Taylor93

Glad to see its still going Trev!

Wasnt today, but yesterday... Driving south bound on the A1 with my Mum, two lorries infront and they come to a halt. Turns out a dog was running down the carriage way on the south bound side. I was able to squeeze the octy through and got up the road a bit, staying clear of the dog. I stop, get out and the Dog is still running towards me. At the last second it runs to its Right, which is a turning which goes across the on coming carriage way. Obviously means it ran straight into the "outside" lane. Didnt end well. I tried to help and it went tits up. If i hadnt tried, it might not have happened :(

Its been a long time, but I hope ill be back down in Kent for that weekend, so should be along too

I think I am in a similar position and certainly do regret the move. 5 Years for an International Electronics/Defence Contractor, Started as an Apprentice, worked into a Test Equipment Technician. For my age it was okay pay, but no Degree so i had no career progression, but job was challenging and enjoyable. Flexi Time, 37hr week, had to be in the office 5 days a week for core hours, but could do pretty much any hours i wanted. 1pm Finish on a friday too which was nice. No quibble on Doctors visits, sick time. Only rarely did i ever have holiday requests declined. Had paid Overtime too at 1.33 Weekday, 1.5 Sat, 2.0 Sun. I did do alot of it. Left in Feb 2017, took a new job for a tiny <50 person company. Similar work, designing/building Bespoke Electronic test equipment. Relocated from Kent, to near Sheffield. Main reason was a Promotion, 5k Payrise + Rent free stay in a company flat for 12 months. The payrise meant my "basic pay" equaled my old rate plus the overtime but at 37.5hrs a week. "Flexi Start" but only Mon-Thurs. Sick pay for upto 5 days, SSP after that. fewer holiday days. No Overtime. They have two sites, one in Scotland, the other where I work. But the production is done up there. I am the only Electronics engineer at my office (so no progression to Senior/Team lead etc). They cant seem to employ anyone else in the local area, they just dont get any bites/interest in the jobs, I dont think they offering enough pay for the expertise they are looking for. But none the less my job is hindered by the fact everything i design, is built 250 miles away and when communication is poor, it makes my job difficult. I had 6 weeks at their office and it was the most productive 6 weeks Ive had in the company! While I was there I also found out that my colleagues in Scotland do get overtime, although my manager is adamant that we (at Sheffield) do not get it as we get some kind of sick pay (although that is not in the contract). He threatened to doc my pay also if i continued to ask about it as I had half day sick due to food poisoning. Issue is there was the promise of progression at the new job, but now I have been at the company for just over 18 months, ive realised there isnt any... Up til December I looked over a few dislikes about the company, I bought my first house and now Ive realised i am semi trapped which is not aiding the matter! However I have to admit, without moving to Sheffield, i would not have been able to afford to buy my first house on my own. The cost of living is significantly less here compared to Kent. Sorry to rant on a bit, but like you I have wondered if there are others out there in the same position, so I am partially relieved to know I am not a snowflake... or maybe i am acting like one?

Someone I once regarded as a close friend, who unfortunately is also a colleague & HR Manager, has been giving me the Cold shoulder since July. Now this individual has the joy of delaying the payment of Expenses back to me. (Company policy is to pay out on personal Credit Card etc, then claim back). If they dont pay it back soon ill incur interest on the Credit Card which isnt covered by company policy... Currently i am massively out of pocket this month, without two pence to rub together. They have also blocked me on social media etc after i politely declined their "birthday night out" invite.... because i am skint this month!

Looking good Beefy! Out of curiosity how did you measure the valve to piston clearance?

I did plan once upon a time to write a full guide on how to do the timing chain on the 1.4 MPI 8V engine, it completely transformed the first one I did (2nd time around it had already been replaced at somepoint but the chain was noisey so did it anyway). Im looking at perhaps getting back into a Fabia, if I do, and its a 1.4 8V Ill do it and write a guide :)

As Photobucket has edited its Policies, all the photos are removed. Please see updated PDF File: Taylor93’s Guide to Cleaning the EGR system on the 1.4 16V (AUB) Engines.pdf

Well I replaced it and it seems to have sorted it, I do have another issue which I suspect maybe related to the other driveshaft but if that needs to be replaced, it can be done at a later date! For now though I found my plastic ARB drop link was broken (had been bodged by someone before and I had been meaning to get around to fixing it) so plenty still to fettle! Thanks All!

