nta16

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Did you try the "disconnect D+ cable at alternator that goes to dashboard (green wire usually) and connect it to earth" test and see if the battery warning light was on?

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. You might also want to check that the battery light bulb actually works. See item 2 in following post. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/318765-97-skoda-felicia-battery-light-issue/?tab=comments#comment-3940352

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. The new regulator appears to have a different number on it, UR-MP134 (instead of UR-MP135) I have no idea if that makes any difference whatsoever though. I have found many modern made electric parts to be crap straight of the box so do you know that this part is actually working as it should - the dent in the casing does not inspire confidence (unless you put that there). Very old original NOS (new old stock) electrical parts may often be of good manufacture but more recent (going back 20 years in the case of Lucas) parts can be poorly made even if NOS.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. I don't know as I've never had or fitted roof bars on any car but I've got a feeling slots or nuts/fixings were an extra or needed specifying - but I could well be wrong as I was going on the factory/order(?) spec for my wife's car that she bought second hand / used (but doubtful it was "pre-loved" as it was some sort of Dealership original purchase).

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Hi, welcome. IF your battery is tired you could try charging it up fully, use time and patience rather than higher power and speed for the recharging.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. I've not seen the exact percentage pinned down for the Mk3 but again I'm with [ you ] on this. I find many don't know the importance and I'm just trying to help them finding out in often a very inconvenient way. As autumn progresses and then into winter there'll be many premature battery deaths and battery replacement sales, particularly this year - perhaps I should just shut up and get shares in car battery sales. 😄

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. As you might know already I've been told by another forum poster that the alternator would take care of this and there no need for recharging the battery - personally by decades of experience I believe the same as you and more so with modern cars particularly German marque and/or start/stop.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. My wife's 2015 Mk3 start/stop was EFB, a Moll (no longer available IIRC) car manufacturers work to decimal places with costings and AGM were possibly even more expensive nearly 8 (and 7) years ago. Well done on getting nearly 8 years out of the EFB (IIRC someone told me 7 years would be lucky, and IIRC with an AGM) but bear in mind whilst your battery is new your car and charging system are nearly 8 years old with use so possibly you might get less than nearly 8 years with the replacement battery (depending on other factors too). The very hot and extreme hot weather we had will have done for a lot of car batteries and those that survived may not later this autumn and into winter.

I'd always start with the cheap and easy and as much car servicing, maintenance and repairs just boils down to clean and lubricate (even the electronic stuff is sometimes just clean the error codes off). As Ken has put start with a small soft brush and vacuum, I think I've seen on here that the cover comes off(?) so that will get more dust and debris out of you can remove the cover. After that I'd try a hair dryer with cold blow setting as the blow can be more powerful and effective than the vacuum often but do bear in mind the blowing will just move the dust and debris so try to be very focussed with the direction and rebound effect, better distributed very thinly to the cabin than concentrated where you don't want it messing with the temperature control. Tomorrow, why not to use vinegar and newspaper. 🙂

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. It might be a coincidence or you might be wrong about this but I'm with varooom that it seems like it might be a faulty wire or connection somewhere but of course never rule out a computer issue so it needs investigating as you know if you might have caused it by accident. I think if the sales people had been selling white goods, computers or sound systems before it might be an advantage in this case as you practically need an Honours degree in electronics to set a washing machine or open a fridge door with modern home appliances because of the very clever but often unnecessary complications on them so anyone with experience of them might stand a chance with the very clever and often unnecessary complicated VW systems. Be interesting to hear the result, this issue with your car might be a first, or another "first". Good luck.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. When items need replacing that is a good time to upgrade if the car is still fairly new to you, by new I am thinking less than say 12 months round year regular use, But if you have money to spend or lack of will not to you can change what you like when you like, it is your car and your money and your life. My experience is that some upgrades and improvements just are not but I might have always chosen badly as I do not claim to be the sharpest knife in the box.

@roottoot Fair enough, but 205 did sound dangerously thin (note please: this is a joke) especially for a modern car. What's all this 135 one bar of an electric fire stuff we're in (little) Britain we work in old money and archaic measurements even more ancient than these internal combustion engines. You'd have to ask the VW programmers if everything is actually turned off when you press the button to turn it off, can you imagine the Merc lot actually having turned off when they say it is and trusting a Merc driver - but I've no idea, I'm sure BMW and Audi drivers can be fully trusted. I've no idea what you'd do with a car that doesn't have the aids to turn off, crash I guess. 😄

@roottoot I've no doubt VW internal politics and group marketing had to keep the parts and components on the Skoda below their other brands. Even if they'd have put better I'd not be surprised that after 12 years the brakes and suspension could be improved on especially on a car designed to be driven in a spirited manner particularly as a humble 90ps car can't even manage more 6 years out of factory dampers or even 12 months out of their Dealer replacements. What I was trying to get at was to avoid the rushing to change things too soon on a car unknown to the user and not to just look at the popular numbers thing for items rather than as an overall. Often also you can have more fun with less on the public road, think of James Hunt and his A35 van (and yes I know, despite having no interest in roundy-round racing there were other reasons why he had it). No matter how much you have on the right occasion it's never enough until it gets beyond your abilities. If all the drivers aids could really be turn off then less would probably often be enough or more than enough but even the computers can't beat the real world physics and as yet the tyres can't do much more than they ever could even if in fully and correct contact with the road surface, such as it is, non-existent sometimes for the whole of a contact area, thank gawd for those computers. 😄 If 205 aren't enough then why stop at 215, get wider wheels and wider tyres, all these compromises against the traffic light Grand Prix (I suppose it should F1, unless Bernie goes down of course, as if that'd happen. 🤣).

