GreenMachine1.6

I need suggestions on how to keep mice out of my engine bay. They had created a food store on the engine block and tasted the outer sheath on some of the wires. Fortunately nothing serious. Car is parked outside all year. Garage said it was not unusual for them to see mouse damage to wires.

Bit of a coincidence, just had an MOT today and had the same advisory. Garage said there was no requirement to replace but to monitor. I took this to mean see what is advised at the next MOT. I am interested in people's views.

Some batteries have an almost invisible film disk on them which needs removing, worth a look?

Have you tried local and online scrap yards? I have failed an MOT in the past for less damage.

Suggest you check your plastic undertrays if you went through deepish water at any speed. We have plenty of bits of plastic littering a local road/sometimes ford😕.

I have a caravan with a mix of bulbs, LED front and side marker lights and a high level LED brake light. The rear lights, brake, running and indicators are old fashioned filament bulbs. I do have a genuine Skoda tow bar wiring loom maybe this helps?

Are you sure they need replacing? I had a MK2 Octavia for 13 years from nearly new and occasionally had "observations" when tested of misting. Sold it with 150K on the clock and original shocks with an MOT from a very picky examiner.

There have been some posts recently about refilling the cooling system on a 1.6. Might be worth a read as it seems there is a special procedure required when refilling the cooling system.

I have a full size wheel ( from a scrap yard) under a variable floor, not a problem with my 2019 octavia estate. Didn't fancy a space saver wheel when towing a caravan.

Activating operation of the sunshade  Read and observe and on page 70 first. If the operation of sunshade is deactivated (e.g. after disconnecting and connecting the battery), then the operation will have to be activated. › Turn on the ignition and set the switch to position  » Fig. 65 on page 71. › Press the button  and hold down. The sunshade opens and closes again after around 10 seconds. › Release the button. The above is from the manual, suggest you look it up as my copy and paste is missing the pictures. It is some time since I did this. I think I had to do it a couple of times before it sorted itself. Basically you are cycling the opening and closing while keeping the button pressed.

I fitted Michelin crossclimate 2s for a variety of reasons and have found them to be reasonably quiet compared to the energy saver tyres. Not a scientific assessment as the old tyres were near their limit.

First thing I did was change the 18s for 16s. I got lucky and sold the 18s for what I paid for a nearly new set of 16s with good tyres. Never regretted it.

I cannot make out the noise from the recording. You said the noise was noticeable when turning and loading the wheel. Bit of a long shot, could it be a stone trapped between the brake disc and shield? I've had a number of these and are the devil's own trying to track them down.

Mine came with 18's, kerbed them in the first week (first time in decades). Changed for 16's. Sale of 18's covered the cost of the 16. Never regretted it, better ride, lower noise(might be the tyres of course) haven't kerbed them in 4 years. With beam axle I was never going to notice a difference in handling😄. Which I did notice moving from IRS.

This might be of interest https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/why-is-car-insurance-expensive/ my insurance has jumped this year.