Jocko

I'll grant you that, but it is easier for the layman to consider it as a form of storage rather than Pb and H2SO4 doing magic.

A larger battery does not put a strain on the alternator. The alternator just puts in what other systems take out. The battery is just storage.

It could be caused by a warped disc/s.

Since taking that photograph and washing and polishing the front wheels (Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax - I swear by it), I sprayed the tyres with Autoglym Tyre Dressing, just for speed . I prefer to use Garage Therapy Tyre Serum, but it takes a bit longer. The wheels really sparkle, like a very fine metalflake, but the lighting in that photograph doesn't show them off. I cleaned the area under the wipers with Back to Black gel but again I prefer Black Chrome wax. Once I get stuck in about it I will dig out the "good biscuits". The weather will have to pick up a bit before that happens

When you say waterless, do you mean rinseless? I had to amend my post because I had typed waterless when I meant rinseless. I used Dodo Juice Low On Eau Rinseless Wash and, as I still had a little left, that is what I used to wash the roof and bonnet.

The car is actually looking great considering it was valeted before I took delivery but has stood out all winter. I have not done 200 miles yet though and it has never been on a wet mucky motorway, just pottering around town. I used to use the two bucket method with rinseless wash but since moving here I have been a Sno foam and pressure wash guy. I rinse the foam off then hand wash using a Meguiar's X3002 Microfibre Car Wash Mitt and, currently, Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Wash & Wax Car Shampoo. I then rinse it and dry it with a microfibre towel. Prior to me getting it it must have sat in trees or some such as I keep finding traces of a green moss like substance in odd corners (window rubbers, rear wiper and base of aerial). The inside is immaculate though. Here is a picture taken a week back, before washing and polishing the front wheels (brake dust) and washing and waxing the roof and bonnet.

I may just use one of the liquid iron removers such as Bilt Hamber Korrosol, which is possibly a less labour intensive process. I clayed my Jazz on a couple of occasions during my ownership with no detriment to the paintwork but it was not a quick job!

As no one has said otherwise I will start claying the panels the next suitable day.

Today I decided to make a start to getting the car waxed so I washed the roof and bonnet before waxing with Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax. While washing the car with a sponge I felt the paintwork was a bit "grippy" and could probably do with a rub over with a clay bar. My question is, is there any reason I should not use a clay bar on the Skoda paintwork (8E/A7W Brilliant Silver)? Thanks.

I was out with the car this morning and I am please to say my cabin rattle has disappeared. Whether it was the thump or the silicone spray that did it is anyone's guess.

Out in the car today, and I have to admit, my wife is right, the rattle is coming from her door. If she leans on the door arm rest it stops. I checked the panels and they are all tight with no discernible movement between sections. I resorted to thumping the arm rest then spraying WD40 44722 Specialist High Performance Silicone Lubricant into all the seams. I will see if that has any effect and report back the next time I take the car out.

We used to play music all the time in the car but then I kinda went off it and now I like to drive in silence (or the best I can get).

There is just me and the missus and she doesn't drive, so we will just have to live with it. I can always take my hearing aid out, That should help!

I'll try that the next time I am out. it certainly makes no noise with the fan running and the car stationary. I was out at it since starting the thread and I certainly can't find nothing loose of the external panels. My wife thinks it goes away when she presses on the door panel but they are as tight as a drum. Perhaps the harness inside the door itself is rattling against the back of the door card. It is very difficult to pinpoint noise in a moving car. The Jazz went through several drop links during my ownership and every time it sounded like it was coming from the rear. After the first time I was no longer fooled.

I have to agree that there is sometimes an issue with the earth return between the engine and the battery negative terminal but if you connect the donor battery to the flat battery and it still doesn't start then connecting to an engine earth point which allows the car to start points that out immediately.

I am getting a terrible rattle from somewhere in the cabin. My wife is convinced it is coming from the front passenger door but I hear it from behind the middle of the dash. Some days it is not there for the outward part of the trip and then it is there for the return. Sometimes it seems to start after the first quarter of a mile or so. The cabin has never really got warmed up as my journeys are all very short so I don't know if it disappears with a bit of heat. I am wondering if it is down to the blower fan having been replaced (I don't suspect the fan but possibly the panel disturbance in replacing it). I am not really up for crawling about under the dash so unfortunately I think I will just have to live with it.

I would go back to the garage that did the MOT and ask if they could do anything to help me out saying I didn't want to contact VOSA if I didn't have to.

And I have done this for 50+ years. In the old days of vented batteries, removing a charging cable could cause a spark which theoretically could ignite the Hydrogen being vented but a flat battery isn't giving off gas and modern batteries do very little venting. The idea of connecting the charging earth cable remote from the battery was you could remove it first and any spark was nowhere near the gas then when you removed the positive cable there was no circuit so no chance of a spark.

Is that just on VAG vehicles because my Honda Jazz had a MAF and it was Euro 4.

What I would do is unplug and remove the two coil packs, swap them over and reconnect the pack on cylinder one to the wiring for cylinder one and the same for cylinder two (I am assuming all the coil packs are identical). Clear any codes and run the engine. If the fault still shows up as Cylinder 1 misfire then the fault is cylinder 1 related. If it now shows up as Cylinder 2 misfire then the problem is a defective coil. If you wish you can confirm this by moving it to cylinder 3. I know that Audi coil packs had a high failure rate a few years back (garages ended up not being able to get spares quickly) so I would think it was common across all VAG marques.

When you say you swap the connection from cylinder one to cylinder 2 do you mean you swap the entire coil pack over? If so I would say you have a defective coil pack.

How you drive also has a huge effect on mpg. I try to anticipated road conditions and avoid braking as much as possible. If you are the type of driver who drives up to a set of lights and brakes to a stop at the last moment, then has a spirited getaway on the green light you can almost half the mpg of another more sedate driver. Speed also has a huge effect. It takes a lot more fuel to drive at 70 mph than at 55 mph for very little time saving. I am not saying you are heavy on the brakes and throttle but it is worth thinking about. I try and get into 5th gear as quickly as possible, even in town traffic, though I have to admit, the short journeys and cold starts I am doing just now is not giving me great numbers for my first tankful with the Fabia. I have only done 160 miles since filling up at the start of the year and I am already just below half a tank on the gauge.

Both the suppliers I mentioned were UK based. https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VCV23NC.html https://www.mi-uk.com/product/vcdshex-v2-usb-3-vin-ross-tech-vcds-hex-v2-usb/

If I wanted to get VCDS for my son-in-law to use on my car I assume I just have to purchase the Ross-Tech VCDS HEX-V2 USB 3-VIN Package (currently available at £222.00) and download the software from Ross Tech onto my laptop. Is this correct? I have also seen another company selling the VCDS®HEX-V2 USB (3 VIN) ROSS-TECH VCDS® HEX-V2 USB for £225 which has the software on a USB stick. Is this a better option? Although a large outlay I feel it could very quickly pay for itself, as good tools usually do.

Remind me never to buy a car with Stop/Start technology.