Welliesorter

Sorry, was remiss of me not to say how I eventually sorted my battery issue. The impossibolt defeated me and I ended up calling out a well known on-line tyre fitting company who also do batteries. I wasn't entirely certain that the battery needed replacing, but six years seemed a good innings, especially after the abuse that I'd given it. Past experience of changing a headlamp bulb made me realise what a cramped part of the engine compartment this is!

Useful info. Thanks again.

That's interesting as mine has suffered from that. At first it only happened from a cold start in freezing weather but over time it has become more common. Usually, stopping and restarting the engine cures it.Are those symptoms of the usual sensor problem or something more serious? Mine is an early '03 with the bog standard 8v 1.4 engine. I noticed in other threads that people have said that the sensor problem doesn't happen in some later models.

That's interesting. Mine seem to be smothered with grease but it certainly wasn't put there by me.

Thanks for both replies. I didn't want to start loosening things willy nilly. I'll have another look later. @dxg, charging in situ isn't really an option as I'd have to trail a cable across a public pavement where children are running around. I don't have my own driveway. I'm guessing a completely flat battery will have to be left to charge for quite a while. @sifelicia, can the battery be lifted out without removing the cable from the lid or did you just mean it makes the task easier? Not too concerned about the electric windows as they seem to have a mind of their own anyway.

The battery in my Fabia is completely flat. The engine doesn't turn over and the remote central locking doesn't work. This is to be expected as the car hasn't been started for a few weeks. I've borrowed a charger and have opened the battery cover but can't see how to remove the terminals. If you Google for guides to removing a car battery you'll find plenty, but they all skim over the issue of actually removing the terminals. All the pictures of terminals that I find on line look very simple and it's very obvious how turning a bolt enables them to be removed. I've looked at the terminals on my battery and they look nothing like anything I've seen in the on line guides. It isn't obvious to me what's actually holding the terminal in place. Other threads mention a 10mm spanner being needed to remove the battery so I'm guessing that I need to loosen the nut on the left in the attached picture. Am I right? A couple of other questions: How hard is it to lift the battery out? The lid of the cover is hinged from the left and has a red cable running through it. It doesn't look as if it wants to lift up completely. If I'm making such heavy weather of simple task like this, should I be leaving the job to someone who knows what they're doing? Thanks in advance!

Belated thanks for this. The task took about 40 minutes but most of that time was spent fishing out the new bulb after it had been dropped. It is very cramped in there!

Thanks for the instant reply! No excuses for not going out and getting one before dark now.

I realise this will be an unbelievably basic question for most here, but can anyone tell me what type of replacement headlamp bulb I need for my Fabia? I have an early '03 Silverline (only half a step up from a Classic). All the bulbs are the originals so I suppose I can't complain at needing one now. Somewhat worryingly, I only noticed that the lamp wasn't working when I saw it reflected in a house window. Various threads here mention H7 for dip and H3 for main beam. Is this true for all models or do they vary? Is the brand important? I'm not after upgraded lamps, just a replacement for the original. I have seen this thread and will follow it when I have the bulb.

I've had a helpful explanation in a PM. I won't name the member because he can't post from work and I don't want to get him into trouble. Thanks to him anyway. What are the chances of getting a warranty repair done when my car reached its third birthday on 26th April?

I know from past posts that problems with the pipe coming astray are common on the Fabia but my rear washer has developed a slightly different problem. The spray is less powerful than usual and the jet of fluid rotates with the wiper, so it sprays the boot lid as much as the glass. When I look, there's nothing obviously loose but I may not be looking for the right thing. Is this a DIY job or should I just take it to a dealer? My car is about two weeks outside its warranty :( .

For what it's worth, my light hasn't been on since my original post.

You've really had a laptop switched on for that long' date=' or do you mean that you put in on standby instead of shutting it down?

You forgot to mention cheaper than average: Dell certainly scores on that point! Skodas aren't really that different from the norm: their main selling point is that you're getting a mainstream car for less money. If Skoda ever builds the Roomster than the Apple analogy will be more apt. I'm no Bill fan and if I could have bought a Windowsless PC for the same money I would have done. I fully intend to install Linux on the Dell box when I get round to it.

The PC arrived today and I'm posting from it now. I expected the boggiest of bog-standard but overall it seems a well made bit of kit. After using it for a couple of hours, I've concluded that you don't need anything fancier than this unless you're a games player or need faster kit for other specific uses. Last time I ordered a PC from Dell (about five years ago) I spent well over

Thanks for the replies everyone. I made another short journey in similarly icy weather this morning and the light didn't come on. Before coming home tonight I decided to give the car a treat with a random drive along the A6 (roughly 30 mile round trip). I realise that lots of short journeys aren't good for a variety of reasons, but it's a couple of weeks since I've needed to travel any distance.

Why would a low battery cause that particular warning light to come on? The car is only 2.5 years old. Isn't that a short lifespan for a battery?

My steering warning light was on while driving the short distance to work this morning. I didn't actually notice any problems with the steering. When I drove home the light didn't come back on. I've done a search of the forums and it seems that there's often a problem with the sensor. One thought is that it was extremely cold this morning: I'd had to de-ice the windows and even the mirrors. There'd been a complete thaw by the afternoon. Should I get the car checked, or should I ignore it if it doesn't happen again? Are things like this temperature sensitive? I have only a few months of my warranty left so I'd hate to leave something until after it expires. I have a Fabia 1.4 8v.

OK, I've ordered. I included the bog-standard speakers so the total order value was roughly

Thanks! I didn't spot that in the options to begin with. It was confusing because when I went to the shopping basket it still said 90 day collect and return. Very tempted now for a second PC. I can't see any mention of whether it has built in Ethernet. I wonder if that's considered standard now.

How did you get it that cheap? I went through the motions of ordering but the price ended up at

You can opt out of receiving text messages on your home phone but that means no-one will be able to send you one. Some land line phones can receive text messages. It's only if the system fails to send it as a text message, because you don't have the right kind of phone, that it gets converted to voice. If you're easily amused, try getting the nice BT lady to swear.As for the original problem, you could try registering with the TPS. More info at www.bt.com/bttext.

You won't get any cheaper than here The 4kus model at

The bit between the M1 and the M6 is almost entirely dual carriageway. There's a slight bottleneck around Stoke but this won't be an issue early in the morning.