Former

There will be bottles around elsewhere for a few years yet, as long as they're not say five years since bottling and you give the bottle a little shake and settle before use it'll be fine, obviously the fresher the better, date printed on neck of bottle. I'm sure Castrol will has a replacement for it as they usually do, might be a different name, label, bottle as in the MG Owner's Club link I gave you it shows two different bottles. The manual gearbox oil I used I could follow back to the 1980s, it was red then (red dye added for the new 5-speed boxes Ford and Vauxhall were using at the time. I take little notice of their database, they play it safe and seem to go for what the likes of VW tell or dictate to them but I did look at their site and used their look up and saw they put the TRANSMAX MANUAL FE 75W labelled as 75W but I thought as you live in a warmer place the 75W90 would be better for you, from the same site, note the image of the bottle which is same as the alternative image on the MG Owners club oil site. - https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home/car-engine-oil-and-fluids/driveline-fluids/manual-transmission-fluids.html#tab_transmax-manual-multivehicle-75w-90 I've been going to the MG Owner's Club brick headquarters in Swavesey since the earlier 1990s of and on and know a few people their since then and they knew and interacted with the multi-marque classic and sportscar car club I've been a member of since 1997. They also do a ten year life coolant that would frighten you as it will find any weeps or leaks your car has, they took over the contract for it a few years back, I've bought gallons (well 5 litre containers) of the stuff over the decades for old and brand new cars.

Hi, welcome, Most probably there was either another leak, or he's left a leak or another leak and/or he didn't refill the system correctly. It depends where he drained from, 3 litres would be nowhere near enough for a full drain down and refill. With a 2015 car you might as well drain out as much existing coolant as possible so that it can be replaced with as much fresh new coolant as possible/practical. Depending on your engine he's supposed to refill the coolant under pressure to get it full first time otherwise it might get an airlock. Once the expansion tank is empty it's difficult to guess how much coolant is actually left in the systems and how much might be required to fill it without taking hoses off to see and guess. Even without a pressure fill it's not difficult to refill just takes time, patience, coolant and the engine running. If you have an actual gauge with needle (rather than digital/virtual) then this is designed to bias to a rock steady 90c even if the actual coolant temperature is an amount above and below this so if you have the oil temperature showing this will confirm if the engine is getting a hotter, but the red section of the coolant gauge means hot not overheating necessarily. You want the heater set to hot to make sure coolant gets in there. HTH. ETA: - P.S. doesn't matter now but you have posted in the 'Diagnostics & VCDS' forum which is about VW scan tool issues and less frequently visited than the 'Skoda Octavia Mk III (2013 - 2020)' forum or even perhaps the 'General Maintenance' forum which deals more with these general matters. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/235-skoda-octavia-mk-iii-2013-2020/ https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/103-general-maintenance/

If you haven't cleaned/flushed the coolant/heating system in 24 years and mixed in additional additive(s) in that time then the cleaning alone could have made almost all or perhaps all of any difference. Changing the coolant every two years then that's at least 12 lots of coolant residue and debris left in from each change,

And unless you are looking down at the lever and shifter plate ,instead of watching the road as you should, you could still change to 3rd instead of 5th from 4th as the shifter plate and gear lever have no say in what gears you select Get the shifter plate positioned just wrong and/or slots not long enough and the lever could pull out of gear on the overrun or a bumpy or sudden bump in the road. The plate would be for show without real practical use, it won't stop you from doing a wrong gear change.

If you want Castrol then go for this one next time. - https://classicoilsshop.co.uk/castrol-syntrans-75w90 Castrol Classic Oils are run by the MG Owners Club in the UK. I used the equivalent Castrol Systrans for manual gearbox in the 5-speed Ford Type 9 in my MG Midget and I found it to be noticeable better, at least when first filled, very good for cold weather when the gearbox was still cold. ETA: removed photo as bottle might be different in Greece.

And/or carry your own windscreen washer diluted fluid in a small spray bottle and cleaning microfibre cloth(s), that what I used to do for the bugs om the very upright windscreens of "classic" cars.

You must factor in the partial cleaning of the cooling/heating system.

Good news. Mileage is only a guide there are many variables that could mean earlier changes could be better, low mileage town/city driving being one example. Most/all? car mechanics and car engineers will tell you your impressions are all placebo. The oil you put the photo up for, a Castrol long life, would be a a basic quality nothing wrong with it but they and other do better for not much extra cost or even less cost depending on when you buy. The one you bought if like in that photo is previous labelling so hopefully you might have got it at a lower price.

Good idea to find out why it jammed or burnt out just in case it wasn't the fault of the motor - but D.FYLAKTOS would never trust this one again even if it could be repaired,

I best not put what I think about Chinese goods and their enablers.

You can't always drive exactly like that, or want to, but just following the principles will help with general driving and save a bit of petrol perhaps. Eco setting on my wife's car is +5psi but I've no idea about Aus as from past communications from Aus drivers their tyre pressure they run sometimes seem high or very high compared to UK but the tyres and roads and surfaces may be very different. Start with the pressures the car has on it, standard or Eco and see how they go, pressure readings need to be taken when the tyres are 'cold' (usually first thing in the morning before the sun starts to heat things up too much and with a reliable and accurate pressure gauge often the ones on pumps and in garages can be unreliable. Wow those dial gauges make me seasick just looking at them in your post, so many bright colours so busy and congested, to me more PlayStation than real life (not that I've ever used PlayStation), I'll leave it to others that know the controls and buttons on your model to set the displays. But I will point out that having the oil temperature on display is a good idea until you learn about when it will get to fully warmed running temperature, see your owners manual for normal running temperature, the oil wants to be at about 90c to be fully warmed. Depending on your winter temperatures, short journeys particular in winter may not get the oil fully warmed to about 90c and thaat's not ideal or particularly good. In previous models with actual gauge and needle coolant temperature dial the dial was biased set to show a rock steady 90c even though the actual temperature could be an amount either side of this and moving up or down - I don't know if this is the case with your digital display. The digital oil temperature on my wife's 2015 Fabia does go up and down. 1973 model, some bits of it were from that year still. I was driving this as an 'everyday' car as it was my only car until a couple of years ago for the previous 16 years and for club events, tours and holidays in the UK and parts of Europe (and never carried a spare wheel, or jack and brace, just a manual footpump). I did fit a modern fully electronic distributor as soon as it became available for my model and had to fit an electronic indicator flasher unit for the LED indicator bulbs, old cars have small light, you need to be seen (and see) on the road. If you're interested, this was done by my neighbour for his website just out of Covid lockdown in the UK, hence the "lockdown locks" (unruly hair) on a s/h Go-Pro cheap copy camera and free editing software. To turn the heater on or off you stop the car, open the bonnet and turn the tap on or off, using your sleeve if the engine was already hot, the heat was very good for a small cabin but was either on or off and nothing really in between so the passenger particularly could have hot feet and/or warm head if the footwell flaps were closed depending on if the hood was up or down. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GWowHiIktA&list=PL7v-I2NzS0sRip1E9JWAlrxAl-bEmJqyM&index=7

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This is the UK, we pay the motor trade to swing their boot toecaps into our meat and two veg. 😆 OBD2 is a move on from OBD (1s) not always entirely separate what can be read and programmed depends on the car's systems, the garage used a bit of initiative, knowledge experience and it worked so a good result. We tried to be inventive with a mate's 2004 folding roof using some 2005 various makes and models but it was specialist German stuff so we failed but we didn't feel bad as two previous specialist garages had also failed previously, once these things stop communicating there's nothing you can tell it to do, back to the older physical stuff and hoping.

@LuxoviaRS the video Stonekeeper put up covers it, though I'd disagree about the Eco setting for the tyres as the extra 5 psi tyre pressure on my wife's Fabia seems to give less rolling resistance (the car rolls along easier and further, noticeable with foot off accelerator) so foot can come of accelerator sooner, downside is harsher ride and less handling. He did have an unusual drive so about as good as it could be for economical fuel driving. If he had a dial to show the PS or horsepower needed or used at various points I'm sure you'd be surprised how low it would show on that journey with mild acceleration, no real steep and long rising slopes/uphills, very few electric items on, just the driver (as he said weight does make a difference for accelerating), aerodynamic as reasonably possible. You would be especially surprised at the figure at 50mph on the straight level road without accelerating, a very small fraction of what you have available.

I didn't start driving until the 1970s, I took my test as soon as I could when I was 17 in 1977 but I had to drive old bangers which were cars that were 10-15 years old, back then cars weren't as long lasting generally and unlike today where a 10-15 year old car can be pretty decent they weren't then, if you kept them a year or two more that was it. All the rear-wheel-drive cars had power steering, it was the accelerator pedal. 😁 You never noticed the steering was heavy because the cars were much lighter and had smaller, narrower (more sensible) wheels and tyres and generally large steering wheels - until it came to tight kerbside parking then you could build up a bit of a sweat if you'd fitted low-profile wide tyres like 185/70r13 on 5" wide wheels. The only tip my IAM mate gave me was to go on the high performance day as I already drove a car that he saw as high performance, I thought high performance was Fezza and Lambo, the other mate wasn't an instructor off the clock, and I'd known both well before, during and after them being instructors and how they both actually drive on the road. 🙂 On club events as a passenger I've been out on the normal roads sometimes showing track instructors, or one-time a magazine test driver, the route, these guys drive so smoothly you have to look at the speedo to realise the speed (all within the law) they could maneuver the car on the road, the test driver was so serene he seemed almost asleep and barely moved but out maneuvered the supercars (we didn't have hypercars in the club then), we were in an excellent handling British made car though. When you have been driving cars without driver aids and convenience applications for decades through all sorts of weather and conditions you learn to adapt more, without the safety devices and crash and crumple zones to avoid accidents more as they can hurt wallets, bodies and minds and thus you learn more about the need for driver maintenance of the vehicle. Until a couple of years ago I was driving a car that didn't even have electric relay switches let alone electronic drive aids, the model before didn't even have a cabin or boot light, parking wipers and headlight flasher were novelties 😄 - yet somehow I survive late last century and 2020s traffic easily.

Just remembered something, if it wasn't you just ignore it - surely you don't have to use flaps of plastic on the steering wheel to change gear can you not also use the gear stick Though I admit 20+ years ago the up/down, +/- markings wit the lever for gears always confused me and I wanted to do the opposite, then I was told, at the time (different car to a VW) it was just a switch the lever touched and I could just turn the switch to sort my confusion, oh, the days of simplicity, but I just left it in auto as that was good enough for me in that vehicle.

Thanks. Oh, so modern (looking at least). 🙂

That's same as my wife's 2015 Fabia, was the port black plastic with 16-pin holes and tucked up behind dash or in a fixed position?

Well that confirmed what the others thought and proved me wrong then, still worth doing in my mind as a reset for the rest of the computer stuff. Not sure if you'll find a cheap scanner that covers 1998 and airbag but I don't know that for sure. I suggest looking on that list/map that I put a link to as anyone on it with the correct program for a 1998 I bet has and knows how to reset airbag light but you may be fed up with my suggestions. 🙃

Thank you for replying, don't worry about being defensive, I didn't think you were. Sorry about confusing you, lets put it this way, if you are only interested in fuel economy then on the highway using cruise control will be steadier on the throttle so would probably be better, in city or town traffic if it can be used then automatic cruise control would probably be smoother on accelerator and brake and possibly/probably be better fuel economy. If you want to learn to drive more, get more driving confidence and learn to drive economically then driving the car yourself using the gears if required is the way to go. You may thing you are consistent with your foot but unless you are very good but you might be making small movements on the accelerator, you can test this by having the digital speedo set and instant fuel display and doing comparison tests on a same stretch of uninterrupted road conditions with ACC or CC and note the differences in the figures. I'll be honest and say I thought you had a manual gearbox (assumption, not thinking, bad memory) and I can understand for ease leaving everything to the DSG and driver aids including automatic cruise control and cruise control but that is the car taking over even more of the driving than it already does and I can't see how that will teach you more about driving the car and driving generally. DSG is about better or perhaps quicker changes as that was it's original feature possibly before you were driving, or that's my memory from the Audi drivers of the time, others than me will know better the advantages and history. Gear selection is a different matter, you as a human can read the road ahead better and you know what you want to do the car's computers are working on very limited input in comparison and only deal with things in the immediate area and not always correctly, just like humans it makes mistakes and has brain-farts. Also not to give you the wrong idea, I'm not a very good driver and have never claimed to be, plenty of evidence of that on this site alone, and the only real further driving training I've had is a high performance car day course driving my car with instructor on the road (closed track part got cancelled which I was quite happy about) and I had a mate that took the IAM course and became an instructor, I also have another mate that was a driving instructor for his delivery company, When I started driving I was using old-bangers from the 1960s which you had to learn to drive and not just pass the driving test and until recently for 30+ years I was driving various 1960s and 70s old cars as daily drivers, for commuting (500 and 300 miles a week for a good number of months), for work, for tours and holidays in the UK and parts of Europe. I also owned and drove some very basic powerful cars for leisure and pleasure, cars you had to drive without any electronic aids. But I'm not a very good driver just have those experiences.

