pikpilot

A quick search on YT brought up the video below described as Octavia 2 but in fact is the almost identical Golf Wagon. It gives you an idea of what to do. A pair of long nosed pliers might make it easier to compress and push out the central red clip.

The third brake light is an array of LEDs inside the housing. There are posts on here (with photos) showing how to replace the old light with new. Do a search. Basically you have unclip the boot lid trim and the rubber pull, remove the wiring connector and undo one or more nuts. The difficult part is replacing the trim. From memory there is also a post on here where someone opened up the old unit and replaced failed LEDS but it is not for the in experienced. I have never checked whether the brake light goes off with the boot lid open but it is possible as the switch in the lock does other things such as signalling electronically the the boot is open and electronically turning on the boot lights.

I leave my mirror heating on all the time. From my experience (over 15 years of VAG cars) the heater is a positive temperature sensitive (ptc) plastic. On the coldest days the glass gets very warm and quickly clears any ice. In the summer the heater assumes high resistance and does nothing. I find that it clears water droplets within a few minutes in typical wet weather days in Autumn and Spring. Try leaving yours on. and also check the temperature of the glass a few minutes after switching on the ignition to check it is actually working.

You don't say whether yours is petrol is diesel. Either way it looks like the Irish pricing is considerable lower than the UK. In the UK there is a standard price list for all Skoda dealers to adhere to, as shown in the link. My 2012 1.6 TDi CR has a price of £600 to just change the timing belt and water pump! I chose to use a VAG specialist to cut the the by over £100 but not as cheap as yours. They only used VAG parts. Skoda price list: https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/servicing-maintenance-fixed-price

If you get the fix done then you will soon see that one free EGR is small compensation for other negatives. Skoda have taken down their VIN checker where you could check if they had applied the fix. It is replaced by three other items: https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/ea189 In several places they say the fix is optional, not mandatory and not a recall. This is different to the stand they were taking when they were sending out letters or getting the fix applied during service work without asking. Read their comments on the legal cases against them in the third section. Next in court in March next year. I would agree that VAG car steering is not as light as some cars. The Xantia I had was very light at parking speed (like American cars with one finger steering) but only slightly lighter to VAG cars when moving.

There is a long shot problem which can cause reduced voltages on some of the feeds from the battery. I have not seen this myself but there are posts on here about the issue. So lets put 2 and 2 together and make a wild guess. Next to the battery there is the Engine Bay Fuse box. People have found corrosion due to water on the contacts into which fuses are plugged. Also, having taken the printed circuit off, they found corrosion on the back. Any poor contact here due to corrosion will drop the voltage seen by downstream items such as the BCM. Before removing this board you MUST disconnect the battery as a short here is directly across the battery and becomes a fire risk. Accidently shorting the battery supply on this board with a spanner or screwdriver could see you welding it in place. As I say it is a long shot. But the first step is to make a close visual look of the smaller fuses on the board for signs of corrosion or overheating. You don't need to disconnect the battery to use your eyes.

Well done. I try to avoid the smaller SMD parts even with a small iron bit and smallest tweezers. I passed the instructions to friend of mine with a led display problem on his Yeti. He changed every led, but he is a professional electronics engineer with all the tools for SMD work. He gets the job if mine fails!

The last letter is the revision letter so use the same letter or later. The biggest difference is between hatch and estate. The hatch has the washer feed going through the wiper shaft and the estate does not as it has washer jet build into the high level brake light. When mine failed on my facelift estate, it was replaced with part 1Z9 955 711 B; no reference to ZA3.

Certainly sounds like friction giving it a stick-slip movement. Check the part around the bottom of the needle is not pushed down too far (my best guess) and also check the end of the needle is not touching anywhere. Unlikely to have damaged the motors unless the shafts has been moved inwards.

As I said above, 180k kms is what is quoted in my service book for the similar 2 litre CR engines but in the UK, VAG have over-ruled that to 5 years for the first change and every 4 years thereafter. Looks like VAG Switzerland have not done that. When you take your car into a VAG (i.e. Skoda) garage they will connect the car to the VAG remote computer system. They can then see previous history and work done, look for software updates etc. New work is then recorded on the system before you get the car back. Some non VAG garages are also allowed access as I discovered when my timing belt was replaced by an independent garage specialising in VAG vehicles. But in the UK, VAG garages are sometimes reluctant to print out a service history unless there is a good reason such as trying to sell a car which has no service book. You just have to twist their arm. Perhaps they could do it from the VIN number as you suggest. It is important that you tell the garage that you do NOT want the emissions update to be applied to your car at each and every occasion they get their hands on your car.

As your country is colder and mountainous compared to the UK, the requirements for servicing and parts replacements are likely to be different. You could ask a local VAG (Volkswagen or Audi or SEAT or Skoda) dealer what they recommend for timing belt replacement interval on the 1.6 litre TDI CR engine (engine code CAYC). It is unlikely the previous belt failed in service as that would destroy the engine, or at least require replacement valves and pistons. Could be that someone was being cautious or, like mine, the engine had a coolant pump failure that also requires the belt to be replaced. A Skoda dealer could give you a history print out from the Skoda system

What country are you in?

