Carproblems

Obviously I don't mean to buy 20 year old tires that literally left the factory. I'm just wondering if it's possible to find what brand tire was used.

It's a 2004 MK3 Seat ibiza (6L) with a 1,4 petrol engine producing 75HP (engine code BBY) and a five speed manual gear box. The original alloys supplied with the car are 15 inches with the following specs "6J x 15 H2 ET43 5/100" and the alloys have the part number 6L0601025G. The tires fitted to it currently are Pirelli P1 Cinturato (195/55 R15 85V), the tires are OK but they were quite worn when I bought the car so I'm wondering if there are better alternative in terms of noise, rolling resistance etc... Suggestions?

Where do you find information about the tires that came with the car from the factory? I can't find any info on 7zap or any parts catalogue for my SEAT ibiza 6L (or skoda/VW for that matter) I'm thinking of purchasing a new pair of tires and I'm wondering if it's a good idea to buy the tires that came with the car form the factory, they're often recommended by the carmaker as they've been validated and tested in terms of handling, fuel economy, rolling resistance and other stuff that is essential for the car. Any ideas?

Since I've solved the problem I thought I would update the thread in case it might help someone else, turns out the issue was a dirty MAP-sensor. I initially suspected the throttle body or gas pedal was the main culprit since it kept throwing up throttle body and gas pedal related codes. Since I got the car last year I would also occasionally get a P0106 code relating to the MAP sensor as well as the EPC light when driving, it would happen when I shifted from 4th to 5th gear and I lifted the clutch pedal too quickly, I didn't think these problems were related but I decided to investigate the MAP-sensor first as it tends to cause many idling and engine related problems. I removed the MAP sensor to take a look and it turns out that the MAP-sensor was completely covered in soot and carbon build up over the last 20 years or so which caused interference. I sprayed it with some electronic parts cleaner and the issue went away almost immediately, it took a few minutes of driving and couple engine restarts for the symptoms to completely disappear and they've not come back since. I did notice a slight improvement when accelerating as the car didn't surge and hesitate anymore when applying full throttle when joining the highway for instance like it did before and the idle feels a tad bit smoother as well. https://imgur.com/a/j9ONN5w Since the sensor was almost 20 years old I did replace it around a week later with a new BOSCH sensor since they only cost around 35$ on Autodoc. The new sensor has a different part number and a slightly different look compared to the old one as well (new 0 261 230 234 old 0 261 230 095) so likely this is an updated part, didn't notice any performance difference with the new one though so I believe the previous one was working fine once cleaned but I replaced it anyways. I did remove the MAP-sensor quite recently to check for carbon build up and to my surprise there was none, it looked exactly like I had just installed out of the box so it seems that carbon build up isn't an acute issue, considering the low mileage this car has for the age it was probably not driven very hard where the engine reached operating temperature, probably city-driven for most of it's life which caused this. I use this car for commuting on mostly highways so carbon and soot will probably not be an issue (hopefully). Since the MAP-sensor was completely covered in gunk I thought it's fair to assume that the rest of the intake manifold, throttle body, EGR and PCV system is also covered with the same stuff so I initially thought about removing everything and giving it a thorough cleaning but since the car is almost 20 years old I decided against it since removing all of it is quite an involved job and replacing broken and brittle plastic components would be a major hassle, especially the intake manifold. I ended up just cleaning the throttle body. The throttle body was completely covered in caked-on carbon deposits, I tried to use various solvents and degreasers like brake cleaner, electronic parts cleaner, acetone, white spirit and even oven degreaser to no avail. The carbon had basically solidified on the surface and it was essentially flaking off, I ended up just using a wooden tooth pick to scrape off as much carbon as possible, primarily around the edge of the butterfly valve where it contacts the housing and the shiny coated surface around the valve. I reinstalled it on the car and the engine was throwing all sorts of codes and the idle was all over the place, so I readapted it with VCDS. The idle is now almost buttery smooth and I feel a slightly better response from the engine when driving. These are pictures of the throttle body after cleaning it, forgot to take before pictures. As you can tell I didn't bother making it sparkly clean, only the coated shiny surface and the edge of the valve. Also I took a few pictures of the EGR pipe, looking at the way it's pointed upwards, no wonder the back of throttle body was covered with rock hard deposits. Brilliant design. https://imgur.com/a/HQNThzh

