Declan O'Shaughnessy

Glad you got it sorted @Gremlin170 Mine packed in again the other day, so I must take a look at it!

From what I remember, it was all just clips. If you get a pry tool in behind the trim, you'll start to feel where they are

I used this guide when I needed to replace the short boot struts in my Superb a few years ago. Should tell you everything you need to know. Go slowly and be as gentle as you can basically (you can try channelling "Swiss Tony" in your mind at this point should you so wish).

Assuming you have the same set-up as my 2008 Superb, the easiest thing is to follow a video like this one. It really is just a case of pulling down the plastic panel shown in the video and undoing the screws, and the whole console just drops down then. My lights gave problems a few years ago as well and I ended up buying a second-hand unit to replace it. Unfortunately, the second-hand unit was a different colour, so I basically canabalised it for the parts I needed and retrofitted them to my existing console. Not a hard job at all. The problem with mine, from what I can remember, was basically worn contacts on the switches. How they got worn, I don't know, as I never turn the lights on and off! I think the part number for the console was 3T0947105CON. But I would highly recommend checking that - it's from the Skoda-parts.com website. But I seem to remember that when I checked with them for my car (Elegance spec), they said it wasn't compatible and told me the part would cost something like €250. Just looking back at the email from 2015 now, they ended up telling me that the part I needed was 3T0947105BCON and it was because the Elegance spec had ultrasonic interior monitoring sensors fitted. Whether that was true or not I couldn't tell you, so I just bought a second-hand unit from an Elegance spec Superb and used that.

Just a quick (interim) update on this: a couple of days ago I went ahead and taped over the rubber plugs in the boot using Gorilla tape. There is also a folded or welded metal seam in the same area and I thought a small portion of that looked like it was seperating slightly (although there was no light leakage and I could feel any air movement when I pushed down on it, so it may just have been a visual quirk), so I taped over that as well. Since then, no condensation! We had a pretty good ground frost last night and it was cold the night before, so I would have expected to see some condensation over the course of the last two mornings, but the wheel well has been bone dry. So I'm hoping my low-tech solution has solved the problem for now. I'll keep an eye on things and update if anything changes, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it really was that simple! Thanks for the responses and suggestions to date.

No, plastic boot tray and boot carpet are both fully intact. The rubber plugs are the only thing that I can theorise might be the problem, given how close they are to the condensation on my car. But it's likely just a coincidence. I might try taping over them with Gorilla tape tomorrow and see if that does anything (basically, try to seal around them as much as possible with something I can get off again easily if needs be). I mean, logically, condensation (which I am convinced is my problem rather than water ingress) is cold air meeting warm air. Given that the condensation in my car seems happen when we have a cold night, it suggests that cold air is seeping into the boot and meeting warmer air that's in the wheel well. So either the metal in the wheel well has weakened / deteriorated over the years and is thinner than it should be, or some kind of heat shield under the car has deteriorated over time, or the rubber plugs aren't sealing as well as they should (assuming that they were ever designed to seal). I'm at a loss to figure out any other options.

Hi All, I'm hoping someone can give me some good advice or tips on a problem I'm having with condensation in the spare wheel well on my Skoda Superb (saloon 170 DSG). For the last few months (since autumn / winter basically) I've noticed that I'm regularly getting condensation at the top of the spare wheel well (at the back, closest to the rear seats). Initially I thought I had a leak into the car, because I was getting severe condensation build-up on the inside of the front and rear windows whenever there was a cold / frosty night (the condensation was literally freezing on the inside of the windows). I checked everything I could think of, but couldn't find a leak. Then I discovered that I had a considerable amount of water in the spare wheel well (maybe a litre or so). I took the water out, dried the well and waited to see what happened. Lo and behold, the condensation inside the windows issue went away overnight. Happy days I thought. When I discovered the water in the wheel well, I checked the carpets all around the boot and was surprised that they were bone dry. There was small amount of ice on the underside of the carpet liner (the removable carpet) that I defrosted and dried out. The rest of the metal surfaces were dry and I couldn't see any leaks or holes. The plastic boot liner was also dry. So I was a bit stumped, but I figured I'd wait and see what happened. And what has happened is that, every night that the air temperature is cold (below 5c or so), I get a small amount of condensation in the spare wheel well again. It's always in the same place - towards the top and back of the well. My best guess is that this has been happening for quite some time and the build-up of water in the well happened over a year or so, rather than through a leak or water ingress. I've checked all around the boot again and still can't find any leaks. Also, I have driven the car in wet weather, and checked it after heavy rain, and there isn't any water getting into the boot after these events. It always seems to be after a cold night. Hence my conviction that it is condensation rather than a leak. So what do I do now? Do I just wipe off the condensation every week or so and put up with it? Should I put a dehumidifier bag in the well or something? Or am I missing something obvious? When I was looking in the boot just now, I noticed that there are two rubber grommets / bungs at the top of the well, close to where the condensation is happening. When I levered these up, I was surprised to discover that I was basically looking down at the tarmac! I'm not sure what I expected to see (other than a recess or insulation maybe), but they are basically just holes onto the road. So is it just that the rubber on the bungs has shrunk / perished over the years (the car is 13 years old almost)? And, if so, can I buy new bungs or should I just tape over them or use sealant around them or something? I'm not entirely sure what purpose they are serving, but I don't want to mess with them if they're doing something important! (As in, if they are designed to aid circulation in the boot, I don't to seal them and stop air circulation). I should add that I have searched for the issue on here, but it mostly seems to affect Octavias, and the problems mostly don't seem to apply to me: there isn't a rear washer to leak, water seems to be draining as normal from the rear of the car, there aren't any signs of water ingress etc. I know it will be much less of an issue over the coming months (and will be hard to prove that any intervention has worked until the nights get cold again), but I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Many thanks, Declan.

