Greybeard

I've used very warm tap water for decades, pour on wipers first to soften & free the blades, then over windscreens, operate wiper straight away & the screen stays clear unless super low temps. Cold frosty air is often quite dry & the warm water residue under the wiped area evaporates swiftly. Rear heater on, front blower/demist on (with aircon if damp inside screen - the air is dry), more warm water on rear screen raises the surface temp and speeds the clearance so the wired element keeps it clear without having to melt the frost/ice as well. Clear side windows likewise, run glass down & up again to clear excess water. Be careful of door key slots on very cold days (can refreeze), although with central locking & keyless entry these days that's less of a problem. Drive away as quickly as you can & the natural movement of air helps to dry any remaining warm water. I keep a small watering can handy in our understairs cupboard for de-icing use. Down here on the south coast we rarely get 'real' winters so not many days that the water refreezes quickly.

Likewise I moved x2 6 foot bunk beds split top & bottom in my estate but with the bed frames still assembled plus mattresses & ancilliaries. Seats forward & hunched over wheel, fortunately only had to go couple of miles like that. They really swallow huge amounts of kit. Once done, quick refit of seats etc & a half hour with the vacuum usually has it all spick & span again, ready for the alter ego.

Have you checked the strut tops?

See post #1288 above

Posted by DGW on 11 April 2014 - 17:49 in Skoda Octavia II (2004 - 2013) i posted this information in another thread about changing the tensioner but it might be useful to have it here. These are the various timing chain tensioner part numbers and revision dates for the CDAA, CCZA and CDAB engines. 06H 109 467N >> 26.04.2010 06H 109 467T 27.04.2010 >> 29.08.2011 06H 109 467AB 30.08.2011 >> 04.03.2012 06K 109 467K 05.03.2012 >> All of the tensioners other than the 467K version have been dropped and must not be used as spare (replacement) parts. That revision cost £38.40 inclusive of VAT when I last checked with TPS on 27.2.14. The camshaft timing chain was also revised earlier this year. The original part number is 06H 109 158M and the revised part number is 06H 109 158AA. The price of the latter was £59.05 when checked on 27.2.14. Affected engines: CDAA = 118KW 160HP 1.8TSI CDAB = 112KW 150HP 1.8TSI CCZA = 147KW 200HP 2.0TSI

Mine also has the 'carbon black' trim and that's a late May 2012 registration. I've not really researched the other trim etc labels elsewhere on mine, there are plenty to choose from, but if the engine build is January and the reg May, in my case it must have been built built during Q1 or Q2 of 2012.

2012 is the year the tensioner detail design finally went stable I believe so the date of manufacture on the engine is the critical info. Take a look at the washer bottle/brake resevoir end of the engine block, should hopefully still be a paper label that tells you what the date of manufacture was for the engine unit. IIRC a date later than May 2012 gives you the possibility it has the latest tensioner. The later in 2012 the higher the degree of confidence should be. Mine is January 2012 so it 'should' have the version before the latest, but not the VERY latest. If you look at the beginning of this thread there are relatively few instances of 2012 reg failures, but not entirely free of them.

Good price...................in 2012, but 4 years later doesn't make sense really - unless you were comparing with what you'd likely pay for the current day MkIII & preferred the look of the MkII. However a 4 year old vehicle is a 4 year old vehicle, whichever way you look at it, so still not good value IMHO.

These are my standard factory fit 18" alloys from 2012.

Diesel's love to run on cool moist air. Had my Fabia vRS for 7 years, the PD130 in that always gave bonus MPG in summer but less grunt, come the Autumn weeks the fuel consumption would rise about 5mpg as per posts above but the crisper, torquier delivery was compensation for that! The difference was always noticeable as you describe, made those dry frosty February days well worth looking forward to. Enjoy!

Apologies, my poorly worded post gave the wrong impression, I wasn't referring to speed limit restraint which is a given as you say because we all want to stay on the road, both physically, legally & morally. Average speed cameras are also ensuring we focus harder on that subject too. The reference was more about the principle of driving a petrol vRS everywhere in such a light footed manner, off boost, in an effort to achieve 'non-turbo' or diesel levels of fuel consumption, kind of defeats the object of having one. You don't have to break speed limits or do anything illegal to increase fuel consumption. Driving style or a bit of enthusiasm when safe to do so can hit that just as much as sitting in traffic. Personally I'm too long in the tooth these days for any madcap antics, the older you get the less you need the grief that goes with it!!

I'd say that's about right too. Did around 700 miles or so (300 motorway) & rest those nice smooth French 'A' & 'B' type roads at the legal limits & averaged around 38-40mpg. Saw 45 often but the odd foray into towns & cities soon knocks that down. If you really go light foot & try hard I've had it up to 48/49 over a fair distance but you soon get fed up with that & its not what you buy a petrol vRS for anyway. If you can average 40 mpg at legal limits you're doing really well, but is it worth the restraint..... :no:

Point of interest only - a friend of mine has an Audi TT about year or so old with the very similar TSI (Audi Tfsi) engine and very few miles accumulated , that also makes the same sound momentarily as the engine cranks if you listen to it very carefully. Degree seems to be the relevant point, its a chain so not as quiet as a belt even when everything is in good order. Coolant leak "...somewhere at the front..." sounds like water pump leak, although the leak could actually be at the seal between the pump and oil cooler housings. I first noticed mine from topping up the small expansion tank losses and then spotted the very slow drips from drain holes in the under tray The 'o'ring is a few pence, the pumps have however changed and can be replaced under warranty but if that's expired the cost is pretty steep. A lot of strip down / reassemble labour cost involved. Unless I'm mistaken either the intake assy has to be removed or the front of the car incl the cluster of heat exchangers mounted in front of the engine. Hope its something simple instead.

