chimaera

I'm not really sure how the ECU even calculates the 'calculated' value, and why it's different to the value determined from the pressure drop across the filter. If I had to guess, it's probably some sort of integration of run time and distance covered since last regen. As for which is used to trigger regen, I've been using VAG DPF for a year now and it always goes for regen at 100 % full. I'm not sure which figure contributes to that percentage right now. Conveniently, I've had the data logging option switched on, so there's lots of data there to comb over when I have a bit of time to dig through it.

There are also two rough road setups with higher ground clearance.

Turning to the OP's situation, it's a bit of a pain to be in the dark on it. If it's possible to talk to the previous owner, do so and find out the dealer they spoke to about the problem, and who the specialist who did the 'repair' was. It's a pity the car never made it to the dealer as even if they hadn't done a repair, the diagnostic would be helpful in establishing that the fault existed and you might be able to plead a case for goodwill from Skoda. In my own case, the EGR threw its first fault code about 2 weeks after the TBM period expired in January. I contacted Skoda Ireland about it, presented them with the service history and what I knew about the update, and they offered 90 % goodwill; €100 for a new EGR was a pretty good deal I think. Bear in mind too that EGR failures were a known issue long before the emissions update came into the picture. I would say most failures have been EGRs that were going to fail anyway and the update just adjusted the timetable a bit. You'll probably get more from the specialist at this point than the dealer. They should be able to tell you what they did, which is your starting point for what to do now. If the PO doesn't mind telling you, knowing how much was spent will be a useful pointer too. We can assume that they didn't remove the EGR valve, since this labour is the most expensive part of the repair, and if it's out of the car, a new part is not that expensive relatively speaking. The best you could hope for would be some sort of in-situ cleaning process. These exist and can work ok if there's no damage to the moving parts of the EGR valve, and the cleaning process itself doesn't damage the EGR or other engine components. If it was cleaned and left in a functioning state you're in a good position. If they have done some kind of EGR 'defeat' it's more complicated. As others have pointed out, it could just have been blanked, with or without an EGR emulator fitted. Without one, there might be some other bodge done to keep the ECU happy, or it might have been remapped. Remapped is the least awful scenario here if it was done by a competent tuner. The engine ECU is in full control of the engine with no emulators or other measures feeding modified sensor readings to the ECU to fool it into working. Worst by far is some kind of resistor pack bodge on the MAF. There's a spectrum of options between those. There's no way to 'code' out the EGR, at least not in the sense of changing ECU coding via diagnostics. It's integrated into the ECU code and needs a remap to remove/disable the functionality. They are unlikely to have removed the DPF to deal with EGR problems, the two systems don't have that direct a relationship. Also, most of the labour for changing the EGR valve is that taken to drop the DPF out of the way. It'd make more sense at that point to change the EGR than start modifying things. Have a dig around the MAF area for any odd looking wiring or stuff that's obviously not standard. Ditto EGR. It's not too hard to remove the pipe that introduces the EGR flow into the throttle body/intake: you could pop that off and check for blanking plates in there. If all of this is making your head spin, it may be worth bringing the car to a good specialist who knows the car and the engine and get them to look over it. Someone who knows what they're looking at will spot any differences quickly enough.

