nta16

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Yes fair enough but you do not have to buy that type or from USA, that was just an example that they exist. As I put I have never had a problem with thermostats and they generally are not an expensive item that generally last trouble-free for very many years (or decades in the case of "classic" cars). So even if the postage charges are high the cost spread over the life of the thermostat makes them next to nothing.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. That is not necessarily a good practice especially as you have removed the thermostat so the coolant will reman colder for longer, the engine will be running richer for longer and the engine oil will be cooler for longer. The car is designed and made to be started up able to be driven straight off and certainly easily at 10C. I would imagine, but do not know as I have not seen the books, that the Owner's Manual would give advise on this. Obviously the car should not be driven hard until the engine oil has got to normal operating temperature, without an oil temperature gauge or readout you have to use your experience to judge this and is usually a while after the coolant temperature has reached its usual reading for normal operation (subject to the gauge being reasonable accurate and reliable). Bear in mind the thermostat also helps to control the temperature of the engine and that it closes as well as opens. I would urge you to return the car back to factory standard and put a good reliable thermostat back in, but of course it is your choice I am only giving my advice. Whatever temperature thermostat the factory installed for your country would be my choice.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. You could perhaps get a good quality thermostat posted in from elsewhere. Although it does happen of course I have never had a thermostat fail. There are even (USA?) fail-safe thermostats, though I have no idea if they do such for your model. -https://motorad.com/why-should-your-next-thermostat-be-a-fail-safe-model/ It is unusually warm for the time of year here, currently 15.2C by coincidence which is considered warm and would be considered extremely warm in mid-winter and 15C could easily been seen in summer here. Are you driving at over 100km/h before the car/engine has fully warmed up and does the temperature reading rise after this and you are travelling at lower speeds like 50km/h as I wonder how accurate your temperature gauge reading might be. My 1973 car used to overcool in winter, with thermostat fitted, on open road driving but would very soon warm up again when I got to 50k/h driving and with heat soak when the engine was switched off (mechanical not electric gauge so easily seen).

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Removing the thermostat is not always the best solution (ETA: might not apply in your case - as that can increase coolant flow in that area) sometimes it is better to put in a thermostat more suited to the climate - but I do not know for certain with your car, however 10-30C weather is within what a standard factory specification thermostat is designed for. Personally I would refit the thermostat at is helps the engine warm up (even) quicker and controls the coolant temperature (until it is fully open). Whatever the thermostat is marked as this is the temperature at which it starts to open not when it is fully open, which is about IIRC 8C higher, and there is a thermostat manufacture tolerance to these figures.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. It is a diesel. And petrol or diesel same as computers GIGO but for cars SISO (sh1te in, sh1te out)., you use petrol, you keep your air filter clean, you regularly change good quality oil (and filter and coolant) you have a different type of engine to more modern cars. Getting the "engine breathing" wrong will cause problems, why possibly introduce problems especially when you do not have to or need to and for no gain.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Alternator (water pump?) (tensioner roller?) perhaps might be one of the noises, is the belt tight (or tensioner stiff seized)? You could perhaps have the bonnet up and see how it sounds just idling from starting then remove the drive belt and see how it sounds just idling from starting without the belt and see if it sounds better.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. I am agreeing, and slightly disagreeing, with what MAT0693 has put. For usual road driving they are not normally needed unless the engine has a problem and/or is quite a bit modified. Cars that do a lot of heavy breathing like those used as track-day and racing often have them as it is very much frowned on to drop oil on to a track, it may be against some or all race regulations but I do not know about any race regulations. Catch tanks have been used on smaller capacity normally-aspirated engines for decades, and bear in mind engine size is all relative one very old car had a 250cc(!) engine and Americans are used to 5 and 7 litre engines, all without turbos.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. What about something like the alternator (water pump?), how easy is to disconnect the drive (fan) belt to see if noses disappear, or carefully listen with some sort of stethoscope.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. There are other types, personally I do not use any and I am not sure of the reliability and accuracy of any DIY tools for this.

So you've decided against something like the Millers Diesel Power ECOMAX (Multi Shot) then, personally (and I know others here have reverse and other opinion or belief about this) I think adding it in now and after/regular use, at least until the bottle is empty, would be a good belt and braces move for now and future use, particularly on a 14 year old diesel that may not get many blow-out runs. I'm sure your wife would be happy to buy the bottle as a low cost remedy for her mistake and as a reminder to prevent making the same mistake again. 😊 But it's you and/or your wife's money and decision of course and I don't want to start a marital dispute or divorce proceedings, just wanting you to get £400 out of those tyres. 😁 https://www.millersoils.co.uk/products/diesel-power-ecomax/

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Do you know if one or both noises are road speed or engine/transmission revs related. Can you do a public view audio or video recording of the noises.

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).