GrahamM

Mostly it's those damn spring clips that are a nuisance... 🤬

Interesting to know, thanks. I may try the silicone spray on the belt first as taking those trim panels off is a pain in the... fingers (and if you wear gloves, it just makes it harder :-( )

Right, thanks for that. I did wonder if having the ignition being off would be sufficient, it seemed odd that the system would be live if the car wasn't switched on!

Since I've had my Fabia Mk2 I've found that, especially in the summer, the inertia reel on the drivers seat belt tends to get stuck when it's very warm. This often means that (even if I pull it very very slowly and gently), it will "lock" as if it's been jerked sharply. Generally speaking, though, when it's cold, I don't have the same problem. If i jiggle it repeatedly, eventually it will free up and I can put it on as usual. From what I can see from the Haynes Manual, it's not that difficult to get access to it and, from another thread I've read on here, it's probably just that the works have got a bit gummed up over the years and some cleaning spray and new lubrication should sort it out. My issue, though, is that Haynes says to "Disconnect the Battery Negative" before trying to do anything like this, presumably because of the "explosive" tensioner mechanism. But it also says that the ECU will lose its "learned" settings and the radio will security lock until I put in a code (which was probably lost by a previous owner long ago!) So is it actually necessary to disconnect the negative terminal if I'm not going to be disassembling the mechanism? Is it just Haynes being overly cautious? Advice would be welcomed.

Today I learned... ... My Fabia has TWO off-side rear side light bulbs!!! 😒 Having nothing better to do today (well, nothing vitally important, anyway) I decided to check all the connectors to see if there were any loose wires or corrosion on the pins etc that might be causing extra resistance, since each light cluster was showing a working bulb. Thankfully I started on off-side rear, because, after removing the light cluster and separating the connector, I used a multimeter to check continuity. I looked at the different colours going to the bulbs and saw one that had black and brown wires, which I checked and they were OK. Then I happened to notice that there was another bulb with black and brown wires. I took that one out and, lo and behold, the bulb was blown!! I have no idea why I didn't spot this before when I was checking them, the only thing I can think of is that, having checked one (which was OK), I simply didn't consider the fact that there might be another one. Anyway, I replaced the blown bulb and, Huzzah!, I stopped getting the faulty light warning. So if anyone ever has this issue again and finds this thread, check BOTH bulbs...! 😳

Well that was quick and painless, thankfully! 👍 It turned out that, when the Turbo Actuator arm was replaced a couple of years ago (before I got the car) the housing hadn't been put back quite right, so it was rubbing on the arm and it had caused enough friction to register as a fault. A couple of minutes with a screwdriver and pliers and it was moving freely again Whilst having my own OBD reader might have told me the problem, I wouldn't have known where to look, so that's £60 well spent.

Nope, it felt fine, just suddenly a loss of power. I've got a guy coming round tomorrow to do a diagnostic on it for £60, some places wanted almost three times that or said they couldn't look at it for two weeks!

Thanks for the replies. The car had done about 63,500 at the last MOT in October 2025. I've checked through all the paperwork I got and can't see anything about spark plugs being changed. The Turbo Actuator was replaced in 2024 (before I bought it). Unfortunately my local garage doesn't have any availability until the end of next week, so I'm going to have to phone around and see if I can find somewhere else at shorter notice unless there's a way to access the OBD via my phone.

I'd been out for a drive with my partner today, coming back home on a country road, when I suddenly realised I was having a loss of power and, when I looked at the instruments, I saw that EPC was illuminated. I found somewhere to stop and looked in the manual and realised that it had gone into Limp Home mode, but after switching off and on again, the fault light cleared and I was able to drive the 25 or so miles home (carefully!) without problems. I've contacted my local garage using their online form, so I can get them to check the OBD, but if anyone's got any other useful advice, I'd welcome it.

Well, it's sorted now and sounds a lot better! Thing is, I was used to the noise from the old one and realised the slight rattling sound on starting that I'd put down to something in the engine, was, I now realise, from the exhaust. Oh well... 🙃

I found that Kwik Fit do a free, no obligation, inspection service and went in there this morning. It seems that the back box/ silencer has rusted through where it connects to the exhaust pipe and completely parted company. I asked how much it would be to fix and the young lad I spoke to phoned the suppliers and then said £94 which was a lot less than I'd thought it would be. On the way home, I got a call from them saying "Err, sorry, he made a mistake, the quote was just the cost of the part to us! It should actually be £197 including vat and labour," (which, to be honest, was more like what I'd been expecting). So I've got it booked in for them to replace it tomorrow. PS I told them they should take the extra cost off the lad's wages... ;-)

Ok, thanks for the replies. I did notice the exhaust sound seemed to have changed, so I thought that something might have come adrift. I'll try to get a better view of what's happening and see whether it's just a matter of replacing a clamp or putting on some exhaust bandage or whether the whole thing needs replacing.

Anyone...?

I did check those and they seemed OK, but I squirted some contact cleaner onto them too. I might have another look tomorrow and give them a go-over with some emery paper just in case I missed something.

Unrelated (hopefully!) to my faulty light problem, in the past few days I think the tone of my exhaust has changed and it sounds deeper. Whilst I was fiddling around with the lights, I gave the exhaust a push and noticed that it was swinging from side to side. Is it supposed to do this?! If not, what might the problem be?