prt57

Then 30 seconds later, check out the registration compared to the previous car on the the right. You’ll see the other two in the distance. I talked to the owner and she had owned it since new and it has been reliable. I wonder what the collective noun is for a group of Fabia Mk 1s? Maybe a swarm, or a pack or possibly a herd!!

Spotted today, nearly twins.

Here’s my Elegance. I paid £250 for it nearly three years ago. It’s been ideal for the job I’ve been doing in some dodgy locations where I feel confident it will still be there when I get back!! It’s kept me reasonably busy with jobs, especially at the beginning but never let me down yet.

I would say not related as the tailgate boot rubber handle has a switch in it.

Thanks everyone. The tiny blobs of butyl mastic are acting like blutac. The benefit of the butyl is it does not go hard. Something similar is used to seal the silver metal window carrier panels onto the doors.

The nuts are not rusty really, it was just a bit of humour!! So whilst I have only owned the car 2.5 years, I’ve known of it since it was bought brand new in 2005. The wheel nuts will be the originals. The new covers have probably only been removed twice since I fitted them. It’s only me doing it and I always use the tool, not pliers. Certainly a mystery as some were really loose moving in and out easily. as mentioned above, the tiny 2mm balls of mastic inside each cover seem to have secured them on for now.

I called the Skoda parts chap I bought the nut covers from last year to ask about the loose nut covers. The chap said he had never had a problem in 15 years so assuming that is true, something unusual has happened to mine. As a solution, I have some butyl mastic strip bought for another job and used a couple of tiny blobs in each cover to reduce the looseness. After driving over 30 miles today, the remaining covers are still in place. As the mastic is soft, the covers can still be pulled off with the puller tool.

I have rusty nuts!!

Last year, l bought a set of new genuine black plastic wheel nut covers for my Fabia from the local Skoda dealer. Today, I noticed three were missing and loads of the others were really loose with no need to use the U shaped puller to get them off. So the missing three must have dropped off. We also have a TT with what appears to be the same plastic covers but in a grey colour and never had a problem in the 10 years of knowing the TT. So what’s going on with the Skoda covers? It almost like they have got bigger as the fit is definitely much looser than before. All thoughts welcome!

On my 2005 1.4 BBZ the battery light would stay on after starting until I revved the engine. A new alternator sorted it out.

My Estate used to go a bit left on a straight road then a few weeks ago I treated it to a set of Rainsport 5 tyres and afterwards it tended to pull right slightly instead. I swopped the front tyres over after 100 miles and bingo, it drives straight. No idea why but I’m not complaining!!

Just to add for something to check. Ensure the bottom ball joint nuts are tight and also the wishbone nuts and bolts have been tightened in the same place as before on both sides. Recently we encounter a Mk 4 Golf where the bottom ball joint nut had loosened on the drivers side allowing the joint to move up and down on the taper. The net result was that the steering pulled to the left and the wheel was round to the left even when driving straight. On the bottom of the strut clamp on the side where the strut is high you can see lots of hammering marks as they tried to get the strut lower into the clamp. Does the car sit flat on the ground or is it a bit higher on one side at the wheel arch?

Whilst not the same car, we had an SMF G60 flywheel and VR6 clutch conversion fitted to our Golf Mk 4 1.8T that I bought new in 1998. This is the 3rd clutch fitted in 24 years of ownership and by far the best for feel, lightness of pedal and smoothness compared to the original dmf clutches. The car runs an uprated turbo at 235bhp and 270 ft lbs. The only downside is a slight rattle on tick over.

I bought a pair from ECP and they fitted my estate fine. Probably a stronger spring than standard so the tailgate certainly stays in the air.

I was passing on a general tip widely acknowledged as being useful on Golf Mk 4 forums as these cars suffer very badly from door lock problems as a way of not ruining the door card if the seats are in the car. The idea is that some sort of prevention can assist with the cure. I’m disappointed with your unnecessary comments.

If there is no seat in the car, then you are correct. However in most cases the seat will be in the car and it is virtually impossible to access the screw to the bottom rear of the card unless the seat is removed or raised up in some way. So as I said earlier, best to leave the screws out or at the very minimum remove the screw bottom right of the drivers door or bottom left of the passenger door.