Hi All, At 140,000 My Mk1 Oct is now making awful clunks and grinding noises when steering on full lock (Right hand down). Because of that I believe the Nearside (LH) Outer CV joint is knackered (also has a small tear on the boot) I am looking around at Pricing, and I wondered if anyone has tried J&R Driveshafts on ebay? Pricing I have found so far, bearing in mind my Octy is a 53 plate Estate, PD130 with the 6 Speed Manual gearbox. £180 for an Outet Joint kit from TPS £200 for a N/S Driveshaft from Euro Car parts £30 for one from J&R on ebay.... Seems a bit too cheap. Does have a 2 year warranty but It is still suspicious.

Did you get this sorted Gareth? Given how many things have been changed and the fault persists, I agree with Sepulchrave, it certainly sounds like an un-metered air leak. Do you know if the Intake manifold has been off at all recently? Might be worth checking the intake manifold gasket. I guess the Direction Wino is going in, is a Cylinder to Coolant or Oil Head gasket leak. I would do a Compression Test across all 4 cylinders and compare the readings. If Cylinder 2 is low, then perhaps a sniff test on the coolant tank.

Not being particularly experienced with Octavia's (although I have had quite a few Fabias previously), I have a noise which is becoming more annoying which I hope some of you may be able to help with. The car is an ASZ PD130 Mk1 Octavia estate L&K, 137,000 miles on the clock. The noise is a "Wowing" or a slight drone, which sounds like it is at wheel speed, when traveling at low speeds. It does it steering in either direction. The noise starts the moment I am moving while steering, the noise will continue until you straighten up. It does not make it when stationary even if you steer lock to lock. I have: - Checked wheel bearings (front and rear) slight noise on the rear O/S but it is minimal. all others feel fine. - Swapped wheels front to rear, (if a wheel or tyre was out of round), fault persisits - I have tried coasting in neutral, or giving it more rev's (to check if it is some how related to the PAS pump) The car supposedly had a new Steering rack in January, just before I bought it, however it doesn't it look that new, nor like its even been taken out and reconditioned. As its a drone/wowing noise, all i can think of is either a wheel bearing (which seem fine), or a diff bearing. I have not touched the gearbox oil as it is supposed to be sealed for life, I doubt it would be driveshaft related as it is not a knock or clunk noise. Has anyone had a similar issue before? Id rather not fire the Parts cannon at the car as it is a cheap and practical daily hack!

Isambard, I made a How to Guide on cleaning the EGR system on a 1.4 16V AUB engine code, there may be slight differences, but should still help. hope this helps

That link doesnt seem to be working either :/ As an alternative I have been looking at Mk4 Golf Estates (identical platform afterall) and they seem to be a better tailored inside... i.e. less of the beige

I guess anything will be an upgrade in terms of performance than my Yaris, an amazing 68 bhp from its 1.0 16V but only 90NM (66 ft-lb) compared to the 110 TDi's 235NM (173 ft-lb), it will be like entering warp speed! so as a 110 seems to be a sensible choice... what about the gearbox? Is there a massive difference in driving the 5 speeds vs the 6 speeds? I suppose if the overall ratios are similar, then motorway cruising in top gear, you wouldnt notice a difference. Correct?

I have read somewhere on here that VAG discontinued the Harness kit, but that was a 2011 post. Any ideas?

Those links dont work Lee, but I have seen one tonight on Autotrader with a beige interior, is it Dark green by chance? Sling ya hook!

Driving the 110 TDi, did you ever find yourself thinking "hmmm i need more Ooomfff!", trying to make progress on the Motorway with my Yaris is quite a tough challenge, that said it is a city car not a motorway cruiser. Also.. does anyone know how easy it is to install Cruise control on a 110 TDi Octy?

Ha! I did see one about 15 miles away on Autotrader the other day, but it had 213k on the clock! Impressive that they are capable of that type of mileage. but I would be looking at selling at that mileage, not buying! haha. I want a Cheap to buy, reliable, comfortable to drive, cheap to fuel (tax isnt so much of an issue to me) box which can get me and my stuff where ever I need to go! But... without going to the level of Felicia 1.9D... because I would actually like to get to places this century !

