Benatron

Silica Cat litter is the same stuff that is in the little packets that come with new electrical items. So get an old sock, (obviously colour matched to the interior!!) fill it up, tie a knot in it and sling it under the front seats!! You can make a few huge one's for under a couple of quid, and when they get 'heavy' with absorbed moisture just put them on top of a radiator to dry out! Have used the ones above before and they are a right pain when they tip over!

Hi, Daft question probably, I have a 51 SDI estate. With a broken N/S/F spring. I also happen to have a set of VRS springs and shocks. Now, I could change the lot but are the actual springs at the front the same anyway? Looking online it would seem that most of diesel MK1 fabia's share the same part number for the front spring, just wondering if they are the same part or if they are different (height, rebound etc.) If anyone knows for sure I would be delighted to hear from you!! Cheers, Ben

You might as well get the answer straight from the horse's mouth https://www.taxdisc....?skin=directgov Choose vehicle enquiry, input manufacturer and reg plate. Definitive answer!

If your Fabia is a 2001 (going from your details) the carrier is bolted rather than riveted. It is quite straightforward and as long as you are methodical you should be fine!

Many, many threads about power steering issues so maybe having a wee search through first might help you! But certainly get the fault codes read and post the results up. Maybe you should tell people whereabouts in the country you are and you might get some help!

Hi, Thats sounds a bit weird. If it went up a little then came back down it would sound like the anti-trap was kicking in but to not go up at all? As your car is a comfort level trim you should be able to put your windows up and down from the driver or passenger door lock from outside as well. I would give it a go - put the drivers window down a little and then lock the door with the key and keep the key in the lock position - after a couple of seconds the windows should go up. Would be interesting to see if that makes the passenger window move up as well as the driveers and would eliminate the switch if it doesn't (and point to it if it does!). If you have already tried this then apologies for mentioning it but it is a free way of checking! Hope it helps!

SDI all the way. If mine died tomorrow (which it shouldn't), I would go straight out and buy another one.

Go to TPS (Trade Part Specialists). They ARE Volkswagen and 5L of oil will be between £12 - £30 depending on which grade you are after. Also very cheap at the moment for filters etc.

Front window is £20 from a scrappy. Estate, Saloon and hatch are all the same (check for tint though!!) I don't know what year yours is but they changed from bolts to huge rivets on the carrier at some point which makes it a bit more of a pain to get all the broken glass out. If I had to do it again I reckon i could get it changed in 30 mins or so if i wasn't too fussed about the broken bits of glass. But you have to think how secure the car will be with a broken window and when you would be able to do it if you are planning on fixing it yourself. If you had been local I would have gave you a loan of my perspex emergency window that I made up to see me through. And don't feel too bad - I locked my keys AND my son (who was only 2 at the time) in the car, 30 miles from the spare key. Hence the smashed window entry method. If you have a chance (even an expensive one) of getting the spare then that would be the best option tbh.

Speaking from personal experience, smash one of the front windows (passenger most likely), climb carefully over the glass, drop the backseat, retreive keys. Having had a broken rear quarterlight (estate) and a broken front window and having fitted them both back in myself it is so much easier to do the front! Good luck and hope you get in okay.

They are plug and Play (as long as it is TRW - TRW or Koyo - Koyo), well, mine was!!

Hi, Where did you source the bearing from and how much was it? Been looking for a while and everywhere so far just seems to supply the hub with bearing already inserted? Cheers! Ben

824 Miles with 15 showing as left on the range, took 54.68L to fill back to the brim - and that was last week! 85 Mile a day commute, motorway and A-road with a combination of Miss Daisy driving and sitting in queues and a bit of driving it like I stole it. :yes:

Hi, If you don't mind me asking - how much without the tyres?? Cheers! Ben

For £30 posted i'll take it bud. PM your email address for paypal. Cheers!

Don't hate me for being pedantic but it is 4.546 litres to the gallon (4.55 if you are rounding to 2 decimal places). Which does improve your economy figures!! The trip only performs a best guess - if you normally do a lot of 10 mile journeys and then start doing 100 mile cruises on the motorway you will find that although it may show the same achieved MPG one will be up and one will be down - my SDI is usually 10% optimistic but on a 300 mile trip it will only be out by a couple.