In my experience of this over the last 5 years or so, before the lock completely dies, you get odd things like the interior lights not working or the door re locking in spite of you opening it if it’s the drivers door. Or the fuel pump not priming as the door is opened. Now at the first signs I try to get it sorted out. My big tip to anyone is to remove any screws holding the door card on at the bottom or the front as if the door won’t open with the door card in place you stand a good chance of ruining the door card getting it off. The side clips will hold it in place until disaster strikes and the lock dies.

I have had to fix this many times on my Mk 4 golf. The only bit in the video you don’t need to do is remove the glass. Loosen the glass clamps then pull the glass upwards as it it was closing then duct tape it closed, protecting the paint on the top of the door from the tape in case it pulls the lacquer off as the tape is removed. It helps to have a 2nd person to support the lock as you remove and replace the silver metal window mechanism carrier as you need three hands !! as I mentioned above, by a good genuine 2nd Hand lock rather than a cheap brand new one.

I posted my answer before I had finished typing! I meant to say that the quality of the brand new cheap EBay locks is terrible. It’s luck of the draw if you get one that works properly and then they don’t last long. Better to purchase a genuine known working example.

As another option to try which has helped with the locks on my Mk 4 Golf when they have played up. sit inside the car in the relevant seat and repeatedly thump the area of the door where the lock is situated with the side of your clenched fist. At the same time keep on pressing unlock repeatedly on the remote whilst a couple of people operate the inside and outside door handles. Sometimes the thumps on the inner door are enough to unlock it. Don’t lock the car again until the lock is changed and the quality of the latest ebay

Thank you for the link. I’d looked at that site just today so I might buy some other replacements as stock for the future. I need the under bonnet insulation for a Mk 4 Golf as well now. Not sure how they would post that out as it is a flat sheet and could not be rolled up.

Hi Pete, I thought that I would update you about the Golf Mk 4 door lock situation. I priced up a new genuine drivers door lock at my local VW garage at £231.00 but with a bit of discount it would have been about £200. So I searched for a preowned genuine lock and invested £33.00 in a known working example. It arrived yesterday and after fitting, all seems well so far. I am keeping my fingers crossed! So it is fair to say that the quality of the Chinese rubbish on EBay that I had bought has sunk to a new low. At least before this episode I’d get a couple of years out of them before they would play up. It is probably fair to say that a set of 4 locks from VW would probably send it to the scrapyard. A shame as we have fitted a full Milltek , a Forge TIP, a VR6 MAF housing with a Ramair filter and Saab 360cc injectors plus a K03s turbo so it is ready for mapping again at Mallory performance. The fire damage I hinted at in my last post is all fixed as I spliced in a loom for the injectors, throttle body and cam position sensor to the existing loom. Luckily I managed to source a full loom on Facebook market place that I could chop up and make use of. I would be happy to pay more than £23.00 for a decent lock but £200 is pushing it a bit. The other 3 locks are Chinese so it is a bit of a waiting game. Not sure where to locate locks that will be reliable though. Thanks for your all your help, Peter

Thank you for the diagrams, most useful. just a little update as I have been to work and rewiring the fuel injector loom due to a little fire ( Don’t ask!) I thought the electrical cleaner had started to work as yesterday there seemed to be no problem with the lock operating as it should. Even this morning after leaving it locked over night it unlocked. However at maybe 18.30 after coming home from work tonight I tried unlocking and it was back to needing 3-4 presses on the remote and pulling on the handle. Why would it appear to be fine after only a short time but back to playing up when left for an extended period of time?

Yes, I have a multi meter. There should be 8 wires going to the front door plugs. the rear doors from memory only have 6 wires. I’m giving plenty of time for the contact cleaner to evaporate before reconnecting and having a trial run. Bearing in mind the components I have shown you, do you think it is likely that the fault is in the door rather than under the dash? I also exposed the wires in the door jam from the bellows and insulation. No apparent damage there. I may not to be able to go any further with this today due to work etc but I may have an opportunity tomorrow afternoon

Yes thank you, that is what it looks like. Mine is blanked at 9,12 and 13. All pins and sockets look fine with no apparent bent components. How do you think I should proceed?