Osmodia

The original idea of fog lights was good, the lights being mounted low on the car and having a wide flat beam so that when used on their own the area of illuminated fog was thin and you could see the road through it. Trouble is, many half wits use them together with headlamps which defeats the object of them! Also, rear fog lamps, they are for use in the DAY! Not turned on at night when there is a slight hint of mist. Normal rear lamps on cars today are pretty good and you certainly do not need rear fogs to be seen, unless of course the visibility is down to a few yards, but even then you can see normal rear lights from quite a distance. We used to get much thicker fogs years ago which may possibly have required brighter light on the back but it is rare now.

Had a similar problem, the connector on the screen washer pipe blew off and flooded the tow bar lighting control box, the high level brake light failed! Thought I was a clever bugger "repairing" it by running a wire from the brake lights straight to the lamp. Of course, I forgot the canbus system and the high level brake light cam on with the side lights! It meant a new control box.

Steering on Octavia ll is not normal power assisted, it is electric steering. A motor on the rack turns the steering when it gets a signal from the column. There is of course a physical connection from steering wheel to rack but steering is very hard if the motor fails. It does feel that it is "locked" but you can steer it in an emergency though you would have difficulty in a swerve situation. The reason it's so hard is that you are having to spin a worm drive motor backwards when you steer. Only cure is a new rack (or recon).

Just a warning, I had the orange light show and ignored it. 2 weeks later on M54 light changed to red with a VERY loud bleep and my steering went almost solid! Even at speed! I heaved it into Telford services and got recovered back to Bedford (Thanks GEM). Though the car was possible to steer, you would not be able to swerve in an emergency. I realised why after, because the rack is driven by a worm and wheel gear,(the worm drive is motor driven) If the motor is dead you are turning the worm and wheel backwards and spinning the motor at a very high gearing. Hard work! Jack it up and turn the steering wheel with ignition off to see what I mean. This cost me about £700 to sort, exchange rack from independant company and fit by Skoda dealer. Buy at your own risk from scrap dealer as you dont know how the car was damaged. A front or side/front will often damage the torgue sensor. Even a kerbing or big pophole will do it.

MICHELIN TYRE SOCKS Used them last year on my Octavia ll Estate tyre size 205/60 x 15. Fantastic! Drove to Tesco in 4" of very slippery snow, the roads were chaotic, the shop carpark was worse but it was almost like there was no snow. Putting them on is easy, just slip them over the top and down as far as you can then roll forward about 2 feet and tuck over the last bit then away you go. Check after a few hundred yards though.

Do later Skodas still have the option to start with a damaged key (chip disabled) My early Fabia would start with a cut only key by entering a code in the speedo reset button. I used to give the key to the kids if they wanted to return to the car before us, they could get in but not start it without the code.

That one is for LHD only!

Hi, Does anyone know if the black trims that fit next to the windows on Octavia II Combi are still available? Someone told me they were discontinued. If so, does anyone know the part number and I can have a search around. Thanks

Still working on this! Found out why I made the brake light come on with the side lights, the brake and rear lamps are the same bulbs! They are on low voltage when on side and full power with braking! Then I thought I could wire in the high level brake light to the tow socket, yes, it worked....but was about 2 seconds after pedal pressed! Going into dealer Friday.

Hi, Got this strange fault on my 06 Octavia ll Estate following a burnout of the towbar wiring module caused by...guess what? Yep, the rear screenwash pipe ! (The live feed to the high level brake light was Scotchlocked to one of the tow modules leads) All this is now removed. What happens is the high level brake light is on all the time! Before anyone says it's the connector, I have cleaned it, WD40 etc and EVEN bypassed all connectors up to the light, still on! So, I reckon the problem could be way up front in the controller (or whatever its called) I thought maybe I could run a new wire from the brake light on the nearside, it worked! high level light is off and comes on with the brake. Sorted? No! Damn light comes on at half brilliance when you turn the lights on! Is this something to do with the bulb failure system? Any ideas?

Got this problem too! Had to disconnect the high level light as a temp solution. Will have a better look in morning. I did have a good look round the carpet on the n/s, no sign of dampness at all. Would I be right to asume as the power requirement for a few led's is so very small, a power leakage (through dampness) from a live feed through to the led feed would be enough to light them while having no effect on the main incandesant bulbs? .........I am going to have a look at my towbar socket tomorrow!

On the question of keys and things, I had a 2002 Fabia that had an emergency code printed in the key fob. If your transponder was damaged you could insert that code using the trip switch and tha car would start. I had a plain key cut (VW Sharan) and kept it in my wallet. Never needed it but used it a few times if we were out with the kids and they wanted to go back to the car. Is that facility still available? eg. In my 06 Octy?

