Former

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. There are people here that will be able to help you (not me on this very probably) but more information will possibly be required. What makes you feel the heater plugs are faulty or that you might have a dodgy fuel filter? More information about your car, history, servicing, maintenance, repairs and driving conditions and the failure to start and later cough and splutter and internment power loss will help. Do you have any warning lights or messages, access to a scan tool or error code reader, know the condition of your battery and connections/cables (you particularly need the battery in good condition if you have starting and/or electrical issues). Guesses could be made for lots of things but you want from yourself and others proper diagnosis.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. In that case stick with it. Our very local weather station reports that in the last 12 months the air temperature has been -5°C (but it does go lower most years) to 40°C but that was a record, 40.2°C IIRC second highest temperature ever recorded in the UK, usually highest we would get would be high 20s to low 30s.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. For the once a year if you are in a country that gets really hot (and cold) I would pay the bit extra and go full synthetic oil for its extra performance and protection should anything else go wrong with the engine, I would always sooner drive the car home carefully than have to call out a breakdown service or be messing about with the car at the roadside (done both enough to last me two lifetimes).

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. ETA: TMB posted whilst I was typing. Front. You can't really see the rear brakes as they are inside the drums. Front do most of the work (along with the tyres). If the brakes feel OK in use then I would wait until the better and warm weather, same with the rust on the wishbones unless I was doing other work there like replacing droplinks as you are in that area working anyway and you get at and around more with some bits removed for replacement. You can test the brake fluid for water content to see if that can wait for better weather to change if required. You are always better to have your brakes and suspension in the best reasonable condition but yours have passed your country's minimum statutory requirements so if they do not vary from this with your use it can wait for better weather if you want to.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Others may know better but personally I would wire brush the worst off both sides but I would not use Hammerite as there are better products around. Some might use a rust converter and then a suitable standard paint(s) rather than any type of anti-corrasion wax or paint like Hammerite. I would use something like Dynax -UB because I am lazy with this sort of thing and do not like anything to do with painting and gluing. but I am not sure how often would be best to reapply it as I never got around to using it. Others will have other suggestions.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Unless you are one of Sweden's entrants for Worlds Strongest Man you may not be having the same effect as the car's weight and movement, the tester probably(?) used a bar to test or the gap was with the weight of the car rested on its wheels/tyres. Personally I do not think that it is a good idea to have the car rocking if it is supported by the jack that comes with the car or just one axle stand. It could be a few things including these and a combination of these and others, a good place to start would be as the tester found and advised. The more parts that are fixed securely and not too worn the better your chances of locating other noises or looseness and/or wear.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. @fabia88 my wife's previous car was a diesel which, as with the Fabia, I rarely drove but a couple of times I filled the tank and used Shell V-Power diesel (or whatever it was called then) and I was impressed with the effect, cloud of silver grey smoke instead of cloud of dense black smoke and particles when booting it off a roundabout to clear the sh1te out of it. I recommend using a couple of consecutive tankfulls (not just a couple of consecutive top-ups) every now and then (at least?) and particularly before and after a service and before and at a MoT. There's also BP Ultimate diesel and may be others but I've only tried Shell and my wife was only keen on low priced fuels then. Particularly with a diesel it's noticeable that the cleaner air and fuel is going into the engine the (relative) cleaner it (appears) at the tailpipe, so you also want to keep on top of air filter changes and cleaning the MAF sensor and changing the engine oil and filter in a timely fashion using good quality oil and filter. Just my views and experience as a driver/cyclist/pedestrian of 45 years.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. This morning I had a reply from the email I sent to Millers Oils Technical at 5 to midnight Saturday. I asked if it mattered if the additive is added to the fuel after the fuel station pump delivery has finished and the vehicle’s fuel tank is full. The reply. - "The short answer is no, putting the treatment in before just aides with the mixing but you can do it after. When you drive the car the fuel will slosh in the tank and mix it that way. Hope this helps."