I have the same engine. Unless the car is heavily used, you will probably find you hit the time limit first. This limit is 5 years for the first change and every 4 years thereafter. But, that is for UK use. If you buy and use a car outside the UK (such as the EU) you will find the recommendation in time and kms to be much longer. [The service book supplied with my car when new says the timing belt and tensioner should be replaced every 180,000 kms on TDi CR engines with engine codes CEGA, CBDB and CBBB. No mention of the 1.6 litre CAYC. Perhaps your service book is later than mine, showing timing belt replacement at only 60K Kms. Does it mention engine code CAYC?] There are other forums (and other threads on here) where the disparity between UK and EU recommendations is discussed. VAG UK stick by their recommendation saying that it is to suit UK conditions of use. Cynics say it is to give their dealers a source of income. VAG dealer price for the change recently went to £600. Last month I had the belt changed for the second time by an independent VAG specialist for £120 less. It should have been next year but the first belt change was early when the water pump failed and coolant soaked the timing belt. Both prices include a water pump change as this is a weak point.

If the car had the emissions fix done by Skoda, then EGR failure is a common occurrence, with some people having had 3 failures in two to four years. First replacement is usually done free under the Trust Building Measures within the two years limit after the fix.

Yes, that is fine as it will protect the cable. The radio will also have a last resort fuse or on circuit board thinned track to protect itself from internal faults causing a fire. Another situation that causes confusion is the "cigar lighter" power socket. There are two types of plug - one with direct connection to the centre pin and one with a fuse between the pin and the spring. With some of our cars having a supply fuse of 30A on the supply to the socket, it is clear that if you have a cable rated less this coming out of the plug then again there there is fire risk unless the fused version is used. We should only used the fused plug. The supplied fuse is usually 1A but you should fit a fuse to match the load cable rating or smaller if the load allows. While on my hobby horse, I am a appalled to see recommendations for high power audio bass amplifiers to be connected directly to the battery - without a fuse. I wonder how many car fires are caused by such cables rubbing through the cable insulation and the grommet as they pass through the firewall.

The method of cable fire protection, whether in a car, home, or industrial equipment, is to have a fuse rated to protect the cable (not the load) mounted in a protected area between the power source and the cable. If your in-line cable fuse is outside that protected then you have a part of the cable exposed to damage and unprotected. As JR said, you should connect the cable to a correctly rated fuse inside the fuse box that exists for this purpose near the battery. If you need to step down down to a smaller cable at some place (such a smaller flexible cable), then you must add another smaller fuse to protect that smaller cable from the effects of damage too. Sizing fuses and cables to provide protection from overheating and short circuits is not well understood by non electrical design engineers. One final point, do you really have to run the cable directly to the battery? There is a fuse panel on the right hand side of the dash. Pull off the cover and you will see spare positions for fuses - some of which are permanently live. 73 de G4***

Just a note to say the hatch and estate have different rear wiper assemblies so they are not interchangeable. Check against your part number or model if buying online.

Won't make much difference on a low speed commute. Improving drag only really works at higher speeds as it is cube law of drag against speed. I get my best mpg on roads with traffic at 50mph. I do that by anticipation, leaving a longer gap to the car in front, lifting early on the gas pedal, coasting to slow down (which cuts off the fuel supply entirely) and only braking at slow speed. Typically get 60-65 mpg out of town as long as I am not stationary for too long. So 620 miles per tank is believable on a long run at modest speed.

To make it clearer, it is the sensor at the pedal. The throttle is "drive by wire" from a potentiometer or hall effect sensor which detects pedal position.

There are different ways of putting it into calibration, dependent of model year and variant. If you have done it right you will hear the flap motors moving and see changes in air output.

Thanks for the comment. I will give it a try.

The symptom you describe could be due to low battery volts which in turn could be due to loose or corroded clamp at the battery. Check battery voltage when resting, after starting and when charging - how old is the battery? Power steering will reset after driving a short distance which includes turning the wheel.

Thanks for the information. I will use this when I see the workshop leader. I remember the need to activate the ABS through the diagnostic port on the Mk 1 Octavia.

Before running my last series of tests, I pressed reasonably hard on the brake pedal while pulling up the handbrake in order to reset the auto adjusters. It also gives almost no movement on the rear pads before they touch the discs. This gave me minimum "slack" pedal movement before the pads touch on the front discs and a consistent starting point. Having done what many people do and looked for answers on the net, the only answer that come close is a failing master cylinder. The Skoda garage looked at the possibility when trying to diagnose the fault but ruled it out because there is no easy way to confirm this as the cause and secondly they say they have never ever had to replace a faulty master cylinder. The car is going in soon for the MOT and service so that Is why I agreed to pay for a brake fluid change as a first step. (It was due anyway at the next service). Thanks MicMac for your suggestion. My thought is that it is at the front and if not the master cylinder the perhaps it is in the antilock brake system. (In the past it was found that air could be trapped in the antilock brake valves unless the exercised using software during brake bleeding. The garage ruled this out as they now use a VAG specialised brake bleeding machine which takes care of this. - Anyone know anything about this machine? Perhaps something like this https://garagewire.co.uk/news/company/sykes-pickavant/new-electric-brake-bleeder-at-sykes-pickavant/ )

Looks like you need to replace the lock in this door too, but before doing that and with the door open, pull back the rubber tube that covers the wires going from the door to the body. Look for damaged or broken wires - especially on wires that are being pulled tight in the loom.