nta16

After your wife has walked through the water to check the depth - and for hidden stones . . . When I first noticed the noise I did take the wheel off and gave a spray of brake cleaner hoping to loosen any grit, there wasn't enough corrosion or crud to worry about. This must have been before I hurt my back lifting the stupid wheel 1" off the ground to refit it after a puncture, I should have left it for the next day as it was cold, without wheel studs to hold the wheel on I didn't centre the wheel on the little centre raised lip and that 1" inch drop and twist of my back gave me sciatica that night for the first, and luckily only, time in my life. Luckily the sciatica didn't last more than that one incident. A mate showed me the screw-in stud he got in his car's kit and bought me one as a present. I still found getting the wheel on to this one stud and other bolts in a pain so I bought a second screw-in stud and use two when putting the wheel back on. Working on the car has literally been a pain - but they always are.

For the photo I wasn't thinking of warning lights but more to show what control unit and type of heating, cooling system you have in your car and what buttons you have pressed, what's lit up, etc..

Perhaps it was just the last of the residual cold air(?).

Yer into modding! Any ideas for my wife's its on the n/s front. I had a 26 year old Capri with squeak from I think the rear carthorse spring, went through a ford (appropriately enough) and the squeak stopped! . . . until it the underside dried out.

In the 'Operating Instructions' booklet I have it shows fuse 24 (no amperage annoyingly) as "Blower fan for air conditioning system, heating, control unit for air conditioning, heating" and also fuse 15 as "Control unit for air conditioning system, selector lever of the automatic gearbox". Now, IF your fusebox is the same as the diagram in the booklet I have and if you don't have a fuse 15 that's the end of this story ... but if you do have a fuse 15 as shown in the diagram I have then that might be the one still operating the "Control unit for air conditioning system". I've no real idea if your issue is just a blown fuse, and then fuses don't usually just blow so you need to find out why it blew (if it did) but over decades I've had a couple of strange incidents with fuses just as an ordinary car owner. I've also often seen, and done it myself, where something doesn't get checked, or rechecked, because "it won't be that" and Sod's Law it was that, always check the very basics first before moving on, it can save you a lot of time and money. In ancient times you'd just bypass the switch (blower motor resistor perhaps here) and if the fan came on full blast it'd be the switch but now I've no idea if you can even do with that a probe without upsetting one or more of the car's computers - which brings me on to if you know anyone with a scan tool you could se if any error codes point to a possible cause. You may well end up with a new blower motor resistor but what's the costs of those and what's involved in fitting it, what's the cost of a fuse, fuses or set of spare fuses. Good luck, let us know how you get on. Cheers, Nigel.

Have you tried the braking hard, stop, reverse a very short way and brake hard and then drive off, but I'm not sure that will work with this sort of sound. Do bear in mind I am not mechanical or technical or an expert in anything - but I do not think in this case cleaning and relubricating will make any difference, but I could be wrong, unless its the calliper piston edges that are dirty and they're sticking out slightly. I assume the discs and pads were factory original or both changed together if replaced, there is some grooving on the disc which might be causing or contributing to the noise. To me that does not sound bad and may go away with more wear to pads and/or disc. As long as the brakes are operating correctly (tyres are part of braking too) I would not worry about it. In fact I have not with my wife's Fabia, I hear it more as a passenger because it' is that side but I have heard it as a driver too but both occasions are all when travelling through town so at slower speeds, I do not hear it on the open road. Now you know where the noise is coming from you should be able to rest easier but if you listen for the noise then you will hear it, but if you are able to ignore it and forget about it (as long as your brakes continue to work well) you may find that one day you suddenly realise the noise has gone and you had not noticed. But I cannot guarantee the noise might not return, sorry. Others may have different ideas to me or may offered you further reassurance that you can leave it. Cheers, Nigel