I am looking at buying a Mk1 Octavia but at the moment I am unsure which variant to go for and thought that this just might be the place to ask So I currently drive a Mk1 Yaris 1.0 16V, which is fine around town, but in the next coming month my Mileage is about to double/triple annually as I am changing jobs. Most of the new mileage will be going via M2/M25/M1 both ways every fortnight. So around an extra 12,000 miles per year. Because of this increase in mileage, and the longer new commute to my new place of work, I am looking at a Diesel. Also with there being a few hundred miles inbetween locations, I would like the ability to move alot of "junk" around. Yes It means I will be paying to lug it around, but if I need it, it will be with me! Something else a small Yaris, isn't particularly good at! So I am used to my Mk1 Fabias, I have had 6 of them, but I feel that ive done that now, would like some more space and would like to look at getting an Octavia, and there lies the problem! there are quite a Few! The main dilemma I keep finding myself thinking about is an early 110 TDI with a 5 Speed vs a PD130 with a 6 Speed. Ive had a PD130 Fabia vRS before (which was already mapped to around 170 when I bought it) and to me, it was really well suited to having the 6th gear. So from a fuel economy point of view and driver comfort (so its not revving its head off), going to a 5 speed, isnt very welcome! I would prefer the 6th Gear. But is it really needed? Has anyone here had one of each and can comment on their real world MPG figures? Also are the overall ratios on the 5spd/6spd similar? i.e. is 70 mph the same engine RPM on both boxes? (this would eliminate my concern of a noiser, higher revving journey) But none the less I am trying to find an Octy with the following options, but it is quite the challenge finding one local to my current home (Medway) £2000 budget Mk1 Octy Estate (Desired, but I suppose a Hatch would do) No more that 150K miles PD 130 with 6 Speed (unless a 110 5spd is advised) Cruise Control, AC and the usual bits like Electric Windows etc. Any Suggestions/Opinions are welcome on perhaps which one I should be looking at

my 52 plate Toyota Yaris doesnt have a temp dial, just a Cold and then a Hot warning light, Im sure all the following models of Yaris had the same... it worked for them, why wouldnt it work for other marques?

I remember telling you it was possible, just needed the time or Skills like Techie to work it out

Thanks Charlie, After my last GTV didnt perform as well as I hoped (in the bends it was a little... floaty) I was quite disappointed. So although there are other project cars that catch my eye from time to time, I really want to see how far I can take a GTV in making it handle, stop and go. Althought that did mean going from the 220bhp 3.0 V6 down to a 150bhp 2.0 TS, hopefully it will all be worth it in the end! Just a pain as its nearly there, but the last few bits (tax, Insurance, Tyres and Tracking) are probably the most expensive to come and will have to wait, as really I can play with cars anytime, but there are certain things in my calendar that i can only really do now.

Did some more bits in the past few days, Got the gearbox gearbox end plate cleaned up, drilled, tapped and heli-coiled the gearbox casing, applied a bead of sealant and then refitted the gearbox end plate. that was back on Tuesday, left it to properly cure and then last night I filled the gearbox up with oil. Started the car up in the garage and with the wheels off the ground I selected each gear, all went in fine. Tightened up all the left over odds n ends, so now is the following to do's: - Fit and Tighten both FARB Drop links (easier with the wheels on the ground as they go through the wishbone) - Monitor Gearbox for any further leaks. - Bleed Clutch/Brake system (2nd time) also see if I can get my MultiECUScan on a working laptop to Purge the ABS pump (also clear the Airbag warning light while im there) - Check both window regulators, a rivet wears and causes a clunk, both of mine clunk (have two spares so no issue) may have to swap them out. - Airbag light (see point 3) - Tidy up interior trim - Get her Insured & Taxed for some test drives and i am sure further fault finding the last one probably wont happen till Jan 2017 but I suppose I still have a few jobs to keep me busy! edit: oh and 4 new tyres and full 4 wheel tracking and alignment too!

Is there a certain end to start at? Where it goes up underneath the b pillar or under the dashboard at the bottom seems to be pretty tricky.