gilmo

Thanks, fixed it by taking out the Airbox and cycling through the gears at the gbx end. Greased pivots a bit and cleaned the top of the gbx too. There was an accumulation of crap around the linkages.

Hi, I'm selling this vrs here and I'd like to make sure it's Ok for whoever takes it. It has a sluggish gearlever that doesn't really spring back to the centre. Like if your going from 2-3, you have to push it forward, drag it to center and then push to third. I guess that the linkages are a bit gummed up or something. The transmission itself feels solid so I don't think the problem is there. Any thoughts?

This is my 3rd mk1 Octavia estate. I hat to sell my last one this year due to rust and it really liked it (130pd!). I bought another car but came across this and couldn't resist so I bought it too. Now I'm sitting with 2 cars and I don't need 2 cars. One of the last of these ever made - and 118000 on the clock MOT in March, advisories were surface rust on suspension components and some corrosion on brake pipes. FSH up to 2016 or so. Then there is a gap to 2021, I understand it sat for a while. Good tread on the tyres maube 6mm or so all round. Bodywork: This is my third mk1 octavia and I can tell you the bodywork on this is in really good condition. there are a few spots of rust from stonechips on the bonnet. The tailgates always suffer on these but there is no rust under the right side of the window (Good!). There is some starting to develop under the handle. Thankfully not visible yet unless you get under and look at it. The arches, skirts and doors are all good. wheels are 18s and I think might be from a TT. things to note: fixed! The gear shifting is a bit sticky but the box feels solid. I think the linkages need looked at. 2 passenger window clips broke as I was driving it home; typical. I've ordered the fixing kits, so they will come with the car or, hopefully I'll get round to fixing them The white in the interior is a bit grubby. White was a terrible idea... I recently bought this car in Brighton and drove it all the way to Glasgow, didn't miss a beat Engine feels great and it returned 39mpg. Not too bad for 170bho turbo petrol. Worth £1600 to anyone? I'm in Glasgow but can meet people within 70 miles or so if interested just a few quick photos. Will get more soon

FWIW, I borrowed a discharged battery to run as temp while I get a new one. It was pretty empty at 12.3V. Sitting on the mains charger at 14.4V

We do a lot of DC power systems - I would have thought 14 ish is good. In fact 12.6 seems like a low float... regardless the battery drained itself having been disconnected for ~18 hours. thanks for the input guys much appreiated!

also parisitc draw stabalised to 0.03/4 mA when I left the DMM connected for a bit

Really? car wouldn't start - float dropped to 12.3. that was with the neg disconnected. Multimeter was a good one (fluke) and we get them calibrated at work every year what should it be when charging? and why would it be overcharging? thanks

Yes I do... Had a poke around with the multimeter last night/today Float 12.7 VDC no drop this afternoon after sitting with battery disconnected all night 14.8V on idle so alternator good no AC on terminals so Diodes good 650mA parasitic drain with radio yellow and red wires out 480mA parasitic drain with radio totally disconnected. probably time to start bulling fuses...

Thanks. That's exactly what I thought - I am not electrically illiterate but my car battery started dying after I changed the speakers. I guess it could be something else and the speaker change is incidental. I also know that my radio isn't quite wired correctly - I've been reading around and recon it's a canbus issue. http://forum.autopumpkin.com/viewtopic.php?t=161 Like I say though, the radio was functional and wasn't draining the battery before I changed the speakers. Having posted this I removed the wiring harness from the back of the radio completely and the car was fine for a few mornings but then died overnight one morning. Maybe there's a slow short to ground. I've been disconnecting the battery every time I leave the car for the last few days...

Hi, Anybody ever had a problem with aftermarket speakers draining the battery? I installed some old infinity kappas w/ xovers in the doors of my car because I had them and one of the stocks was done. I want to stress I am talking about the speakers here not the head. I have had the same Alpine cde 9881 head in for a year and it works fine. I changed the speakers and the car battery goes flat overnight. I disconnect them and the battery doesn't go flat over night. I can't really understand this because I there is no power going to the head when the car is off (i lose presets - no big deal). Pretty sure i got the polarity right too: brown is -ve. it's like there's a ground through a big resistor Any thoughts coz I'm stumped? battery is < 1 year old btw

OP here: Re heated seats - Mine were heated: definitely factory, swapped them for some gti leather seats in the end, also heated; plugged right in. The problem with the electric seats seemed to be slop in the mechanism. it was all bolted down correctly be it would shift while cornering. I guess whatever worm-wheel/threaded rod combination there was just wore out. worth knowing if you ever come across one

Damage visable here

No, right on topic my friend. I did contact the dealer, but they don't want anything to do with it, say it was old and sold as seen. As far as I understand it should be servicable for 6 months under the consumer goods act 2015. At this point it's registered letters stating demands then a small claims court battle; it's on my to do list. I have a note from a garage saying 'do not drive, dangerous rust', or words to that effect. I paid with visa debit If anyone has similar a similar experience trying to extract money from a deal, I'd be keen to hear!

Thanks Ken, I'm leaning towards going home to fix the car and driving it back Where in Scotland would one get new stretch bolts? Also the 130 probably needs a ne exhaust. Are these common to other octavias/mkiv platform cars or specific to the 130 octavia (estate)

Thanks for that. There's a fair bit of rust under the 130 I have, the waxoil made it look better than it was when I bought it. The main reason I wanted to go in that direction was the sunroof.... This is what I mean by subframe. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324581338706?fits=Model%3AOctavia&hash=item4b928e2e52:g:cTcAAOSw0fpgfnYS TBH, I'd say a lot of the suspension components could do with being changed, front and rear. Are the sus components common between the 2 models? Wish bones, hubs etc Is the 130 112 PCD wheels as opposed to the 110 on the 110? I have the Haynes manual for the mk1 Octavia, and I wouldn't be afraid to start swapping suspension components but it doesn't specifically say that the manual covers the 130 car.