a comfortable armchair in warm sunshine. He should be the next Parkinson.

Perishable shock absorber seals? - Perish the thought!!!! Every Skoda that I have owned has had sagging and/or broken coil springs, I have replaced them all with Lesjofors usually going for higher load rating ones on the rear. I also agree that the dampers are what need attention but inspect the springs carefully, I bet at least one has lost the taper ground end and has a fractured end bearing on the spring platform.

The bolt was overtightened to beyond the elastic limit and the corrosion gradually has done the rest. Probably by a mechanic (you really have to heave on them) who would have felt the yield and stopped before shearing it right off, or it could have been an incorrectly hardened bolt from the initial assembly line. The remaining shaft will unscrew easily, getting a purchase on it will be the hard thing, welding a nut on the probably solution.

Hardly the fault of the system but that of the owner that kept resetting it and not attending to the slow puncture. And before you say anything I would be just as tardy, perhaps less now that I have got my manual tyre changing rig in the same country as myself, I would not blame the system and I dont even rely on it (I check tyres visually each day and pressures weekly) other than to tell me if I have a tyre significantly deflating while I am driving.

They do not, in any case the difference in camber angle is minimal and happens every time the vehicle corners one strut extending the other compressing. From the initial photographs I was going to say that the tyre wear looks no different to how all of the front tyres have worn on all of my Skodas, losing a little bit of the radial tread pattern on the inside compared to the outside, never enough for the tyre to become illegal before getting down to the minimum tread depth, however the photograph of the two tyres side by side is compelling. Something is wrong but simply saying that the problem is clearly a result of the transport blocks being in place does not make it so, I join the others in asking how could you possibly have driven a new car like that for 16000 miles without realising that something was very amiss? As an aside the top bearings looked to be in good servicable condition but its good that they have replaced them, not sure if they have replaced the springs and struts but there would be no need to, they have not done any work yet 🤣

Correct, on my MK2 Octavia it revealed that the ECU I had fitted (preloaded with a remap) had come from a donor vehicle with much higher mileage. The VCDS function (if your ECU plays ball) is intended to reveal that the vehicle has been clocked, the odometer mileage not corresponding to that saved on the engine ECU.

Returning from a days slog today on the hilly terrain through the vineyards towing a laden 1.5 tonne trailer the maxidot showed 41.6mpg over a 13 mile journey and I thought of your poor consumption figures. I was driving slow though as I was knackered, the other afternoon I did the same journey with the same trailer but unladen and was pressing on because I was late, windy roads so lots of acceleration & braking, it only returned 30 mpg.

Apologies, I see now that you had said the vehicle was regularly serviced by them. There is no question of you having to buy a new car, you can simply stop using the radio system.