rum4mo

The only time I've had that was when the VW dealership accidentally left unplugged, the BMS lead at the -VE battery post. Is that cable still okay and plugged in?

Any chance that you could expand on that topic, is this aftermarket stuff?

So obviously I was wrong about which side of the mounting clamps the original stops were located. Adding alternative clamps, I think that maybe Whiteline, who I think is/was an Australia based company that provided alternative ARBs and rear ARBs did market split clamps to sort out the original versions of these ARBs. Early on in these car's history, some people were fitting and welding large thick washers. In my case, my wife's 2002 Polo's ARB plastic stops or at least the RHS one broke free during that car's 5th winter from new, my wife drove home from school and said there was a knocking at the front - that was the ARB "walking" across and hitting the car's body. Fixing that without replacing the ARB must be the best plan as the cross member needs dropping a bit to get that ARB swopped - and that, if not carried out well can lead to suspension misalignment and so uneven front tyre wear - even, in my case, if the work was carried out at a proper VW workshop, very annoying, and followed a few months later by the RHS front spring breaking in the middle - that was down to corrosion not road surface quality. I had not been expecting to be spending that much time and money on a German branded (built in Spain) car while it was under 6 years and 35K miles old, a wallet robbing little toad of a car which was just a Skoda with some VW bits.

The later versions of these ARBs had a welded stop/washer, and from memory they are located on the "inner" side of the mounting brackets, so you should be able to spot them if they exist. Grabbing the ARB and trying to pull/push it side to side will let you know if the plastic sleeves have broken loose or have escaped, though if they had escaped then smaller mounting bushes would have be fitted. I would imagine that if the original plastic sleeves are still in place, you should also be able to make them out in the same positions as the later steel ones, I've forgotten as it was too long ago, maybe 14 years ago!

Like he said, leave the spring compressors in Screwfix - for another job, maybe the same at the other end?

SEAT have the way of thinking/tightness of wallet, so no temperature gauge, possibly to stop some people worrying(?), VW and Audi like to provide them okay maybe a more expensive car, but I'd go with having a temperature gauge, last car I had without one was an old 1972 Escort van, but a trip to the scrappy for a GL or GLX dashpod sorted that out quickly as the sensor and wiring were already in place, so just plug and play!

Where I live and how/when we use our cars, I usually factor in replacing all the bleed nipples at the 7 or 9 year fluid change, no doubt when you think about it, the hex "size" drops as the years and corrosion do their thing. Luckily, when I changed the fluid on my daughter's 2009 Ibiza for the last time back in 2018, I did replace the front bleed valves, luckily I had a couple of new ones. Changing the fluid every 2 years after the first change at year 3 does minimise the risk of this happening - a bit!

Maybe just me, but I can't hear any creaking noises, have you tried replaying that video to make sure that the noise can be heard.

One other possible consideration if changing that filter is, after 13 years will the push-on sealing connectors still be willing and able to seal on that new filter, I considered that possible disaster when preparing to change the filter in my wife's old 2002 Polo, and bought in a couple of repair kits from VW, so almost 10 years later that collection of bits is still "resting" in the airing cupboard, that might not be an issue for many/most people, but my wife would get a bit annoyed if I had to get her to use my car to get to work until I had sorted things out - well not quite true, it would be me that was a bit concerned about her enjoying my car! (click goes my pot count!)

The way I see it, for that hole to appear/happen, something more than a joining sleeve has failed, as said already, the pipe inside these joining sleeves should have almost butted up and these sleeves are extremely strong, it is only the 2 clamps that rust through. So, again, as said earlier, it looks very much like the next section of exhaust has failed, I'm surprised that your mobile spanner swinger left your car in that state, advise your friends to avoid him and take that car to an exhaust place because that job looks like to be well out of the scope of a new joining sleeve and a tube/tub of Gungun.

While I agree with the fact that it should not need replacing unless it is causing an issue with running, I managed to get that screw out on my wife's old 2002 Polo as I did plan to replace that filter and its associated pressure regulator, I cleaned out the maybe Torx recess and applied plenty proper release fluid especially into/onto the open end of that threaded hole - after a few attempts and application of more proper release fluid (and that does not mean normal WD40), I got that screw out, cleaned things up and either refitted it with plenty grease on it and over the exposed upper end, or fitted a new screw again wit plenty grease. Replacing a screw that used a captive nut, with a smaller size screw and nut is really going to make things a lot worse for the next poor sod that goes to replace that filter, if I remember correctly, both sides of that plastic clip are part of the fuel tank. I've always planned to never plant any traps for future owner/fixers. I wonder what future MOT testers would think about if you used a couple of heavy tie wraps, that could work if everything else failed.