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Short journeys and low km is usually more wearing than longer journeys and higher km. Driving at say a constant about 100kph in top gear with very little need of braking and accelerating for a longer distance on a motorway/highway will be less wearing on the engine and other components and systems than a short journey and certainly usually city/town stop and go driving. Some say you can multiply city/town stop and go driving by ten to equate to motorway/highway mileage (kilometers). At 5,000km (3,000 miles) I think you certainly want to be changing the engine oil and filter every 12 months, and personally I would be using good quality engine oil and filter for the changes and do them as I described in my earlier post. Also bear in mind the engine is one of the less important items on a car, brakes, steering, suspension, (all three include tyres) safety electrics (lights, wipers, blower motor, etc.). Modern tyres particularly still ages and wear even on ultra low or no mileage particularly if the car is keep outside exposed to the sun and weather. My neighbour's car now does only a few hundreds of miles a year (3-400 km/year) and in 3 years there were cracks inside the tread of the new tyres, the treads were of course barely worn at all.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Yes we're old so know about things like warming the engine and not to just go by the coolant temp gauge, good to have an oil temperature not something you saw on older cars much. I must remember to check this winter but away from the frozen North the oil temp gets up to the 80 and 90+ quicker than I expected with just normal driving. I think the 10k-miles/12-months engine oil & filter change might be too far apart for low mileage and the old "serve" driving conditions use if the car is to be kept for a good number of years. I think I might go back to the 6-monthly changes but that would require me to be motivated to do so which is very difficult as its farting about with cars which I loathe and brings me no joy or satisfaction. I'm not so bad with other people's cars, I cleaned the outside of my neighbours car ('waterless' was 'n' wax) the other day but that didn't take long as I gave it a proper go last month prior to its MoT, might not need doing again until spring if I'm lucky.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. The long clear motorway runs will be good (depending on the overall gearing of the car) but your regular run when clear could also be used to clear the car and have a bit of fun (not stupid driving of course) it's also about the revs and acceleration, have a good volume of air being sucked in and more fuel being pushed through, that can be done at lower speeds than motorway boring cruising. I think cars that with a steering wheel, manual gearbox, brakes, suspension and good tyres should sometimes be driven on B-roads in a way that will exercise them and a small car (and it doesn't need to be a GTi type) can be more fun on these roads than a larger wide-bottomed quicker/faster car. It does wear the engine and car more at those times but it's good to stretch (and test check) the car (when/where safe and OK to do so). The engine's just a big air pump anyway, which also brings me to my other saying, GIGO for computers but its SISO for cars, especially diesel but now also perhaps also more modern petrols. This means having the air filter and induction clean, regular, timely, thorough (possibly only possible if DIY) engine oil and filter changes. I also favor keeping on top of the plugs and cleaning MAF and throttle body when required. Doesn't the Owner's Manual have anything about warming the car up then driving it to clear it out, I thought it had info about short journeys effects (and on the battery), IIRC the Mk1(?) and 2(?) Driver's Handbooks had loads about economical driving, even down to electric use effect on alternator and mpg. As I put I think it takes a couple of tankfulls, not top-ups of the fuels with higher cleaning additives (and octane) to perhaps see (feel) any benefits. For the diesel lot, and perhaps your car but I know even less about GPF, I think a couple of tankfulls before/during MoT and before/after a service might (no printed evidence to give) be helpful. My wife used to say her car felt better after I had used it and we both have felt that the Fabia goes better after it has been serviced. Be interesting to see how you get on, good luck.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Another good point, yes you want to change the oil filter too. The 12 months, or mileage or kilometers travelled, is just a convenient measure of how regularly you could change the engine oil and filter but it does depend on the use the vehicle gets - if it does lots of short journeys, lots of slow city driving, regular use in very hot or very cold weather, lots of lower speed driving, lots of dust and mud, towing or the car is regularly heavily loaded - then you will need to change the engine oil and filter, and other servicing requirements on the car, more often than every twelve months. This is an understandable mistake to make, plus as put before it depends how much old oil was left in at the change and how accurate the 3.5l fill capacity is. This is also why I put to fill in stages so as not to overfill and you that you might need to top up once, twice or more, at each point you check the level on the dip stick allowing time for the oil to drain into the sump where the dipstick measures from. Better to slightly underfill as you can always top up a bit more and I check again the next day and/or after I have driven the car and top up again if required. Your Owner's Manual (Driver's Handbook) will tell you how best to measure the oil on the dipstick to get the oil to(or just under) the maximum mark on the dipstick - obviously it needs to be the original or correct dipstick for the engine. Following the instructions in your Owner's Manual (Driver's Handbook) what is the oil level on your dipstick now?

