tojeskoda

just replaced the motor on mine. a bit fiddly. yes, you can access it by getting the glovebox out, but you need to align the flaps. it's done by taking the blower motor out so you can access the flaps. then you connect the motor, put it in the "closed" or "open" position by pressing the recirc button. i did it on "closed". the last teeth of the flap gears should align with the last teeth on the motor gear, in the sense that the last teeth on the flap gears should sit just before the last teeth on each end of the motor gear. you make sure they do by opening the bottom flap all the way (but not too much) and closing the top flap all the way, inserting the motor into position, making sure it goes into the gears of the flaps, then you test if the bottom flap closes all the way, and you will see where the last teeth align. if they don't align correctly it will not close correctly, so you need to change the position it sits at on the teeth of the motor gear (as said before, with the last tooth of the flap gear just before the last tooth on the motor gear), so you put the motor back into the "closed" position, tilt the motor assembly a bit until the the bottom flap is not on the gear anymore, change the position of the bottom flap a bit while keeping the top flap on the gear so it doesn't misalign, then you test it again. you repeat the process until both flaps close firmly. i recommend spraying some rubber care spray onto the flaps to refresh the old rubber, but probably take the filter out first so it doesn't get onto it. as i said, it's a fiddly process, i spent 40 minutes aligning the flaps, but it all worked out in the end.

you can swap out the fifth gear cogs for longer ones, like 02T 311 361 AB, 02T 311 158 AT ones with 0,673 ratio. this info is right for my 1.4 16v fabia with MQ200 gearbox, not sure if it applies to 1.2.

check out this (not very helpful) video on disassembling the recirc motor by me: https://youtu.be/7o2NmnoSGek long story short: there is a broken tooth on one of the cogs. i ended up getting a different motor from a scrap car.