seagull

Why don't they just put tracer dye in the coolant,and then search with UV light to find out where it's escaping. If the cars not bellowing out clouds of steam from Exhaust or the expansion tank cap is highly pressurised after cooled down then leak is unlikely internal. I'd put my faith in a good Vag independent, they have all the diagnostic tools and equipment to work on these.

Coolant loss,temperamental drivers window,knocking from either suspension or steering.Other than that it's good

When I enter my Reg it comes up with 256 or 288 fronts and 239 rears which is odd since my car has drums at the rear maybe different specs for different countries.I could mess about taking wheel off as a last resort.I just thought someone else on here with same model as mine may have known. Thanks for the replies though .

I am wanting to order discs and pads for my 2008 fabia estate,I thought this would be straight forward however there are 2 sizes available 256 and 288mm. My car has a Disc/Drum set up. My friend will fit these as he owns a workshop if I provide the parts. Has anyone else replaced their discs on this model if so what size were the discs? My friends workshop isn't local so need to get discs right 1st time.

Thanks for the replies my mate owns an independent vag diagnostic repair company.He said he has done a few faulty waterpumps but only 2 head gasket replacements on the 1.9 pd engine and both had over 150k on the clock.He said they were basically p*ssing themselves.My brothers old vrs used to fire water out of the expansion tank but that was a bit of a lemon.His current petrol Seat also uses coolant so maybe the closed vag system is not all that closed. I have topped header tank up with neat G13 I figured that the mix is not that strong and could easily run 50/50

I noticed today my coolant was about an inch below the min mark.I know it shouldn't lose any but when the water pump was replaced 3yrs ago the dealer only filled it to minimum.My car is 1.9pd 2008 80k on the clock.The oil and water both look uncontaminated and I am thinking 1/2pint of coolant in 30000miles doesn't seem catastrophic. I would think a head gasket leak would have got through more coolant than this. Any thoughts would be appreciated?

Excellent answer thankyou

sorry i dont wish to hijack this thread but i dont wish to start a new thread regarding a similar query,i have read the replies but i cannot figure out if i can replace standard stereo with say a an Alpine stereo. I dont care about having the radio station visible in the maxi dot display,but do the beeps still work on the reversing sensors as i still want the reversing sensors?

i had a £350 tuning box on my last Diesel,i did 50000 miles with it fitted mpg was excellent and power was up as proven on a rolling road.Then my cars mpg dropped significantly but car still ran sweet and didn't smoke,i was told that due to these tuning boxes not changing any ecu parameters other than chucking in loads of fuel but no other parameters are adjusted so eventually things will be affected. My cars CAT became clogged up due to all that over fuelling which in turn killed the MPG . My current 1.9PD is remapped so everything is adjusted that can be to give a reliable permanent improvement,the economy is slightly better due to extra torque so less throttle no smoke and proven gains.

yes it has,pulls much better and economy is noticeably better,i have done 5000miles since remap and all is well.

my 2008 1.9TDI thankfully has no DPF,i had the car remapped in February.

Estate looks more balanced than the Hatchback also more practical but then i am biased

Bigger more powerful Diesel engines give better MPG on motorways as they are running at much lower revs and less stress.My remapped 1.9PD returns low 60s mpg at 70-75mph and 70+ mpg at 60mph,around town the economy could be better though at around 50mpg. The downfall for bigger diesel's will be higher road tax and insurance also they are possibly less economical around town.

My cars reverse sensors are not affected with tow bar in place unless towing,I need to get mine coded to stop it going off when reversing trailer,luckily a friend has just started up a vag diagnostics company he reckons it will be easy to do . My tow bar has a small hole in the mounting bracket where the tow bar attaches its not the easiest to attach but it does just.

mine rattles when cold think its the dash but then again its less than half the price of a BMW so i cannot expect it to match it for build quality.

i had a detachable tow bar fitted 6 weeks ago,using a specific wiring kit the price was £385 all in,although they couldn't get the reversing sensors to switch off when engaging reverse. I must call them and find out what they are going to do about it,i seem to remember they mentioned something about coding. Skoda dealer quoted me £825 for tow bar so a massive difference.

the dealer is a VW dealership not a Skoda dealership although they are a recognised Skoda service centre

haha very true,maybe i should have said i want a free service at any dealership other than theirs.They said there was no need for the free servicing to be put in writing as they would make a note on my customer file,yeah right i don't think i will fall for that. I can just imagine going there after xmas for a service and saying its free you should have a note on the computer and getting an blank expression followed by we have no idea what you are talking about.

well while i was at work today my girlfriend used her negotiating skills to get me a free Service for the car when its next due,this is a result that i am happy with as its worth about £200 as it will be its 6th service.

cheers for the tip,reason i used who i used was purely because car has a Skoda approved used warranty which runs out next February and in the small print they insist on using Skoda/VW dealerships.

are the CR engines not chain driven?

yes all ok thankfully,but i was not feeling particularly safe when perched just off the road with 40ton waggons going by,i was fortunate that i could get to the the safety of an emergency layby. I am actually just waiting now for something else to fail!

well the coolant issue is now a minor problem,as i followed my parents along A720 Edinburgh by-pass i heard a loud thud followed by car losing loads of power,this was on dual carriage in fast moving rush hour traffic.I managed to limp car of road on to grass,the car was in a pretty dangerous place.I had 1st thought the thud was the new cambelt letting go,but since the engine was still running i knew it was not that.The engine temp was ok i had no warning signs on the dash.I had to phone my parents to let them know situation and to tell them we may not be joining them. I then waited till there was a clearing in traffic and rejoined it at about 25mph and crawled to layby 200yrds up the road.I could then investigate under the bonnet while i waited for vw/Skoda assist to turn up.I could clearly see the boost hose had blown off,so figured this had not been reconnected properly after cambelt.The man from VW turned up and confirmed this was the cause of loss of power and also said it was clear by marks on hose that the spring clip had been on at an angle and not sitting on the plastic tube correctly.So needless to say the dealer got a call,i am just waiting for something else to go wrong,so i retract any compliments i previously made.

Pulmans VW of Durham,they seem a massive outfit the overall service was pretty good i will use them again as its convenient. The cam belt and replacing of water pump was £415 The service was £139 Then a rear brake strip down and overhaul plus changing a blown rear bulb another £63 these were extra's which i had agreed to before they commenced.

I had a cambelt/water pump change with a service yesterday,and am £620 the poorer for it.I was a little miffed when i drove a mile down the road and my car started shouting at me to stop and check coolant.I pulled over and checked and it was about an inch below the minimum mark,so drove back to the dealer. The promptly topped it up and said that its just because the level had settled after having the water pump replaced,well they could have given me a top up bottle when i got keys back or just checked it again before i drove it off the forecourt. I would use the dealership again as their fixed price servicing is reasonable and they have a better reputation than my other local dealership.