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. No problem, it encourage me to amend mine and add gearbox type. Your location can be handy when asking for or giving help - or knowing where to avoid for some in my case. I must admit I didn't quite follow your original post and was going to ask for the info AG asked for but then I thought it better to leave it to someone who knows or has a 2019 car or Fabia because in the four years there are so many differences. Two bits of advice (though some call it other) I always give is to refer to the Driver's Handbook (Owner's Manual) though 2019 seem to be digital(?) and sometimes even more confusing in explanation than earlier paper printed versions. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models Secondly not to let your car battery get too low in charge even if the car starts and your lights seem bright enough and you have no dash warnings the computers do like it and can throw all sorts of unexpected wobbles and then start with lights and warnings. The car use alone isn't always enough to fully recharge the battery (see Owner's Manual) so you can use an appropriate battery charger (see Owner's Manual). The extreme hot weather we had this summer wasn't good for car batteries (or their charging systems) and the effects if not already surfaced will about now and more so as it gets darker and colder. Prevention is better than cure or having issues or waiting for breakdown recovery. I have spread the word, I will get my reward in Heaven (cos I ain't bleeding seen it down 'ere yet). 😄 Have a good 'un.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Bear in mind this is added after the tank was filled, the fuelling process had been completed, how much additive will cling to the side of the filler pipe/tube/neck and how long will it take to transit to the tank. (A fluids engineer would know this from his mental slide rules / tables / reference books.) I've sent an email to Millers Oils as I'll forget to ring them until I remember possibly weeks or months later, I wonder if an office cleaning person will send me a definitive reply. Also bear in mind I've also suggested using nothing more than diesel but perhaps topping up sooner and in dribs and drabs, of course that could add to the cost if the diesel is sold at a higher price than the usual fill up (every week/day/month/whenever).

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. You can also add that info to your car info on your profile (edit profile) and it appears under the name and picture bit on the left of your posts (I've no idea what that bit's called) which can be seen with each of your posts when viewed on some machines with some systems, I've no idea about mobile "smart" phones or devices though. Adding the year to that car info would also help and perhaps that its a Mk3 Fabia for if you post on other model sections also your location, if only UK . So, I see it as (and only for example) - Location: (UK?) Model: Fabia Mk3 Hatch 1.0 TSI (SE 95 5G manual) Year: 2019

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. It could be added at top-ups, it's 1ml per litre but can be used at double dose. There's no information about its dispersal but Millers Oils is in West Yorkshire and can be rang (or emailed) for technical assistance and talk to an actual person. - https://www.millersoils.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/6204-Diesel-Power-Ecomax-Multi-Shot.pdf Even when the tank is full is it really full and if so does the additive just sit on the top, I don't know. If I remember I'll ring Millers Oil next week (of course what ever answer I give here some one/people will say I didn't speak to a technical person, or I've got it wrong or misunderstood (both possible) or that I'm making it up to cover my stupidity or for sake of my vanity, such is the internet). ETA: thinking about it (me 'ead 'urts now) how would you know how much to add until you've finished and the pump tells you how much it's delivered.

So now we know where Liz Trust and Kwasi Kwarteng got there calculations from. Hopefully INV3RSE can see my point, and for some 20 miles can be a day or two of driving or even more, if a single journey was 30, 40, 50 miles or 3, 4 or 5 litres use of fuel that would be a convenient top up point. Despite what my troll has put I didn't put every top up has to be at 2 to 3 litres of use, my point was that 5 litres need not be a minimum. I would have a 5 litre can and fill that and also top up the tank of the car, even if the car only needed 2 or 3 litres. Any stops I would top up the tank from the can as much as possible, rough mpg would be known, even if only a litre or two or three, I'd not want to overfill. When stopping at a fuel station I would top up the car and the can again even if the can or car or both only needed a few litres between them. The quicker the ratio in the tank is brought to safe level or better still 100% diesel the more content I'd be. To me it'd only be like topping up a leaking radiator, I'd do it as frequently as convenient and safe to me, I'd not expect my wife to do the same, but then my wife has never misfuelled whereas I have. If that's extreme I'm sure INV3RSE can decide how far or close he (assumption) wants to be to my extreme.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. If there are benefits to be had and felt wouldn't it be more from the additional cleaning effects rather than octane, would the computers be evening out octane. I thought I'd read (on here) that the (earlier at least) Fabias like the ethanol in petrol. I've not followed the GPF as my last car was 49 years old and I wouldn't want my next car to be too much younger, 90s perhaps at a push, but would the GDF not also benefit, as well as the engine in general from 'cleaner' (my description only) petrol or are the particles the same? As I put I'm unable to experiment with my wife's Fabia.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Yes seeing, and deleting, error codes can be very useful, live data even better. Not telling Grandma how to suck eggs again but as you know the state of the car battery has always been important but with the the more modern cars the state of the battery is even more important, these VWs seem to throw up all sorts of unexpected error codes and warnings. Not that I'm saying it's your present issue. I've no idea how those that only use cars for city or very local journeys are going to fair let alone in the future those that use old cars to fulfill the modern obsession for everything to be delivered even very locally are going to get it done. My wife's 2015 Fabia some days only does journeys of less than a few miles and I don't get to give it any blow-out runs I don't know how the 2019 model would cope with that overall. She only runs it on various supermarkets' E10, well normally, even she has put some V-Power in when near or passing the station that had it at such good price (you hope it's genuine!) but not enough or repeated to be of any real advantage. Once I got her to put in a (7/8ths) fill up (Esso Supreme) with the intention of me being able to do a few blow-out runs but it didn't happen as I didn't need the car.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Bear in mind the pumps may say something like 5 litres minimum but I can assure you you can use less so you don't even need to wait for 5 litres use, every time you add more diesel you are increasing its ratio and decreasing the ratio of petrol. If you're worried about this use a pay at pump then there's no cashier to debate with if you're worried about that. A couple of months ago I bought 2 or 3 litres (or even perhaps less I forget) of Esso Synergy Supreme+ as it's ethanol free to put in my neighbour's lawn mower to save me having to clean out the water and rust again, paid at the pump, no minimum charge, no additional charge on the card either. An alternative is to prefill a 5 litre can and top up your tank with that and keep refilling it and the car when the can is empty that way you will always draw at least 5 litres from the pump.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Don't just rely on fault codes or the lack of them, the computers programs rely on parameters, you have your own computer which works on parameters too, your senses, knowledge and experience can tell you when there's something not quite right you don't want to dismiss this just because the computers don't give a fault code or give a code that seems unrelated. It's been proven that VW, and others, computer programs shouldn't be fully trusted. 😉 😄