That's odd. I just tried the map partition file on my phone and it downloaded perfectly. I just clicked "regular download", "I'm not a robot" and then "download in browser" (using Firefox). No hoops or trojans, but other links on the page might be different. If you do want the maps partition file and can't get it to download, send me a pm and I'll drop it into my Dropbox and give you a link to download it from there.

In theory, yep, it's very straightforward. Download the file, burn it and pop it into your Columbus. It will load up and do its thing itself. One thing to note: when it's updating it reboots several times and, with mine at least, it makes some very horrible sounds as it reboots (basically, it's the sounds of suddenly tearing out a feed to a speaker). It happens very suddenly, very loudly and almost causes my heart to stop! So if you're of a nervous disposition, maybe wear ear plugs or stand outside the car! In practice, things can go wrong with any update. It's never happened to me, but some people have had firmware updates fail on them. Generally you can recover the drive with a recovery CD, but there is a small risk of completely bricking the unit.

You can compare the different firmware versions on this site. From what I can see, I don't think you'll see any major changes or improvements upgrading from what you have, but someone else might have a different opinion. Generally, with the firmware, most people burn their own disks with downloads from trusted sources. You can of course buy firmware disks online from auction sites etc. but it usually isn't worth the money. If you're unsure about downloading and burning yourself, maybe ask someone you know if they can do it for you. It's not difficult at all, so long as you have a way of burning a CD / DVD. It's worth pointing out that updating the firmware and the maps isn't a risk-free process. It's low risk, but not risk free. With the firmware, you risk "bricking" your unit or, less dramatically, losing the existing firmware and having to start again. It's generally recoverable, but it can be a pain in the arse and can require burning recovery CDs etc. With the maps, you only really risk losing your existing maps and the new maps not loading onto the hard drive. Generally, you can reload the old maps (if you have the DVD) or run the new maps from the DVD and forget about loading them onto the hard drive (it's slower to start-up, but works as normal after that). But just bear in mind that you might end up with no navigation at all (worst case scenario). I've had my Superb (with RNS 510) since 2010 and to be honest I've long come to the conclusion that if navigation working quickly and correctly is important, it's better to use a dedicated sat nav unit or (even easier) your smartphone. If you're going to spend money on firmware disks and map disks (and you don't have to, both are available for free online), then I honestly think you're better off paying for a mount / holder for your smartphone (if you have one) and using that for navigation. I know it's not as neat or as convenient, but it's a better solution. I'm not sure how many more map versions will be released for the Columbus at this point, but we must be getting close to the end of its life span (in terms of maps). Plus, the maps that are released tend to be 12 months old / out of date even at the point that they're released. Anyways, just something to think about and each to their own and all that!

Have you tried rebooting the Columbus? It sounds stupid, I know, but there are often little bugs that get into the Columbus software / firmware that a simple reboot resolves. The only reason I suggest it is that, from reading your post, you seem to be saying that the Columbus has either lost the ability to search by postcode, or has lost some of the postcode data from a town near you. If it's the former, it sounds like a bug (assuming that the postcode search worked at some point after you installed v17 maps) and might just need a reboot. if it's the latter, it's unusual for any system to just lose a portion of the stored data. The only other scenario then is that the data didn't load when you installed the DVD, but that sounds unusual as well. If you do have to go ahead and reinstall firmware / maps etc. you could have a look at the first post on this site. There's a link to a Map Partition Erase that promises to wipe the maps (which should allow you to reload v17) - just scroll down past the pictures. There's also a HDD format option on there, and a link to the firmware recovery CD if things go very wrong. I haven't used these files (the links might not even work anymore), so don't blame me if it all goes tits up!

