rum4mo

Sheared wiring where the lines come into the hatch from the car's body? This sort of problem has been troubling quite a few Fabia/Polo/Ibiza for many years, even down to "trouble" inside a black plug<>socket within the hatch on some same age Ibizas - driving owners a bit mad especially after replacing the "obvious" parts. Good luck, hopefully either my suggestion turns out to be correct or others will chip in with a solution.

One strange thing that I discovered after owning and using my CTEK smart charger for almost a year was, at least in the case of CTEK chargers, normal AGM batteries should be charged using the same charging profile as WET ie EFB batteries, the CTEK AGM charging profiles are for special AGM batteries which have a different construction to normal AGM like used in our cars. After reading that info in the CTEK charger paperwork, I stopped using the AGM option when charging my normal factory fitted AGM battery in my Audi S4. Charging voltages especially when measured using a cheap 12V DVM in a power socket, seems to indicate a lower voltage level with the engine off, than when measuring across the battery, though, on our VW Polo and Audi S4 I can only measure that when the ignition is one. On either car, charging voltages tend to be the same as near as "damn it", getting up to even 15V on the over run at times - if the battery needs it or can accept it. If that dealer can see/check battery data using their other battery coding tool, then surely they can confirm to Skoda that it was set up wrongly at factory - I do agree that the intention is always to code a normal AGM as "fleece", as I intend to use when I eventually need to replace the EFB in my wife's 2015 VW Polo with a normal AGM battery. Edit:- I'm guessing that you know that the plan is just to keep that battery well enough charged to be able to restart that car the next time it is used, which tends to mean "quite low" battery voltage if you compare that with what you used to find with older cars.

Maybe the thing is, all/most of these dongles and self contained ones with a display, make it clear that they cover "engine malfunction" faults, as all new cars built since maybe 2000 onwards must comply with OBD codes for engine emissions faults - that makes it easy for simple engine emissions faults, but probably as you know, most newish cars have quite a few smart controllers in them that can assist with fault diagnosing, VW Group seem to be very good in providing an extensive list of fault codes for issues across the complete car. So, to make life easy, you should aim to get either a self contained scan tool that will give you assess to all VW Group smart controllers - that will be in the description, maybe look on the Gendan website for examples that will allow you to read steering system faults on VW Group cars. Unfortunately some time ago, there were a few self contained scan tools for VW Group cars including up to the age of your car and they only cost £35, as they could only be used on VW Group cars up to a certain age maybe 2011 in some cases, they have disappeared from sale and very few seem to appear second hand, I sold mine years ago for what I paid for it. Diagnostics moves on as well as VW Group probably trying to move ahead of the DIYer/non franchised workshops so that cars need to be handed in for fault finding, I've had VW Group scan tools since 2001ish and so far had to trade in and replace with a more modern version of VAG-COM now VCDS twice which costs quite a bit of money, but it does allow me to do what I feel that I need to be able to do while I own VW Group cars.

It is good that your scan tool has been proved to work for checking other controllers like steering, I'm right in assuming that you have used it for that on a Micra? So, it must be down to lack of compatibility with the way that VW Group cars use (Protocol) for their "other" controllers, reading basic engine fault codes will be possible though. Edit:- I've only ever used Carista with my BT dongle, have some others on my iphone but never felt the need to use them, so I can't comment on how they would work on VW Group cars. I would have expected that your scan tool would have reported other unknown to it fault codes as "manufacturer specific fault codes" which would not comply with OBD2.

Do all or any of these scan tool progs that you have been using have the ability to check ALL smart controllers on all cars? Or, in the past have you only been checking for EOBD engine emissions faults?

I buy a cheap bag of sawdust/wood shavings and soak up the old brake fluid in that, as that seems to be an accepted way of preparing it for disposal in the grey landfill bin. Edit:- our "landfill" gets fed into a furnace for conversion into heat energy - so the story goes.

