Noddydog

Thanks folks. A friend came over in his Landy and we jumpstarted from that…..with his engine running. So right now the Fabia is starting from cold, but who knows what tomorrow morning will bring. This morning before the Landy jumpstart my battery was offering 6v. After the jumpstart and a 20 min drive it was up to 13v when first parked up. 30 mins later it was down to 12.5v…and I didn’t have time to check it after that. So, a couple more questions: 1) Can I charge the battery on the Fabia tonight with terminals still connected? 2) We have my wife’s MX5 on the drive tomorrow and, if needed, I could jumpstart from that. But her car is worth a fair bit more than mine. So I’d like to avoid any chance of frying the electrics on hers. Obviously I have to get to the bottom of the battery drain, which is most likely the trailer/towbar electrics. But first I need to get through an office move that requires the car and trailer between tomorrow and Monday. Once that’s over I can start chasing the towbar fitter, but it may not turn out to be that.

Ok, tried using the leisure battery, but the engine wouldn’t turn over. Instead the car alarm started going off constantly (pausing for only a few seconds, before starting again). I took one battery terminal off….it still kept going. Took the other one off, and it kept going. Reconnected both terminals and on the next cycle of the alarm it stopped. Might need to get a friend to come over to jumpstart.

Went to start my mk2 2013 1.2 TSI Elegance this morning and the battery is completely dead. I haven’t used it in 2 days, but during that time I’ve had a trailer attached via a tow bar that was professionally fitted 2-3 months ago. This is the first time I’ve left anything attached to the towbar (electrically) overnight. So my suspicions are it’s the towbar wiring that has drained the battery. But that’s something I’ll have to deal with in due course. My immediate problem is I need to jumpstart the car and be somewhere. We’ve only owned the Fabia for a few months, so not had to do any jumpstarting on it before. On examining the battery I noticed this box (see photo) on the top of the battery containing five cables that attach to the positive terminal. What is this box of wires and does it have any impact on jumpstarting the car? The last thing I want to do is fry something expensive on the car’s electrics by jumpstarting in the normal manner with this box attached to the battery. Hopefully someone can provide a quick answer since I’m supposed to be somewhere this morning and obviously need to start the car ASAP. On that note I do have a fully charged leisure battery sitting in the shed. Can anyone advise whether I can use this to jumpstart the Skoda? It’s quite an expensive leisure battery, so I don’t want to damage that either. If I can’t, I’ll need to get a friend to come over so I can use their car. But that obviously takes extra time to arrange. Thanks.

Thanks, that’s really useful and reassuring to know!

Oh ok. Somewhere else I read they changed from chains to cam belts on the Fabia in 2012, but maybe that wasn’t this 1.2 TSI model. But at least I know it’s a cam chain now. So, should I ask my local mechanic to keep an eye on it for stretching?

Based on the options, it can only be this one: But does that tell me if it’s a cam chain or belt? because I’m not able to tell sadly.

Is this useful from the windscreen?

Hi Roottoot. All I know (being mechanically under-skilled) is I have the engine that falls in the 103-105bhp category (ie it’s not the 90bhp version). I couldn’t tell you if it has a cam chain or belt drive. Is there an easy way to find out? Where would I find that?

A few months ago we purchased a 2013 Fabia Mk2 1.2l (103-105bhp) TSI Elegance estate. We’ve been very pleased with it and the engine is surprisingly willing yet frugal. But I keep reading comments across the Net about cam chain issues with the Fabia Mk2. I’m not even sure if our one has a cam chain or a belt. So is there anything iro my 2013 cam ‘whatever’ I need to be keeping an eye on, or any other potentially big issues I should be on the look out for going forwards? Also, there seems to be different figures for the bhp output of the 1.2 TSI engine from around my year. Apart from the 90bhp version, some sources show it as 103bhp, whilst others show 105bhp. I’m guessing it’s the same engine and they are just rounding it up, but again I’d welcome some clarity. Thanks.

Thank you:-)

Our 2013 Skoda Elegance Fabia 1.2 TSI has a couple quirks I’d like to change: 1) I’d like to press the unlock button on the key fob just ‘once’ to have all the doors unlock. Right now one press only unlocks the drivers door. It takes two presses to unlock everything else. 2) I’d like the 12v accessory socket at the front (between the seats) to disconnect power to anything plugged in when I turn off the ignition. This has been a useful feature for my satnav on previous cars, whereas it stays on permanently on the Fabia. This next one isn’t a quirk as such, more seeking info/advice. I want to get a single electrics tow bar fitted to tow a small 2 berth caravan. Any gotchas/issues I need to be aware of on the Fabia? Thanks:-)

Thanks, that’s a relief! An early Happy New year to you:-)

Thanks. Is it expensive to have a sump gasket replaced? I know the dealer should sort it out, but I’ve come to mistrust car dealers based on past experiences. So I want to assess whether he’ll just do it….or try to to put up a fight.

ust before Christmas we purchased a 2013 Fabia Elegance estate from a independent London dealer. It has 26,000 miles on the clock and a FSH. On the MOT history there was this identical advisory for 2018 and 2019: Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i)) However the 2020/21 MOTs were clear of advisories, so I assumed it had been dealt with. Also, when first looking the car I checked for signs of an active oil leak in the engine bay and underneath, but couldn’t see any. Whilst at the dealers, I even rang up the garage who had undertaken most of the previous services, getting their number from the service stamp. They said they had no records for the car iro oil leak investigation or remedial work. So I felt I’d done due diligence on the issue. However yesterday I noticed a droplet of oil on the bottom of the engine. As you’ll see in this video, there’s also some gaps in the edge of the sump pan plate in one specific place, that I’m not sure are normal, ie the other bolts don’t have similar gaps and the surface oil residue seems thicker in that one place with gaps: https://vimeo.com/661420669/fcbd99454b Obviously I still have a 3 month warranty with the dealer. But before I go back to him, I’d welcome any thoughts/advice on what the cause might be. Thanks.