J.R.

No my 87 and 88 Sierra XR4x4's, 86 Cavalier GLi and 87 XR3i all had them. Any injected vehicle with a lift pump is at risk in a collision, a line can be punctured spraying fuel on the exhaust, turbo or spark plugs but still pass enough fuel for the engine to continue running while the driver and passengers are incapacitated.

Enlightening reading, thanks for that! From last article "“This is seemingly taking on the specter of an epidemic, likely arising from pads produced with weak or questionable adhesive bonding and/or corrosion protection methodologies,” GBSC concludes. “This remains cause for major public safety concern, and ought to be a call for due consideration of industry and regulatory change.”

On a wind up I think, last visited October 2017 with similar results : "Why are people so hasty to criticise? Don't often visit the site and remember why now."

Thanks for the reply Pete, I hope all is going well for you. Perhaps the taxi scenario might be correct, left hand side front and rear doors frequently used.

Do what practically every respondent to this thread including ApertureS have stated.

No way! What makes you believe that? I keep a hawk-like eye on both average and instantaneous fuel consumption and for a very long while on the frequency of and parameters of the then frequent DPF regens before I took action (EGR emulator/simulator and emissions "fix" software rollback, this included live data of EGR temperatures and instantaneous fuel consumption, yes it used enough additional fuel to be measurable but nothing like what you claim unless the vehicle only returned 26mpg normally. I dont like any waste of fuel and always drive economically, I did not like the thought of the extra fuel being wasted on regens that were not needed but of far more concern to me was the possibility of engine oil dilution, bore wear and general engine wear due to degraded oil. I agree with your other sentiments regarding modern diesels especially EU5 and EU6.

I was going to say that Pete knows more about it than I do and he beat me to it. @Breezy_Pete, you have explained the function and schematic before and if I have understood and recalled it correctly isn't the drivers door controller the main one that communicates with the other electronic modules by Canbus and with the other door controllers via Linbus? Would a break in that Linbus wire not prevent the passenger doors from functioning or would they still function autonomously in the absence of comms with the master controller? I ended up scrapping my MK1 for exactly the same faults, passenger doors, fuel flap and rear hatch all not working or only intermittently, unfortunately I was not an active forum member then and did not know of VCDS which would have made all the difference.

Not if the car is reasonably priced, expecting the seller to fund your future maintenance might result in you being shown the door if they are someone like me, much better (in my view) to say "you are asking X, I will offer you Y"

I bought a 3 year old MK1 Octavia that had been used as an airport transfer vehicle, it had 188000 miles on the clock, it was the best and most reliable car I have ever had, over the next 13 years it suffered tremendous abuse at my hands being used as a works van and towing stupid loads, I took it up to 325000 miles before scrapping it which in many ways I really regret, had I known of VCDS and the problems afflicting all Skodas of broken wires in the door loom I would not have done so but was tempted by a high mileage MK2 which by then was very cheap, that too was very reliable. They were both manual TDIs as is my Yeti, I dont know that a 1.5TSI and automatic would be as safe a bet.

It will likely be a fractured wire in the door loop and unless your vehicle was/is a taxi then the chances are it will be in the drivers door loop which (usually) gets far more wear than the other doors. Its the first place to look and if I am right then you are in luck as you can effect the repair without having to open the passenger door.

Since the late 80's any petrol vehicle with an electric fuel pump has had an inertia cut off switch to stop fuel spraying around in an accident, on later airbag equipped vehicles the function is integrated using their sensors. I may have been wrong in assuming that a 1999 Felicia would have had fuel injection and maybe it has a carburettor and mechanical fuel pump? Or maybe these additional cost protection systems required by legislation did not apply in other countries?

A 1999 vehicle will almost certainly have a fuel pump inertia cut off switch which is what the OP is referring to, I'm sorry that I cannot help with the location other than they are usually placed in protected areas where they are not likely to be set off by doors or bonnet slamming etc, I have known them be in the upturned part of the spare wheel well and above the transmission tunnel.

The quickest and usually successful method is to twist the arm along its axis altering the angle of attack or return of the rubber, it takes a lot of force and is not for the weak willed, you may not know which way to twist but if the noise gets worse it will confirm the diagnosis and you simply twist it back the other way and then some more. Clean the screen and rubbers before doing this.

Aerotwins are a specific profile and the rubber will not fit any other blades which are by and large a standard profile, genuine ones are marked, other makers make wider blade holders to mimic the Aerotwins but they are not the same animal. Finally Bosch sell cheaper non Aerotwin blades which are a complete waste of time other than for Bosch who make loads of money selling the branded Chinese items to those who think they are being smart in not paying the premium for the Aerotwins, I am not criticising the decision but they should simply buy the cheapest non branded Chinese wipers as that is all that they are getting inside the Bosch packaging. Having said the above there is or was an Ebay seller selling Aerotwin profile rubber by the metre, it will only fit Aerotwin blades, it wont upgrade a standard blade as it will not fit, I bought some for the future but after 5 years and 50000 miles using the genuine Aerotwins the future has yet to come so I cant say if it is any good or not but having the genuine blades for the money it was worth a try.

They are something that I would always spend the extra on now and that is very rare for me, by a lucky chance my current vehicle had them on when I bought it, I dont know how long they had already been on there but it could have been a long time, immediately I realised they were light years ahead of anything I had had before, that was 4 years and 50000 miles ago now and the same wipers are on there and still as good as ever, I don't even think I have properly cleaned them with meths or whatever that I had to do on a regular basis on all the others I have had in nearly 50 years of motoring.