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. As I've found on here some people don't get the concept of the "Italian tune-up" and think it means driving like a lunatic and/or thrashing the car to death so it takes a lot of explaining and a professional would be at risk if a customer misunderstands and blames them for something stupid they do and/or any damage to car or otherwise. I've been on both sides, being a member of the public of course and trying to help customers with advice of what they could try for themselves for free and sometimes the saying "no good deed goes unpunished" is correct so it makes you selective or hesitate to offer that type of advice. Here's some advice you can't punish me for whether you take it or not - I've no idea what fuel Sainsbury's use but its the cleaners you also want, in my old car I often and frequently used the higher octane fuels for the additional cleaner additives and it seemed to work very well judging by the condition of of the carbs when I took them apart and how the car ran when using them. Try Tesco Momentem, Shell V-Power, Esso Synergy Supreme+, Jet Ultra, Texaco Supreme, BP Ultimate (my least favourite) - all for their additional cleaning additives, you will still be best giving occasional Italian tune-up runs too. Try a couple of tankfuls, and not just a couple of top-ups of a few litres each time, and see if there's any improvement after using a couple of tankfulls. All of those are up to E5 and some, depending on where in the country may be zero ethanol - but I thought I'd read that the Fabia engines, earlier models at least ran well with ethanol(?). Supermarkets don't always sell fuel at low prices now - but the E5 (labelled) fuel will be more expensive than the E10 (usually, a fairly local station had V-Power at less than the cost of Tesco E10 as I discovered when driving by it after filling up at Tescos main store).

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. If you're taking the risk as chimaera has put above also keep topping up the tank with fresh diesel as you use the vehicle to dilute the petrol as much as possible, even 2 or 3 litres at a time (the pumps will supply this small amount but IIRC need about 5 litres for pump delivery to meet accuracy requirements). Petrol is a powerful cleaner so will wash away too much. Better still as Phil886 has put if you have breakdown cover contact them, AA specialise in this DAHIK.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Good point. But my English is not that good either. 😄 The thoroughness - [care and attention to detail] of the oil change can be as important as the frequency/regularity/timeliness - [how often / how regularly / when required, not left for later] especially when using oils that meet the specifications and no more. - [oils that are good enough to meet the minimum specification but do not offer additional protection and stay within specification under more heat or cold, and for longer] Hope that helps.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Having an MoT test pass is good, but . . . A lot of people in this country rely on an MoT as a state of health report but this must be put in context, the MoT, here at least, is just to say the car passed a statutory minimum standard to one trained person's opinion at one moment in time only. It does not mean the vehicle is good or as good as it could be, only that it meets the requirements I have just put, and another tester may have a different opinion, and the car could have something that fails the test at any point after the test. Over recent years the UK MoT test has become stricter and more comprehensive but it still remains that a car that is far from its best can pass, obviously it shouldn't have major issues, that are tested for, but there is some much on a car to perform below par and to go wrong. The testers are trained but they do not have x-ray eyes and have many limitations in what they can check and have to check. Here a car can pass the MoT with advisories that need attention but often some may not be attended to and at next year's MoT they may not be mentioned yet remained the same with no attention give between MoTs or the same advisories show again. Long and short of it, in the UK at least, there can be over-confidence in a car having an MoT, some people think it means nothing needs attention until the next MoT.