Fab-Ya

Thanks 😁 Yea I’m really happy with it. A few more bits to do but it’s looking good from what it was 😎

What’s the VRS intake mod?? I haven’t even looked into what small engine mods I can do yet?! lol

Seems to be quite negative against induction kits on diesels there?!

I’ll take a look at their kit! I work for an engineering company and may be able to knock up some pipework and heat shield myself to save some dolla! Just want to know how it fits and what difference it makes. Not greatly affecting MPG is important as that was the whole point of buying the car BUT I do like turbo noises haha 😛

I was considering changing the air filter just for noises lol. Does it make much difference? You say the MPG doesn’t seem affected? Can I just wack a decent sized cone filter on the end of the MAF and it will be fine? I know some cars like this and others don’t?!

The more I use it for my 27 mile each way commute it seems to be improving! I was getting 38 and now I’m getting 50+. Although most of my journey is on duel carriageway, it’s Devon so there are many hills I have to climb which knocks the MPG a bit. I’m certainly happier now! What mods have you done to your airbox and filter?

I do agree, but they were made of the finest Chineseium from TEMU and folded up every time you moved! I have now bought some nice custom mats which I’ll post later 👍

So after we seemed to have overcome the previous drama, I booked the car in for its MOT for the following week. This gave me a bit of time to do a bit more interior cleaning and fitting some new parts like a new (unbroken) gear knob and gator and some delightful (temporary) mats that my mate gave me 🤣. It still needs more work to be up to my standards but it’s much better and will do for now. Then it was MOT day………. AGAIN!! 😬 But this time it made it there without any issue at all! 👍 And later that day…….. WE HAVE A PASS! 💪😁

After spending 2 weeks prepping my little Fabia for its MOT it was finally booked in. However, after 99% of its journey to the test station being perfectly smooth and nice, the last 1% ended up in a cloud of smoke and an engine runaway (that thankfully stopped when I cut the ignition!!), right outside the test station! I was gutted after all the work I had done and was worried that it was as serious as it looked, and it looked to me like turbo oil seal failure! 😢 So I bailed on the MOT and the garage took a look at the issue instead! When I went to collect the car from the garage later that day, they said it’s definitely the turbo failed as there was lots of oil in the intake, BUT they did mention that the oil level was also slightly high (they said 1cm). By chance I got chatting to a guy outside who turns out to be a VAG specialist and told him about my runaway issue. He said it’s likely to be turbo seals BUT it could be the oil over full being sucked up through a breather into the intake. So I got the car towed back to my mates unit to investigate further! Well on further inspection it turns out the oil level was way higher than I or the garage noticed it seems. The oil was so thin it barely showed on the dip stick over the max level, but looking more closely you could just see a sheen on the stick! Well after realising the oil level was high, I dumped all the oil out to see how much by. To my surprise there was about 8.5 litres in there!! That’s about double!! 😮. It also smelt of diesel and was thin like water so likely cause would be long term failed Regens by driving lots of short journeys. Yes it could be a failed injector but it still drives really smoothly so is looking less likely. I had all the turbo pipes off and drained the small amount of oil in the intercooler as best as I could. I did find that the oil starts in the system from the crank case breather, which is BEFORE the turbo, so it was now looking less likely the turbo seals were at fault 🤞. So it now has the correct amount of new oil and a new filter. It now runs so much smoother and quieter with no smoke at all. So after a lot of drama and worry that my budget car was about to fail me or cost me, with no more than a good service we seem back on track!! Phew!! 😁👌

Next job was to strip and renew the rear brakes. There was a leaking cylinder on one side and the shoes and drums were in poor condition so everything was replaced to be sure. I even gave the drums a paint with black Hammerite to keep them nice and prevent corrosion.

Well I’m a little behind on some updates so here we go again! 😁 On further inspection, I found the car had a broken suspension spring! Well I could have just replaced the spring, but where is the fun in that! I don’t need much of an excuse to mod and upgrade! 🤣 I looked on FB Marketplace and found someone selling a full set of Prosport coilovers with mondeo drop links at a reasonable price, so I bought them 👍 On delivery, I stripped and cleaned the coilovers which were almost like new, and I sprayed the threads with motorcycle chain wax to prevent the adjusters from corrosion and seizing. Next up was to fit the kit to the vehicle. I’m really happy with the results. I can’t go super low as I have a steep driveway to contend with but it has certainly made a difference!! 💪

Big fan of V70s and had one a good few years back. They were also on my list of possible sensible daily’s but hard to find a good cheap one! They hold reasonable value as they are almost indestructible 👍

No I haven't yet but will be doing that in the next few days. I was just concentrating on the MOT work last week so doing other bits this week 👍. Weather has been up and down here the last week but mostly around 10-12°C Tyres are a mix of whatever came on the wheels when I bought them. All cheap stuff for now until I change them.

1.6TDI manual, displayed MPG over shorter distances?! So Ive been driving my 1.6TDI Fabia around for the last week since I got it in the road with a fresh MOT. Seems to be driving ok. Now I’m still getting to know it as it’s a new car to me, so I was wondering what sort of MPG people are getting in theirs on similar driving to me? Currently I’ve been driving from home, about 3 miles around town, to the duel carriageway and then drive about 25 miles to my work which is just off that road. Travelling at 60-70mph using cruise control for most of it is getting about 38 MPG over that distance with the MPG creeping up over that distance. Today I did about 150miles, mostly on duel carriageways but some B roads and town driving too. Again 60-70 for most of it I was getting about 48 MPG. Now I hear of many people getting 60+ MPG from these but is that like a long several hour motorway drive at under 60mph to achieve that?? Car has just had an oil and filter change but I do still need to do air filter and fuel filter to complete the servicing. Wondering if all is good or I need to look into something? Thanks all 👍 EDIT: The last few days I’m Also getting a high idle of around 1100rpm all the time even when hot, but if I blip the throttle it will drop to the usual 800rpm. If I start driving again it will go back up to 1100rpm almost every time I stop at traffic lights etc. getting annoying and didn’t do that a few days ago!

Yes that’s what I’m on about. I know my unit doesn’t have Bluetooth as standard. You can buy Bluetooth adapters and wired adapters to connect my phone to my current factory unit via this socket. I’m just looking for information as to what ones are best and what are the different functions for each type. They are all on Amazon and EBay etc.

Thank you but I know what it does, but I want to know what different types of leads or adaptors are available and what they do? Bluetooth compared to wired connections and what functions each one gives?

⭐️ Another little update. Taken for a test drive after the oil and filter was changed and all the pipes cleaned out! Well it seems perfect! 👌 🤞 Drives smooth and pulls like a train with absolutely no smoke! Im very happy and it’s now booked back in for another MOT next week!

Morning all 👋 I’ve recently bought a 2010 facelift Fabia Elegance, and I’ve noticed it’s got this socket in a little pocket under the glovebox. Now, I know it is for connecting various music storage to the car stereo but I have seen it called various things across the VAG range with various uses. Can someone give me the heads up on what my ŠKODA version is capable of and what modern gadgets are available to connect to it please? I have a newish iPhone 16+ which uses the USB-C type connection as well as Bluetooth. I’m considering both connection types depending on the functions that each one can give me. Thanks all 😎👍

The next thing I did was to activate my DRLs with the switch next to the fuse box plus adding the fuse! The standard bulbs weren’t great and one had blown, so I changed them for some white LEDs. I also added some yellow LEDs for fog lights. I’ll probably upgrade more bulbs as I go! 👍

Its first mod time 😁 I needed some tyres, so I used that as an excuse to buy some alloys with tyres 😉 Keeping to my budget theme, I hunted on FB marketplace and found some slightly rare VW/Borbet 17” Boavistas, which was an option wheel on the Polo 6R Highline. They were a bargain price (and I paid less than the advert states 😁) as they were a bit kerbed but I’ll give them a referb later 👍. Conveniently they are exactly the same size and offset as the 17s found on the Fabia Monte Carlo’s so fitment is not an issue 😎

First mechanical job….. replace front brake discs and pads as the ones on the car were down to the backing plates!! 🤦‍♂️

Now to give it a deep clean (well most of it. I still have the front seats and footwells to do and to put it all back together! 😁).

Right I can now post more photos so I’ll continue with my project thread 😁 So now off the trailer I get my first proper look around my new acquisition! Muddy ✅ Dog fur ✅ Horse feed ✅ Wheel trims missing ✅ Etc etc ………but it looks pretty straight for a cheapy!! 😁👍

Yea I will keep an eye on it 👍 Good idea, silver lining! 🤣😎👍

⭐️ a little update for you all! Well after realising the oil level was high, last night I dumped all the oil out to see how much by! To my surprise there was about 8.5 litres in there!! That’s about double!! 😮. It also smelt of diesel and was thin like water so likely cause would be long term failed Regens by driving lots of short journeys. Yes it could be a failed injector but it still drive really smoothly so is looking less likely. I also had all the turbo pipes off and drained the small amount of oil in the intercooler as best as I could. I did find that the oil starts in the system from the crank case breather, which is BEFORE the turbo, so is now looking less likely the turbo seals are at fault 🤞. So it now has the correct amount of new oil and a new filter. It now runs so much quieter but I haven’t taken it for a drive yet. Fingers crossed this may have sorted it 🤞 Thanks all for your advise 😎👍