Polaris

Just to be helpful, because it fooled me. My exhaust pipe started making the "I need a new exhaust!" noise. I could smell fumes and knew it was somewhere near the middle. So went to my local garage who put it on the ramp and pointed out a rusted clamp where the front and back pipes join. Fifteen quid later, replaced and gixed. Apparently they see this all the time on Fabias, along with equivalent Seats and Audi.

Just back from hols. You were right about T bar being squint. I'll go back and get it sorted.

Thank you for that. I'll give it a try. Back brakes have been one of the many problems with this card since I bought it new

I recently had the rear brakes (drums) cleaned and replaced. Ditto cylinders and spring kit. Ensured free play in self adjusters. Mechanic properly bled them and checked grip. The brake lever was very high but holds. However he said that the self-adjusters would bed in after a week and lever would lower. That's not happened yet. Before I try adjusting the cable via the hatch under the tray between front seats. I wanted to confirm that what I was told was correct.

Well, another mysterious Skoda fabia 3 mystery. A very nice chap called Ryan replied to an email and suggested disconnecting the battery for five minutes. Anyway, after that, miraculously the radio, cruise control and start/stop returned. Leaving just airbag and front radar. I got out obd (carista) and tried reset for airbag error. Which also cleared the front driver assist (Apparently). So, although I can still see a pile of errors on the obd, as far as the car is concerned it seems and behaves normally. Bob

Update on scan of Skoda fabia 3. The car drove absolutely fine for four hundred miles round the Highlands and eventually was plugged into an independent VW garage who's diagnosed nothing obvious wrong with engine but the whole load of peripheral component protection errors were causing a confused ECM alert and all that was needed was cancelling them. Just possibly it might be masking a minor component error, although there are no performance issues. However IT issues prevented garage ogging onto VW Odis and accidently created new airbag error. So it's wait for a space in book.

Sometimes the zips for the rear upholstery either come undone or for need access inside - possibly the seatbelt mechanism. Skoda don't provide zip mechanisms to refasten. It would have cost pennies. Here's what I did. Copy at own responsibility. I used - spare zip - KKK brand - size 5GN1.Cost about £2. Removed the mechanism by cutting the end off the zip and sliding it. Also flat pliers and small craft knife. Silicon spray was useful to lubricate teeth. Superglue to keep ends together. Uncovered zip ends from being tucked in. Fed the spare material into my zip mechanism with pointy end in the direction of travel. A bit fiddly but when teeth are just entering the zipper I used pliers to firmly hold ends level and start zipper. I didn't rush it. Just made sure the teeth engaged. Used silicon spray on rest of the teeth. Get a good hold and zip up almost to end. Used pliers to get far end of zip out of upholstery and I cut across the teeth with craft knife so the zipper could escape. Pulled the zipper through and off for future use. Just for belt and braces a drop of superglue at each end to keep teeth together. I hope not to be doing this again. Tuck away ends. Just in case I do need it again put a labelled tag on the zipper.

Hello Gavin. I have relied very much of forum members here for help, because of my own ignorance in coming from an old Hyundai to a modern electronics saturated vehicle. When I get home I'll tell you what my garage visit reveals. However I'll suggest two things. First start a new thread on this and maybe some of the clever chaps like Breezypete will pick up. Second - I don't know where you are on warranty but Resolver has a good summary of where you might stand if you had asked about the issue inside warranty and subsequently faced with a huge bill outside. The short answer, subject to my memory, is that the Consumer Rights Act 2015 puts responsibility back to the dealer because they didn't do their job properly in the first place. Regardless I'll let you know what happens with mine.

Lairg now. Durness tomorrow hopefully.

Well here I am, on the forum again. In the far North trying to puzzle out a sudden flurry of errors that arose without warning. Could it be the car battery going/gone? Card drove couple of hundred miles with no issues. Five days later ECM light and start stop error arose. Also cruise control not available. Drives OK back to campsite. Use obd2, which I keep onboard. I get "CAN gateway component protection: production mode active" And several "component protection active" on the cruise control, the infotainment system (Which also has a similar line on screen) , rear Iparking sensors and front assist. One engine error - 17149 checking coding versions: in power train. The forum isn't the place to complain about the car, though you can guess what I am thinking about Skoda. My question is, could this be the start stop battery going after almost four years from new? (I wish I had a meter) If so I'll get a new one on the way south. Bob

Actually I'll add one little thing is case it is of use. Below the belt anchor is a set of wires from the seatbelt across to the wiring loom. I was given all sorts of apocalyptic advice about accidentally setting off the airbags. But thanks you common sense from Breezy_Pete I can now say - The black connector separates by pulling out the square bit at the side. I made sure key was out of ignition as a precaution. Then on turning on ignition all I got was a seatbelt warning icon for that position. Bob

The Final Episode. Thank you all for suggestions. With the help of a mechanic friend we sheared the head of the bolt off. Leaving a 1cm stub sticking out. So off across the hills to a keen welder called Franky who welded a nut on and with lots of heaving got the bolt out. It had been cross threaded. Don't know how because it had never been touched before. He also retapped the hole. What a champ. I ordered the bolt online by part number but on arrival it still seemed too short. So I opted for a hex bolt that was still 7/16th at 20 tpi and was 50mm instead of 25. I thought I would have to trim it down. But it fits right in.

Right you are. That is the before picture. Nothing done to it. It never occurred to me about Imperial sizes. I got a full set of metric and the 10mm fitted with no slack. The bolt turned about 20° then the metal star just shredded. The socket wrench is still perfect. It's not some sort of reverse thread is it? Anyway it now looks awful and frankly I just want to get that bolt out and put a fresh one in. Hence drill out with left handed drill but dont want to go too far.

Well this is annoying. I got the exact socket which fitted perfectly, then after a little bit of movement shredded the angles. The isofix bracket is in the way for mole grips. Before I start drilling it out, does anyone know how long this seatbelt anchor bolt is so I don't go too deep? Regards Bob

I did actually look up the requirements on the. Gov.Uk website and both anchors and caribiners are mentioned. It's not important, it just seemed an easier way to offer quickly removing the upright seat back and getting a level storage space. But I got the triple square socket and once I get the bolt out I'll switch it for a standard hex. One down side is there will still be a "fin" sticking up that supports the seat hinge.