As e-Roottoot says, your best option is to ask the garage directly for an explanation of what they did, if you want complete peace of mind. It might be this procedure that they did, but it's only a guess given how limited the information they've given you at this point is.

If you are really determined to find all the parts yourself, you can use something like this site to help. There are other sites that do a similar job if you have a search around. Ideally, narrow the criteria down to your VIN or, failing that, your vehicle year (the link above is looking at parts for Superbs built in 2009 - you can select your own vehicle year here by clicking on Superb and then the year). After that, it's a case of wading through the information and figuring out what you had and what you need (left-hand or right hand, folding, downlighting etc.). It can take a while and there's no absolute guarantee that the information is 100% correct, but it should be accurate enough for most purposes. But, really, I would leave it to a garage to do.

If the person who caused it wants to avoid insurance, I'm assuming that means they are going to pay for it to be properly fixed to your satisfaction? If so, I'd take the car to your local dealer or trusted independent garage (Covid permitting), and ask them to give you a quote for a full repair. They'll figure out what parts they need, and get prices for them. They'll also factor in the cost of spraying the new unit (they come unpainted as far as I know) to match your car. But let them do all the work and then tell the culprit what it's going to cost him / her. If he still wants to avoid insurance, that's his choice. But I can't see any advantage to you doing all the hard work finding parts and trying the repair yourself. I wouldn't buy a used model as you need to be sure that all the electrics will work correctly (heated glass, folding, etc.) and it's only worth scrimping on price if you're paying for it yourself. A similar thing happened to me a few years ago when an artic truck ripped off my passenger side mirror. He took off before I could get any details, so I ended up paying for it myself. I let my normal garage look after it for me, and they had the parts sourced and fitted within a couple of days. From what I can remember, the total price was less than €500. You can usually see your VIN through a little window on the passenger side of the front windscreen btw. Maybe worth taking a pic and noting the number down for future reference.

If you want to type in the PR codes (from the sticker in your service manual / owner's manual) you can try this link. Alternatively, if you want to type in your VIN, you can try this link. Or, if you want to look up codes in a list, you can use this link. Normally, the insurer's are interested in knowing about modifications (engine remap etc.), as opposed to extra equipment. But I guess if you tell them, they can't later say that you didn't tell them!

I'm pretty happy that I have the correct PR code. There's only three paint marks. Silver isn't listed as a "colour way" on the websites I used to find the PR number, so I'm happy that the first colour is white. I'm also happy that the next two colours are the same. My only (slightly tongue-in-cheek) comment was that the colour could as easily be orange as brown. But given that none of the colour codes list brown as appearing more than once, and none list brown and orange both appearing once in a three-colour variation, I am happy to go with the colour code and PR code that I originally listed. My original question was why a single PR code would be associated with springs of differing dimensions (according to the listed measurements). My best guess is that it's duff information loaded onto a central server that all the other websites use. I might be wrong on that, but I can't see what else would be the case. @Wino That's interesting, thanks. I was under the impression, from reading posts on here, that it was a miracle that I had any spring left on my car at all. I looked at both springs earlier and couldn't see any rusting at all, they looked in remarkably good nick. But, having used the information supplied by @chimaera on one of his posts, my back end definitely seems to be sagging a little from the official specs. @Carlston Thanks for that, it's helpful. I'm happy that I have 1K0511115BH on the car, and those specs match those listed by Sachs, so I'm happier now that the Sachs would safe to buy. Thanks for the help guys. If I go ahead with the job, I have a couple of questions about the procedure, but I'll save those for another day (the wife wants to watch Harry Potter now, which means I will be watching Harry Potter now!).

I've feck all in the way of measuring tools. Yep, 994329 is the Sachs number I'm looking at. Like I say, I just find it disconcerting that other manufacturers have different measurements all using the same product code.

