Breezy_Pete

It doesn't matter. The microswitch is just going to connect/disconnect the two wires.

In my experience there is virtually never a spare centimetre of wire on a Skoda, let alone wiring for unfitted parts.

It'll cost you a few euros, but you can do it here erWin Online | Škoda Auto | (skoda-auto.cz) Or talk nicely to your local dealership parts person and ask for the car data pdf for your VIN. Doubt they're very busy so may be amenable.

That may well be true for stuff under the Vehicle-specific info tab, but everything you can find under the Individual vehicle information tab can be downloaded whole and kept forever, in my experience.

The registered version of VCDS Lite will do it. I've had elements go on both Fabia and Polo.

Nice idea. There is another way though. I haven't tried it on the Fabia, but on 9N Polo you can go into one of the adaptation channels of the Central Electrics module (09) with VCDS and pick whatever time you want them to be on for, from engine start time. You can change the timeout of the rear screen heater too; can't remember what the default is but it's a lot longer than necessary. I'd be pretty surprised if you can't do the same in Mk1 Fabia.

Yep. Bear in mind though that whenever a lead-acid battery gets down to a very low charge state it accrues damage that may not be fully reversible. Make sure the alternator is doing a good job first, then do some more parasitic drain checks, to try to build up a picture of the typical situation. The milliVolt testing across fuses in-situ has the significant advantage of not disturbing the network of control modules.

1. 30mA is borderline/inconclusive I'd say; certainly nothing majorly wrong at that level. If the battery is in a good state of charge when the car is parked up, that shouldn't cause it any grief after 5 days, if that is the consistent level of quiescent current. Have you measured battery voltage before and after starting the engine? These two simple measurements, done in that order, can tell you a fair bit about the battery's state of charge and the alternator function. What type of journeys is the car being used for? (Duration/miles and frequency)

Good work with the breather pipes, I think that's an often-overlooked source of trouble on these. With the rad, just keep taking stuff off and see where you get,

That millivolts technique does require the fuses to be the type with exposed metal pads on the accessible side. (Can always swap some of that type in for the positions of interest). The interior lighting circuit stays 'primed for action' for about 30 minutes typically after the lights go off. The coil of the relay that powers the lights stays energised after the lights themselves are extinguished by letting their ground connection float high. "Terminal 30g" is worth googling if you're interested.

Yep, that screwdriver technique is what to do. You may need to wait half an hour after flicking the latch over for things to shut down properly though. If you get odd results from fuse removals, try this instead: Apparently the link in the OP is now not working but scroll down the thread to the bottom.

Access may be an issue for eyeballing or feeling, but usually a fingertip will pick up even small cracks that you can't get a line of sight to. Often seems to occur on downward facing side. Can be far from small and very easy to detect by feel:

Have you inspected the brake servo vacuum hose? Not sure of the arrangement on your engine, but usually there's at least one stiff plastic pipe section and they tend to crack and leak at connections over hose barbs like the one-way valve.

Need some of those cute little wipers like Volvos had at one time... but on the inside!

Generally just behind the front bumper, and generally needing removal of that for access.

Not a clue, sorry.

5 years is a commercial decision by VW Group in the UK, I think, not an engineering one.

This page suggests that the part numbers are the same for 1.3 and 1.6 except for 1.6 engines early on (10.94-06.95) coupling - Felicia(FEL) [EUROPA 1999 year] (7zap.com)

Have you checked that they are the correct diameter? There are two options on the 1.2 HTPs, 239mm and 256mm.

Anything would do, I think. Couldn't bring myself to bother, personally. Horrible thing to try to clean up well, and virtually nothing to gain from having done it.

Rust is much bigger than the metal it started out as. A quick google suggests that the volume of rust is about 6 times as large as the parent metal it grew from. So, as above, no concern.

See above, fuse 3 should be your first port of call. Check for corroded terminals on the fuse as well as checking if it's blown.

Fuse 3 looks like a candidate.

Have you checked that none of the fuses in your photo are blown? I have a funny feeling that you may find a 5 Amp one gone. As I said upthread, terminal 30 is a description in the circuit diagrams of everything that's connected to battery positive, so no one photo can show you everywhere that is. Terminal 30 reference sounds like a dedicated wire for the Central Electrics module to 'sample' battery voltage, without any other loads on the wire changing that reading due to current flows. I'll have a look at the circuits again to try to see such wire, and tell you which fuse it might come from.

Cut for balance purposes, I imagine. So no problem.