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. On an older second hand car I would been refreshing a few other things that many engineers and mechanics say not to bother with/waste of time but that is just me and my experience, especially on a car I intend to drive in a spirited fashion on the road. It is no wonder I have no money left now.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Fair enough. Been a long time since I have test driven a car from a garage but over here I think it has been a long time back since you were allowed out in the car by yourself, unless you were known to the garage, far too much paperwork to allow that. I hope you done a few lower speed braking tests before the 90 to zero. That is a good base but it does not usually cover the full maintenance service of car at 90,000 miles but perhaps yours does, if so you look for what has not been carried out, some items are not listed as part of services now but you might carry out if you want to have the car running really well particularly if you intend to drive it hard. Best tuning you can do on the car is to make sure the whole car is fully serviced, maintained and repaired and that often is beyond the usual Dealership/garage full service history. You need a solid base to work and get improvements and upgrades from (those that are actually improvements and upgrades). You do need to compare like with like, if you look a brand 'A', type/model 'B' discs usually their slotted and/or drilled discs are more expensive than their plain discs but you decide how much that price difference matters to you and how important the performance and looks/fashion are, good brakes are good brakes (and the tyres input to this). Again the tyre itself is important - but this is track stuff in which case you would probably want different tyres to the ones for road use or be happy changing tyres a lot (lot) more frequently. I am all for spirited driving but public roads are just that and not race tracks. There is no law against how quick you get to the speed limit here, at least not yet, but such hard driving is very wearing on a vehicle. Though It is great to see some bloke with all the money to have a supercar and not being able to set a launch control so sits embarrassingly at a stop or just limps off 🤣 - this was off the public road. I do not know how things go with your purchase but over here I can think of no reason why provided they are a standard size to the vehicle and wheels you would not be allowed to change to a set of better tyres within the 6 months and then as I put drive the car for that time to get used to it and discover what you want or needs changing or work done and this is the time to improve or upgrade, provided it keeps the overall balance of any system such as braking or suspension. On of the very best tuning aids for a vehicle that is often overlooked, and is generally transferable to similar vehicles is driver training and I say this as a self-admitted (and confirmed by others) not particularly great driver. A trained driver can improve the handling of most cars they drive just by the way they drive it, on the road or track, I know I've been out on the public road with a couple and on tracks with a couple. As with a lot of things in life it is not what you have but how you use it and you do not need to flash it around when you are confident in its use - all this excludes me unfortunately. ☹️ Good luck, one day all this will seem to make more sense.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. If your brake fluid needs changing then do not wait to change it. If you have no firm evidence that it has been changed in the last 18-24 months then change it. You can test the brake fluid for moisture content but if you change it now you know for sure it has been done and when, how and what with. DOT 4 is fine but you can get some DOT 4 fluids that are better than others, ask a good supplier which is best for your needs as there may be different availability in different countries and regions. If you want to change from DOT4 make sure you know the difference between DOT 5 and DOT 5.1. For the brakes, steering and suspension change the tyres first as the tyres have effect on all three, don't wait if you are unhappy with the present tyres even if they are new. But do check your current tyres, even if they are new, that they are not damaged in anyway and that they are all at the correct tyre pressure. If they are brand new they make take a number of miles to be at their best certainly they make be "greasy" for the first 100-200 miles and may take even up to about the first 1,000 miles to settle in my experience. Changing the tyres will change the braking feel. Changing to slots or drilled discs is more about fashion that function but if you are into the fashion think about these later. Good quality brake pads will have more effect, yes coupled with good quality discs but they do not need to be slots or holes. The grip and handling of the tyre is about the design, manufacture and compounds and not the width, 205 is wide and 40 profile on 17" wheels already crashing and bumpy enough (or too much) for normal road unless you have racetrack smooth roads in Finland. We have all done it got a new car and wanted to go to the car toy shop and empty the shelves but you will be better owning and driving the car for a while to find out what you really need and want to do with it to make improvement. Plus whatever money you spend on toys you make need to spend on unexpected repairs, servicing and maintenance with a second hand old car new to you. First priorities are brakes, steering and suspension - tyres cover all three of those so sort them first (along brake fluid if required). Slamming your brakes on at 90mph to a full stop will do nothing to help cheap, crap or good tyres particularly if they are brand new with very few miles on them. I do not expect I have given you the answers you wanted but I hope some of it makes sense and helps and others will be along more into what you were expecting.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Thanks, er well, I think thanks as it's not great news! 🙃 I'm thinking if the dampers have been leaking a while and the previous set had been leaking a while too then perhaps the lack dampening might hasten a spring or two breaking, Sod's Law be typical to have to replace a spring not long after having the replacement (to the replacement) dampers, er, replaced.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Obviously I've not seen or know the video you mean but my guesses are that it's a matter of H&S, potential damage /doing the job well /tidiness. The clips are metal springs with edges so if they fly off and hit say an unprotected eye it really might not be a joke or laughing matter. If they spring off they could land somewhere and cause damage or future potential damage by getting trapped in something or scratching paintwork and same with not tidying them away for disposal. They should just lift and remain on with perhaps a better made strut and some care but as we know things don't always workout the way we'd hope so perhaps the reason to suggest care.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Well done and thanks for reporting back. I should have put the video up as it shows and reminds you to use a prop as additional and protective support whilst changing the struts as it's something you might forget in the urge to get the job done.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. That can depend on how big and wide the wheels and tyres are. In my neck of the woods there's a panic if snow settles yet mobile hills of snow will be on the road with ****holes in the snow for drivers to look out of or if you're lucky the wipers have been forced to clear a couple of arcs, obviously the rush to get somewhere is now even greater with sometimes great cubes of snow being dumped with the motion. Some friends lived at Castle Bolton, N. Yorks. for a while, above the snow line, and they said one time the village got snowed in, they couldn't get their Scooby off the slopping drive because of the ice and even the Landies didn't make it all the way up the hill to the village but they watched a small old Vauxhall (Nova IIRC) slowly but steadily climb the hill and make it to the top and into the village, narrow wheels and tyres. In the late 70s early 80s when I had a 1966 (VP) 1100 I went out to a village that others hadn't bothered to that day as no one had told me about it, it might have been that I was expecting more from a FWD but I didn't find it much better than a small RWD. Having said that I drove my wife's Cortina Mk3 (2000E) in the start of the 1990s and I let her have my Skoda Estelle 2 because of the laying snow and the Cortina was hopeless, I had to work hard to get it around the back streets of town - but it did have low profile wider tyres 185/70 R13.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. We usually don't get too much snow here being in the middle of the country but a couple of recent winters has seen proper snow and we can get it cold or very cold in winter. Summer tyre performance starts going off at 10c (or they might say 99c for some reason now) for the (very) odd time that could be a summer's day even here (snowed once in June IIRC). Being old I've always had summer tyres, never mud and snow, winter or all seasons tyres but most of my cars have had sensible sized wheels and tyres so easier to handle even with RWD, even if I'm not that great a driver I am aware of adapting the driving to the circumstances and conditions. Having 145 or 155 width tyres helped. 😁