Hi All, I'm hoping someone can help, or at least put my mind at ease. I've decided to replace the rear coil springs on my 2008 Superb hatchback. I don't think they've ever been replaced, and I'm up to 310,000km at this stage, so they probably need doing at this point. I might replace the shock absorbers as well, but I haven't made my mind up on that yet. The front springs I think I'll let a garage replace at some point - had a look at videos and read the procedure on here and really think it sounds like something that could do horribly wrong in my hands! Anyways, I jacked the car up, took off the wheel and had a look at the colour code on the existing springs. 3 paint marks: 1 white, 2 orange (well, more brown to me but the parts table don't list that combination as an option, so I'm sticking with orange! I've added a pic in case anyone wants to debate brown versus orange...). According to this site, that equates to part number 1K0511115BH. I also checked it on this site, and that says the same thing (using the same database I think). So I search for 1K0511115BH on various websites looking for the cheapest price etc. So far so good. I get lots of results back: Sachs, BE, Febi etc. Marvellous. Here's the problem: different suppliers seem to think the springs are completely different dimensions! For example, Sachs think the springs are 364mm in length, 12mm thick. Febi think the springs are 355mm long and 12.5mm thick. Most of the manufacturers seem to fall into one of those two sizing camps. So I'm confused! Is it just a case of duff information being supplied by the manufacturers (the dimensions seem to be consistent across different websites by manufacturer), or are they actually supplying different length springs and I should measure what I have before ordering anything? I really don't want to have to go to the hassle of removing one of the springs to measure it before ordering. Plus, if they have compressed over the years, how would I even know what the orginal length was? Basically what I'm asking is: should I just go ahead and order my chosen brand based on the colour code and PR code that I've found, or what should I do? I was leaning towards Sachs for no real reason other than I recognise the name and they've not extortionate (about €38 per spring). But by the same token I was also considering Febi. Does anyone have a recommendation? I'm trying to order from a stockist in Ireland or the EU, rather than the UK because I want to avoid Brexit-related postal delays if at all possible! Thanks in advance for all replies. And a happy new year to one and all.

This is the guide that was written up and posted previously. Should tell you everything you need to get started.

@BlackMesaUK I haven't got a clue as to the answers to your questions I'm afraid! Simplest thing would be to poke around under the bonnet and see what you have. Or someone with a knowledge of the petrol engine will probably be along at some stage to answer your question.

@BlackMesaUK I had a problem with the manifold that was throwing back a P2015 Signal Improbable error. I followed this thread, sourced the fix kit locally and fitted it without any major drama. It's been a year now and no problems, so worth trying for a small price. One thing I changed from watching the video was to ignore the way he refitted the spring (which is the only tricky part): I tried it his way and found it fiddly as feck. Then I tried refitting the lever first and just hooking on the spring last and that worked perfectly. I paid €15 because I wanted to pick it up locally in a hurry, but at the time (from memory) I could have bought it on eBay for less than a tenner. I think it was even available on Amazon, but I might be wrong about that. I do remember that you could pay a wide range of prices though. Maybe there's a quality difference, but something tells me they are all exactly the same and being made in exactly the same factory. Anyways, best of luck with it.

As Langers2k says, the mirror has to come off first. After that, it's pretty much a case of following your eyes and removing screws / unclipping as you go. It's not a difficult job by any means, and shouldn't take more than 30 minutes or so. I'm sure there are guides on here and / Youtube, so have a good search if you're at all nervous. But to be honest, getting the glass off is the most nerve-wracking part. I was convinced mine would snap in half when I did it. But it doesn't, so have faith! I would highly recommend some plastic pry tools for getting the glass off though. I would still be nervous tackling it with anything too rigid. All the best with it.

Hi, Welcome to the forum. The short answer is: I don't know. The slightly longer answer would normally be to either (i) take out one of the bulbs yourself and check if it has a product number / part code etc. on it and/or (ii) check in the manual that came with your car. Normally, the manual will list the bulb types and wattages etc. that are used in your car. You can then plug that information into your favourite car parts supplier and see what they have as options. If you can't get the bulb out yourself, and you don't have the manual (and can't find one online) for your car, then you can also visit some online parts suppliers, input your car registration (or model, type variant, engine size etc.) and see what comes back. If you're going down this route, I recommend using more than one website, to check if you get the same results (in terms of bulb type) or not. The online databases aren't infallible, so just be careful. I quickly plugged your car type into one website and got this back for fog light bulbs. But I would check a couple of more sites first if I was you. It's also worth mentioning that the result I got back above isn't a led bulb. So I don't know if you're asking what the options are for switching to leds from the non-leds fitted as standard, or if someone put leds into your car before you bought it and you're now not sure what type they are? In either case, I'm not the person to answer the question! But there are plenty of threads on here people who have done the heavy lifting when it comes to fitting leds into all areas of the car, so have a good poke around in search and see what comes back (or use Google to search and limit your search criteria to this website - the search tool on here isn't always brilliant in my experience). But I get the general sense that fitting leds where they were never intended to go can lead to a world of aggravation! Best of luck with it, and like I always say: please post back if you find an answer - it helps other people in the future.

You've probably seen / read this thread already, but if it not, it might be something worth considering (depending on if your intake manifold is of the old or the new design mentioned in the first post). But given that it's less than 12 months since you had the EGR valve replaced, could you not approach the garage that did it and see if you are covered by a warranty?

You could try rebooting the Columbus (if you haven't done so already) by holding down the < > and i keys. It's unlikely to resolve the problem but it's an easy first step. Assuming that doesn't work, you probably really need to scan with VCDS. It sounds like the system has been disconnected somewhere, but it might not be easy to spot. But VCDS should tell you if that's the problem or not.