Diesels are noisier close up but not so when behind the wheel, different for sure, not sewing machine like as many new petrol engines can be, the best example of that would be the MK1 Polo 900cc engine, but diesels remain muted throughout the rev range (from inside the cabin) and dont sound stressed when under maximum torque like most petrol engines do. But the point in question is your assertion that a diesel engine will "age quicker" than a petrol engine which I strongly disagree with, lets take a couple of extreme examples, the MK1 Polo I mentioned an engine that virtually sings and the PD VW TDi that sounds like a tractor even when new, driven hard through the gears uphill the Polo's singing will get a lot louder and more insistent, more of a screech and like most petrol engines you dont need the rev counter to warn you of over-revving, the PD TDi remains muted from within the cabin and unless the DMF is shot will not sound any thrashier driven in the manner described which would be pointless anyway as you would normally change up at much lower revs. The PD TDi will not sound appreciably different after 500000 miles with regular and correct oil changes, the Polo engine would never get that far and whilst the pleasant singing noise will still be there there will be an accompanying orchestra of mechanical noise from a worn valve train (luckily no timing chain), piston slap and to a lesser degree bearing wear.

I dont think that is true, a 500000 mile diesel will in general sound no more knocky than a 200000 mile one, I have yet to experience a petrol engine at half that mileage that still sounds sweet, most are scrapped before they get that far, they have remarkable longevity compared to pre 90's petrol and diesel engines but its still the diesels that rack up the huge mileages. One of the reasons is that the cylinder blocks, crankshafts, connecting rods, pistons etc are much more robust to cope with the higher compression ratio and combustion pressure, the common factor for modern engine longevity of both fuel types is detergent fuels, modern synthetic or synthetic based oils, better machining processes and ECU control of fuelling and ignition advance.

And whilst the driver is getting frustrated at the lack of illumination to the left the oncoming motorists are getting dazzled, its bad enough when they do know what country they are in. Henceforth I will refer to them as Lee headlights 😁

On what? The only question you have asked is do people agree with your suspicions.

Does it not have an recessed pull down four finger grip in the bottom of the tailgate inside the door seal like other Skodas? I find them very practical, Simply Clever! Or was that what you meant by a tired piece of plastic? If so then it's not as if you or anyone is going to spend any time looking at it.

I was being cynical and sarcastic, I really wanted you to prove me wrong. It has taken me a long time for the penny to finally drop that most of the frustrating E-mail exchanges I have had in recent years with (not) people in companies that seem to completely miss the point and use annoying platitudes like "have a great day!" and "thank you for reaching out to us" have been bots, I just had not realised how advanced they had become and yet despite that they are still light years away from being even semi-competent. It coincided with the phase when you could never get through on the phone lines and many companies and organisations stopped showing them. And then when I do get through its to someone even less competent in comprehension than a bot, maybe they are now bots and I have yet to twig.

Stretch bolts mon cul! - they are set screws threaded the length of the shank. They do have a dry threadlock on them though, or blue paint for the Chinese ones!!!! I'm not sure what joker dreamed up all this stretch bolt nonsense but its getting out of hand. Not a recent thing though, 40 years ago a (bullsh1tter) friend was a service receptionist at a Ford dealer and they used to bill for a new sump plug and washer with every oil change claiming that the threads stretched, once again threaded the whole length, a 20mm diameter threaded steel fastener going into an alloy sump, yeah that is really going to stretch and can't be re-used 🥴

Make sure that you get to see the Bot who has been dealing with you in person, oh hang on................. 🤣 Neither ECP or Bosch give a flying **** so don't waste any more effort and angst on them. Like most companies with a good name they exploit it by licensing their name to be used by the lowest cost producers to convince pigeons to pay a premium price thinking they are getting a premium product, Bosch wont do it with their core products like power tools, they may be made in Malaysia but in a factory like one in Germany run to the same QC standards. I mean ask yourself have Bosch ever actually made brake pads and discs? Maybe ABS control systems but brake pads, I very much doubt it, but they will allow their name to be used to generate profits, ask yourself did Caterpillar one day say "hey guys lets make cheap shonky clothing!" ? Or did the Ford Motor Company say "I know, lets go into making the cheapest AA batteries to be sold in Poundland!" ? A lot of the tat that bears their name like the Ford batterie with the blue oval Ford logo are just the shonky merchants trying it on, Ford are not going to waste their time chasing them in a market so far removed from their own. I have been using Chinese brake discs for the last 20 years and they have always been great, I fitted them in place of the OE cheese rust magnets and they lasted the life of the car which in the case of the MK1 Octavia was another 16 years and 150000 miles, I would not pay the silly prices I see quoted on here for supposed name brands which in reality are usually the same products in different boxes. Brake pads are a different matter, all my vehicles have had the smaller brake discs and are really put to the test with my overloading antics, the cheap pads have been appalling, often the cheapest discs I can get come bundled with a cheap pad set, I am talking about circa €35 the axle set, I throw the pads away and buy branded ones (I cant for the life of me recall which ones I prefer, its been so long now) and they are invariably cheaper on the shelf from a local Norauto than from the net. Sorry to hear of your responses Xman but they are pretty much what I would expect. Ignore my flippant comments about the AI Bot, I can see now that you have had several exchanges with ECP, the end result is the same though, just wear the person down.

https://youtu.be/AIXTP-TgPEw?t=634