Fabiaulous

I failed on all other counts, so today is surgery day. Thanks for the detailed info, and thanks all for the advice!

Suction, great idea! Jeweller's tools, also great. I'm going to save the whole 'dismantle the steering column' plan til last. In the meantime, let's hoover!

Thanks Cat, I'll look into it (heh).

Hail Briskodans. I come to you today with a sorry tale. My 2 yr. old jammed a chopstick into the ignition of the Fab, and now of course the key only goes in about half way. Despite not being able to physically see any wood or splinters in there, it's thoroughly blocked. I've tried fiddling around inside it - with a paperclip, a corn cob holder and finally a screwdriver. No luck. I even blasted some WD40 in to it, which dislodged some chopstick paint flakes, but still -blocked. So - anyone know any magic tricks for this situation? I was thinking maybe if I could shoot a jet of flame in there and burn out the wood splinters... then I thought, nah, probably a bad idea. Thanks in advance for any tips or advice. (If all else fails, what could I be looking at for the dealer to fix it? I seem to recall ignition switches being quite costly years ago).

Ahhh! The clutch! *smacks forehead* Alas poor clutch. Righto, thanks for the info there, that's cleared things up right enough.

Whilst manouvering through the mayhem of my local multi-storey car park today, I got stuck on an incredibly steep up ramp. Then I stalled the motor. So I banged on the handbrake and did the whole 'hand-brake start on a hill' routine. But either due to my general incompetence or for fear of rolling back into the ludicrously expensive looking Beamer behind me, I mis-judged something and we went up that steep ramp in first gear accompanied by engine noise that sounded like World War 3 in a baked bean can, after which the air was filled with an aroma I can only describe as barbecued cat crap. So, question: Although we got home okay and the motor seemed ok, is there anything I should/can check for myself? I've got a bloody long trip to do tomorrow and I don't fancy chucking a piston on the motorway. Am I over-reacting, or is there a risk of long term damage here? The victim in question is a 2005 1.4 Fab (see sig). Cheers gang, any advice is most appreciated.

Now that is what I call a beautiful bit of sticker

Hmm, seems my 'freedom' is curtailed there

Well, I ordered a few SkodaSport stickers, but decided to hold off on the Brisk stuff untill the historic day. In the meantime, I might look into the custom one-off thing as you say. *strokes beard thoughtfully*

Cooo... Thanks Andy. *reaches for wallet*

I might have imagined this, but I swear once I saw some referance here to purchasable Briskoda.net window stickers. Every time I come here, I look at that beautiful green/red/black/white logo top-left and think 'That'd go a treat in my back window'. Or is it time to lay off the drugs?

Ah ha! I was looking for a fuse diagram, but my Fabia is an LHD anyway, so no worries there. When I actually did get the panel off, I found a handy credit card-sized card fuse diagram tucked under a flap on the back of the panel, with all the fuse locations marked with symbols relating to what they control- a touch of pure class I reckon. The hardest part of the whole operation was snapping the cover back on afterwards!

Brilliant, cheers Scoob'.

Thanks to the always-brilliant forums here, I now know why my front wipers have packed up (blown fuse). Fortunately, I bought a set of spare fuses at the time I bought the Fab (actually the dealer chucked 'em in free). So now I'm ready to change the bugger! *heroic music* Never changed a fuse in my Fab before, or any motor for that matter, so my question is- any advice/tips on doing so? I'm assuming the fuse box is that slim metal case that looks firmly stuck to the back of the engine bay, so, err, how best to proceed? Any advice greatly appreciated. Cheers gang.

Superb bit of info Denis, many many thanks. Not having got around to getting hold of my English language Owner's Manual, I would have totally missed that bit of info. Phew! *wipes brow*