So I have a seat ibiza 6L (rebadged skoda fabia mk1) with 1,4 BBY engine and the manual does caution that the electronic cooling fan could turn on suddenly when the engine is off, I'm presuming this only happens when the ECU detects a very high coolant temperature but I'm not sure. I've never noticed this on my car come to think of it, not sure if it's broken but it seems to be working fine otherwise, the fan turns on when I turn on the AC or when the temp gauge gets to the middle and it cycles on and off. Maybe the engine needs to overheat for the cooling fan to keep spinning when the engine is off? How do you test this or is it something to be worried about?

I ended up doing just that, too much trouble finding the right part anyway.

I thought I might update the thread, I ended up putting some liqui moly anti squeal paste on the points of contact between the caliper and the caliper carrier (hub assembly) which mostly solved the issue, there's still some slight clanking when driving over very rough surfaces like uneven gravel roads or potholes but for the most part the brakes have quieted down. Having played around with brakes it seems to me that it's really just a design flaw, there's very tiny gap between the caliper and caliper carrier seen in the photo (less than 1 mm) and that play is what causes the clanking. Most other floating brake caliper of this design usually have a spring clip on the end which puts slight tension on the caliper preventing it from vibrating too much but these admittedly cheap calipers don't have that. Some have suggested changing out the rubber boots where the guide pins slide or greasing guide pins but that doesn't eliminate the play in caliper, also as mentioned they were a very tight fit to begin with so changing seems pointless, really you need some form of spring tension to stop excess movement. I will eventually replace the rotor and caliper when they wear out so I might give an aftermarket brand like ATE or Pagid a try instead of going genuine VW, we'll see if that makes any difference.

Broke one of these cable holder while cleaning the plenum chamber, can't see the entire part number on it and I have trouble finding it on ETKA or anywhere on the internet. Seems to start with (?) 0 971 845 A https://imgur.com/a/w2y0gYF

Anybody know if there's a chart or some sort of map showing where all the drainage holes are for the car? I was cleaning the plenum chamber and noticed it was filled with leaves and dirt, makes me wonder if there are other drainage holes blocked that need to cleared. The official service repair manual has a chapter named "Manual for locating water entries" but it doesn't really show specific locations for drainage holes throughout the car, it just gives some examples and guidance on how to find water ingress. My car doesn't have a sunroof but I did notice a water drain pipe right behind the back bumper on the right side, maybe it's a drain for the fuel filler cap cavity?

I already replaced the cambelt and waterpump like a week ago (aftermarket kit by SKF, original was outrageously priced), I decided to wait a week and then double-check that the tensioners and everything else looked right since I've never changed a cambelt before and I didn't want to buy new engine mount/crankshaft bolts twice so I reused the old ones for a week. I was surprised to find the 20-year old water pump in immaculate shape, no play or noise whatsoever and the bearings felt smooth exactly like the new one, there was no leak either so it felt like a waste to replace it but I did anyways. I'm doing everything on the ground with regular old jack-stands so getting the torque right is going to be a challenge, I do have a counterhold tool so I should be able to get enough leverage to tighten properly, I will have to use my beam-style torque wrench since I don't have anything else that goes up to 150 nm. The manual does also state on another page to lubricate it (presumably with engine oil or similar) so hopefully that will prevent the bolt from seizing in the future and also make torquing easier.

I guess my manual is saying "use the newest version of the bolt when replacing" but the wording is bad.

I did actually email different dealerships to get a price estimate for a cambelt replacement before I decided to just do it myself, they all use the same new bolt with the hollow head and apparently it's the correct one when they type in my car VIN-number. Still strange that the manual recommends using the same version bolt that the car came with. Do you think it's okay to use the new bolt?

What do you mean? The last paragraph just states different torque requirements for the new vs old bolt.

Had to replace the crankshaft pulley bolt on my ibiza 6L 1,4 BBY, the one my car came with (from factory) is a 19 mm 12 point with a flat head but the one dealer gave me is 21 mm 12 point with a hollow head? Looking at the repair manual they do mention two different crankshaft pulley bolts with different torque requirements, flat head 90 nm + 90 degrees vs hollow head 150 nm + 180 degree. What's strange is that the manual does state that the same version of crankshaft pulley bolt that the car came with should be used, so why did the dealer give me the new bolt? Can I use the new bolt without issues or do I play safe and get the original flat head bolt? 150 nm is quite a lot of torque and I don't want to strip something.