Yes indeed it should be secured before you drive again. If a diesel fuel cooler becomes detached partly or completely and is ruptured or the fuel lines become damaged the resulting diesel spill could result in the death of some unsuspecting biker, either travelling in your wake or passing over the spill long after you've gone. Diesel spills are lethal for two wheelers, especially on wet roads.

M3/M25/M20 run to channel ports last Sept saw 43/44mpg @ similar 65-70 in 6th with my TSI, so I'd say that 35mpg from the diesel should be a lot better. My old PD130 Fabia VRS would routinely show 52/53mpg on 250 mile North/South Mway runs, smaller car I know.

At least it's not a later TSI with the different design, independently driven integrated pump/thermostat assembly. Mine leaked last year & fortunately was replaced under warranty but its a major front end dismantling job and the pumps aren't cheap either.

Traffic lights, roundabouts, commuting queue's et al will all kill fuel consumption. My average is also around 31-32 at best this time of year, but on a 200 mile run to Folkestone last Sept averaged 40+. Its all about where you drive & how you drive. I find V power helps a bit, but not as much as route planning and pedal restraint - absolute fuel economy isn't what a petrol vRS is about although pretty good for what it is. All said before in the previous posts.

Had mine replaced under warranty in Oct 2014 @ 15k miles, pump worked fine, just started losing coolant very very slowly. Usually when cooling down. I spotted the level dropping & then noticed small traces of coolant on the under tray - could almost have been condensation. The pump connects directly with the oil cooler & one or both of the two o-ring seals on this connection had started leaking. Quite a major job to replace the pump (or these 2 seals) if you are unfortunate enough to have to do so.

I guess £1300 is about 2 days (16.25hrs) labour @ £80/hr main dealer rates. 2 days to swap engines even with all the gear at their disposal is probably about right.......? They'll reuse the ancilliaries I'm sure so that will take time to switch from one to the other.

I have the Lidl bars, they live in the garage roof most of the time anyway. Had some pukka OEM ones for my Fabia vRS, paid full whack for them, used once then sold after 7 years for bargain price just to move them out of my garage. Hence the cheaper option this time. Depends how much they'll get used and what for I guess.

Not a 1.2 or 1.4 but for what its worth, in my 2.0 vRS estate I do the first mile every morning from cold on flat, then 1/4 mile steep downhill in gear often on overrun, then about a mile or so in crawling stop/start traffic up to a busy set of traffic lights. On a good day at this time of year, (only by the trip computer) it displays about 20-22 mpg at the bottom of the hill and same by the traffic lights if lucky. Frosty morning will see that down to 18mpg. By the end of the journey with rest of it on more mixed/open urban/A road & dual carriageway its up to 29-32. If go another route after the lights though that could be as good as 36/37 mpg As most have said above 2 miles from cold in any car will be poor. My dear lady's Multiair 1.4 Punto will do slightly better over the first 2 miles but not massively and you have to try hard/be lucky.

January 2014 - pothole - side wall rupture (front NS) - replaced both fronts as OEM conti's half worn anyway and wanted some PS3's (£125 each). July 2014 - self tapping screw in tread (rear OS) but too close to shoulder radius for repair. Used matching 'spare' undamaged Conti left over from January incident. (£15 to fit tyre) October 2014 - self tapping screw in tread (front NS - again!) but too close to shoulder for repair. Another new PS3 (£116) to replace puntured one (only seen 6k miles.... ) Never had a puncture or tyre damaged in 7 years on my Fabia vRS, now three in 10 months. Catching up I suppose. Must avoid local council amenity tip, or go in someone else's car. Both the screw punctures were noticed within 48hrs of a trip to the tip.

The 'old' and I presume hugely unfashionable Punto is better VFM in my opinion, but then I would say that as we ended up with one anyway! The colour is apparently 'on trend' I'm told and has extra space, 1.4 Multiair, longer wheelbase and IMHO the better looks made more sense to me too. My dear lady didn't take to the Fiat 500 either in twinair or plain old vanilla 1.2 4 cyl FIRE engine flavour. Mini driving position when she tried it was also not for her. Despite best efforts neither was the Citigo, she didn't go much on the 3 cyl thrum although I quite like em and pretty torquey for what it is. Gets mistaken for a boy racer from time to time until she gets in it, but when you reach pensionable age you tend to have what you want rather than what others think you should have. Certainly doesn't fade into the bland pastels at most supermarket car parks, but is really more about looks than horsepower & handling so I guess we're back to fashion again. If you MUST have a Fiat.........be different

See DGW post #516 (four slots above yours), all the information you need is in there.

I have a set of these, look good and fit well for occasional use. Genuine ones probably fit better but these were only about £30 IIRC. Got some genuine ones for my Fabia vRS 7 years ago & never used them, sold on here in the end at bargain basement to move them out of my garage. Hence the low cost Lidl option this time round.