J.R.

Bloke down the pub told me that buses and coaches do not have fuel gauges, blokes justification was equally elusory.

Green coolant temperature sensors on my MK1 are the only time that I have ever found pattern parts to be lacking.

I was chucking sealant into a deflating tyre for years and years on my MK1 Octavia, when I finally came to replace the tyre (myself with manual tyre changer) the gunk and slosh that came out not only looked but smelt disgusting, it was mostly putrid liquid with a solid mass resembling the alien in the movie of the same name, it cannot have done the wheel balance any good although the liquid would have, the drum on my Maytag commercial washer at the hôtel is hollow containing water which dynamically balances the load at max RPM.

Was that meant sarcastically? I dragged myself up from poverty and homelessness through welding up cars for people to get through the MOT pretty much every year, many for their first MOT, I don't think any vehicle in the 60's and 70's got to 5 years without needing welded repairs to corrosion, decoke and valve grinds at 40k miles maximum gearbox rebuilds at 80k miles maximum.

I had a similar problem with an ABS function test, it prompted me to drive in ever decreasing circles but then said that the test parameters were not met, after that the ABS light was on all the time and the system did not function. Rosstech and the internet were of no help, eventually through trial and error I went into the function again but did nothing else and waited, after a very long time it timed out and everything reset to normal. I would try that or variations of it. The lesson I learned was not to be so curious and play with things.

I have never ever used a sealant with a tyre plug, they have their own sticky coating. For a slow puncture where you have found a nail or screw in the tyre if you are well drilled in the procedure and have your tool to hand you can do the repair in less than 10 seconds without losing more than a tiny breath of air from the tyre in many cases without removing the wheel from the car. The trick is to do each operation with one hand while the other holds the tool for the next Pull out nail/screw. Push in rotary rasp held in battery drill chuck and ream hole. Pull out rasp insert tyre plug held in insertion tool. Pull out tool, knife end cuts plug in half allowing extraction. Trim plug flush.

I don't have the patience to watch the whole video so skipped through a lot of it, I may have missed something critical. He said that the location information was publicly available and that "everyone knows where she had been................." it was the blah, blah, blahs he said after that which made me suspicious Everyone? - I certainly dont know where she or any other VW EV driver has been nor do I know where to look to allegedly find out, do you?

I recall having to remove some fasteners to peel back the wing liner but not removing the bumper, that has to be done on the pre facelift model because the foglamps behind the bumper are part of the main headlight, on the facelift they are separate. When refitting the new headlight the fixing bolts for the lower wheel arch bracket can be re-oriented to make future removal easier, - no need to displace the wheel arch liner.

Very unlikely with a diesel for petrol misfueling.

He did not mean that, what he was told was reasonable advice, having all pistons at mid stroke will reduce the valve lift on the cylinders reducing any forces on the rocker shaft or cylinder head but due to the duration and overlap and multiple cylinders some will always be partially open. No I don't know them on that engine, I have had OHC's with hydraulic lifters (self adjusting) for 30 years now, I could still recall most of them for preceeding engines together with the points gap though! Any difference in the head gasket compressed thickness will be reflected in the valve clearances, as you kept the pushrods in position and if you do not remove the rocker shaft I very much doubt you will find any needing adjustment unless they needed it before the gasket replacement.

You could have referred to him as he as I note you did in your last posting. Your mention of respect answers my question, I do not respect or admire someone that bigs themselves up by naming themselves as the master and also preceding it with "the" (my terrible 70's progressive education means I am unable to give the correct grammatical term for it) and no way would I ever refer to them using it. Would he, him etc be his pronouns? Maybe I have the woke brigade to thank for correcting one tiny bit of my ignorance of grammar!

I presume that you mean the rocker shaft? With a pushrod engine you do not have to concern yourself with the cam timing which is a bonus. Normally the rocker shaft would have had to be removed to undo the cylinder head bolts, from what you say this is not the case with your engine. You could remove the shaft, torque down the head and then refit the shaft but this needs to be done very progressively to avoid bending it and also making sure that all the rocker arms are correctly seated on the pushrods. I would probably leave it on place and progressively tighten all the head bolts before then torquing them down following the correct sequence, once again making absolutely sure that all the pushrods are correctly engaged, that is the thing most likely to go wrong and cause you problems. The valve clearances should be readjusted after torquing down the cylinder head.

I won't because I would not put myself through the ordeal of having to look and listen to him again. A question for you, why do you refer to him by the stupid title he has created for himself or is it in a mocking manner?

I hope both my memory and the description are good enough! I think you are right to leave the angle drive gearbox connected, yes it's heavier but I could see nothing but inconveniences and risks through detaching it, risk of oil seal failure, need for a long reach special torx tool etc.

There is a support bracket around the RH (viewed from inside cabin) driveshaft flange that bolts to the engine block, a pig to get to!

Clutch would operate and gear engagement would be normal even with a noisy release bearing. Your noise happens when the clutch is transmitting load whilst slipping, its most likely a resonance and is likely a side affect of the non DMF flywheel. It's nothing to worry about unless it becomes acute or there are other adverse symptoms. A slipping clutch will make noise, it's simple physics, the NVH engineers will do their best to ensure that its not distinguishable above the general engine noise, changig to a non DMF may solve one problem but exposes you to others, noise being the least of your concerns.

I preceeded the BCM acronym with the full description. Maxidot is the LCD display in the instrument binnacle that I assumed you read the bulb warning message from. Ah, you were asking where is the BCM! Its location can vary across vehicles and their ages, often above the drivers shins.

You say the lamb (bulb) is OK, did you test it with power and also the replacement? I ask because the Maxidot warnings come from the body/comfort control module, they monitor the volt drop on each lighting output, if there is none then its either an open circuit bulb or an open circuit to the bulb or in its earth return path. I believe (and you could confirm this) that the fuse feeds both dipped headlights so if one is working then it will not be a fuse fault or a circuit fault between the use and the BCM.

Nothing you have done would have changed the relationship of the steering track rod ends to the steering knuckles (hubs) I would definitely not have any wheel alignment done as it will be trying to compensate for an error in the strut geometry. Does the car drive in a straight line with your hands off the wheel? When you say do you actually mean when I drive the car in a straight line (hands on or hands off) the steering wheel is no longer centrally aligned?

That is very odd, did you replace the top mount bearings as these often fail? Whether old or new the top mounts must be refitted in the correct orientation. Did you fully engage the struts into the steering knuckle on both sides? Both of the above can be visually compared side to side.

All towbars for 30 years or so have had to pick up on the vehicle manufacturers mounting points. Some measuring, drilling and cutting of the rear bumper or its under valance may be needed to make clearance for the rearwards projection of the towbar. That depends what electric kit you purchase and whether the vehicle left the factory with towbar preparation, a basic kit will need some very basic and easy connections to be made, the expensive vehicle integrated systems even if the fitting is plug in will not "play" without programming changes being made to the vehicles electronic systems. Fitting the towbar will be as easy or easier on your Octavia than it was on your Fabia, as regards the towing socket it is for you and you only to choose the amount of grief and expense that you want to subject yourself to, don't be swayed by evangelists who having spent a small fortune want all others to do the same.

Oootohere's diagnosis is pretty much the only plausible one given the noise only happens when parked on an incline.

All Skodas? I'm on my third and none of them have made that noise, so far 3 have been reported anecdotally and one may be a completely different noise.

My memory is hazy but either there was an inspection plate or the starter had to be removed, it was a 2001 engine so probably not relevant to what most of us are driving these days.

Agreed!