SwallownAmazon

That Autodoc price looks good. I got uprated higher rate "towing springs" for my Octavia 2 TDi from Skoda Parts in Czech Republic. Total cost including shipping for the springs, rubber mounting pads and Fedex shipping was Euros 93.22; admittedly in 2022. They made a huge difference, making it seem more stable without raising the ride height unladen. Very helpful chap on the phone, spoke perfect English with an American twang.

The jelly-like gunk is a by-product of bacterial degradation of the organic component of the screenwash additive. Best way to stop it is to use a wee bit of disinfectant in the tank. My day job was as an industrial chemist and I spent some years working with surfactants. If my jets block with general road muck thrown up, I also clear the pipe by operating the washer for a few seconds without the jet in place.

My code reader showed the "oil pressure regulation valve electrical malfunction" code and my trusted indie garage assured me that's exactly what it was - a malfunction. It's only happened once with the regular appearance of another one which also looks to be a malfunction and which I clear when it happens.

For information, I registered my diesel vRS and the sticker came about 5 days later. We are off to the Loire valley and Brittany in May. I think the only time the sticker is required is if you visit certain city centres, Bonne journee and all that..

Waste of time and money. Cleaning will only remove the carbon that should be burned during the regen process. Main problem with these damned things is they clog up with ash that is effectively embedded in the ceramic core and no amount of pressure cleaning will get it out without damage to the core. Like turbos, they have a service life of around 140 - 150 thousand miles so yours at 145,000 odd is probably due for replacement.

I clear mine out with a dress-making pin nicked from the memsahib's sewing box. It seems to clog both the jets and the feedpipe inside, usually with rust particles.

As above, this code pops up with monotonous regularity on my diesel VRS with CUNA 4 cylinder engine. Simultaneously the orange engine shaped warning light comes on. The code can be cleared using a basic OBD tool and I have noticed that its appearance can be prompted by a bit of spirited driving such as pulling out of a side turning into moving traffic. I've looked this up using Dr Google and it tells me that No 8 injector is possibly, clogged, faulty, or there is a wiring fault. No 8? Is my diagnostic tool having me on? There doesn't appear to be any noticeable power loss when it lights up - am I being a bit paranoid?

Asking about a dashboard rattle is a bit like asking how long is a piece od string. Can't identify it through a keyboard/screen...

Or too small to be able show it. 😄

As above you could try eBay - I sourced a set of drivers' handbooks for my BMW 740 for not many shekels...

The bonnet pull on my previous Octavia 2 failed a few years back right outside the place I'd gone to to buy a new battery. The battery guy couldn't work out how to do it so Green Flag came to the rescue. Took him over two hours to do it through the front grilles which rattled from then on. And the reason it failed? The plastic connector in the two-piece cable had cracked allowing the soldered nipple to just pull out.... Not an easy job and I imagine on the Oct 3, it wll be even more difficult with improved security. Good luck

Thanks Occy, I was afraid of the DMF - a bit fragile for 200-odd BHP...

As in the heading, I would like to know the type of 6-speed manual gearbox fitted to my 2016 Octavia vRS TDi with CUNA engine. I've found lots of discussions about the various DSG boxes but little about the manual box. What sort of clutch does it have - single plate or twin plate - wet or dry? Solid or dual mass flywheel? I've found that when it's hot after a longish run (50 miles or more) there appears to be a bit of what I can only describe as "looseness" when the drive takes up from rest; almost like judder but not that bad and I wonder whether an oil change would be beneficial? My only experience with a wet clutch is on a pre-war Morris car whose single plate consisted of a ring of corks pressed into holes in the plate. This ran in an oily environment fed from a tiny drilling to an oilway in the back of the crankshaft main bearing and the excess drained back to the sump.