Ta, you probably meant to list that engine as 1.2TSI with an Auto gearbox.

My mistake, I should have written that it was 5 X 25kg bags of salt I had carried not 5 2kg bags of salt!! (I've corrected that in my original posting)

Maybe you could confirm that the dimensions of that wheel are ie, is the ET 35 or 38 it should be a 6J in width, also the VW Group part number just in case the OP can buy one cheaper locally than via mytyres as there will be a delivery cost to add into their price, worth checking what the all up price is though for getting a wheel+tyre, as said non directional. I've used mytyres a few times with no problems - if you go down the steel spare route.

Yup, I think that my CTEKs end up in maintenance mode after 7 days, and so just jab the battery with charge after it has dropped back down to 12.7V back up to 13.2/13.4V - my own car frequently ends up at that stage! Costco only beat Tayna because of Costco's December battery "event" - that combined with Brexit maybe causing prices to rise along with initial supply replenishment issues when UK opens up again, and the original battery being 10 years old all combined for me to grab a new one. Edit:- on the topic "bigger isn't necessary better" hopefully most people that work on their cars realise that "bigger and cheaper" over time is not necessary better than "same size and same brand as fitted at factory" - just how good is a long warranty on a cheap battery when you are immobile many miles from a branch of that vendor, better to always put the money into the product and not the warranty.

Not good, any other details in case it is engine and/or gearbox type specific? I do think about removing the gearbox mounting mounting bracket bolt that kisses or impacts the wiring cable, I should really order in a new bolt and chop it down quite a bit so that it only just appears out from its captive nut, that has been an issue with some people.

Not a Fabia and not an estate, but, my wife's 2015 Polo with that feature standard and it tends to be left in place, possibly due the the lower area being filled with "essential stuff". Once I took the rigid top floor out as we were collecting a daughter and her boyfriend at the train station and gained a bit of space/height for all their many cases and bags. Weight limit, I've never ever considered this to be an issue and I've carried 5 25kg bags of salt in the boot, also a similar load of cement - having that upper floor in place does make it a lot easier to lift heavy bags out of the boot. I think if I was going to use that car to carry a high volume and weight once in a while, I would make the effort to empty out the boot including removing that top shelf. Edit:- changed 5kg to 25kg, an error on my part!!!

The prices quoted by "your fav cheap place - not" ECP, for a Bosch AGM for my 2011 S4 was "only" roughly £540 - but again "only" £325ish with "never to be repeated (until next month)" discount - Costco, luckily had a December discount on their Bosch car batteries, so I got one for £153 - which was okay! That was a Bosch 019 case size S5 95Ahr 850A CCA.

I agree with @FabiaGonzales, that standard battery will get a bit annoyed when it gets routinely left under charged then stuffed with charge from the 15+V that alternator will throw at it under braking and generally always during the over run. I checked the EFB in my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS the other day, it nowadays gets connected to a CTEK charger after it has been used and left connected to it in the garage, at its previous but one service, the CCA of that battery had dropped back quite a bit, but during most of that time it had not been connected to a charger/maintanence unit very often, then lock down started and I started looking after that battery due to now much lack of use of that car and at the next service the CCA had improved slightly. the other day I checked that battery 6 hours after it had been used on an 18 miles round trip, and its present CCA when tested is back up to beyond its rated CCA - which is where these batteries tend to start off at when new, so it looks like I'll not need to replace that battery for some time yet, which is a pleasant surprise. So as most people already know, if you don't look after your battery, it will not last long, I'm just lucky to be in the situation that I can look after it.

You have a "load signal" and "battery voltage" low being logged, maybe check that the load wire is still 100% okay at the plug<>socket underneath the car near the engine<>gearbox joining point. Having a slightly low battery voltage will never help any gross users of 12V power like the steering pump motor. Edit:- being able to communicate with the power steering controller would be handy, maybe that will return after you sort out whatever is causing the low battery supply voltage.

Probably because it is one of the available ways of displaying fuel consumption, to some people it might be useful but to most it is not, leaving the displayed consumption as average is useful.

