jpadie

it is simple if you just buy a whole new part! it's a sad indictment on the world that labour rates have risen so high that it encourages a throwaway and buy anew culture rather than fix. I used to live in france (for 25 years) and it was heartening to see so many cars from the 1960s and 70s still entirely happily on the road (pollution notwithstanding...)

thanks both they were indeed M10s. but I only had M8 replacement studs; so left them in after cleaning out the threads and applying copper grease. I had to reuse the nuts as well (same reason). They got a bath in citric acid and a scrubbing. Like you, @Alasdair1, the bolt for the metal exhaust hanger cracked off but luckily that was an M8 and I had those. the connection between the mid-box and the silencer was beyond repair. cranking on the nut just blew the carriage bolt socket out on the other side. an angle grinder solved those problems but one of the band clamps was so fatigued that it broke doing it back up. I had a spare D-clamp, thankfully. replacement bolt for the other band clamp came from one of the unneeded studs with two brass locking nuts. getting the front of the exhaust off was a 10 minute job in the end. the back was more like an hour. hopefully the car will pass its MOT now!

Update: I think these are studs and nuts. They might be spring studs too. I've ordered a batch of 10.9 M8 studs and nuts and assume I will have to drill out the old ones although I might try to split the nuts with a multi tool and reuse the studs.

Hi all My Skoda (now my daughter's) is coming back for a visit this weekend and to have the exhaust changed. Last time I looked at this I couldn't get the fasteners off between the manifold and down pipe. But I don't remember whether they were bolts or nuts or something else. Does anyone have any insight and tips for this job? What replacement parts are needed other than gasket (silent blocks are recently replaced). New bolts/nuts/studs? Are they copper or steel? And I assume they're M8/1.25.

thank you Pete. the transfer table definitely makes it easier! initial tests show no pd across any of the larger fuses. and the battery has floated back to 12.4. i'm giving it a full charge using a (supposedly) pukkah AGM charger then will leave the car for 18 hours to see what the voltage looks like.

the car does not have the start/stop. i know it's not the right thing but it's bought now and that's the disposable budget for Jan gone! yes - I can measure voltage across fuses. without knowing the resistance of the blades all it tells me, though, is whether there is an unexpected current draw. It's a good start though. Question is: how do I do that whilst keeping the BMS uninterested? Wouldn't triggering the seat sensors stop the ECU going into shut down?

ok. time for an update ... 1. was measuring with a DC clamp meter. i don't know what it's precision is like at low current. I will shift to a proper electronics multi-meter for the next tests. 2. my other half got stuck in the car when at a supermarket and got mugged into buying a 180 eur AGM battery. which is now installed. I fitted it last night and today it is measuring 12.2v. Worrying 3. This is a "New Beetle" rather than skoda. But the instrumentation and clusters look v similar to my fabia. less damaged perhaps! 4. everything on the car is OEM. Additions are an Echo Auto which is plugged into the cigarette lighter. On the beetle the ciggy is connected to the ignition (not the "until the key is removed" wire). so it looks like something in the car is draining the battery. I'm wondering how to fool the BCM so that I can check the draw fuse by fuse with someone in the car. I should have sprung for the extra tenner and the bluetooth meter!

thanks all. it's not every time so diagnosis is a challenge. my thoughts: 1. parasitic drain: it sometimes shows low voltage after only a few hours/overnight. sometimes not. I think this is a distinct possibility but wonder whether the current drain is caused by moisture incursion/freezing. the current drain tests I have done when the engine electrics have been off for ten minutes show a drain of only 90mA. 2. faulty battery: my gut feeling is that the battery remains ok. it's a sealed lead acid one so whilst I could get into the cells I haven't done it yet. given that the battery voltage tends to be around 12.4 - 12.2 I am thinking it may be that one cell has become sulphated. my next step is to try applying a current limited overvoltage to desulphate. 3. faulty starter: the starter feels normal. the battery tanks when the ignition is turned on but before cranking. i think this is likely to be the glow plugs causing a load which is consistent with the battery having a load fault. 4. warranty: the battery was an expensive one bought in Feb 2024 when the car had a very similar problem (yes, I know this points elsewhere). Sadly I don't have the receipt.

thanks @Warrior193. wouldn't a faulty cell show in reading static voltage? i.e. there would be 1/6 of the potential missing from the overall battery size?

hello all, and HNY ! I've got an oldish diesel beetle that looks to have much of the same instrumentation stuff inside it as the fabia 1. At the moment the car needs jumping every morning. It's on the parky side (-1C). battery is taking a charge and alternator is working. but voltage drops from nominal to 12.4 over a few hours, and to 12.2 overnight. turning on the ignition tanks the battery to lower than 8v (picks up back to 12.2 quickly.- perhaps the glow plugs?). I can't see any heavy battery draw on the DC clamp meter I'm using. so haven't started the fuse by fuse search. the battery is less than a year old and, as I said, charging normally. any suggestions for what to look for, please? thanks as ever Justin

Hello all With obd11 app I was previously able to adapt a new key to the immobiliser (I have the code). I've also been able to do so with a piece of open source code and a cable This morning and last night I have been unsuccessful. Obd11 unlocks the cluster and then I get a 00 function not available error when I specify the number of keys to code. Anyone come across and squished this issue?