Just bought a VERY comprehensive warranty from www.warrantydirect.co.uk for £240 (had to haggle a bit) for my 83,000 mile 06 Octavia TDI. Includes turbo and everything else! I dont anticipate any problems but it's nice reassurance. Oz

Hi, Does anyone know if the emergency start code will work with the Octy? With my old Fabia SDI I had a 4 figure code that you fiddled in using the trip switch. It enabled you to start the car with a broken key. Or in my case I had a plain key cut which lived in my wallet. If out for the day with the kids and they wanted to go back to the car, they could get in but not start it!

Yes, but you can still fail for incorrect spacing, digits distorted to look like another, screw caps placed to make it look different and of course, all digits must be of uniform thickness, eg, no script or comic sans MS. Failed one with a 7 bent to look like a Y! Most indignant, said he was going to appeal! Didn't though :-)

I once employed a young lad who worked for KF, he used to answer the phone and was trained to ALWAYS say yes to a phone enquiry "Yes Sir we have 4 Super Skidoo tyres in your size at the offer price of £4.29p each" Even when there was nil stock! The idea was to get the car in, tyres off then...."Sorry sir, computer shows we have 4 but we have only got Michelin at £49.77 each" Said it worked every time.

Hi, I have a problem with reverse gear on my 2003 Fabia tdi. Eng ATD, tran GGU. When I reverse, if I dont stop completely before pulling out of reverse the shift is very hard to pull out, when cold it is almost impossible! If you let the car come to a standstill completely it comes out ok. Now, my dealer has been quite good and replaced the clutch under the Skoda used car warrenty (a different fault) and done "something" to the gearbox, some parts were replaced? But they now say the shift problem is is characteristic of this model! This is my third Fabia and I have driven others and never had this before, or with any other car! I have driven another Fabia tdi with the same tranny code belonging to a work collegue and the shift is faultless! Is this a characteristic of the Fabia Tdi ? All comments greatfully recieved. Thanks

Hi, I just bought some QUANTUM PD OIL from Motorvogue of Northampton. Around £23.50 for 5 litres. To get this price you have to order through Ebay. Just search Quantum PD oil. They charge £10 delivery reducing for quantity but I collected. They are a Fiat /Alfa dealer and very friendly. Oz

Well,the last time I heard this story it was not the "friend" but the person asking! And that was me! Found a young lady on friends reunited who I loved when i was16, over 40 years ago, she was divorced I wasn't but was far from happy in my marriage. What did I do? moved out, divorced and married the lady! Cost? a lot! But am very happy. Now, If I had loved my wife I would have done the same? NO! certainly not. I would have dropped the new lady and stayed at home. You can love two at once but just think about the damage you will do to your wife, yourself, your kids and your pocket. Stay at home Karl's friend?

Should have said, reverse is only hard to pull out of after using reverse and declutched to change to 1st. Stir the box about engine off, no probs. To my mind it seems the clutch plate is sticking, causing the input shaft to keep on turning a little. Why it sticks I don't know, splines not lubed when clutch fitted? warped plate?dry, tight or damaged spigot bearing in flywheel? Never had any problem with my SDI, gear change was perfect, you could go through all gears using finger and thumb lightly on gear ****!

Hi, Had a clutch problem with 2nd hand 2003 Fabia 1.9TDI, (centre plate drive was falling apart and also severe clutch drag) New clutch fitted under warranty by dealer and some repair to gearbox? dealer was vague about what was done. Clutch drag now worse when cold, you have to drag it out of reverse and feels like the synchro is really having to work hard on every gear change. Problem eases a little when hot. No sign of car creeping in gear with cluth pressed. Any ideas anyone? Warped plate? sticking on splines? Gearbox? Wrong oil? I need ammo to go back to dealer. Thanks Oz

That's a blow! Just contacted Towequipe and they tell me they do not stock the Fabia Car specific wiring any more! Say i'll have to get it from Skoda. Do I detect a bit of VAG pressure? It's a shame as it was a lot cheaper but apparently the same (made by Westfalia)

Hi, You can get a car specific kit from Towequipe, though look on the EU side of there site as it dosn't seem to be on the UK site? Towequipe - Direct sales of Full towbar kits and Mobile Fitting service in the Midlands (Click on the little EU flag to go into the EU site) I have towed a small caravan with an SDI and it was ok, you could still pull away without throttle on the level! And easily cruise at 60 in fifth. It put my MPG down to around 45 though.

Thanks VRStu, had the same problem with my spare key, just been outside and fixed it!

I know the SDI is not the nippiest of cars, but my 02 Comfort Estate will easily do 110 (in Germany) and gives me an average of 66.5 mpg. It also pulls a 2 berth caravan with ease.