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donmcknz

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Aberdeenshire

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  • Model
    2006 Octavia Elegance 1.9Tdi Hatch

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  1. The alternator on my 2006 Octavia 1.9 gave up the ghost at 43,500 miles and six years old . I had driven 200 miles across to the West Coast of Scotland ( near Skye ) the previous evening in the rain (lights ,wipers, heater in use ) with the caravan. Next morning when I set off to the shops the engine sounded as if the alternator belt was noisy but when it didn’t quieten down after half a mile I lifted the bonnet to check and was confronted by the smell of hot insulation and the alternator roasting hot. Needless to say no Valeo alternators were available locally so I removed the fan belt (to stop the alternator from overheating) , charged up the battery on the caravan charger and set off for home . As it was a sunny day all the electricals were switched off and I tried to minimise application of brakes (two sets of brake lights !) although the electric power steering probably used quite a lot of power. After 100 miles I swapped the battery with the one from the caravan and this took me to within half a mile of home before the dashboard lit up like a chistmas tree accompanied by a variety of bleeps and buzzers. I just managed to turn into the village and coasted the last few yards to my house with the engine dead. A visit to the local car breaker at Aberdeen provided a replacement for £72 and this is still ok 3+ yrs later . ExPassat , your £ 300 seems a bit steep to an Aberdonian like me but I hope your problem has been solved
  2. Had a similar battery experience with my 2006 Octavia 1.9 TDi – last year I replaced the ailing battery with a Quantum 027 (same spec as original ) but even leaving the car on the driveway for a week and using the central locking a few times to get things out of the boot was enough to cause starting problems on cool days and when winter came it was jump leads time !!. I replaced the battery with an Exide Premium 096 ( 77 Ah and 760 CCA) and it starts first time on the frostiest of mornings.
  3. Another silly question - could it be a “Specsaver” issue? Are you confusing 30psi with 3.0 bar which would be approx 43 psi. My pressure gauge has a dual scale and I have to get my specs on to make sure I am reading off the appropriate scale .
  4. I have the same problem with reversing sensors on my 2006 1.9 Elegance hatchback despite being assured by Witter before ordering it that the flange type towbar would not interfere. Removing the ball-cover helps minimise interference but does not eliminate it so to avoid random annoying false alarms I just unbolt the towball when not required - as Silver 1011 says it just takes a minute DM
  5. Thanks for your suggestions - have tried unplugging and reconnecting at socket on the outside of the door pillar but no change. There are six wires attached to the socket -a thin pair( red/yellow and purple/yellow), a thick pair(brown and red/white) with infinite resistance across them and a medium pair ( blue and brown/blue) with a resistance of 3 ohms across them . I checked the corresponding wires at the socket on the other side of the car and they gave identical results. Don
  6. RH rear passenger door locking and window control on my 2006 Octavia2 Elegance 1.9 has stopped working so, before pulling off door trims etc, I wondered if anyone can come up with a probable cause. As the locking and window switches work for the other side of the car I assume all the fuses are ok. The central locking switch between the handbrake and gear lever locks and unlocks the other three doors as normal. Opening the RH rear door does not switch on the interior light . The window control switches on the driver’s door can operate three windows ok but not the RH rear one. Any help in focussing my efforts would be much appreciated. Don
  7. I picked up 4L of Castrol Edge with 507.00 spec at my local Asda in Aberdeen last week for £30
  8. When I bought my 2006 1.9 PD Octavia Elegance two years ago the local Skoda dealer supplied a Witter fixed tow bar and official Skoda wiring kit as part of the deal ( I fitted these myself). I had sought advice beforehand from several sources including Witter and was reassured that it should be ok with reversing sensors. I quote :- “Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that your towbar will not set the parking sensors off all the time, however, our findings and reports from the industry have shown that this is unlikely, in the event that it does the SK18 is upgradeable to the detachable version SK18Q using the ZQ3002 upgrade kit.†By very careful positioning of the towball on the bracket this was true but whenever the towball cover was fitted the sensors were activated every time reverse was selected . Even without the cover fitted the system was unstable and quite often was activated when there was no obstacle behind the car. I solved the problem by removing the towball and only bolting it on when required. Doesn’t look too good though. On reflection I should have held out for a detachable swan neck type. I find the Octavia an excellent towcar - plenty of power to pull my 4 berth Swift Corniche and it returned 30 mpg when towing from Aberdeen across to Skye and back compared to overall 48mpg in normal use ( total mileage over two years divided by total fuel used )– mixture of local 10 / 20 mile journeys and the occasional 400 mile motorway trip.
  9. I agree it can be dangerous to allow ice or snow to fall off and hit other road users. Thirty years ago I had cleared all the windows on my chevette hatchback and brushed 4 inches of snow off roof and bonnet but thought it would be ok to leave the thin layer of ice still stuck on the rear half of the roof. In these days rear screen heaters stayed on until switched off manually so , twenty miles down the road , a loud bang alerted me to the fact that the ice had slid back down onto the rear screen and the resulting rapid change in temperature had shattered the glass. I now make sure the roof is clear of ice before setting off !!
  10. Seems silly to increase the premium just because you made your car safer to drive in winter conditions but , from the insurance company's point of view, you now have a set of alloys + tyres sitting in your garage while you are away ( very tempting to the less scrupulous members of society!!)
  11. I fitted a Witter SK18 towbar with fixed tow-ball to my Octavia 1.9 Elegance(2006 vintage) last year and ,despite assurances from Witter and others that it should be OK, I found that most of the time it interfered with the reverse sensors and when the ball-cover was in place it always interfered. Solution ?- removed tow-ball and only bolt it on when required. Wish now I had gone for the detachable version SK14Q. Belated thanks to Stu and others for excellent set of instructions and photos without which I couldn't have attempted the work involved. Don.
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