Long post warning, but this is not something that can be explained in a few lines. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know as much as they think they do. Ok, so EGR & DPF are different things, doing different jobs. The emissions update can affect longevity of either but in different ways. Between some correspondence of my own with VAG in Ireland, and reading through papers from UK parliament on the matter, two things were established about the update: Increased use of EGR to directly control NOx formation during the combustion process Increased soot generation to allow passive reduction of NOx by oxidising soot held in the DPF Some background on how/why this is so. NOx forms during the combustion process due to the 'burning' of atmospheric nitrogen that has been brought into the engine. The temperature and pressure present during combustion create suitable conditions for this to happen. Nitrogen and fuel are competing for oxygen during combustion. In engines that run rich (more fuel than the available oxygen can consume), NOx generation is minimal as oxygen will more readily react with fuel rather than nitrogen. But this is not desirable for economy or other criterion pollutants. Also, in diesel engines, running rich makes them run hot which is undesirable as well. Engines that run lean are more economical but the excess of oxygen present means conditions favour production of more NOx. DIesels have always had this problem as diesel engines are happier running lean. Modern DI petrol engines which support lean running are also vulnerable to increased NOx generation. One other aspect of combustion behaviour is that regardless of how much oxygen is present, a certain gas volume is needed to ensure adequate distribution of fuel droplets and vapour so that combustion can initiate. Too close is bad as the concentration of fuel vapour between droplets won't get down below the Upper Flammability Limit and combustion won't initiate or propagate. EGR helps solve this conundrum. Exhaust gas is much lower in oxygen than fresh air obviously, making it relatively inert from a combustion perspective. The trick with EGR is that it uses this inert exhaust gas to displace some fresh air from the combustion process, so now there's less excess oxygen available to form NOx, but it maintains the same gas volume in the cylinder, so there's still enough distribution of fuel in there to allow the combustion process to proceed. It generally only operates at low engine loads where fuel requirement is minimal and there would otherwise be a lot of excess oxygen in the cylinder. When the load ramps up and fuel/air ratio approaches stoichiometric, EGR would cause more problems than it solves. The emissions update increases EGR under low-moderate loads, which is what most of the EU test cycle is run at, but probably has changed very little at higher loads. The reason some EGRs are dying after it is that they have gotten gunked up over the life of the vehicle prior to the update, but only outside of the range of movement they would have operated within. The update commanding wider EGR opening means pushing the valve into that gunk and some of them get stuck and fail. Once replaced, a similar failure in future is unlikely, beyond the normal life expectancy of the component, as any subsequent gunking will be outside the new range of movement. Now DPF. Its job is pretty self-explanatory. All DI engines (petrol or diesel) produce soot, it's an inevitable side effect of spray combustion processes. Diesels have been DI for much longer than petrols, and have until recently received the lion's share of attention when it comes to reducing/eliminating particulate emissions. (Euro 6 has brought in a requirement for particulate filters on petrols.) DPFs are a filter matrix designed to capture soot from the exhaust and hold it until a predetermined amount is stored at which point the engine shifts its operating parameters and ignites the soot to clear the filter. A small amount of ash (mostly from lubricating oil that's made it into the exhaust) gets left behind, and this eventually kills the DPF but it takes a while. Now NOx comes back into the picture. Nitrous oxides are themselves pretty decent oxidisers, as evidenced by their use in a lot of rocket motors for that purpose (a bit easier to handle than liquid oxygen). Even with EGR and other combustion management strategies to minimise NOx generation during combustion, there's still some amount of it generated and this needs to be dealt with. One strategy employed to deal with this is set up the DPF so that the NOx passing through it in the exhaust gas stream oxidises some of the soot collected in it, turning it into CO2 and nitrogen. This process passively regenerates the DPF also, eliminating soot during normal engine operation. Which is what most EA189 engines in Skodas do. The emissions update increased soot generation to use it as a NOx reduction measure in the DPF. It's not going to affect the amount of oil ash getting into the filter. The only way it might shorten the DPF life is due to the more frequent regens resulting in more thermal cycling, causing a failure of the filter material itself. This is more likely to be on cars that are driven on lots of short trips. Longer trips result in a lot more passive regeneration and thus fewer active regeneration cycles. Could one affect the other? Yes, they're part of the same system. The whole thing has been engineered to work together as well as possible, while trying to make the best of the inevitable compromises a complex engineered system requires. It's not as simple as your mate down the pub might have you believe though. To backtrack a little, the engine ECU is monitoring and controlling two core parameters: how much fuel goes in, and how much air goes in. How much air goes in is monitored by the MAF and MAP sensors. How much fuel goes in is monitored by the fuel metering system. But there's a third part to this that never gets discussed but that is nevertheless important: the lambda sensor in the exhaust. That one monitors how much oxygen remains in the exhaust leaving the engine and that data is used to control the quantity of fuel injected into the engine (in tandem with the MAF/MAP readings). Why does this matter? From descriptions I'm seeing on this thread, the EGR emulators are just tweaking the MAF readings, making the engine think EGR is working normally. If we follow this through, the engine is now getting more oxygen than it realises, meaning more oxygen in the exhaust. The lambda sensor sees this and tells the engine to send more fuel. During high EGR demand driving situations this means more fuel, higher fuel consumption, maybe a bit more soot, maybe more NOx. I don't know if the ECU is set up to detect mismatch between fuel injection quantity and MAF, if it did, you could see errors down the line (I'm guessing a bit here TBH). Personally, I don't think EGR defeats like this are a good idea. On modern engines with such closely coupled sub-systems running within tight margins, it's too easy to upset something without realising it until bits start to break. If you're willing to accept that possibility, feel free to go for it. You are ultimately your own warranty though: the manufacturer will not want to know about it if things break. There's always the possibility of it ultimately costing more to put right than if it had been fixed day one.

