varaderoguy

The coolant header tank sensor is very sensitive. My recommendation is that you keep it at Maximum all the time. If you do lots of runs, I found that TDI engines use a little coolant (ie keep an eye on it). It may well be that an air pocket was formed. This is why I see many techs do coolant changes and then pressure feed new coolant into the system. It means no air pockets. Don't be alarmed if you initially have a drop in coolant post doing work on the coolant system...it's just air being expelled from the system. If you are regularly loosing coolant, then that's a bigger problem and you have a leak somewhere.

It's a possibility that the new flap motor is also a dead module. Remember the old adage; just because it's new doesn't mean it's any good. Can you confirm whether you are using genuine VAG replacement products or did you go for a third party replacement motor? I think there is a realignment process in ODIS/VCDS that needs to be done post-install. Make sure this is done otherwise you will experience the codes coming back.

oh - yes, Scandinavian mode. It can be easily coded up. Check out the coding mods page.

Flap motors - they fail. Get a scan done of your car to get the error codes, then we can probably advise more fully.

Its an "Fly-by-wire" type system. The potentiometer fails (goes short). Mechanically - they don't exhibit any physical faults.

You don't have a dead animal (such as a mouse) that has died and is decaying somewhere in the air duct?

Wheel bearings do fail; not a particular Octavia trait; they can and do fail though. Get the car up in the air....turn each tyre....if you hear a noisy bearing, then you need to replace it. Suggest doing it in pairs (i.e. fronts or rears) Failing that; get the wheel alignment looked at. This might highlight any other issues such as suspension problems.

Sounds like the battery is beginning to flake out on you. Batteries tend to get flaky after about 5 years. If the battery cannot keep up, then you will start getting loads of CANBUS error messages.

Yes - that's very poor. TDI engines need long runs to make the work well. They are not good for short-distances. The winter tyres will make a small difference to economy, but not that much. Typically, depending your journey, you should get between 35-45mpg / 6.72l and 5.2l per 100kms in winter. So - things to check: 1) Airfilter - is this clean? If not, replace. 2) Take the car on a long fast run; see if that helps. 3) Check that your DPF is not blocked up? Get hold of a VAG DPF checker app on your phone and look at the soot levels. Make sure that your car has done a full re-gen (not a partial one) recently. If the DPF is blocked and a re-gen is not helping, it is time for a manual DPF clean to be done on the car. 4) Put in a Cetane improver (I don't know what the quality of the fuel is like in Bosnia); this might help improve the running of the car and will keep the soot levels down. 5) Get the car code-scanned - make sure you don't have any error messages or problems with the car. 6) Are the wheel alignment and tyre pressures correct?

The best fuse to use (IMHO) is the rear windscreen wiper fuse - as that is switched live. You definitely don't want to wire in the dash-cam into permanent live.

On TSI (petrol) cars; the issue will probably be coil packs that fail. Generally recommendation - 120k miles - replace the coil packs as they will start failing. Replace all four at the same time. Spark plugs generally are replaced every three years on average and as they are iridium, they cannot be gapped. On TDI (diesel) cars; the issue will be the heater coils that will start failing. Again - between 120-130k miles - replace them as a set.

Its recommended that you lubricate the locking mechanism (as you do with the door hinges too) - to make sure that it doesn't fail.

The water pumps do have a habit of failing on non-FL cars. You are right the VAG brought in better parts if the pump failed. Re: Cambelt. This seems to be very much a UK thing. As the cambelt and waterpump are done together (generally, though not always [there are engine differences] There are lots of folk out there in Europe who's VAG HQ have a far longer length between cambelt changes, but VAG UK have decided that 5 years is a thing here in the UK (its the same with VW, not just a Skoda thing). All depends if you want to maintain a semblance of warranty....its more to do with extreme temperatures, climates and the environment the car is operating in.

Okay - two areas of checking: 1) Make sure your cabin air filter is clean. Try running some AC cleaner through the car - something like: https://www.autoglym.com/air-con-sanitiser 2) You could have a condenser leak and what you are smelling is R1234 refrigerant. If Point 1 is not the problem, get down to a garage with the relevant HVAC/AC recharging kit, get them to test the pressures (hi and low side). If its low, then get them to put in a HVAC coloured dye and repressurise. Check the Schraider valves. If the smell is still there, then it requires checking out the heater matrix in the car and finding the leak. You can get leaker detectors to try and find the refrigerant. Could be coming from the heater matrix in the car.

