fordfan

I saw one today, it had an Ad Blue filling point in the boot, the interior makes the 3 series BMW one look rather bland.

The theory being that as the chains wear they become noisy and the engine knock sensors pick up the vibration and retard the ignition timing which will dull the performance.

It sounds like the ball at the end of the adjuster has become detached from its socket on the reflector, if you remove the headlamp you'll be able to see more. Coil springs can break at the lower end and are not always easy to spot with the car on the ground. Number plate lamps could be a fuse, they could have corroded contacts, it could be a broken wire where it goes into the tailgate, access to them is easier with the panel removed, rather than dealing with corroded screws. Unfortunately the estate tailgate covers can be a pain to remove and refit. Clean the brake pipes and grease them to prevent them from getting any worse.

In a recent trade magazine it was mentioned that Skoda were one of the worst for pre registering cars. I heard of one dealer having two transporters of cars turn up unannounced at the end of the quarter, because they hadn't reached their sales target.

It's cold start fuel enrichment, cars haven't had chokes for years where a choke is a flap that moves to block the air intake and cold idle speeds used to approach 2000rpm. The enrichment (these days) is done by increasing the fuel injection time.

Take a look at the alternator cable for signs of over heating.

You need to get it read for any codes, it does sound like the turbo vane (VNT) mechanism sticking, causing an over boost and the ECU shutting down the turbo. Fixes range from cleaning the VNT with oven cleaner to full strip down & clean or replacing the exhaust manifold complete with turbo. A search on the forum will reveal the symptoms and fixes more in depth.

I washed my car in the rain last week, saved me having to dry it off and it's still quite shiny. I washed my other one today and had to dry it off and still haven't got round to giving it a proper clean and I've had it for 6 months. A lot of it depends on what facilities that you have access to, I'm lucky in that I can use the equipment at work, pressure washer, ramp and a host of other stuff that a garage has, even down to the convenience of picking up the phone and having parts delivered.

Introducing 'Austin'.

I've had that before with the vents, behind the bumper under the left hand rear light.

What are the odds on 'Octavia'?

The article may be focussed only on car washing, but there's lots of other aspects to taking care of your car. Servicing, maintenance, repairs, choice of parts and repairers etc.

A mini, with Sierra Cosworth running gear. http://www.sucksqueezebangblow.co/2014/06/cosworth-mini.html

It's a good film.

Any Skoda genuine accessories fitted by the dealer at the pre delivery inspection should be warranted for as long as the car - 2 years unlimited mileage or 3 years/60,000 miles. If you select reverse gear and place a stethoscope on the sensor, you'll be able to hear them working.

Bear in mind that seatbelts contain the pretensioner and are explosive, take the same precautions that you would do with an airbag when handling them.

All MK1 Fabias are on 10,000 miles or 1 year service intervals.

Locked already posted here: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/352541-warning-about-skoda-allianz-insurance/

It's changed a bit since I did the factory tour in 1992.

It was locked at the request of the topic starter.

It was fixed before the test was done, don't confuse the MOT test with a vehicle condition report.

I've seen similar in a MK 2 Octavia. The crash sensor was located in the drivers door and the wiring to it was broken at the yellow plug where it came out of the A post. It may be worth a quick check there.

We've had a few cars off you over the years for our customers, it's sad that you're closing, but at least it's being done under your own terms. Good luck at Trans City, is Mr Hunt still in charge there?

DRLs aren't testable, if they were activated and one wasn't working, I'd advise it out of courtesy. Some DRLs are designed to dim and act as position lamps which are testable, though it would be a silly design that would prevent them from functioning as position lights if they were deactivated. One anomaly with the test is that if a nearside rear fig lamp lens was broken and it was showing white light to the rear, it can't be failed as it's not testable, only the offside rear fog lamp is testable.

I chucked the wheels on it on Saturday and the wheel wobble has disappeared, it drives quite nicely now. I took it to a show at the local transport museum yesterday, it was a bit wet: Despite the weather we had a good turn out, even if at one point it did look like a Ford show, we even had a free ride on an old bus. Some pictures of the Cortina, taken by others: