nta16

I've not got a "smart" phone either. Yes a scan tool could help, perhaps indirectly, with smaller issues but I have no experience of what's been suggested. As with all the scan tools it is a tool to help with diagnostics, it gives information that needs interpretation and doesn't usually give the absolute answer (as many think they do and change a sensor just based on an error code thus often just shooting the messenger rather than sorting the problem). A 1997 car and programs will give limited information (and possibly speed) compared with newer and much newer cars but just having figures can help to see if the sensors or car are running within their parameters. As you like old computers you will probably like the legacy very ugly Ross Tech presentation and way of doing things (to put off and keep out those that expect more effort to be put in to make things straightforward for non-legacy users). I go back to the days of punch card, paper tape mainframe computers but I don't expect modern computer tools to be like Meccano sets for the nostalgia or to dissuade those that didn't play with Meccano and don't want to now. As with any system made up of different makes of separates I do wonder if it doesn't work well which part might be to blame, the program, the machine or the interconnect. Cheap Chinese stuff I've always found to be something of a gamble, it might be good or it might be abysmal, I suspect quality control is often non-existent - that's not to say some Chinese stuff isn't excellent or even better than what the original manufacturer gave to them.

As I remember it at one time there was only a couple of factories in Europe that made many of the brand names products, bit like LG with screens before they promoted their own brand. Vented discs do serve a purpose but if you can't have them then upgrade pads and good quality tyres help, along with timely servicing and changing of parts and fluid. If you uprate the front brakes then you will also need to keep the rear brakes in balance which if drums means better shoes friction material, but that also brings heat so if you upgrade too much more problems are introduced.

I suppose it depends where they have the discs made, if in Germany they might be good, Poland perhaps good or perhaps not, China less likely to be good I would imagine. Different brand names are sold and appeal to different geographical markets hence companies producing parts made and sold under different company brand names, such as TMD Friction (a Nisshimbo Group company). - https://tmdfriction.com/

I do not know, when I was looking at buying Brembo discs a few years back I was told by a reliable source that at that time the Brembo discs were of unreliable quality but they might be fine now - however do not buy them because you heard that Brembo were good at one time, bit like "German engineering quality" as we know it is not always good quality! Check with recent purchasers or those that know do not just go on former glory. Sorry I do not know Zimmermann.

If you still have the old alternator you might want to try this, I've never had to do it but I like the idea of cheap, quick, easy repairs. - how to fix a SEIZED alternator (Quick Fix) -

Based on what you have put before something like the OBDeleven would be much more suited to your wants and needs plus if you want more from it you can pay more. An OBDeleven was used on my wife's (OBD2) Fabia on some sort of "smart" phone and the report and use was impressive. To get more, and to me easier use and presentation, and quicker you will be going into high level scan tools that are into the hundreds of Euros. I think you would soon get fed up of the cheap or free Apps and cheap adapter cables as from the very little I have seen of them they are very hit and miss in use plus I do wonder how good their programming and readings are and you also want reliable updates to whatever system you get. https://obdeleven.com/en/supported-vehicles

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything. Any other symptoms/issues you've noticed with the car, any other codes. That one code in itself doesn't tell you a lot, have a read to the end of that article and see if that brings up more info. - https://www.700r4transmissionhq.com/p2096-volkswagen-golf/ ETA: what was done at the service a couple of months ago, has the air filter been changed?

Yes truly dreadful, another example of the race to the bottom.

If you've changed the fuel filter with a good quality replacement since the problem started then there's no point replacing it again, unless you think it's dud for some reason. I've had a brand new one leak on a brand new car but if it wasn't for bad luck with cars I'd not have any luck with them.

Not sure where you are with this but if you have doubts about fuel delivery have you checked/changed the fuel filter for (reasonably) cheap and easy.

The leaflet from the Pagid brakes bits I fitted it had to use Hydratec for rubber contact, which I took to mean the caliper guide pins. It’s now recommended not to use copper grease but Ceratec on metal-to-metal contact areas (only).

I think it might depend on application as to how important or not the particular grease (or other) needs to be, I'm almost sure (never sure with my memory) many years back that I used to put Copperease on battery posts and earth connections and never had any trouble (hence I learnt the battery post need nothing) to be later be told it would insulate the connections from each other, but the tiny pin connectors with computer type electronics might be another matter. Even allowing for global warm and the car sitting out in the summer locked and sealed up as a heat trap to please any insurer I'm not sure you need a high melting point grease but as I found with my wife's 2015 Mk3 Fabia the wrong and or too much grease in the wiper stalk can give a constant wiper action when on or not.

Yes but new NGK lambda and NGK iridium plugs might be even better or at least a bit better, as you already have them it is no additional cost to try them on test. Which plugs are best overall year round may or may not require year round testing. Plus you have which is best at your cold start problem. That is now all water under the bridge or fuel out of the end of the exhaust.

Theory is the connections are so tight the contact areas push out the grease to surrounding areas to prevent crud build up and crud getting in. Contralube 770 is what I use, back available now at reasonable prices believe, some say to use it generously but that can often lead to some being be wasteful with the use, I bought a few small sachets years back and still have some left, if I needed more I'd now by a tube as the prices are back to sensible. - https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/827/category/154 HTH. ETA: nothing is needed to be added to connection of battery post clamps to modern car battery posts.

Wots the rear like. 🙂

AG Falco can't dispute what you do just wondering do you cars sleep in a garage or outside, and what is a brake strip on discs?