ETA: found this on this site, it looks like the OBD (not 2) connector socket might well be a hidden dangly thing, 16 pin-sockets with only 3 or 4 connected. - " . . . RHD car, it's under the dash on the right-hand side, placed vertically just behind the edge of the dash that's furthest forward (looking towards the front of the car). If you put your head where your feet are when you drive and look up, you'll see it." - from djaychela formerly of this parish. HTH.

Just remembered this - IIRC(?) (or I might have misremembered or dreamt it, never sure nowadays) OBD ports had to be within x inches cm of the steering(?) wheel(?), as with most things on a car it'll probably be black plastic against other black or dark coloured plastic, may be hidden just for fun. I'm almost sure this has been covered on here before but can't remember the resolve and it might have been for LHD, D.FYLAKTOS might have put up a drawing IIRC so don't moan too much at him. 😄

I should have also added don't forget to turn you headlights (and any other electrics) off before you reconnect the battery (pos first, neg last). If any warning lights are on start the car and go for a short ride, as put you will have to drive the car further for things like throttle body. If this doesn't clear the airbag light fair enough but resetting the electronics can help with unknown and unnoticed previous computer systems brain-farts so can be a good thing in other ways, from the old "try turning it off 'n' agen" if computers and their programs were as good as some make out the turning off and on again wouldn't work but as you may have learnt or at least heard it's often necessary and a solution. Your computer made it through the millennium bug it deserves looking after a bit. 😆 If you want I can find the video for the battery trick on a later VW or BMW, just ask, I don't have them saved now.

I wasn't going against this just making another point. I live in the middle of the country but have driven all over, I have only ever used what's now called summer tyres in all places in all seasons and weathers but I've not used over weight / wheeled / tyred modern cars. My point was more that people seem less prepared now to adjust their driving to the prevailing conditions, be it summer or winter, summer tyres or winter or all-seasons tyres, they rely too much on the driver and safety aids built into the car to keep going at the same speeds regardless of conditions. Now we know the tyres themselves don't have all these electronic aids and just obey the laws of physics but many don't seem to and are more interested in playing around with the infotainment, following the ****Nav without question, talking on the phone, taking a photo of something or themselves, or possibly all four.

@LuxoviaRS I'm not sure if you're taking the **** (owned vehicles for 25 years) but assuming you're not, I think we posted before because I wondered why you'd have a VRS, my memory isn't the best. if you switch off the automatic cruise control and drive the car yourself you will learn how to think ahead more, with more practice will come more confidence, it's OK not to be overconfident that way you avoid mistakes and accidents. You can still leave the gears to change themselves if you want just learn pedal(s) control and looking ahead to see what is happening and what you want and need to do about it. Movements need to be steady, no hard acceleration or braking, no point racing ahead a few yard to be right on the rear bumper of the car in front. Tuning aid was a bad term, tuning generally is to do something to improve the performance of the car, more mpg and/or, first part of any tuning is to have the whole car running right with full and proper servicing, maintenance and repairs of the whole car (not just the engine), often this is sufficient tuning but some may want more. Next step, and actually best, is further driver training to learn how to drive better on the road, this will include smoother steadier driving that will help with the driver's and car's performance (thus in my mind an aid to tuning the car). It would also boost confidence. There would be overall courses and those for city and country roads driving, I'd be surprised if Aus doesn't have them, only as one example here's one UK one, "the UK’s largest independent road safety charity, formed in 1956". - https://www.iamroadsmart.com/