Driver's Handbook is a joke against me that I play up to elsewhere. And reading the Driver's Handbook is a bit of a joke with my wife too as the salesman of her previous car said she have to read it and she replied she already does. I didn't disagree until we'd left the place and just laughed when she insisted she had previously, and read it in bed. I think she got through about ten pages with that car and not at all with the Fabia, apparently that's my job despite rarely driving the car. Really annoying for me with the Fabia the 'Owners Manual' is for "the stereo". The 'Operating Instructions' for the car I must admit I find difficult to read, looks to me a German Engineering student was forced to do it as he knew a bit of English. I remember in 1999 reading the Driver's Handbook for a new Japanese car then and about a third of almost every page was a safety warning about something, not far short of don't put your head under the front wheel and let the handbrake off when on a hill. Thinking about it, it might have been something like don't shut the bonnet on your head. A version of the model was a big seller in USA and possibly the manufacturer was concerned about mad litigation. I'm sure you'll be delighted to know, after checking, I demonstrated my new found knowledge to my wife, first door I open and I can't get the grommet out (I bite my nails) but success with second door. My wife asks about the hatch and I said I thought not but we could have a look, at this point she lost interest and walked off! @J.R. good tip, thanks. I'm not used to worrying about such things but I do have to make sure I put the Fabia keys in my pocket before I open the hatch as I'm sure one day I will put the keys down, as I do in home and then not remember where.

Looking in the book fuse 24 is blower fan, did you also check fuse 15 a/c control? What year of car is yours, what type of heating/cooling? Fuses shouldn't blow anyway, have you tried disconnecting the car battery for a few hours/overnight in case the computers or their program has got in a tissy? Have you checked your car battery is in a good state of charge and the connections are very secure?

To me that's just the sound of the brake pads against the brake disc. Using your brakes will get rid of that, until the next time. Where safe to do so you could try braking harder, or using your brakes more to wear off the surface more, but the sound will probably return at some point. You could try spaying all with brake cleaner in case there are bits of grit/crud/muck in there, or an old trick for trapped stones is to suddenly brake hard, stop put it in reverse go back a little and brake hard again and often the stone will dislodge. But you could also forget about it - provided there's nothing wrong with the car's braking and the pads and or discs aren't too worn. My wife's Fabia sometimes makes a similar sound which comes and goes, seemingly without reason, there will of course be reasons, weather, driving environments, use, lack of use, etc., etc..

Firstly well done on consulting the Owner's Manual, although I found the fusebox in the engine bay didn't correspond with the diagram in the book but that's another matter. My quick thought and I might be wrong as the car is my wife's and neither are with me now - have you got the recirculating button pressed? (Does that effect the fan, I can't remember). I think there are different systems of hot/cold/air-con/climate/whatever they're called so might be different buttons and settings. Everything is so interconnected on modern cars with the computer's ruling most of what goes on. Perhaps a photo of your dash and heating controls settings with the ignition on so showing all lights and settings might help.

I forgot to look, must try to remember to look tonight. I can't remember seeing that in the Owner's Manual but then I can't remember much. When I went to show my wife how to use the key blade in the hidden driver's door lock I first checked by myself that the cover came off with the key easily and then cleaned the cover and around the lock and gave the clip part a little squirt of GT85 to ease its removal. Sod's Law I start my demonstration to show how easy it is to do and I struggle to get the cover off and then struggled to get the cover back on correctly. I got a 'look' and a rather sarcastic "Oh, it's that easy is it.".

Yes I could do later as it means assembling my old digital camera and wiring to the PC and I'm just in from doing a wick job 3 hours ago and still waiting for my tea/dinner. Which forum would be best? A quick simple job and 5 toolbox out, luckily my glamourous assistant arrived just in time to lend a 6th and 7th hand, luckily I'd already found three spring clamps of the right size, but then like an idiot I let my glamorous assistant go and struggled and then started working to the wrong markings in a sauna of a shed. oh the joys. I think I need feeding as I've been fighting with folding a duvet cover (I loathe the things, it's off to the charity shop) - but it beat me. Need food!

