Former

(I've not read the thread so this may have already been covered.) In that case could you not just extended the sealing with a tube, plate, compressible trunking or extended or another seal, something to fill the gap and seal the passage of incoming air from above the bonnet?

Have you had the bonnet up when the noise is going to see it you can get a better idea of location, careful use of a (improvised) stethoscope device perhaps or do a recording of the noise. Noises can be hard to track down, I've a couple of ideas but they could be total guesses. A scan tool reading may give you more information. Have you checked the car battery at the battery posts with a multimeter to see what it's state of charge is (relating to the alternator perhaps. What is the history of the car, it's service and maintenance and use. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

If it's not too late have a look on following link. - Briskoda VCDS Owners Map (click me)

If Tedwood is happy then that is fine and good for him as the car is 8 years old some parts can be expected to go faulty on a 2015 car from the likes of VW, that's just how it is, it's not an old(?) Toyota or Honda or even an old VW. Car manufacturers make a lot of money with replacement parts so you can see the incentive to have the parts last beyond manufacturer's warranty but how much after is a different matter. On my wife's 2015 Mk3 and the one featured in the video to me it seemed the grease used had become too thin, or perhaps too much was applied at manufacture of the part, for whatever reason the part seemed, to me, to be not built correctly with the grease used or applied. Often heard the jokes about Lucas electrical parts but I know of original parts still functioning on cars from 50, 60, 70+ years later. The stalk is still working on my wife's 2015 Mk3 after my 'repair' nearly two years, well so far. 😄

Sorry no idea, you might have to look on the bulb holder of the light units, numbers are now usually P something for incandescent bulbs now, e.g. 382 = P21W, 380 = P21/5W. Unless you buy "heavy duty" or a good make at a good price, standard replacement incandescent bulbs can be crap and need testing before fitting as they may not work out of the box or fail because of storage vibration if kept in the car. I've found the VW computer program can be very sensitive and put up the amber triangle of doom for a bub that seems fine yet not indicate for one clearly off colour - but perhaps the German computer engineers have resolved this by 2022. If you find out report back please for future reference of others.

Excellent MPG, well done. And the car is just about spot on with mpg too. 13.96 litres divided by 4.546 = 3.07 gallons, 228.1 miles divided by 3.07 gallons = 74.3 mpg.

Right, thanks, so the XL not just for the extra weight of German cars and additions to VRSs and Monte Carlos but to reinforce the rubber band 40s against 105ps, plenty of margin for enthusiast owners. 😄 Wonder if someone retired early after setting up that supply deal, I'm surprised they didn't make them dedicated with code letters added and only that make and code of tyre to be fitted.

I think you might be getting a bit mixed up with sizes because of the silly mix of imperial and metric. The wheel rim width (in imperial) may well be show on the inside side of the wheel. XL tyres and normally for extra load, heavier vehicles perhaps load carrying passengers or commercial loads like vans, can be small car sized vans. Some links to perhaps help explain. https://www.performancealloys.com/tyre-sizes-information https://haynes.com/en-gb/tips-tutorials/beginners-guide-wheel-sizes https://tiresize.com/comparison/

As we know some owners prefer to swap from the fashion of oversized wheels and tyres, from the factory or option when new or previous owners changes, to smaller sizes to be more functional on real world roads and often give better comfort. Not everyone realises that the larger wheel and tyre size is often just fashion and that there are alternatives if they want them. Those that want the fashion sizes will stick with them and ignore any information that they can do otherwise. The other week I saw a male Estate Agent wearing some shoes with really long pointed toe (cap) and thought it must be some extreme style but a couple of days later I noticed a bloke on telly reading the news had some and the bloke doing the weather so it must be the latest fashion for shoes I expect which is fine but these shoes wouldn't be very functional in other professions. I can remember wearing stupidly wide shoes when I was young (though the fashion suited me as I have wide feet anyway). 😄

Sorry I didn't mean to suggest you were neglecting your car rather that I don't care to give my wife's car any more of my attention than really necessary (to my thinking). Until last year I was using various "classic" (over-priced and over-valued old) cars as daily use for 30+ years so very used to the full and more regular and frequent servicing and maintenance so find what Dealerships call full servicing to be a bit scant. A word of warning the replacement dampers that the Dealership fitted to my wife's car would have failed an MoT at an independent garage for "leaking" at less than 12 months old but after arranging for their under warranty replacement at the Dealership it was found unnecessary as they were only "misting" and the car passed the Mot at the Dealership without even an Advisory for the "misting" dampers. A neighbour's 20+ year old Toyota Yaris is still on factory dampers and so is a mate's Supra. The car still has a creak after the new dampers were fitted it seems a common issue even when owners have replaced lots of parts chasing it. For full service has, your car had the air filter, spark plugs, coolant, gearbox oil, brake fluid changed as I'm used to 30+ years of using "classic" (over-priced and over-valued old) cars as daily transport I'm used to a lot more servicing and more frequent and regular than the modern Dealerships and things like annual lubrication of hinges, cables and such, I even do some of it on the VWSkoda Fabia (when I can be bothered).