ETA: I forgot to put, the rear brakes were shown as 50% remaining at last year's service and MoT (front 10% remaining). I have not been impressed with the VW/Skoda parts quality, on my wife's 2015 (2016 MY) Fabia Mk3 I changed the front discs and pads last year (at 6 years 41k-miles) but as the car was bought at 10k-miles with an uncertain history (Dealer's car) I can't account for what happened before my wife's ownership. I changed the front discs and pads to Pagid and these seemed better than the previous set, presumably factory but I didn't check, but they were obviously newer and less worn. At the last MoT both front dampers had to be changed, the brakes were only advisory, this didn't impress me either but again I can't account for the first 10k-miles of their life and despite our local MP's claims and keeping in with his party and whoever the leader and PM is at the time our county has many potholes and rough road surfaces. My wife's previous car was a Vauxhall and I can remember the Dealership offering alternative parts to those that VX offered and they said they were just as good but lower priced but we stuck with VX which in hindsight was probably wasted extra expenditure.

As thomasaspin has put a higher level scan tool gives so much information that someone that really understands the information has a really good base to start diagnostics from. Viewing live and recorded data should give lots more useful information that can be interrogated and interpreted but it can require time to do this properly - and a person able and willing, or allowed to. As - "re-introduced the codes physically written on injectors (which were the same as the codes previously stored in the ECU) back into the ECU via the computer" I'd want to see that information as I very well know about typos, it will be on their computer but you might (ETA: not) be shown it - but again a mismatch should show up in its performance anyway on subsequent runs of the scan tool. "As genuine Skoda Injectors are over £500 each we would need to send the injectors away to be tested and if necessary." - And if necessary what(?). Unfortunately you are stuck in their complaint procedure and if you try to break from it you very much risk losing whatever the cost of their work is if you take your car elsewhere for repair. Everyone makes mistakes, if they've made a mistake it's up to you if you trust them to rectify it and put your car right. Personally from much bitter experience of the car trade I'd forget any admission of mistakes on their part and consider not putting good money after bad with them if you don't trust them and write-off your loss with them and move on but only you know how you feel about that.

Yes very annoying, one of the 'joys' of using an old car.

Ah, right, the penny has now dropped with me, it is loose but not completely disconnected, I could not see the detail in the photos and I think perhaps the drawing has the clip facing the wrong way.

I'm not sure how many of the tyre comparison calculators or sites actually included the rolling circumference but this one appears to. - " . . . it is important to make sure your vehicles rolling circumference remains the same or as close to the original rolling circumference as is possible. Our handy Tyre Calculator lets you see all the acceptable tyre sizes that exist within a 1% tolerance of your original size and also lets you compare two tyre sizes to see if the new size will be within the 1% tolerance of the old size." The 1% tolerance seems to include 1.24%. https://alloywheels.com/tyreCalculator Calculator Results Comparing 195/55R15 against 185/60R15 Width Profile Rim Diameter Diameter Tyre 1 195 55 15 595.5mm Tyre 2 185 60 15 603mm FITMENT OK! The percentage change is 1.24% and the circumferece change is 7.5mm.

Could the clang be because of missing parts 26?

Very disappointing that the new NGK lambda, that was exactly as fitted by factory and used on the car for so long, did not give the hoped for improvement (so far) but it is a bad assumption that the ECU likes the Champion plugs and NGK unless you have thoroughly tested the combinations of the four items, including Bosch and NGK iridium plugs. The results may be the same but this is not certain and not tested, you need to change and test only one part at a time if you want to find the culprit of any part of the issue you have.

It might be different in Sweden but in the UK you can presume nothing with mechanics, garages/Dealerships. A good one will tell you what they do and provide evidence, others might say they do something if you ask them but might not do it even if they provide evidence that they have. It depends on the tyres and if it includes a full size spare as to how they are rotated or perhaps how much fuss is made of the rotation order. Some vehicles have different tyre pressures front to rear, not MK3 Fabias AFAIK (but I could be wrong as I often am). You could have a look at the tread wear across the full width of each tyre and measure across the full width at three different points on the circumference of the tyre to check for even wear and any budges or bits missing, check the sidewalls for budges too (not so easy with the inside sidewalls). Also have a look at the wheels for any damage or signs of buckling, easiest is to have the wheel off the ground and spin it whilst looking at the edge or just put a straight edge across as much as you can. Failing that take some high resolution photos of the wheels and tyre sidewalls and full width of tread and then you can zoom in on photos for more detail or post them up here. Might show something or might not but with these camera phones it's all quick and easy to do, or so I'm told, though I would view on a much larger screen. ETA: Three suspecting the tyres so it might help to at least eliminate them from the possibilities even if they turn out not to be the cause. As I loathe anything but driving cars I always start at the simplest and easiest possible culprit and solution especially if it means keeping my hands clean and not too much effort.

So as I put I would start with the tyres, changing the wheel positions, costs nothing but a bit of time and effort if you do it yourself. Also have look under the car to see if any clips are loose or missing from the undertray or something silly like a stick stuck under there. I have an intermittent whistle on my car (not my wife's Fabia that has loads of odd noises) I think it might be from the front antiroll bar but as it is intermittent it is hard to tell, might be the windscreen instead, it annoys me for a while then I get distracted by something else and forget about it until the next time. My neighbour videoed my car for his YT channel and on the audio I can hear the whistle but he says he can't, clear as a bell to me.