sepulchrave

If you read further up I told him to use the jack to get it onto axle stands, I just don't understand why you're being so proscriptive. What exactly is wrong with using the jack to put the car on axle stands? Please enlighten us, I'm all ears.

I removed standard springs to fit shorter ones, I'm not clear how you'd run out of clearance, the trailing arms will drop right down allowing you to simply lift them out.

You really need to forget about mileage, it's a VERY poor indicator of the future reliability of a car, it's important to the motor trade because it allows them to inflate their prices dramatically and therefore make a larger profit. If you see a rep-mobile that's done 150k in 5 years but has been main dealer serviced bang on schedule versus the same car that's covered 50k in 5 years but has no recent service history then the 150k car will be a better buy, half the price and twice as reliable. In order to clock up a high mileage you need to drive a very long way which means motorways, 70 mph in top gear is the easiest life a car can live. Who cares about mileage? The trader tugging at your waistband, that's who.

The tyre jack is designed by the manufacturer to safely jack the car, what's your issue with using one as the manufacturer intended? It's perfectly safe whether the foot of the jack is sitting on the ground or on a block of wood or on a concrete slab or any other incompressible substrate.

If you're changing both rear springs then get the back end up on axle stands, jack under each trailing arm just enough to remove tension from the shock absorber and whip the bolt out, release jack, do the same the other side then you can remove both springs and replace them.

Excessive richness is more likely due to a faulty ECT sensor or pre-cat Lambda probe.

No, boxer and vee engines have 2 banks of cylinders, inline engines only have one. You're barking up the wrong tree.

The problem you must consider is that later cars have to conform to much stricter emissions requirements, this makes maintenance difficult, often much more frequent and therefore expensive. The build quality of the early Fabia mark 1's is noticeably better than later cars, there is still no rust on my 2000 1.4 16V but I've had to replace all the suspension parts and many electrical parts as well. If you can find a 1.4 16V petrol or a 1.9 PD100 diesel with a comprehensive maintenance history and in good condition then you can enjoy a good few years of cheap motoring, my 2.0 MPI has been astonishingly reliable and has no rust either but they're getting vanishingly rare now.

I put mine under the wishbone console, very solid and out of the way if working under the front.

Fiesta runs rings round the Fabia in every department, finding an unmolested one might be tricky though, even the Fiesta Zetec with 125 BHP is like a proper old school hot hatch, eldest daughter had one and it was a scream to drive, like a mark 2 Golf GTI but with proper brakes and less understeer. I understand now.

I'm utterly confused, the Ford ST's are cooking hot hatches with turbo petrol engines and quite a thirst when driven, excellent but very firm handling and rubber bands for tyres. Please enlighten us?

So get one made, it'll be cheap without a chip and if it isn't better you can at least have a spare to get you into the car if you lock your keys in the boot, if it is better you can pop the chip in it from your old key and keep that as your spare instead.

Have you tried the spare key?

You don't need a bulb, common rail pumps self-prime straight from the fuel filter bowl which is filled by the electric lift pump.

Standard bushes last ten years easily, even then they only get changed if they've worn enough for the ARB to start rattling.

That engine is one of the most reliable fitted to the Fabia 2.

A new pair of standard rubber bushes will outlast the car and be a lot cheaper, plus you can get them in a set with new keeper plates and bolts for peanuts, the plates invariably strip the threads when dismantling.

If I were you I'd buy the Meyle HD droplinks and buy the bushes separately to suit which size ARB you have, measure it to be sure.

He doesn't have time to faff about, he needs the car, it's Easter, two bank Holidays and he won't get anything he orders until the middle of next week at the earliest. You seem utterly divorced from reality and unable to read, OP said all this earlier, hence my advice.

Nonsense, it won't make any practical difference, it might look a bit funny but who cares if it fixes it. Much safer than driving around on one broken spring.

It's incredibly simple, so obvious that you can't get it wrong, it can only fit one way in one place.

Too good to be true I reckon!

Yes.

Yes it's a fail, yes you should replace both then you don't have to worry that it's already lower than standard (greenline), you can fit whatever springs are cheapest.

Surely your door drain is blocked and the door is filling up with water, have you checked it's clear?