If you know the reg number do a vehicle enquiry at the DVLA - a 51 plate SDI should be £90 road tax for the year!! http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/application?origin=vehicleEnquiryInfo_en.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.portlet.event&pageid=Vehicle+Enquiry&portletid=VehicleEnquiry&portletns=VehicleEnquiry_en&wfevent=link.next And if you get can the the number off the front of the V5C (reg doc) you can check all the past electronic MOT's to see what it may have failed on recently and verify the mileage! http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp Saved me from buying a clocked fabia before!! Factoring in that it has just had a timing belt, has full service history and the low mileage the price isn't too bad.

ps Saloons are ugly, estate's for the win!

The key to price seems to be mileage. I bought my 51 plate SDI with 140k on the clock 18 months ago - Still going strong at 163k - as long as they have a resonable service history (especially timing belt every 60k or 4 years) they seem to go on forever. Any fabia can have issues with the power steering, console bushes and door leaks but this will affect a low mileage example almost as much as one that has been up and down the motorways most of its life. And I picked my one up from Stockport and I live in the middle of Scotland so perhaps I was just adament that I wanted a bargain! Had a look on Autotrader and the SDI's for sale at the cheaper end don't look too bad - just depends how far you are prepared to travel to get the right one. And if you can - get at least a comfort so that you get a few toys, the classic's are a bit spartan. HTH Ben

SDI all the way! You won't regret it. Though they seem a bit pricey, paid a lot less for mine.

It could just be a slack union but it is more likely that the seals on the rear brake cylinder (inside the wheel drum) are leaking. Before you jack it up loosen the wheel bolts, have it in the air and take off the wheel. You will probably see where the fluid is pooling and then dropping. To be 100% you could take the drum off but you should be able to visually identify if it is coming from inside the drum. It could always just be dirty / rusty water that has been dropped! And i'm not for 1 second suggesting that you should emm, do this but brake fluid = very flammable. Rusty water = not very flammable at all. However could you tell them apart??? Then again it could be a flexi pipe or other union. Or even a bleed nipple not fully closed. Brake cylinders are not that expensive, though you tend to contaminate the friction material (shoes) when you have a leak for a while. And when you are pumping the brake pedal try not to go nuts and push the pedal through the bulkhead each time - that sort of stress can sometimes be the last thing a brake cylinder will put up with. Good luck!

Glad that is it stopped - BUT - I would keep an eye on the level, you tend to lose rather than use brake fluid. If the level keeps dropping you have a leak, and if you have drums at the rear the brake cylinders have always been slightly prone to leaking (at least on older VW's - thinking of MK2 Golfs and Polo from previous days!!) Or anywhere else I suppose! Hopefully the level will remain the same and you don't have to worry! Ben

MkV Polo & 03ish on Ibiza are exactly the same as Fabia so 14" and 185/60-14 (if they are 14"'s) Mk3 Golf GTI & VR6 are 5x100 and 57.1 but are 15" usually Mk4 Golf (and Bora) again are 5x100 and 57.1 and you do get 14" but tyre sizes are well out for a fabia. Same for new Bettles and older (pre 2003 I think) A3's - PCD and centre bore are spot on but tyre sizes would give an error. Audi A2 should be okay! I take it you are based in London? Shame, could have sold you a set of 14" steels!! And now that i think about it, the link below will give much better info on the wheels than my memory!! http://www.carlsalter.com/wheel_fitments.html And a calculator for different tyres!! http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html HTH Ben

As bajanpete said - Brake fluid! If your brake fluid is low (look at the reservoir - it has a min level it shouldn't be below) it will give this symptom! or as mannyo says, handbrake switch. Costs nothing to check the fluid level. Ben

Is your remote part of the key or a separate fob (with one big round button that locks and unlocks, and a smaller button that pops the boot with a red led that lights each time a button is pressed?). If it is the separate two-button fob let me know and i may be able to assist! Ben