kirk

How old are the tyres? Check for the date of manufacture marking on the sidewall. Old rubber becomes harder, which makes for lousy wet grip.

Instead of using ramps or buying ultra-low lifts, why dont you just put two two-by-fours at suitable distance apart and drive onto that. If you want to make it extra smooth, saw a 45 degree angle onto the short edge. No need for hitech solutions to lotech problems.

There are several routes to go. The original vRS bar has plastic sleeves that have stoppers, stopping the bushes going to far out on the bar. When I changed the bushes on my car, the left plastic sleeve had a crack in it. Putting a new bush on top of an already cracked sleeve is not a good solution, imo. I decided to remove both sleeves and put original 19mm bushes on (since I didn't have smaller ones available then) (part no. 1J0 411 314 P). I have not had any problems with the bushes in the last 3 months I've had them fitted. I have since bought smaller 17mm bushes (part.no 1J0 411 314 S), if I do run into problem with the not-quite-so-tight 19mm bushes, but I haven't fitted them yet. I suspect that if you do not do too much inspired/track driving, the 19mm arb bushes will work fine even without the sleeves. If the sleeves are cracked, the official solution is to replace the entire bar with the new design, which has metal sleeves, and install new bushes. This will cost you, though, since it is a time consuming job. If the sleeves are intact, you can just install new 19mm bushes and be fine with it. When the sleeves crack later (which they will), you will have to re-evaluate your options. There is also the dilemma of original bushes vs. poly-urethane bushes. Personally, I would avoid the poly-urethane bushes, since many report that they wear out rather quickly and need regular lubing not to squeak. If you want to keep the service to the car to a minimum, go with original VAG parts.

No need to worry, in Finland, the official recomendation for a vRS cambelt change is 180k km, i.e. about 110k miles, although I will personally do mine at the 90k km (55k mile) service just to be safe.

Thanks a lot for a useful howto :thumbup: Where did you get the schematics diagrams from? If you have the instructions on howto remove the water splash guard in front of the windscreen for the Octavia I, I would be glad to have them

Step 13: Connect speaker components with crossover and install woofer (some cotton added, polyester filling would be better) Step 14: Remove original tweeter from tweeter mount Step 15: Install new tweeter to tweeter mount (mine needed to be tweaked with a Dremel to fit snug) Step 16: Fasten door card (reverse of removal) NOTE: If door handle doesn't work properly, make sure door handle wire plastic plug is in groove.

Step 6: Insulate speaker mount edge with thick two-sided tape Step 7: Install speaker mount Step 8: Make speaker wires to connect new tweeter with VAG speaker connector NOTE: You can buy adapters to connect to VAG speaker connectors from for example ebay. Google for 'PC2-805' Step 9: Connect speaker wires between woofer-crossover, tweeter-crossover and input-crossover Step 10: Modify crossover to fit door installation Step 11: (Re-)fasten styrofoam insulation piece to door with thick two-sided tape Step 12: Fasten crossover onto styrofoam insulation piece with thick two-sided tape

Speaker installation and tweaking Loosely based on Scodillac's instructions on how to tweak woofer mounting. Step 1: Remove original speaker Step 2: Remove speaker mount Step 3: Remove speaker sealing membrane Note: in the picture above, this metal edge will hit speakers that are too deep. It can easily be bent or cut away, if one wants to install deeper speakers. Step 4: Create waterproof seal which allows speaker to breathe into door (out of duct tape) NOTE: Eave goes into door, so that water should not poor into speaker bay, unless car is upside down. Step 5: Check speaker mount edge for air leaks

I treated my Octavia vRS '04 with some new component speakers for the front doors from Rainbow Audio. I decided to take some photographic evidence on the fitting process. I only depict installation on the passenger side front door. The driver's door is identical, except for the removal and installation of the door card, which is slightly different. Since pictures tell more than words, I will not describe the work in detail. Removing door card Based on Rob's excellent guide for uninstalling the rear door card. Step 1: Unscrew torx screws Step 2: Pop out electric window switch and unscrew screw Step 3: Remove trim from door handle Step 4: Remove two screws from door handle Step 5: Pop out tweeter casing perpendicular to door Step 6: Disconnect wire for door handle and door light Step 7: Lift door card straight up and revel

Sorry for lifting up this old thread, but I think it deserves it! Yesterday, I fitted jubilee clips on my centre mount. Everything went nice and smooth thanks to the tips here. I am now officially rattle free! I've been hunting high and low for the source of the noise ever since I got the car in May 2008. I've changed ARB bushes, front+rear wishbone bushes, droplinks, rear arm bushes and checked the radiator. I've spent almost

You wouldn't happen to know approx. which size jubilee clip is needed? Would make my life easier, so I don't have to climb under the car twice Thankyouverymuch! Edit: to answer my own question, I found the answer here: http://briskoda.net/octavia-i/rattle-under-car/44113/ Answer: two 75 mm jubilee clips.

