nta16

As said that is a bit of work and may be totally unnecessary. The sniff test is not a good name or description for non-UK and what actually happens. You can get small test kits off eBay (and other places that test for combustion gases in the coolant, either litmus test strips or liquid test kits, just as one example. - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123735248113 You can also read up on symptoms but these are not always that obvious particularly on an engine that might not be fully set up correctly - but your engine might be set up reasonably or well, we do not know. Best is to get your dad to explain and show you how to do cylinder compression tests on the engine. With an old (or any car really) car you should always have all electrics (other than safety ones) switched off if the engine is not running and not turn them on until the engine is running. A good routine to get into is to turn all electric (except safety) items off before you turn the engine off and certainly before you get out of the car. When you get into the car and seated, turned the ignition on, but do not start the engine, check all the warning lights are on that should be and those that go out do go out, whilst you are doing this you can put your seat belt on. Once you have your seat belt on check the handbrake is on and car out of gear and start the engine. When you have started the engine do not turn any electrics item on yet (especially radio and phone) but instead listen, look. smell, feel, the engine and car for anything unusual, if all OK drive off. I am not sure about your present wiring, if there was a three pin fan switch fitted before and you have replaced it with another three pin switch assuming the correct part was fitted, when it was not, that is one issue that might explain the joined wiring but if it was a two pin before it is more of a mystery to me. The radio and phone added items are another area I would check. You may not need to get a new battery. If you check the existing battery has electrolyte (acid) "water" covering fully all six cell plates and the plates do not look too damaged or buckled that battery, top up if required before recharging, older cars give more chance for the battery to be recharged to give more useful life (subject to the wiring being correct and not draining the battery unnecessarily. You best to use a suitable charger (maintainer) with low not high amperage or setting, 2-amps, 3-amps, 4-amps, certainly not more than 6-amps for your 62 Ah battery. The lower and slower the recharge then, for want of better words and description, the deeper and longer lasting the recharge, this could take many hours, probably overnight perhaps longer depending on how low the battery is and charger amperage. Car batteries are one of the most oversold car parts, often prematurely replaced as "distress sales" as with you now, preventative charging before they get too low will give much better and longer life. Neglect of battery is the number one reason for breakdown call outs in the UK. Some notes if you want them, some of the information varies and expands the between the links, some obviously is repeated. Best check your car battery now - (why?) [ summer ] - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/506654-best-check-your-car-battery-now-why/#comment-5688832 Car battery, now is the time to check it [ winter ] - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/499006-car-battery-now-is-the-time-to-check-it/#comment-5598720 flat batteries on the first working day of each year - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/519903-flat-batteries-on-the-first-working-day-of-each-year HTH.

£1300 let alone £820 sounds very cheap to me for a 245PS VRS for someone in their early 20s given some of the figures other youngsters quote, IIRC 21 and 25 years old are thresholds now for age but of course there are many other variables that affect the premium asked for. As suggested to OP if you are out of pocket and have legal cover on the car policy (previous I think but if you have it on any check) pass it all over to them, or if you have legal cover elsewhere it could include the accident. Are you sure the third party took responsibility and didn't just want the repairs to go through them (through Auxillis), my wife's recent (own fault) claim on her Fabia went through Auxillis including the loan vehicle and everything was done well, all very local too, premium would have went up significantly with Churchill but she changed provider at a less premium and this was just after the accident and before the repairs started. .

Not on this car but another make and model the release bearings (5 in your diagram) were rubbish even from a formerly respected clutch manufacturer, have you still got an original release bearing before these new ones to compare them. I take it you have not altered the clutch cable or replaced it and checked it and connecting parts for full movement and position when the clutch and gearbox were fitted to the car. Did you also check the three parts of the new clutches against the original clutch new parts to see these are all the same and same dimensions, batch faults and packaging faults are not unknown, nor is a supplier listing and sending the wrong parts (all databases/catalogues/websites have errors and omissions) I have has this happen to me a number of times (I have also ordered the wrong part in error),

Might be a couple of reasons for the duplication of threads and if the OP has read until 8th July that covers the replies on the other thread at least. It maybe that the OP's situation and final decision is ongoing so yet to return with resolve but many threads or posts remain unanswered and that's up to the posters, Personally I think it helps to have some sort of reply or acknowledgement - but this is the internet - or perhaps things are just forgotten particularly if many different sources are tried.

ETA: unable to post when typed as I had to help a drunk get home, care in the community. 😃 Hi welcome, The car may not have been driven enough for the computer program to pick up the car now has a (hopefully) fully charged battery. Perhaps, though I've never been able to test this idea of mine, if you connect up an appropriate battery charger maintainer, but first read the Fabia's 'Owner's Manual' and the instructions for the charger before doing so to make sure you're doing it right then the computer program will see the battery is being charged and then is up to full charge. Charge slowly with lower amps (see instructions) not a quick fast charge and up to fully charged then you know your starting point of the battery's state of charge (and health). You are best to get the battery 'coded' then you have reassurance, and at the same time any error codes that are in the computers can be deleted. There are members on here with the correct level scan tool that can give you a full scan report, delete error codes and 'coded' the battery, many for beer tokens, though not all some are professionals, as was done for me, - Briskoda VCDS Owners Map (click me) It is important that the 'coding' is done correctly for the type of battery (EFB) and the Ah figure (or very close) and to change the digit or characters on the "serial number" to show a change of battery the manufacture and actual serial number is no longer of any consequence (as long as it's 10 characters long and different from previous). As merely an example see below from when mine was 'coded' by a Briskoda member from EFB to AGM ("fleece" to VW). The car battery state of charge and health is very important to the car, especially if start/stop is used at the required point preventative charging by suitable distance driving or better still fully recharging slowly as above with a suitable charger maintainer will help particularly if the car does lots of short journeys and periods of lack of use. The computer programs do not like the battery in a low state of charge and will throw up all sorts of unexpected issues and unseen error codes and perhaps warning messages and lights and this can be before the battery warning and the engine still starts and the lights seem bright enough. Even though your battery is new it's still just a store and with the right amount of use / abuse / neglect the store can be depleted, it will be restored better and quicker when new(er) but is still slightly diminish from going too low. Notes for future if you want them. - Best check your car battery now - (why?) - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/506654-best-check-your-car-battery-now-why/#comment-5688832 Now - is the time to check and recharge your car battery - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/499686-now-is-the-time-to-check-and-recharge-your-car-battery/#comment-5607056

I am not saying any are but also never rule out a faulty new part - always test before fitting where possible. What temperature(s) is the thermostat supposed to (start) opening at and switch to operate?

ETA: One-finger typed so I missed latest posts. Other Felicia owners, that have already posted, can help you with wiring diagrams and info on switches and/or you can look at other treads on this forums that cover such subjects. As Thefeliciahacker suggested earlier it may still be worth checking the head gasket as signs of failure are not always immediately obvious and until you know for sure trusting gauges on an old car is not a good idea - but we are only only guessing about a car over the internet (though the photos have already helped). The Owner's Manual is very useful to have and if you have it read it and refer to it when required (it would tell you about a/c and heating/ventilation too). For repairs (allowing for errors and omissions which you get in all publications, including from the vehicle manufacturer, and databases and websites) is there not a Haynes (workshop) Manual available for you, paper printed or downloadable. I do not like the look of the two wires to one (perhaps I am wrong as I do not know the wiring on these cars) but even if I am old and forgetful I have seen enough suspect looking wiring to be suspicious, you can now perhaps see why I put about checking the wiring and the quality of some peoples work. It is also why I put to do the servicing and cleaning, with fresh new coolant and whatever else needs cleaning, fixing, repairing or replacing on the the cooling, heating system, including the engine, it gives you more margin for when things get warmer, hot or overheating, longer running, more chance to get home with less issues. Same for the other engine cooling (other than air) the engine oil, fresh clean engine oil and filter will give more margin and better oil will give even more margin. Same for brakes not dragging or engine labouring or not timed correctly or ignition parts that look OK but are well past their best and may even be faulty, brakes that don't drag in any way, clear exhaust. One thing affects another and can help or hinder. The car looks a very good basis but it is possible for older people with old cars to get poor work done to them and their cars, this may or may not include your car and may only be very minor but until you fully know the car by using it all year round for at least 12 months you want to check everything that was and is done on it, including by yourself or others (even your dad, we all make mistakes, I've repeated many).