Zooming in on the photo the cracks appear to be in the algae - whether this is reflected in real life using a magnifying glass or brush cleaning I can't know. My wife's car looks not a lot better than yours after I cleaned it - but I don't care as I cleaned it for function rather than appearance, when (if) I can be arsed I might try clearing the seals more thoroughly at a later time before next autumn and winter.

On my wife's UK Mk3 Fabia we tried running at ECO pressure but found it too hard (on 185/60 r15 tyres) so went back to 2.1. Inside the fuel filler flap are the Skoda recommended pressures. You need to check the tyre pressures when the tyres are "cold" and use a gauge that is reasonably accurate, different gauges may give different readings so best to stick to one to use and it is not usually those on pumps or possibly at many petrol stations and garages in my experience, or the staff are slap-dash with their use. For decades I have carried a manual foot pump and separate accurate pressure gauge in the boot of my cars (most times instead of a spare wheel and jack and brace but that upsets some so much, my choice I survived 30+ years like it). The XL on your tyres may give a firmer feel to the ride. It' is best to change tyres in sets of twos (for same axle) or better still in sets of four (usually means rotating the tyres to get more even wear front to rear). Consult your Owner's Manual for tyre rotation, if you do not have the paper printed copy you can get a fee pdf download from VWSkoda. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models In the UK we have business that specialise in selling and fitting tyres that can also repair them.

I finally got around to cleaning that seal only the other day on my wife's car's front windows and lubricated the door frame seals as the electric window mech was moaning about having to work harder. I'm not sure those seals would be the cause of condensation in the car, more likely are things like towels in the car that can hold moisture or damp or wet towels from taking the dog out or other things that cause wet or damp items to be left in the car. or just the condensation of the car. I've just removed two Pingi dehumidifier bags that we use when it's not summer as the car is always outside. Along with using a few old tooth brushes on that seal to clean it (dry then with GT85) the following video shows cleaning and lubricating, I prefer to use GT85 as it has PTFE rather than silicone, some don't like to get silicone on to paint but if you spray the silicone on to a cloth away from the car you shouldn't get any overspray or airborne spray on to the car (all too much farting about for my limited car patience). - Whatever the cause I've noticed the last x-number of years the winters are milder and damper and there's more algae and moss about where we live than previously and we live at the top of a hill where it's usually reasonably windy.

CJZC / CJZD shows as 22Nm - but as always double check and cross reference any information you get from any source especially the internet. I'm not sure how many average DIY (or garage?) used torque wrenches would be reliably accurate/precise at 22Nm anyway, I know I wouldn't trust my cheap torque wrench to be that accurate/precise if I was concerned I'd borrow a mate's professional use torque wrench that gets tested every year but some can set up their own at home anyway to at least be accurate at one amount. I'm not a mechanic or engineer or expert in anything just personally I'd leave them unless they cause any issues or you just can't have a peaceful mind in which case replace them with new spark plugs. One example of what's on the internet on the subject but unless you know your torque wrench is spot on at 22Nm it's all a bit ball-park anyway. - https://www.aftermarketnews.com/the-importance-of-proper-spark-plug-torquing/ " . . . dead on balls accurate" -

Are you sure you mean ft-lbs and not Newton Metres. NGK for my wife's car's plugs has 15-20Nm "torque dry thread". My personal opinion, as a general rule of thumb when comparing Japanese with German engineering go with Japanese 11 times out of 10, having put that I don't know who own NGK now..

Thing is how much are you going to use the car in the next week or so against how much coolant continues to disappear, if slow you can keep topping up but if quick it depends how quick and what it might lead to. A coolant leak isn't good on any car but a 2020 car, 3 years old, is concerning. Coolant loss is usually a leak to ground or through engine. The days of needing to carry coolant (water) should be many decades back with old bangers or "vintage", "veteran" or old poorly maintained "classic" cars. Keep topping up as required and keep an eye on the coolant gauge (if fitted) or oil temperature if not and check they don't go above what you normally see For the sake of a week or so I'd nurse the car along not over stress i or get it too warm, thrifty driving without labouring. Good luck.