Another possibility is to change to the reinforced Seat Ibiza Cupra/Leon Cupra bush (they are exactly the same). Fits perfectly in a Octavia vRS mk I. Part number: 6LL 501 541 (Ibiza Cupra), roughly £32. The exact same part for Leon Cupra is 1ML 501 541, roughly £52. I naturally went for the Ibiza Cupra part, which was a perfect compromise, since I didn't want to install polyurethane bushes due to them wearing out rather quickly.

Whatever it is, if you find out, please let us know. I have a very similar sounding problem. So far I've changed the arb bushes, wishbone bushes, arb drop links, rear frame bushes for well over £500 and it still makes the damn noise

I also changed my wishbone bushes just this week. Popped in a pair of Audi TT bushes. Should be stronger stuff than the original vRS ones, well see how they hold up. Also put some Leon Cupra bushes on the rear axle at the same time. Made the car feel a lot more refined and balanced. Mod well recommended. I contemplated polyurethane bushes for a while, but since they seem to have relatively short lifespan, I decided to try original VAG parts.

You will be putting more wear on the clutch, and depending on its current state, you might be looking at buying a new one at some point. All down to your driving style, of course If you're still running on stock turbo, the bearings and seals will not be in the best shape possible, and a remap will naturally reveal potential problems there. But even without a remap, you will be looking at replacing the turbo at some point, anyway I say go for it! You only live once (unless you're Hindu).

I had similar strange scratches on my new Zimmermann drilled discs when I first started using them. Bugged the hell out of me, but it disappeared once I started using the discs the way they were meant to be used So, i don't think there's anything to worry about.

Love it! :thumbup:

Just remember to moisturise your fingers afterwards. That spray really dries your skin right up

Mine also hits the sump guard more often than I would like. I would not lower my car a mm more, it is far too low as it is as standard. If you make it any lower, you can't drive on normal roads.

Sounds perfectly normal to me. Nothing to worry about

When I worked in a tyre shop, if people had two good tyres, and two worse ones, we always recommended to put the better ones at the back. Why? Losing control of the rear is worse than losing it on the front.

Sounds perfectly normal, idle is higher when the engine is cold. On such a short trip, I would be amazed to get under 9l/100km. I reckon 10l/100km is pretty decent. All (most) Otto-engines consume more fuel when cold.

I find it very strange that the recommendations vary so much between countries. In Finland and Sweden the cam belt+water pump is in the service program at 180.000 km (~110K miles) for the vRS, however it is recommended to change it at 120K km or 90K km service. I would not change the cam belt at 40K miles, it seems far too early. I've heard of several people who changed at the 120K km service (75K miles), and the belt still looked very good. I'm getting mine changed at the 90K km service, just in case, though. The regular Octavia has the cam belt changed in the 90K km service, according to the service plan. So, it seems like the vRS has a stronger belt.

You can't go wrong with Zimmermanns and Ferodo DS2500. That's what I have, and it stops like a dream

I finally got around to this job today, as well. After reading all the posts about this I thought it wouldn't be that big of a job. I had even got a new gasket, and all. How wrong one can be. I for the world of me could not get any of my tools to fit to the bolt sitting furthest away from you. The problem is that the window washing fluid container sits so close to the TB. I suspect this is due to me having a left-hand drive car. I got one of my tiny screwdriver to barely fit between the TB and the washer container, but it was impossible to get any torque on it. My wrench kit was either too short or too long (w/ extension arm) to fit. I decided to leave the TB in place, and just remove the hose. To get the TB off, I would have to take the window washing fluid container and what it looked like some other stuff off as well, disconnecting many wires and hoses in the process. Not a job for me, then I was able to clean the TB pretty well even without taking it off. Sprayed some carb cleaner in there and wiped it clean. Let it dry for a while, then reconnect the hose. Did it do any good then? Well, before, the car was rather rough at idle (when warm) and had a definite flat spot between 1500 and 1800 rpm, which even made the car stall a few times at traffic lights After the cleaning, the idle was smooth as a baby's bottom and the flat spot was definitely not as noticable. It was not gone completely, but the power delivery felt smoother. All in all, I was unable to do the job properly, but still managed to clean it somehow and I'm really pleased with the results. Thanks for the tip, Briskoda