Cosmetics are beyond me other than keeping the car clean inside and out (including many years back under the wheels arches, all of the boot, doors and bonnet shuts and the engine bay as much as reasonable). Now I only regularly clean the lights, windows (mirrors) and reflective number plates - see and be seen. I'd have the smallest wheels I could get over the brakes with high profile narrower tyres for comfort and because I like to drive the car rather than the computers driving me. I'm old so used to the least of electrics let alone electronics, safety was seatbelts which I always chose to wear even though it wasn't mandatory for a good few years. For braking improvement (and steering) and improved suspension, grip, handling (ride comfort and noise) better quality tyres are the thing to get when reasonable, As you put I'd expect a VRS to be fitted with good quality pads and discs already, all the fashionable fades with holes and grooves and harder pads does very little in the real world of road driving. Despite EBC being a Northampton family business from the 1960s IIRC I've never used their products as I had a mate that worked for Pagid Performance Braking before the German bosses of the time took the business away from North Yorkshire. As with a lot of things in life tyres and wheels aren't that much about the size, tyres are a very complex and underrated car component by most people (not race and track though) how good the tyre is is about the design, build, composition and compounds - again tread pattern are more a fashion and market/sales thing. Note, I'm old, I don't like the Merc/VWAldi black badges and letters as it just makes me think the chrome finish has come off. 🙃 Best tuning you can do on the car is to have the whole car fully and timely serviced, maintained and repaired (and that not the Dealer/garage/mechanic type of servicing), without that solid basis you can't fully successfully progress. A properly serviced, maintained and repaired whole car can give surprising gains over those that are just serviced and maintained to the Dealership service schedules. Something that is even better tuning and it can be transferred to other cars is further driver training, I don't mean track training stuff but real world driving on our roads (such as they are, you'll learn to drive smoother which will also be, quicker if you want and safer. You want to build up your NCD so you can get it protected and keep your insurance costs down. Not - never get cheap insurance as if you need to claim it can turn out to be very expensive, always get good insurance that fully covers your needs. With the above you can have the start of a bit of a Q-car (well except for the VRS badges and 18" wheels). 🙂 You don't want to worry too much about PS/HP figures ("Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races." as apparently Enzo Ferrari used to say) or numbers on a dash dial it's how a car feels to you, a small very low powered car can be much fun to drive than a very powerful very fast car on the roads, it's all about how it feels to you, whatever you get others have lots more and often less is more. Some mods and "improvements" can turn out to be detrimental and worse than the standard vehicle, that has been proven often. From the little I've seen of FB (I thought that was now for old folk) there are quick questions and quick answers many incorrect as the subject isn't explored or expanded enough, on a forum there's lots more time and space, as my post proves. Others will be along or you can look and/or also ask in the relevant model and year forum on her for your car or the Projects section of that. Good luck.

ETA: I don't know what the bracket in the air vent is for both if it's for any add in electronic or electrics of any kind check that wiring too.

You have what we used to call 4/60 air-con, wind 4 windows down and got at 60 mph. 😉 Whilst on side issues, any wires, cables, hoses that are close to the suspension bracing strut I would over-sleeve to stop any wear from rubbing vibrations. Your radio doesn't look like it was from 1998 so as I mentioned before check the wiring installation of that, messed-up wiring can cause all sorts of strange effects and issues, may not have anything to with the Bosch cooling fan but these things are always best checked.

Car looks very good in your photos. Oil filler cap upside down ! 😆 Any idea what that white plastic female wiring socket, in the engine bay near sub-loom, is for?

Just to remind you, when taking a photo it is generally best if you take it in landscape not portrait as above) as this generally shows more. In this case I see a strut brace that looks newer than the car but I could well be wrong, where strut braces standard to the car from factory?

Are you just looking for fashionable cosmetic improvements or for the (whole) car to go better?