Sounds like the window regulator has failed. Mine sounded a lot like you describe when it finally died. When I got the old regulator out, the cable had broken due to rust. Straightforward if fiddly DIY job. Check your PM for more info.

I'd try removing it entirely and see what condition the clips that hold it in place are in. Sometimes the clips can bend and it feels like the panel has popped in when it hasn't really.

What engine is fitted? Any fault codes from the ABS control module? If it's a drive-by-wire car, it could be a failed pedal position sensor (or a damaged wire going to it).

Whether you get MIL and limp mode probably depends on the nature of the fault detected. Mine did both when it started to let go in January, codes were both related to the N18 valve (codes were 4891 & 4892).

Next step is find out exactly what the problem is. Get it scanned with a proper VAG compatible scan tool and see what that reports. If it is indeed the EGR valve causing the problem, and you plan on keeping the car for another while, then replacement is the best option. Most of the replacement cost is labour so a good indy might be reasonable enough that way. If the car hasn't yet had the 23R6 update (EA189 NOx emissions) and you can get it into a dealer without a fault code showing, then you could get it updated and get a free EGR replacement under the TBM when it does fail afterwards. A few owners here have done this. Mine started to fail in January, 2 weeks after my TBM period expired and Skoda Ireland still covered 90 % of the cost.

TBH you sound like you're a bit out of your depth here. I'm not sure blanking off the EGR will help much. You can check with diagnostics if there's a fault there in any case. There's a reasonable chance you're dealing with a timing failure here, and until you confirm whether that's the case or not, it's a bad idea to try starting it. Please stay away from the fuel system if you don't know exactly what you're doing. The fuel rail reaches 2000 bar when starting and running. If fuel at this pressure hits you it will cut right through you. If you can confirm that the timing is intact, and it's ok to try starting it, you'll know from the exhaust smell if fuel is getting through.

Even before that, I'd try to turn it over by hand (ratchet on the crankshaft nut) and see if it can make 2 full rotations without getting stiff/stuck. If you do this with the timing belt cover removed you can check that both cams are turning as you turn the engine.

I've only ever seen those cause trouble when badly fitted.

