nta16

D.FYLAKTOS save screen space put the short links https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283659278611 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196375080492 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225405625776

You don't need a scanner but having one would be nice, depends on cost. I'm still not sure how much you paid the garage but if it's not much then that is the most cost effective given your previous 25+ years experience. There's also the list of members I put up, now you know 2000 Fabia also covers some bits, airbag light at least. A cheap scan tool that has out of date programs in it for the car could cause more hassle than it's worth, a scan tool is just another diagnostic tool not a magic bullet but can be used to reset some stuff (that the battery trick doesn't) and perhaps to actuate items to test (not sure what if any with your car) but that would be higher level tools. Scan tools are more expensive in the UK, even the cheap ones, we're not the USA or China, many are make in China anyway and the car companies give away all the programs to the Chinese by going over there for very cheap labour, parts and assembly.. Personally If I was you I wouldn't bother, but I'm not you.

ETA: what I would suggest is downloading the free VWSkoda pdf copy of the relevant year and reading it to learn a lot about the car 1.2 or 1.0. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models And here are some useful vids. -

Hi, welcome. Others might be along soon with answers but in the meantime there are a few threads and posts on this forum on this subject if you want to use the 'Search' top right corner of page, you can also use the down triangle box on the right of the Search to see drop down menu to use "This Forum" instead of "This Topic" or just the off-site Google or other search. My wife owns a 2015 1.2 TSI (4 pot) 90 and I would suggest always looing at a Toyota or Honda instead but as you can guess I would be quite unusual here with that view (well expressing it anyway). HTH. Good luck in the meantime.

It wasn't 5 years for the coolant in the car 24 years ago. That is very true very often but there's also "prevention is better than cure" which relates to some extent to what has been done with the frequent coolant changes but not the other stuff. There again D.FYLAKTOS has owned and kept the same car going 24 years, I barely used to keep a car 24 months (or a lot less) and it'll be very interesting (and amazing) if a 2020 car is used and (able to be) kept to 2044, very amazing with a modern VW product. I couldn't imagine when I got my driving licence that I needed worry about it lasting until 2030, next century/millennium back then! Perhaps I might still be around in 2044, perhaps things might be better then, or I still wish I was born 10 years sooner.

You must have been told a million times about exaggerating. 😆

Yes I think you should but what on earth makes you think a battery only lasts 3 years! Some drivers/owners could kill a battery in 3 years or even less perhaps but that would be either they have plenty of money and don't care (or about the waste of manufacturer and materials) or they don't know and never been told that they should last many more years of trouble-free use. You as a driver (owner) of the car could learn a lot about the car and battery by reading the car's Owner's Manual, if you already have you might have missed the bit about battery discharge in the section on checking the (battery) condition, it also tells you about charging the battery and disconnecting/reconnecting and changing the battery. The bits about the battery magic eye colours and the *******s about replacing the battery after 5 years (the most over sold car part) you can ignore, even on a 2018 car you get get a lot more than 5 years especially if you can use an appropriate battery changer maintainer in a preventative manner (stop the battery going too low in the first place). You also have to consider that the battery and charging alternator on the car are a team if you weaken one you are making the other work harder than it should thus weakening the other but the alternator should last very many years normally. Don't think of the car like a (very expensive and complex) entertainment centre and charging point for devices but of the battery like a bank account with no overdraft or loan facilities you have to put into it to cover what you take out of it or it'll run out leaving you in a mess. A new fully charged battery (many aren't from new) 12v car battery will read, off the car with no load on it, about 12.7v-12.9v (depending on a few variables). VW table (off car readings) - 12.7v-100% - 12.3v-60% - 12.1v-40% - 11.7v - 0%

If it's a cheap generic scanner (and not VW specific) forget it, also generally any higher level scan tool needs to be fully up to date with it's specific program for the car, many don't realise how important this can be and/or too lazy to keep things up to date, this includes some mechanics and garages. At that reading (12v with the engine running) you might think it's not just or the battery at fault. Plugging a scan tool in will pull the figure down (engine not running). To test battery simple basic stuff is still often best, put a multimeter on the battery terminals as long after the car and battery have rested up as you can, then if required allow a certain drop for the computers and other stuff still running on the car. You don't need a scan tool to test a battery. You could do this yourself, your dad could help you - but if the local garage doesn't charge too much to use a higher level scan tool that covers VW and your model and year then fine - don't try that at a Dealership unless you have plenty of spare cash. Let us know how you get on.

If you're keeping the car or replacing it with another modern car, particularly if newer, then think about investing in an appropriate battery charger maintainer and you could get a much longer life and better use out of the next battery. You might be changing this battery prematurely if it's not that bad or not at fault at all but a new battery (correctly sorted and installed) should at least help with diagnosis and engine starting or possibly/probably resolve the issue. Let us know how you get on if you have anyone 'code' the battery make sure they do it correctly, one member here had a professional auto-electrician 'code' his battery incorrectly and only discovered this many months later when the new battery appeared to play up, very few times is the battery the actual cause of issues. Good luck.

Hi welcome. Sounds like you might have let the battery get far too low, if you know about such properly you could try using a battery charger maintainer to recover the battery as much as you can - but first - check the battery terminal connections are all tight and clean, check the main cables particular the earth are also clean, secure and protected, if not then that could be the issue. Putting a multimeter directly on the battery terminals should give you the voltage minus 0.3 or so for the car's systems. If you have a multimeter come back with the reading if you don't know what level they should be. With battery recharging low and slow is better than faster and higher (see your Owner's Manual). Take no notice of any "magic eye" or green telling you the battery is fine as they're often way too optimistic and you have to tap the battery in case it's stuck and it relate more to one cell out of six. Possible it might be something else, other than battery or connections, but if the start-stop feature hasn't been available for a while when it should have been that's your first warning that the battery is too low and you now know how the computers will punish you for letting it get too low. To get to the stage where the engine won't start has really made the battery suffer you may be better replacing it now and looking after the new battery better, you will also need to have the new battery coded if it's not the same type (EFB(?)) and just about the same Ah rate (59Ah?). https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/499006-car-battery-now-is-the-time-to-check-it HTH. Come back and let us know how you get on just in case it isn't the battery been flogged to death.

Air pocket(s) from gravity fill (not using a pressure filler) can take a good while to clear - guess how I know. 😁

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.