@Felicia98noob a couple of things I can mention now given your willingness for information. A water pump was fitted but do you know for sure it was the correct water pump and installed correctly and is functioning fully and correctly now. Also many modern made parts for old cars can be of poor, ****-poor or abysmal quality (example pump impellors break), not all parts but too many. A 26+ year old car with only 70,000km (44,000 miles) is extremely low mileage so that could be from both very short journeys and periods of total lack of use, cars are not designed for this so the low mileage and use causes issues and problems that a car with more and regular use probably will not have. The car will need regular use in a way that takes the very low mileage into consideration until the issues of that type of use, and age are reasonably sorted. From 30+ years of experience of using various 25 to 50 year old cars as daily use I have found the best way is to carry out a staged 60,000/120,000 whole car service check plus thorough cleaning and replacement of fluids that many, including the car manufacturer say are "lifetime", like gearbox oil, power steering, fluid (dampers were appropriate). Whilst carrying out service and maintenance work and checks you will find and resolve some issues just from this work and checks. All this is done whilst still regularly using the car that will highlight priorities.. And never to assume that any part that has been fitted after the car left the factory is the correct part, is fitted correctly or that it is functioning as it should or fully even if it is working. That experience cost me many tens of thousands of pounds but you have it for free now.

Radiator needs to be clear and clean inside and out. There could restriction(s) to the coolant flow in the radiator, and/or the rest of system, I've even known of rags and paper being left in engines after service work or parts fitted, they can allow some flow though but not enough A rag to cover IRRC cylinder(s) (on a 400cc 4-cylinder Suzuki motorbike engine) by a warranty insisted serviced at sellers caused the need for the engine to be replaced. Have you done head gasket failure tests yet? For burping, from a previous thread. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/511704-glitters-inside-my-coolant-expansion-tank/page/3/#comment-5855095 For my method of thorough cooling/heating system cleaning, you will need to adapt it a little for your car or pick and choose what bits you do and how much.- https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/511704-glitters-inside-my-coolant-expansion-tank/page/3/#comment-5854729

Parts can vary so much from one model and year to others you might need a VIN to be exact but for this try a look at links for perhaps parts description or to see if it's part of an assembly, er, part. Note these usually refer to left hand drive vehicles. https://www.skoda-parts.com/catalog/octavia-3/spare-parts/electrical-equipment/lights/taillights-500.html https://7zap.com/en/catalog/cars/Skoda/Octavia/Octavia (2014 - 2017)/ Or you could try looking and or asking on the 'Skoda Octavia Mk III (2013 - 2020)' forum of this site. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/235-skoda-octavia-mk-iii-2013-2020/ HTH.

Don't believe any paperwork on this before your ownership, check the plugs are newish and of the correct type (and genuine) and have been gapped correctly. Good to have good levels, check the brake fluid isn't too discoloured (certainly not black) and doesn't have a too high moisture content. Engine oil you can't know too much about unless you put in the engine but engine is nowhere near as important as brakes. Good idea on a 10 year old car let alone 25+, same for power steering fluid and of course coolant. That is a lot more than most would do but cleaning and forward and back flushing is better, and for the engine block, and inspecting and cleaning the radiator and heater matrix exterior fins good. I don't think the problems is with cleaning but just in case and for future use see this post I've put before. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/511704-glitters-inside-my-coolant-expansion-tank/page/3/#comment-5854729 The wiring of this potentially could cause all sorts of issues but that depends on how it was done, it might be fine and no issues.

@Felicia98noob with a car that is 25 years old, with the age, use and particularly previous owners there are so many variables that have affected the car to how it is now, with just forum posts usually there are few instant answers, you have been a range of good information but no one has seen your car and are not standing in front of it or driving or passenger seat so can not see, hear, smell, taste, feel or touch your car. Each issue may (or may not) have more than one cause to it too. So normally information is given, questions asked then more information based on the answers given, it's a process of diagnostics from a distance. Doing patch repairs is all well and good to keep the car useable but sooner rather than later full investigation and rectification is required for best outcomes and general reliable use of the car. Doing full and proper servicing (and maintenance) and checks of the whole car, whilst also using the car, will help highlight, find and fix issues sooner which will reduce further issues and problems that exist now or may occur later. Servicing is not just an engine oil and oil filter change, that does not even fully service the engine let alone the whole car. Each part, component or system that is operating at least reasonably will help with other parts, components and systems operation. Much of servicing and maintenance and some repairs boil down to clean and lubricate - that's basically what an engine oil (or other fluids) and oil filter change is and things like deleting error codes is cleaning. An example - but I don't have enough information from your post so may well be wrong - the headlight switch, I take as the column stalk switch to go from full beam to dip beam, this may, initially at least, be sorted with a little spray of electrical contact cleaner (or swich cleaner lubricant) and then using the switch repeatedly as this may clean the contact area if this is problem - anything like this is best done with the battery disconnected particularly on a car you don't know the history of.

22k-miles in say 7 years can bring it's own issues - low mileage, short journeys, infrequent use of a 2016 diesel car generally isn't a good thing for the engine (or possibly other bits of the car). The car and engine really needs more than the minimum annual servicing and maintenance that Dealerships do but some owners don't even carry this absolute minimum on out of warranty period. What is the service history of the car? Have you had the car scanned with an appropriate VW programmed scan tool with a fully up to date program for your model and year and got a report?

Are you sure you can't display this on the MAXI DOT display (between the two large dials, speedo and rev counter)? Have a look in your Owner's Manual of how to do this if it's available.

ETA: by-the-way, hi and welcome. Good photos of the car and the parts where you are having issues might help with resolving them and spot anything amiss - please take these photos in landscape (not portrait) as generally this shows more by getting more in the photos. Is the car standard or has it been modified or had changes or items added, a change or added electrical item(s) can mean someone has messed up the car's wiring or damaged something.

You want to give the whole car a 60,000 km or 120,000 km service/ check. You may need to do this in stages between driving the car. You should start with the important systems first, the brakes, steering and suspension - all three include the tyres - then on to safety electrics (lights, horns, wipers, blower, etc.) and glass (windscreen, window, mirrors) last should be trivia like the radio. Having a good battery in good state of connection (and secured in place) and good state of charge and health as this will help with starting, running of the engine and help with diagnosing and fixing electrical problems. The reverse issue could be any part of the linkage, perhaps gearbox low on oil, a clutch issue or your technique of selecting reverse gear. You certainly want to check the gearbox oil level and personally I would a thorough change of oil (all fluid changes should be thorough not just a quick cold drain and refill). I would also do a thorough clean and inspection of the whole cooling/heating system, inside and out, and a thorough clean, drain and refill of the coolant. Have you checked the radiator and cleaned it, checked the brakes are not dragging or the exhaust is partially blocked. The gauge showing 90 does not correspond with you saying the car overheats. The engine is also cooled by the engine oil so again a thorough change of engine oil (and oil filter) with perhaps if required some sort of cleaning. For engine also air filter and spark plugs. Also adjustment and lubrication of engine controls as required (includes accelerator pedal and cable). GT85 is a good lubricant and also penetrating/releasing fluid. Reading and referring to the Owner's Manual for the car (this is not the Workshop (repair) manual) will tell you a lot about the car and how to look after it and drive it. Have you driven any other Felicias (1.6 or not) to know how well your car should or could perform or owned and driven any other cars from the last century?

Thanks, I read your previous post as they were now including a standard jack as you illustrated, i.e. a generic jack. I'm sure there's been plenty of cent-pinching on the Mk3 and Mk4 otherwise, but I admit I'm biased not being a VW fan.

I was aware of the 25% figure but that doesn't mean necessarily that's what's on a 2015 or 2024(?) system, I think I've seen other computer systems on the car have a 25% margin but I don't know if that's correct but I do know designers, engineers and computer programmers don't always get everything right (despite what some of them believe in their own minds). 25% to me seems a wide margin for many things. I checked the tyres on the Fabia only the other day and the two rear tyres were slightly down, they are the newer tyres but as with the front have been OK, perhaps like me they don't do well in this heat. Personally I've never had a car with TPMS and have somehow survived, coming from a time when the driver was expected to check things and there wasn't a button on the dash that does everything for you. I'm more towards, but not at, the sharp spike on the steering wheel end of car and driver safety but I don't expect newer drivers who have never owned an old banger from the last century to be the same or understand this. I don't want a warning light but I do think the clever German engineers could have put something like a flexible measuring tag on the cap of the windscreen washer bottle as it is out of sight and only the filler tube neck on view but obviously that add to the build cost and eats into profits, dividends and expense accounts.

The indirect system on my wife's 2015 Mk3 Fabia seems to have very wide parameter(s) it should never be relied on and tyre pressures checked as usual, the one on my wife's car was very tardy in throwing up a warning, not really suitable for those that rely on the car's or other computers to tell them or remind them to drive and maintain the vehicle they are driving on the roads we all travel on.