I thought it'd be something to do with "smart" phones or devices but I don't own any and rarely use them so wouldn't know for sure. Their screen size and the fact the touch screens alignment don't go well with my wonky eyes and don't seem to work well with the skin on my fingertips. I was fed up with the drop out with mobile phones 30+ years ago and over the last x-number of years receptions seem to have gone back to nearly as it was then, "Hello, can your hear me? Hello.". They have their uses and can be very useful, particularly when they work but I find them so frustrating when they don't work or work as they should and yet the users just expect it and put up with it, just imagine if they were in as parts of cars . . . oh, dear. 😄

Short answer is that as far as I understand it not everyone can or does view the signature (or the profile(?) at the side). Longer answer, you will I am sure understand. Someone put something like (I do not remember the exact wording) that my posts are authoritative beyond my level of knowledge (or lack of I suppose) so I added the note in my signature. Then someone else that disagreed with what I put agreed with the sentiment as it was repeated in the thread by the first person. This was despite being able to see the signature and it was actually the first person making out in a derogatory way that I thought I was some sort of expert in the subject. So I have added the note to my posts so no one can say they're not warned when that note is at least at the start of that post. I have not bothered here as you know I never claim to be an expert or have any higher or in-depth knowledge only experiences and you know I often/sometimes try to encourage people to check and cross reference information and seek out the information for themselves which is why I often leave hyperlinks and sometimes to views or information that might be different or opposite to mine. I am not interested in even trying to please everyone, or anyone all the time, but I do prefer to at least start with getting along but if that is not possible so be it, nothing anyone need lose sleep over or really care about on a forum about such unimportant things like cars. Just putting cars are unimportant on a forum like this will upset people and you might disagree which is OK and you can react as you see fit, I think generally people can agree to disagree and still rub along. Sorry I have gone on a bit, but you did ask. 🤣

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Personally I'd only take tests like that as a generalisation, very limited specifics there, I'm not saying it's a bad test but it only gives some idea of a range that may apply generally but not necessarily that accurately widely.

You had me at "Battery and charging system", Jerry. :swoon and tears: