MijIsTired

I understand your reasoning, but there's no evidence of that. I appreciate you can't see that from those photos.

Anyone got wisdom they'd be willing to share? 2011 Mkll fabia combi, 1.2 tsi. The engine's been cleaned down (by a VAG knowledgeable garage I've used before) because they couldn't tell where it was coming from before. Went away to drive it for a bit, but then they couldn't fit in a re-inspection as quickly as they thought. So trying to gauge what to brace for. Photos below show what I can see and get to, to photograph. It's losing enough to pool in the tray at the front, then drip out of the drain hole further back. What I can't quite see, or doesn't completely make sense, is the amount dripping vs what & where there's evidence of oil on the engine. Before the clean down I thought head gasket, but, this is too high isn't it? Or have I lost myself in engine architecture navigation? I've looked up what happens when the usual suspect gaskets go, and I could be being dim / not translating others' photos to what I'm looking at properly, but it doesn't seem to match those. But the oily patches are definitely around seals and joins, so... The coolant leak was fixed with a pump replacement, but the leak predates that by some time.

Thank you 😁 It’s satisfying isn’t it. Also (touching lots of wood) happy that have had no reoccurrence of non-starting since, though can’t find a reasonable explanation for that as it seemed to be lack of sufficient fuel to get a first spark up.

Got the little sod out. Had to fish around for a while, hooking out bits of O ring with an adapted paper clip. Glad the second one is green or I’m not sure I’d have spotted the remnants. Used a combo or torches, mirror (thanks @sepulchrave) and phone camera for the ability to zoom in. Ended up taking out both air hoses and the air filter housing (which was surprisingly easily to remove. Never had need before), and the battery. Disconnected one of the radiator coolant hoses and it was still a bugger to get to. @Breezy_Peteinvaluable info again, both about location and getting the connectors off. Watched videos, had a practice on more accessible ones and voila! That stage could easily have been where I got defeated without this intel. Massive thanks again to Briskoda’s finest.

Great, thank you. About to go in 🤞

Not sure whether to praise your prophecy or blame you for invoking it, but ta-da! Last night the ECU light came on to have a party with the red flashing temp, and OBD now shows 'low circuit' fault P011700. Intermittent Evap hasn't recurred though. Coolant level still fine. Red temp dash light coming and going, with no pattern/correlation to anything I can discern re driving conditions, start up vs mid-drive, load the engine's under, or even whether parking uphill, downhill or flat. So current plan is still to remove whatever's in the way of seeing it properly, check as much of the wiring to and around it, and unless there's a really easy to see other cause (eg dodgy wire), replace it.

Always delighted to hear about knacks for doing things. Consensus is to disconnect first, but other tips very gratefully received. OBDll had wild temperature readings from a stone cold engine, and others experiencing the same seem to find replacement = solved. Only error code is intermittent EVAP which I’m also replacing.

Thank you, I’ve seen some helpful posts about how to deal with it once you can get at it, but always useful to mine prior knowledge about best approaches. Mirror & torch - check. You underestimate my ability to drop anything, anywhere. Dexterity is not my strong point.

Thanks, at the moment I can’t get at it sufficiently to do anything other than just about touch it.

Thank you 🙂

Hello @mikkelvitus and @varooom, can I ask which, in the end, was the correct sensor: the black one or the grey one (as per your photos)? I’m having the same issue with both coming up in CTS G62 searches, and I’m trying to avoid dismantling mine twice: once to identify, and again to replace. Thanks 😊

… on a 1.2l tsi petrol, 2011? Now I’ve finally found it (thanks to the legends that are @Breezy_Peteand @sepulchrave) and seen how buried under hoses it is, wondering what the minimum number of things it’s possible to detach to make it sensibly accessible. Started with the chunky air cleaner hose but while I could shift the clips easily enough, the hoses weren’t budging so had to give up for the night. Wondered if it would be better remove the duct that comes off the top of the radiator, but the rigid plastic snibs that click it in to place are equally reluctant to give up. So hoping for pearls of wisdom about which one to concentrate on, before I get the better tools out and lose more time to things that may not buy me that much extra space. Thanks in advance. When I get properly in there I’ll do a few photos in case it helps those trying to do the same.

Adding this in case it's useful for anyone else: Seem correct for my Fabia Mkll 1.2 TSi 2011 Combi.

@Breezy_PeteTHANK YOU! I can see where I am now. Better charge more torch batteries… I know my way round that side a little cos of replacing a breather valve, but it’s very crowded when in situ, can’t see a blummin thing, so not feeling quite so stupid.

Thanks, yes, I did look at that. But despite usually having pretty strong spatial reasoning skills, I cannot relate that, or anything else I've looked at, to what's in front of me when I'm standing with my knees up against the radiator. I did get under the car to check the leak so I know where the pump is. I understand engine fundamentals, so I can figure out where most things are even if an engine looks totally different to what I was used to. But I have no experience (and apparently little understanding) of cooling systems, so I'm pathetically stuck.