So your car came from factory with an EFB battery and the coding set for "fleece" - now that is a slightly weird one, my only worry is, when I need to replace the battery in my own car, a 2011 Audi S4, I have bought a Bosch AGM to replace a same size Varta AGM, and I don't think that VW Group include Bosch as a battery manufacturer - so there will not be a manufacturer code for that, though Bosch batteries are manufactured by Varta so leaving it alone might be the best option. So far my wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS's EFB battery is still for use. Having read about many people buying one of these 12V DC DVMs that plug into the ex-ciggy lighter socket, I eventually dived in and bought one, previously I had checked using a made up plug with flying leads and a DVM, under driving demanding power and driving on the over run and braking, so I had witnessed what is normally going on. So when this plug in DVM arrived, I checked it on my S4, it had previously been connected to a CTEK charger for maybe 14 days, initially I drove up a long hill and the voltage reading just dropped down towards 12V, on the other side of the hill and so on the over run, as expected it indicated that the battery was being charged back up varying from 13.5V up to 15.0V, same on the way home, that car does not have Stop/Start but has "regenerative braking" and its original AGM battery when tested returns a very close to new CCA figure - though I know nothing about its ampere hour storage capacity. On the other hand, when I carried that check out on my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS yesterday, again it had been connected to a CTEK charger since last Friday, during the driving up the same long hill, the battery charging voltage remained over 13V and when on the over run it varied between 14V and 15V, that battery is the original EFB battery and its tested CCA is maybe only 75% of its rated CCA when new. The one issue could be that the 2011 Audi S4 has an earlier version of smart charging than the 2015 VW Polo, if that is not relevant then does this indicate that the Polo's EFB being in poorer health is needing a higher charging voltage than the older S4's AGM battery which claims to be in better health by way of its tested CCA value wrt to design rating? Edit:- my logic being that as the plan nowadays is to only use power to charge a battery if it really needs it, the Polo seems to need it right away from being started with a fully charged battery - and the S4 under the same starting conditions, was quite happy to run the battery down and only recharge when on the first over run conditions, it would have better if I had continued driving that S4 briskly until its battery voltage dropped below some previously determined level, and that even under power, the system reverted to allowing the battery to re-charge back up. Another Edit:- that Polo still auto Stops if allowed to do so, and even after a short run from cold.

It is only Skoda UK, VW UK, SEAT UK and Audi UK that is handing out that "5 years replacement" requirement or advice about the cam belt on these EA211 engines, the official workshop manuals point out that it is a "belt for life" (of the belt?) and after so many years, maybe 6 or 7 years, the belt should be examined in place along its entire length annually, and replaced as soon as damage is observed. So, with that in mind, maybe revise your thinking over changing it right now, I plan to get it replaced at 7 or 8 years as that will mean only replacing it once within our ownership, I certainly do not intend on leaving it until it is showing signs of damage. That is just my thinking on this subject as my wife's car, an August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, has only run 33K miles from new, others might feel happier to replace at the 5 year point and walk away from worrying about a belt failure that would cause severe engine damage, I have been checking the inlet variable pulley every year from year 4 service, so checking the belt along its length does not take much more effort while I am servicing the car. VW Group, and maybe other brands dealership's workshops, or service point, are also a bit guilty of handing out "your belt must be replaced before an MOT because the engine is rev'd to the rev limiter a few times during the MOT, it is the law!" - I had heard that this is said, but only got it said to me once, to which I answered, "this car does not have a DERV engine" to which the answer was "sorry my mistake".

As I see it, all direct injection petrol engines that do not have additional port injection, will suffer in this way, by the way, your engine only has direct injection. The worse affected direct injection petrol engines are the ones without any charged induction, and within the VW Group modern fleets that meant that the 4.2 V8 would end up losing a bit of power as its inlet side got a bit clogged up and would need a good old blasting out using crushed walnut shells, these smaller turbo charged engines, while clogging up slowly should do suffer the power drop off so quickly as they have forced or charged induction. High mileage cars, what ever point the "high" bit becomes active at, will inevitably start to suffer and need cleaned out using walnut blasting. Paying for funky "cleaning up and power releasing" via adding "good" stuff or alternative fluid while cleaning, will never get rid of what is clogging up the cylinder head inlet area.

@MinionBob, now that you have mentioned 2 years, it might be that in some countries, maybe even in UK, that Skoda UK, VW UK, Audi UK and SEAT UK , back in 2018, where only giving the customer a "2 year new car warranty" + "1 year warranty on other parts". so some items would only be covered by the "2 year new car warranty", and other main assemblies covered by effectively the full 3 years.