J.R., good parents that taught you to stand on your own two feet and paying back a loan. The use of "pushbike" I think suggests were at least of a certain age, I'm chronologically 60 but feel nearer 85 sometimes. Sounds like your speed brace was used on Triumphs, 15 years back I had a GT6 (Mk3), a very bad mistake but they do look lovely. The battery impact wrench worries me in the wrong hands, I've lost at two different times Midget wheel studs as the nuts only torque to 45lbs (well 44-46lbs in the good book, Driver's Handbook) and the tyre place compressor rattle gun and torque wrench must have been way above, the torque wrench can be a joke after the rattle gun, I feel like telling some of these gorillas they could just use their finger strength on the wheel nuts. Only yesterday I was telling someone about I remember (but not the year) when the BMW MINI first came out I think there were just the two models, the MINI One and MINI Cooper, the One was IIRC about £10k but a friend-of-a-friend was turning up at the time in a Cooper, with the extras he had on it was getting towards £20k at the time. Yeah that Bacho kit looks classy and useful. It reminds me that I bought a cheap set of imperial crowsfeet to try get at a nut to save a lot of work, not only would they not reach it wouldn't have matter if they did, so I gave them away to a mate as I'd never use them and he might on vary rare occasions I'd guess so absolute fit and robustness probably wouldn't matter. I'll have to put up a photo of the Holt (Draper Expert) small plastic toolbox with sensible sized tote tray and see if you seen any s/h or NOS anywhere in your travels as I'd love a few more to lighten the load on my wrists. I bought a Bacho tool box (still silly modern very shallow tote tray) without even knowing it a few years back it was just the size I needed and a good price in a local (part-time) shop - BTW I'm not mechanical or technical above the very basic level or any inclination, very often I'm to the incompetent side, I only do a bit on the cars because we can no longer afford to pay others to do what I can b*gger up for myself.

John makes good points, though you shouldn't have to worry about spillage as the batteries are sealed types. Tayna lists plenty of EFB batteries all but one are 60Ah (with different starting powers, CCA) but I'm not sure (but I don't know so do check) that in reality the car's computers would have any problems with a stated 1Ah difference. With batteries, and much else, a bigger given figure doesn't necessarily mean it's better but if you were using two batteries in rotation and recharging them when required before they go too low then you don't need worry about getting the most powerful starter anyway but only as a general rule I'd always go with a battery than has more years warranty, 4 is better than 3 generally. I was told on here that the Bosch battery I bought was made by Vatra anyway, the couple of batteries I've checked seem to be just below 17kg so heavy to carry a distance. Tayna, as John says, other suppliers are available 027 EFB battery list. - https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/types/027-efb/ HTH.

John, now I see (literally). I love the speed brace, 25/32", 14 and 18mm sockets and complete with a couple of spare nuts and a fuse. I mislaid an adapter for months under the broken plastic tray with my Kinzo (made in Taiwan) 3/8" drive "15 pc. socket wrench set". Most of the sockets and the ratchet have long gone but I still have the 8" swivel head handle, its crossbar, and extensions and use the metal box to house a couple of spare sockets and drive adapters. IIRC it cost me £11.25 around 1979 but it was from a dearer shop. All our yesterdays. ETA: great idea J.R.

@Sunny_Kay I'm not sure the manufacturer has allowed for a situation like this - you'd have to ask them - it does raise a very good point considering the stop/start would be about city driving. I'm not sure if the Fabia has the function of locking that @rum4mo mentions and I can't look on my wife's car as it isn't here. If you were to buy a new battery there are things to take into consideration you'd want to get one that is the same type (EFB?) and same (number) amp hour xx Ah so that you don't need to change any coding each time you swap the battery you'd be best to synchronise your key fob each time, it's very easy to do, instructions in Owner's Manual batteries are very heavy to carry around best to use both your hands rather than the one plastic handle it'll probably come with the battery would need to be charged in a well ventilated area as charging can give off some fumes any standard battery charger will work but one that allows for stop/start batteries, and perhaps for this first charge has a recondition setting, would be useful, you want a long, slow and low recharge that might take a day or two batteries do very slowly discharge themselves just sitting outside the car so you'd be best just to check or charge before fitting to the car (including the battery from new), this could be just minutes but worth checking you need to consider where you're going to store the spare (heavy) battery and to retain the plastic caps and covers over the posts during storage to prevent anything accidently shorting out the two posts (including spilt liquids that will beat the caps and covers). If you've not already done so get your friend to clear the codes after you fit a new battery (or you could do it before). For the tyres, if you chose them for wet weather or driving in snow then do bear in mind the tyres can only do so much and they will not overcome the wrong driving technique in these situations. I'm not a good driver but I'm old so learnt to drive in cars without the modern driver aids (and oversized wheels and tyres that most modern cars have) basically adjust your driving to the prevailing conditions, don't drive the same in wet or snow as you would when warm, very clear and dry, slower and steadier in snow. For the catalytic converter I'm not sure if that's a red herring but if you do a lot of short journeys then the occasional "Italian tune-up" / blow out run can help to "clean the tubes", that is a run where you have sustained higher revs for a reasonable period, doesn't need to be silly speeds or the engine screaming. A motorway, or similar, run at the legal speed limit in 4th gear (out of 5) for 20-50 miles every now and again, or depending on your availability and road conditions, a spirited run on roads that require gearchanges where you can keep the revs up in 3rd gear for a good deal of the time over a reasonable distance. After a faster run always allow the engine to settle for 20-30 seconds from parking before turning off to cool the turbo if required and let the engine settle. Or you could perhaps consider using the more expensive fuels that have greater cleaning additive packages, but they are more expensive. I'd start with two tankfulls one after the other (with an "Italian tune-up" if possible) then use at every 2nd, 3rd or 4th refill but just a couple of gallon top ups wouldn't be effective, the more each fill the better. Wow, another long reply.