That's amazing!

thanks @sepulchrave got it this morning and when I went to fit it the bolt sheared off. can't get a drill bit into that area so the sensor got glued on with CT1 and mitre bond. if that doesn't work then I think I have to replace the whole wheel hub!

sorry to re-raise an old thread - disaster has struck and I have to drive to the SW France next week. I'd rather get the Fabia's ABS fixed before leaving so I'm going to try to get an original wheel speed sensor. Does anyone know what the original part was branded? Euro Car Parts have one made by Pagid.

I'm stumped. Sent the whole arvo chasing the wires and there is no discernible break. I've not been able to get my forearms behind the brake lines to remove the big connector to the abs and do some direct continuity testing but have just been out with an OBDEleven dongle plugged in to the car and can see that the ABS light comes on after a couple of minutes and that there is no discernible break whatsoever in transmission of the wheel speed data. I don't know whether the ABS will still work when the fault light is on (given that wheel speed is still being read) and I don't have any ideas as to what other fault finding I can do. The ABS ECU unit looks tough to replace given its position. and I've no idea in reality whether it is at fault. Nor do I know whether the ABS ECU needs to be paired with the ECU if I change it, or whether the pairing is not a requirement in the mk1. stumped and not sure what a garage might do next either!

rats. ok. I don't think continuity testing is going to be useful sadly. whilst the error happens every time without fail, the sensor continuously reports data so there must be some more or less persistent connection.

no splicing or connector in the rear cills . the LHR sensor comes up under the seat, snakes to the door cill then traverses to the RHS, meets the RH loom and goes forward; again no obvious splicing but I have not opened the loom to be definitive. I've lost it at the seatbelt anchor and am now looking to see whether there are any online resources that show me the path it takes. in the wiring diagrams there is another connector block but I have not yet come across it. perhaps near the drivers' knee fuse box?

Thanks again Pete. Will need to dig out my trim tools it seems. I had terrible mould in this car until I siliconed the door internals so it's not impossible that corrosion is a culprit. The wiring diags for earlier models show a junction there as it goes into the loom but a splice would make more sense from a fit perspective and a greater likelihood of an intermittent failure (the wheel sensor continue to report to the ECU even once P00290 has fired). I've learned something important too. Apparently there are wood pigeons in car seats these days! Who knew?

Is there a sheet or hint for accessing the rear left wiring loom? The abs line goes into the chassis quite shortly after leaving the hub. Is the wiring loom accessible from the inside of the cabin?

Thank you Pete. V kind

I replaced a section of wiring that looked very slightly compromised and then really hoped the problem would be fixed. It wasn't. The abs light comes on after 2-3 mins of driving and around 30mph. Next step is checking the wiring from the ECU end but I have no idea where it is mounted. Does anyone have a wiring and connection diagram and know where the ABS ECU is mounted?) Cheers Justin

Thank you. I'm not sure where the abs ECU and pump are mounted in a Fabia but will see how far I can scoot under the car tomorrow morning. The wiring looks ok and is providing solid enough input to the ECU so that Delphi reports continuously The ECU is reporting solidly to OBD. Best I can come up with at the moment is an intermittent break in overly brittle wires. Replacement abs units seem to be more than I paid for the car but it could be that I need to visit a breakers yard.

Any solid way to diagnose it?

Reset the fault codes and took the car out for a short drive. Warning light came back once I hit 50kph. Had a flight recorder going on the wheel speed sensors and they all measured within 1kph of each other the whole time. Brake fluid normal. I've taken the sensor out and scrubbed the area again but I doubt whether that has anything to do with it! Car still drives fine of course. But no abs. And I doubt the driving test invigilator will allow my youngest to take the test with the abs light shining balefully! If anyone has any thoughts for investigation, I'd be grateful.

Well as it happens I've taken it out and the abs error has come back. Not sure whether it's just because it's a stored error or because a new bearing didn't fix the issue. So far new sensor and new bearing and when driving I can see that the wheel speed is being read. So the cable is ok. Not sure what else can be wrong now !