You would be amazed how many cabin airfilters need replacing. Needs to be done every 10k miles IMHO. Re: glovebox. Its easy....just extend the dampening to the maximum length and clip it back-in. Takes practice, so gaffa tape or anything else needed.

If the geometry is out, you might want to look and make sure that all the bolts on the sub-frame are properly tight. Next I would look at the suspension setup. VAG cars (especially the Golf's, Octavia and Leon's) experience issues with the geometry if the struct towers are rusty or the struct tops are worn. This will require the upper and lower swingarms to be removed and the strut tested for movement. The other thing is the struct itself can rust and leak (make sure you assiduously clean under the wheel arches and suspension areas, because the strut tops collect dirt and they rust through).

I might suggest this sounds like the linkage between the clutch pedal and the master cylinder. Its also indicative of a potential problem with the hydraulic system. How do the brakes feel? Its possible that fluid is bypassing the master cylinder seal. Suggest getting it looked at by your dealer or VAG workshop.

You can get cascading faults on VAG cars....i.e. something goes faulty and then it causes other things to stop working. Its the fallback position on faults. Right - splitting this down: Your accelerator pedal (has died). Common fault - seen this error on everything from Fabia, Octavias and Superb's. Requires a new pedal....not expensive. With the P2102 error, this will automatically disable Stop/Start. DPF issues - its looks relatively healthy, but if your TDI engine is an oil burner as well, this will not help matters. TDI engines (if they are abused from new IMHO) - will wear the piston rings. 2/3litres of oil per 10,000 miles is high'ish, but not terrible. The VAG 'allowance' for oil consumption is 0.5L per 1000km - which is 1L per 1240 miles! or 0.81L per 1000miles. I suspect that your EGR valve will be full of crud. When was the last time the engine did a full re-gen (this is a Euro5 engine)? Did you let it complete? When was the last time you also did a long/fast run? I also a great believer on making sure you put in a cetane improver into your diesel (improves consumption, performance and cleans up the EGR valve). You can either do standard diesel (with a cetane improver) or a couple of tanks of Super Diesel will also do the same thing....take the car on an Italian Tune-up afterwards. P.S. when did you last do an oil and filter change?

I've seen that car knocking around before - DND. A West End Skoda car. I think it is either an SE or SE-L spec car. I'm not so sure about the Black Edition, because those came with black air-grill surround (at least on VRS Black editions they did); I suspect that somebody just changed out the rims.

I might suggest a couple of areas to look at: 1) It won't be the Haldex system....but I do suggest doing/getting a replacement filter and fluid change done on that system every 28,000 kms. 2) I suspect it will probably be: a) The wheel alignment is out / unbalanced wheel. b) The disc brake shield has rotted through (a common issue on MK3's) and is rubbing on the disc. It is also possible for the drive-shaft linking the front and rear boxes together - for that shaft to become unbalanced - which also only shows itself up at the speeds you mentioned.

The MK3 (non-FL) had okay headlights, but the standard bulbs that get shipped yellow quite badly over time. There are definitely brighter H7's available, but you have to super careful here. On my husband's MK3 4x4 SE, I managed to completely overload the reflectors with 150% brighter bulbs. You can get away 120% brighter, but nothing more than that.

A set of high intensity LED boot lights for the MK3 Octavia (may fit other models). Upgrade from your dim boot lights to these high intensity boot lights. Unused and brand-new. Usually about 29 euros....I'm letting them go for £20 plus £5 P&P (UK).

For Sale. A set of unopened and unused Skoda Octavia seat adjustable handle inserts with Octavia branding. For use with manual seats. £5 plus £2 P&P (UK)

It's a thing but not to the version of code that is being perported to be installed. With 04xx SOP, your latest version is actually 0480. Stick around and find the appropriate codebase for your needs. We canny post something publically for firmware (otherwise VAG get super-upset with us).

What degree is the timing in or out of phase by (you can check this using VCDS or ODBeleven)? If you idle the engine, does the VVT cam change at all? Issues with VVT are usually oil related (either loss of oil pressure, variable oil pressure or wrong grade of oil).