Hi Janet, welcome. That, AFAIK, looks like the air inlet to the engine so needs to be enclosed otherwise the air isn't fully getting to the engine. Only as an example. - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144679434624 AFAIK nothing inside, it's a scoop to get the air from outside (under bonnet) into the engine via the air filter, which needs to be reasonably clean, you want clean (as possible) air going into the engine, through it and out of it and the exhaust (petrol and especially diesel). Again as an example. - https://workshop-manuals.com/skoda/octavia-mk2/power_unit/2.0/103;_125_kw_tdi_cr_engine_(1st_generation)/fuel_preparation_system_diesel_injection/intake_manifold_air_filter/removing_and_installing_air_filter_housing/?utm_content=expand_article For future enquiries you're probably best to post in the Skoda Octavia Mk II (2004 - 2013) section of this site. If you read and refer to the Owner's Manual for your car you will then know more about it than many long term owners and some at garages, if you don't have the paper printed copy you can download from VWSkoda for free a pdf version from the following link. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models And here are some very helpful videos that cover somethings in the Owner's Manual. -https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHH-B9onXpOqSbufztgrEsE0U-QjwooWU

In the angle of your photo the reservoir looks empty wot ain't not good. VW fart about with what coolant they want at any particular time but may be on G12 Evo for 2020 and/or at the moment (unless they've changed their minds again). IF the reservoir is below minimum or empty on a 2020/1 car, or any year, that's not good you need to find out why and get it sorted. Sorry you've lost me with local dealer is 10 miles away and not local, if required I'd do a 20-mile round trip to get that sorted before it progresses to anything worse.

A VW suitable scan tool could look for any error codes and look at live data to help with diagnosis. If you don't have access to one you could possibly find someone on the following list that might be able to help you. - Briskoda VCDS Owners Map (click me) This is not to neglect the basics toot has pointed out.

J.R. even you will admit you don't know it all and sometimes you are wrong - and even mistaken alternators types before. The OP I'm sure can decide for himself what he wants to follow or ignore anything anyone puts here, so take a day off, give yourself, and me a rest, and come back even more invigorated another day. 😄 I can also think of a very cheap and easy thing to try without tools and need to remove the alternator - AND - not (directly related to the battery 😄) outside of your belief system, but the OP has chosen not to go a DIY route whether you - or I - like it, personally I feel it's his choice and he might know better than either of us what's best for him. Now - "Let it go, let it go . . ." no I've never seen Frozen either. As Dave Allen used to say goodnight and let your god go with you. I'm beginning to warm to you again.

So you've learn nothing with recent events and are back to your previous self, this you may feel is good for you, it's not so good for me, leave me to my obsessions and you stick to yours - we will never see eye to eye so as they have it in Frozen "Let it go".

Can't help with that - but - the battery and alternator do work as a team and if one's not doing enough it makes the other work harder so both wear the other. As the car is recent to you you can't know (unless you do?) how much the car battery has been used and abused. A 2018 car possibly uses more electric than you realise and the battery can have a hard life, VWSkoda only expect 5 years for a battery anyway, less I'd imagine for newer models Because of this some have gone back to helping the battery with a battery charger and maintainer as happened many decades back. The computer programs in the car don't like a battery that's is in a low state of charge and health and can start to throw up all sorts of unexpected issues even before warning lights and messages and the car still starts and the exterior lights seem bright still. I prefer to recharge a battery and get more reliable and longer life out of it but in your case you need to change the battery if it isn't holding charge and this will help your alternator and might help with the noise. Let us know how you get on with changing the battery and if it helps or solves the noise. If not I know what I'd try but you may prefer to leave things to your mechanic.

I think your mechanic might be thinking of the code for the particular battery which isn't on batteries now you just do as varooom's helpful 'How to adapt a new battery' thread. Below is the example from my wife's car where like many others the factory didn't bother with the code and just put ten ones (1111111111). A site member 'coded' the new battery for me using an OBDEleven from a phone for a beer token. The battery was changed from a (Moll) EFB type at 59Ah to a (Bosch brand label) AGM type (called Fleece by VW) at 60 Ah and battery code (serial number) from 1111111111 to 1111111112.

Only put the other day on here that I sometimes see an original 1970s Hillman still in use on local roads. As with the Hillman the state of health and charge of the car battery is very important but more so with modern cars and their computer systems, especially so with German marques with their complex intertwined systems. It's my hobbyhorse so there's loads of posts on here from me about the importance of the battery. Whether the battery is the cause here or not as with the Hillman if the battery is in a good state of health and charge it will help with diagnostics and sorting starting and electrical issues which is why I've (very) often suggested, if required, the battery is fully recharged using an appropriate battery charger and maintainer. Personally I've found low and slow recharging to be best but many don't have the time or patience so I suggested doing it in stages if required until the battery is fully recharged. Many seemingly strange issues have been sorted by recharging or (sometimes prematurely) replacing the battery, there are loads of posts and threads on here to support this but whether it will for you I don't know but often it's the first thing I suggest and if required it will help. For voltage check, use a multimeter on the battery posts a good few hours after the car has been parked up, allow say a drop of 0.2V for the computers doing whatever they do so if you get a reading of 12.1V it might be 12.3V, at that or below I'd fully recharge the battery. Let us know how you get on. One of the main problems with "classics" now can be the quality of modern made replacement (or "upgrade" or "improvement") parts.