My understanding is that it's the ash content in the DPF that is the rate determining step rather than soot. The DPF can look clean as the ash is pretty well the same colour as the filter material so won't show up. These things do have a "service life"; my 2016 vRS diesel at 146,000 odd miles with similar issues to yours needed a replacement and since then no problems. Short journeys will exacerbate the problem. Cost from Autodoc for the Walker unit was around £1200 delivered all charges paid whereas cost from Skoda was £1800 +VAT.

If you found the bonnet struts, why can't you search for the boot struts yourself? 🙄

UK lighting standards legislation has fallen far behind the technology as it still uses wattage as the criterion to describe the power of a bulb - hence the OP mentioning 35w fitted as standard. That will refer to a "conventional" tungsten filament bulb which was all that was available when the law was written; superseded by halogen bulbs in the 1970's or thereabouts. Now we have HID and LED bulbs that use a lot less current to generate prodigious amounts of light so a 35w LED would produce enough lumens for a searchlight.... That's why the gubbinsment is now belatedly talking about "reviewing the situation" - just like Fagin.....

Don't go for a refurb turbo, you don't know if the bearings and seals have been done properly - go for new from Garrett (manufacturer) on the south coast at around £700. DPF - £1200 ish delivered from Autodoc, £1800 +VAT from Skoda. Don't ask me why I know...... My 2016 diesel vRS had around 143,000 miles when I bought it. Needed some money spent but now it's done, I luvvit!

I guess we'll just have to differ then - I know which I prefer. 🤝 A GT4 is a bit like a pendulum with all that weight at the back - once that's lost traction it must be a bit of a bu**er to try and hold it. 😨 A the late Frank Gardner once said "Smell it? I was sitting in it" 😁

I would have thought someone with a body hammer and the right shaped dolly behind the panel ought to be able to tap that out with the wheel arch liner removed. Tapping that crease out will probably pull the top edge down to match the bonnet "shut line". Wee bit of stopper to get the profile spot-on and Robert's your mother's brother.... 👍

Just to put this to bed, the OSF disc is 315 mm using Pete's cardboard caliper so I guess with experimental error thay are actually 312mm. For information, the EBC part number for my setup is DP22150 and they don't include the brake wear sensor (available separately) or new caliper bolts (not availabe from EBC). I fitted these pads in my old Octy 2 and my E38 BMW 740 Sport - much improved intital bite and a significant reduction in black dust.

I strongly disagree. From my 40 years involvement in rallying, both stage and road events, it's almost impossible to correct understeer - once you have lost traction at the front you just go off forwards. Oversteer is easy to correct - you just steer into the skid. New tyres always on the front. Back to the topic of tyre choice, I had a nasty experience last night on one of the awful B roads in Kent. Coming back from Ashford after collecting a newly rebuilt wire wheel for my 1937 Morris 8, we hit a hidden trench in the road caused by the incessant rain. We hit it hard enough for the car to jump in the air so I stopped to check the front to make sure the wheel was still intact. Not only was the wheel still intact, the tyre also looks to be undamaged even in daylight this morning. They are KUMHO Ecsta PS71 R18 Y (92) and have a decent rim protecting "flange". They have only been on the car for 4 weeks after having the front wheels refurbished so I can't give much info about performance but in the heavy rain with standing water yesterday they seemed to perform well. People may reject tyres from the far east but both KUMHO and Hankook make excellent competition tyres for motorsport and have been "control" tyres in many formats.

That's what I've always done with FWD cars, the best tread and grip always to the front... Much better to go off backwards than forwards - less damage 😄

No further progress - just as it stopped raining I went down with bl**dy norovirus ☠️ on Friday and havn't eaten properly since then...... At least I can keep water down now. 🤞

Headlight alignment is done via two hexagonal adjusters in the mountings. I think Cairus is referring to a headlight beam optical alignment device. My preferred way is to drive to a dark road with no traffic and align the headlights to what I want using an Allen key.

I did allow for that by using a kids geometry set square against the disc, maybe my eyesight is a little bit out. I'll try the cardboard guage when it stops raining and I can summon the strength to lift the wheel again. I think I need more Weetabix....