There are many reasons why a tyre might be going soft, ranging from cheap and easy to fix right up to buying new wheels. Find a good independent tyre fitter in your area - ask friends/family if they have someone they can recommend. Fast-fit places will probably want to sell you new tyres without doing any real fault finding. Possible causes of pressure loss: Loose valve stem insert - it can work loose, or might not have been properly tightened last time around A valve spanner is only a few quid in Halfords and it's something you can check yourself. It's usually my go-to first fix for a tyre that's going soft Related to the above is perished rubber on the valve stem Solution is to replace the stem - job for a tyre fitter Poor seal between the tyre and the rim: the tyre may not have seated quite right when fitted, or there was dirt left on the rim, etc Fix is to reseat the tyre after checking the bead and rim carefully - job for a tyre fitter Both of the last two could/should be done together before going further: it won't cost a huge amount of money and fixes most problems with tyres losing air Slow puncture in the tyre: it can happen from a piece of glass, or a nail, etc. If the object stays stuck in the tyre it'll plug the hole enough that it'll only leak slowly A tyre fitter should be able to find if this is the problem, and unless the damage is bad, the tyre can usually be safely patched inside This has saved me from buying new tyres more than a few times Damaged wheel: As Carlston pointed out, a clumsy tyre fitter could damage the tyre seating surface on the rim making it difficult to achieve a seal Badly kerbing the wheel could do this too, or warp the wheel to the point where the tyre can't seat properly Alloy wheels can crack; if this happens on the pan or rim it will leak The fix here is refurbish the wheel - it should be about 1/4 to 1/3 the price of a new wheel from a competent repairer (I had mine refurbed last year at €70 per wheel including fitting of new tyres) Unless the wheels are in really bad shape, or you just want rid of them anyway, buying new wheels is a waste of money right now. If you do want to buy new rims, the following are the type approved sizes for the 1.8 TSI Facelift for year round use: 205/55/R16 91V on 7J x 16 ET45 rim 205/55/R16 94V on 7J x 16 ET45 rim 225/45/R17 91V on 7J x 17 or 7.5J x 17 ET49 rim 225/40/R18 92V on 7.5J x 18 ET46 rim For winter use only these additional sizes are approved: 205/55/R16 91V on 6J x 16 ET50 rim 205/50/R17 93V on 6J x 17 ET45 rim (this isn't formally restricted to winter use in the tables, but given the unusually narrow wheel/tyre it seems likely that this is the intended use) The winter sizes allow more room for use of snow chains in regions where that is required. Any sizes not on these lists are not type approved by Skoda. If you want to go outside these, it will require additional due diligence on your part to ensure any wheel/tyre combination won't affect ride/handling/safety/speedometer. Changes to profile height and/or rim width and/or offset (ET) will affect scrub radius, which affects steering and handling. Your insurer will probably need to be told too if you go with a non-type approved size. One exception is you can choose a size listed for a more powerful version of the car e.g. 2.0TFSI. Mostly the only difference is the speed rating, and possibly load rating.

You do know all of this and more is in the first post of my wheel and tyre thread, right?

I've dismantled the lock on mine to see what's going on inside. There's a part in there that sort of hooks in place, and if the mechanism isn't lubricated, it doesn't release by itself when the solenoid fires. Pressing in on the lock relieves the pressure and it unlocks, but it's a bit tricky to find just the right amount of pressure. What you're actually doing when you keep pressing on it is finding that sweet spot and letting it unlock. There's no way the design can be wound out the way you describe. Since I put some oil in mine a few years ago, it has never gotten stuck.

The spindle in the lock mechanism for the filler flap gets stuck over time. As @tuningmania points out, you can get it to release if you press gently on the lock while cycling the lock button on the remote. There's no need to change the lock, just put some oil on it and work it open and shut a few times to get the oil into the moving parts. 3-in-1 oil is a good option for this.

Changing ET will mess with castor and therefore the steering. Best avoided unless necessary to maintain alignment on a wider wheel.

Start here:

I haven't come across a flat battery causing airbag faults before. Our 12 Fabia has gone flat several times during lockdown without throwing a code. That's not to say it can't happen, but it's unlikely. I think you need to find a VAG compatible diagnostic tool to read the code from the controller before going any further. There's a thread in the diagnostics section here with a list of people with suitable scan tools willing to help out other members. You may find someone near you willing to scan your car. Otherwise there's probably an indy near you who will do it for a lot less than the dealer would charge.

Check the condition of the pollen filter. If that's wet, you'll be drawing in damp air while the car is running which can condense out on a cool night. You could also check the vents behind the boot side panels. They're there to allow air out of the vehicle interior and if they're clogged, it's more likely that wet air can hang around inside. It might be worth checking under the carpets in the front as water can sit down there: the carpet plus insulation is a few cm thick and you could have a dry carpet on top and water underneath.

Some infant carriers can be held with the seat belt but ISOFIX/I-size is so much easier, and easier to get right when you're in a hurry/stressed/etc. You also have to remember to disable the passenger airbag if you put the child in the front. Like every new generation of safety technology, I-size makes it easier to do things right, learning the lessons of what has gone before, while people mutter about how it wasn't like that in their day.

I don't think the Fabia has front ISOFIX mounts though.

I did a bit of digging on this a while back as were looking at getting one of these. I wrote up what I could find here: The whole thread is a good read on the topic.

Unlikely. It's barely doable in the Superb, which is a good deal bigger. If you need to keep an eye on the kids, you can get mirrors which clip on to the rear headrest that let you see them in the rearview mirror.

+1 for DSG thermostat. It's about €35 from a dealer for the part. You'll need some coolant to top up the system after changing it.