Maybe a silly question but I did a timing belt recently on my seat ibiza 6L (rebadged fabia mk1) with engine code BBY (1,4 litre petrol 75 hp) and accidentally rotated the crankshaft backwards a few rotations trying to get the crank pulley bolt off (original factory bolt), the crank pulley holder I used slipped a couple times and I didn't realize that the crank was rotating and not the bolt. I eventually got it off and change the timing belt and tensioners and it fired up and ran fine, but it does make me wonder if it's ever a good idea to rotate the engine backwards? Suppose I stall on a hill and start rolling backwards and the car is still in first gear, the engine would of course start to spin backwards, would this slacken the timing belt or cause it to jump timing somehow? Haven't noticed anything strange and I've driven a few hundred miles so hopefully everything should be fine...

Can you do it with one of these cables and free VCDS progam or do you need some type of expensive license?

But it's strange that the problem is so intermittent, you'd think that if the problem was pedal or throttle the issue wouldn't go away by just restarting the engine. Do you need a special VAG reader to code for a second hand throttle body or does the ECU adapt automatically?

Hello! I have a Seat ibiza 6L 1,4 BBY engine (same car as mk1 fabia) and I've had an issue lately (last few months) where the EPC light turns on suddenly when I start the engine with code P2101. The throttle works but only up to 2k RPM and the car seems to be in some form of limp mode. The moment I turn the engine off and on again it works like normal and the check engine light goes off after a hundred miles or so. When I return to the car and attempt to start it again I have the same issue. It seems to only happen when I start the car every now and then. I did experience a weird problem a few weeks ago which has only happened to me once, while driving on the highway and attempting to accelerate from 50 to 60 mph or so the throttle stopped working completely and the EPC light came on again with the same trouble code. I had to coast to shoulder of the highway restart the engine and worked like normal. Could a dirty throttle body cause these issues?

Update, I've checked the brake pad springs and the inner one was indeed a little loose so I removed it, bent the pins outwards a little so they grab on to the piston a more and now they fit better, but the noise hasn't gone away as there's still slight play in the caliper. I ended up putting one layer of duct tape on the sliding surfaces between caliper and carrier and that has gotten rid of the noise and reduced some play, although it's only a temporary solution and the noise still appears occasionally when I drive over potholes. I'll try some Liqui Moly brake anti-squeal paste hopefully that might resolve the problem (at least for a long while) but we'll see once I get the paste.

I have double and triple checked the ARB and bushings, I can elicit the exact same noise by wiggling the calipers and banging on the wheels with a hammer while they're off the ground, as mentioned in other comments I'll have to check the alignment of pad springs.

They're genuine VW brake pads, this is the number on the back JZW 698 151.

I am pretty much certain the brakes are the culprit, I've lifted the car and tugged, grabbed and hammered on every part of the subframe, suspension, wheels, exhaust, engine mounts you name it and none of them make noise. I did confirm the issue by applying the brakes and the noise stopped so it's definitely the brakes. This car is 2004 with original calipers so I guess this might just be a case of old brakes that are noisy but there should be a fix for this. I did notice some of the other brake systems mentioned in the service manual like Lucas, FN3 or Brembo use different type of retainer springs for pads and calipers so this might very well be a design issue.

The brake pads sit firmly attacked to the caliper with the springs, I've checked and the springs are intact. As you mention there is slight play built into the bushings as they are made of rubber which in my case is causing the entire caliper to wiggle. I've thought about greasing the sliding surfaces of the pads but that's not a permanent solution come winter and that would have to be done every few weeks as the grease would just wear away. Is there any sort of coating or adhesive that would work to reduce noise? I'm out of options.

I'm planning to put some copper grease at the mating surfaces as a temporary fix and give the brakes a thorough wire brush and clean. I'm very sure that's where the sound is coming from as I can elicit the same clanking noise by banging on the tires with the wheels off the ground, also the noise disappears when I tap the brake while driving so I'm almost certain that's where the noise is.