Still learning this site. see if this works, (one 'A4' sheet) Fram Technical Information leaflet on oil filter valves. - oilfiltervalves.pdf

@PDess did you get it sorted?

oilfiltervalves.pdf

Yes but that was making you take four steps instead of a simple and direct one step, my thought is always to make the machine work for the user and not the other way round, I like to keep things simple when it comes to computers as I'm not clever enough to know all the jargon to take anyone, including myself, through multipole steps and menus as any self-respective MS or programming engineer would insist is needed rather than tell you the very simplest way. If I can't click or right-click it on a mouse (not mouse pads, they don't like me and the feeling is mutual, and as for touchscreens don't get me started) then I'm impatient, and I'm certainly not interested in remembering 'typist' type shortcuts with my fat stubby digits spread across a keyboard like a demented pianist. If I seem a grumpy old git that's only partially so, as often I'm also miserable, and computers generally do my blood pressure no good, more so even than cars and I've got a very old British car with modern made ****-poor parts. Apart from that life's not too bad at the moment.

You got far too technical for me with bi-hex I had to look it up, it's just 12 point to me instead of 6 (I still confuse hex as 8!). I think I've always managed a choice of 6 or 12 but of course the 6 or 12 will be the wrong length or square end fitting so adapter and to the wrong length handle, Sod's Law you never have the right tool no matter how many you or the guy across the road or your mate have adding to the misery of usually farting about on a car. I always start with the correct size spanner or socket but sometimes find the incorrect is a better fit for the job, I don't often find adjustable are best but sometimes have to use them, and obviously their handles or jaws then get in the way slowing the job. Perhaps I start with totally the wrong attitude, I'm much more relaxed working on someone else's car, not that I do often, but I seem then to have more patience and no swearing. Most people that know me know if I'm doing anything with our cars not to approach.

Yes but that was only after I edited the posted to include the hyperlinks (which I 'thought' I didn't have to do previously).

Sorry cross posting. If you're old school - or just old like me - you can ask for a paper print off of full service history before booking or getting the service work done and then a paper print off of the service you've just had and an update of the full service history to cover the service you've just had. In fact if you're old like me they'll automatically give you a printout of the current service work and then you just ask for the updated complete history as they know you want it on paper not in the air. And a finger nail pointing out on a print paper something that concerns you is a lot more powerful than any amount of different people looking at different screens, all psychological I suppose.

@TylaTyl Sorry being old I forgot to check the hyperlinks I left were live, I normally test but thought they were live in these posts, and we all know what 'thought' did. At this rate I could get a job with Microsoft to confuse people and make it more difficult than it is - you should just be able to click those links and magically get there. Sod's Law - every time you don't check you should have, I would put myself on final warning but I never listen t what I say.

I've heard of Elora but only in the last decade I think, I can't remember seeing any in the dim distance past but I wouldn't have looked for any. By iczn do you mean the sockets with pins in them to take the required shape?