From looking at various official VW Group workshop manuals, it seems every possible car from the smallest to the biggest "uses" 1ltr for an auto and 1.15ltr for a manual trans. I've always managed with 1ltr though. I just remove as much as possible of the old fluid, "take" 0.35ltr from the longest rear line, 0.25ltr from the other rear line and 0.15ltr from each front line. The official quantities are 0.3ltr from each rear lines and 0.2ltr from each front lines, and if you include the clutch, 0.15ltr from that line. Not an issue, just a comment, I normally buy brake fluid from any VW Group dealership - it is normally cheaper than buying on the high street, so, today I dropped into a Skoda dealership as I was passing by, "we have never ever sold brake fluid in 1litre tins, it is always bought in in bulk for the workshop", oh well, different person than that that served me 2 years ago! My local Audi dealership was near there but I didn't really feel the need to go through the "meet and greet" and being shown to a seat and offered tea/coffee by a pretty lady, then waiting for the parts guy to appear from behind the glossy showroom, I can put up with that if I need spares though. So, on the way home I stopped off at a VW Van Centre, where I had bought brake fluid from in the past - same story! Finally I gave in and found that D Cox a dealership in Morecombe was selling brake fluid at a very good price, so I bought a couple of tins. I had heard about VW not selling brake fluid maybe 2 years ago, from an old guy down in London, but my local VW dealership, when phoned rubbished that story and said that they still stocked plenty of 1litre tins.

As BASF are using different colours for their differing "brews" - though maybe the differences are not too obvious, if I was guessing, I'd think that G12+ was also a G40 product.

Check to see what technology your current battery is, it should be EFB, note down its capacity in AmpHours and cold cranking rating in Amps CCA EN, just so that you are comparing like with like. If your car has a standard battery due to a previous owner saving a bit of money, then don't repeat that mistake, either source an EFB or AGM. I'll second Tayna, never used them but if local sources did not provide me with a good price and brand, I'd buy from Tayna.

One other question, and maybe a question that I asked first, what is the reg date of your Fabia, as VW Group seem to have a habit of running through their stocks of reservoirs before changing to the next one, so a late car with G13 on its reservoir, could well be an early car with G12evo, the car's documentation will be up to date though. Edit:- always remember that while you should never use an earlier version to add to a later version of coolant, in the range of VW Group, or BASF versions I've listed in my posting above, the worst thing that will happen is you will end up with a slightly "lower" form of overall protection and that will be due to "newest version will always be best" - that in this case of G30, G40, GG40, G65 will not be a disaster like it could be with other mixes.

Glysantin BASF make the coolant for VW Group, G65 is to VW spec TL 774 – L which is G12evo Glysantin BASF make the coolant for VW Group, GG40 is to VW spec TL 774 – J which is G13 Glysantin BASF make the coolant for VW Group, G40 is to VW spec TL 774 – G which is G12++ Glysantin BASF make the coolant for VW Group, G30 is to VW spec TL 774 – D/F which is G12 So, for your car I'd think that G40 is the "oldest/earliest" version of Glysantin that is best to use. Currently, as far as I have found, Comma do not provide any later version of coolants for VW Group, but when they do, as before it will have the name of the BASF coolant in it, which will be G65. The better plan will be to find out where the coolant leak is and fix it.

If it is an EA211 engine, ie 1.2TSI or 1.0TSI, then it is only the washer that needs replacing, though from memory that crush washer costs same or more than the previous plug-washer combo used on some other engines. Though I tend to keep on buying these washers from a VW Group parts department. Edit:- initially I did buy a new/spare plug as well as washers, but that was only for convenience in case I dropped the fitted plug and washer into my oil basin/catcher, ie so that I could fit the spare plug and new washer etc while waiting to retrieve the previous plug and washer from the oil while decanting it into an container prior to disposal.

I think that some marques use/need these washers, like VW Polo and same SEAT Ibiza, but Skoda do not, that if it is true, and I have changed rear dampers on both a Polo and an Ibiza, is why these dampers came with new washers as they are common to all these cars when buying aftermarket parts. Edit:- that picture of the other side is obscene - needs some waxoyl in there I'd think!

Have you performed "basic settings" using VCDS? As well as lining up the "new" motor assemblies racks correctly with the recirc levers racks?

That is not normal, though I would not have expected a main dealer to feel the need to replace the cambelt on that engine just now because they were reselling it, these cambelts on that engine only require replacing if showing signs of failure or unusual wear, so that means that they are, as far as I know, now not a service item as they were in the dark past. Now, if they did indeed actually fit a new cam belt kit, I wonder if they slightly messed up the static timing - or was this car's engine always running like this and they tried replacing the cam belt as a good excuse to correct the factory timing? Edit:- that mileage is not unusual for a car of that age, my wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS is only at 37,000 miles and it still runs okay, so I'd doubt if it is clogging up of the inlet ports due to the expected direct injection issues that seems that happen more under certain driving conditions - it has been said. Another Edit:- it might need some looking at or logging using something like VCDS to see if there is any mismatch with requested and actual turbo delivery - that is just a guess, some people have needed a new turbo due to wastegate control issues, not many I think, but still some. I'm guessing that you are not getting any warning lights coming on, there are of course many other possibilities including fuelling errors/issues. Maybe treat it to a full tank of something like Shell "special UL+" to see if using that or running a tank of that through the system improves things.

I had some bad thoughts about that area of these cars Fabia/Polo/Ibiza when I replaced a pair of dampers on a late 2009 Ibiza when it was 8 years old - again used in Scottish winters, though at that time my concerns were more about the "what ifs" if the bolt seized in the captive nut and I ended up with that rotating, that severe corrosion then failure of that alloy top mounting was not in my thoughts at all - horrible! Now to get round to checking the condition of that same mounting on my wife's August 2015 Polo!

Same owners ie GM, which eventually was SAABs undoing sadly! There was a SAAB 96 L on Banger and Cash last week, a 1972 one, clean as a whistle, it made £12,300, I'd doubt if my mate's one will ever get back into that condition, though it now can use lead free fuel.

What a good idea for my next "tools" purchase, I've thought about getting that sort of thing many times in the past but not yet blundered upon a good selection of them. I did buy a mechanics stethoscope maybe years ago - but it sort of dematerialised when we moved house roughly 25 years ago, along with 1 out of a group of 4 Iridium spark plugs for my good old and sadly missed Cav GSI 2000 16V 4X4, my wife's binocs and her camera(I was BTCC'ng the day before the move!), I bought a new mechanics stethoscope a few years ago and I still know exactly where it is - but that does not necessarily mean that I don't "need" one of these listening kits!

I bought one of these cheap but maybe useful 12V digital volt meters via ebay, the type that just plug into the "ciggy lighter" socket, really just to find out what was happening wrt the charging voltage in my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI mainly. Having that connected at all times allowed me to spot any changes in behaviour in charging voltage - and that car ended up having a step change "happen" a few months later. That car during lockdown was frequently left connected to a CTEK smart charger/maintenance unit, and gets a "recond" charging profile once a year - in Spring time, it has dropped back from a rated 640A CCA EN to recently 475A CCA EN, so in a month's time I'll give it a "recond" charge and check the CCA a day later using a CTEK battery tester, which is a Midtronics designed item for CTEK. I changed that battery's serial number maybe 6 months ago to see if doing that prompted a change in the charging behaviour, and it did for maybe a couple of months - and even now the charging does start to fall back, initially prior to changing the serial number, the battery was being heavily charged at all times, so that means 14.7V > 15.0V at all times, underpower or on overrun. I've bought a new "next size up" AGM battery and a new battery tray and insulator, I had bought all that by the beginning of December, just in case, but so far no need to replace that 640A CCA EN EFB car mileage is just under 40K miles. One big regret I have is, I did not bother to record all these battery stats shown in a posting above BEFORE changing the battery's serial number, a bad move/mistake! Edit:- the cheap plug in volt meter that I bought via ebay only cost £5, I've ended up almost not feeling very much in control if I drive either of my cars without that volt meter plugged in!! Another thing with that 12V volt meter - and that is mainly how you should describe it, it needs above a certain voltage to switch on or stay on, so normally it does stay on while cranking the engine, if it switches off momentarily while cranking over the engine, that is an indication that the battery voltage had dipped a bit too low, or lower than normal. On that "needing a minimum voltage to operate", my first CTEK charger that I bought was a Charger/Tester, so it could perform some basic test or tests so that you could assess a car battery's general health, sounds like a good idea/feature, the only problem was, well at least with my daughter's old late 2009 Ibiza, while the car could start faultlessly, the battery had aged so much that when I ran a cranking test on that car using that CTEK Charger/Tester - instead of issuing a Green/Amber/Red light to indicate the battery health - the CTEK just switched off! Buying a cheap moving coil Voltmeter from Maplin provided me with a better way to check for battery voltage during cranking!(Maplin was handy.)

I've still got the "clutch changing kit", ie short slide hammer with adaptor to fit shaft and a set of clips for the clutch - unused, they were bought just in case, but car, a 1991 Cav GSI 4X4 2000 16V, was just too reliable and never ended up needing a new clutch!

I like Knipex stuff always good quality, slim and strong! For these "constant tension" pipe clips, I bought a Laser Tools version which is just a "rack" sort of tool, originally for taking the large constant tension clips of the charge pipe on EA211 1.2TSI engine, it also works very well, and as it is short/squat/flat, it came in very handy when slacking off the heater hose on my B8 S4 to slide back far enough to bleed the air of the system, using normal long handled pliers was just too awkward as these clips were partly under an overhang with the firewall in front of them. I've also got pliers that have swivel inserts on the jaws, they were bought for something else, but work on these clips very well, though that pair of pliers were cheap and nasty, but maybe good enough for long enough for a DIYer!! No answer on the extremely small sheared off bolt head other than it looks like a wheel bolt for a roughly 1/6 scale same car!

Looking in from standing in front of the open bonnet, you will find it by looking at the method that the end of the gearbox is fixed/hung from the car's frame, maybe beside the battery tray or slightly covered by the battery tray.

I've just checked, at least for VW Polo 1.2TSI, "AT" is used now on cars with DSG and also for Diesel engined cars, so probably the "AT" is stiffer than the "AS" - again, currently it is now the "AS" version that is listed against 1.0/1.2TSI engined Polos with manual trans. It is possible to view the part number of the upper mounting currently fitted, tricky, but possible, that was the first thing that I did on my wife's 2015 Polo to establish which version was fitted before it was handed in for warranty work.

If you are paying for this repair, I'd strongly advise you to discuss this with your dealership, even still do so if it is a warranty repair, as this change of part version did seem to come from VW Group, but from which or all I can't say. I've either forgotten or never got round to finding out what the difference from the "AS" to the "AT" was as at that time, the talk was always "get the AS version fitted" which was said to be the suggestion from VW Group HQ.

In the case of my wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, the mounting was changed from "AR" to "AS". I'm not too sure how these versions vary in stiffness ie "AR" > "AS" > "AT", "AR" has been "normal petrol engines only" ie excluding the 1.8T, since the launch of Fabia which predates 9N Polo, "AS" was same but for "diesel engines only, I think charged ones only" since the launch of Fabia. Edit:- some similar cars from one of the VW Group marques were fitted with 6C0 199 555 B, maybe even just Fabia MK3, I've forgotten, which by the part number change infers that that part had been updated during the "6C" build period, while all the earlier/other versions were still being fitted to certain versions of these cars.