cocat2517

Thanks for the help everyone. Will have a look at the bolt head size and scrub up the clamp. Cheers!

This is the old battery by the way, don't think it's an original, is it?

Fitted new battery late last night (old battery didn't have enough power for my lights to drive home!), no issues so far, but will give it a few days to see if the new battery is getting charged, fairly sure it will be ok. Will check old battery voltage when I can find the multimeter. Next question... the battery clamp be was a bugger to get off, very corroded, same as the clamp plate itself, managed to get it off with a little wd40 & brute force, but it's rounded the edges of the bolt a bit. Where can I get a replacement from? I've searched fleabay but not finding much? Is it a standard size bolt I can pick up in Wickes? X

Thanks. Yes I'll get her to check them with her multimeter and see what the readings are. Not sure about battery age. Car is an 04 plate, I got it in March '08. Don't remember putting a new battery in myself, so it's potentially it's an 8 year old battery, but could be the original that came with the car?

I had the issue with the load wire about 2 years ago. It was fixed and a new alternator was also put on. There is a possibility it's that again, however I tried charging my battery through a work van & jump leads for 20 mins but it didn't charge it, so guessing it's the battery that's not accepting charge rather that the alt not giving any or the sensor wire telling it not to.

Quick update. Just hooked it up to a work van with the jump cables, left the van running 20 mins (with a little revving) to put some charge into my battery. Disconnected it all & tried to start my car by itself. Nothing. Is it fair to assume my alternator is pro ably ok and its that the battery isn't accepting charge at all? I would've though 20 mins charging from another vehicle would've given it enough power to at least start? (Wife has a multi meter in her garage at home so will check voltage with that later)

Hi Had a problem with the Fabia this morning, it wouldn't start. Put key in, left it a second for dash lights to go out etc then tried to turn it over, it stuttered and tried to start but failed. Left it a bit then tried again, same thing. Tried it a few times and it was making less & less attempt to turn over until eventually it gave up and wouldn't do anything. Got my wife to jump start me, started straight away, drove to work (1 hour on motorways), parked up, turned engine off & tried to restart, no luck, same thing. Also I turned all the lights on & radio and the battery is struggling to power it all (and the PAS light came on after a minute too). So the battery is definitely flat and hasn't charged on my drive to work? Any thoughts? Heading to Halfords the weekend for a new battery, although I checked the battery indicator on existing battery and its green inside? Had a new alternator about 2 years ago and had the load sensor wire issue at the same time, which was fixed. One thing that may be related, it struggled to start in the cold weather this year, especially after a frost. Had to wait for the little orange coil light on the dash (glow plug light?) to go out, otherwise it wouldn't start, or would really struggle. It's never struggled in previous winters, so I guessed maybe the battery was getting a bit old. My wife suggested it may also be the glow plugs that need replacing? Any suggestions to cause & fix? Thanks! Pete

Not sure, but going to check the pas tank a bit later and see what the loss is. It's going in to get checked out in a couple of weeks (in holiday soon). I suspect the rack will just get replaced. I'll get a used one off Fleabay. Are we talking a major job here, or only an hour or two worth if work?

Thanks. This says its for systems that use the red power steering fluid, Ive got green fluid in mine? Had a look just now and there's fluid on the ground under the car, so it's leaked a fair bit overnight.

Drive the car yesterday, 120 miles in the morning then same again going home. No steering issues, no fluid under car. Will have the battery out in a month and re-check fluid levels.

Might give that a go. What leak stop fluid did you use?

Right, had all the battery out and got to the pas fluid tank. It was either empty or very low. Nothing on the minimum mark on the dipstick and couldn't see anything in the tank. Filled it to max level and put it all back together, took for a test drive and problem seems resolved. Didn't notice any obvious stiffness with the steering etc. There was quite a bit of oil from where it's been leaking on the undertray and around the pipework, was told it tends not to evaporate or disappear easily, so could still be a slow leak I guess? Checked underneath after the test drive and didn't notice any dripping. I'm using the car tomorrow, a 2 hour drive in the morning and back again in the evening, so will see how it gets on and if theres any fluid on the floor after its been parked up. I would take all the battery out again to check levels, but what a ball ache! Will see how it goes, if the problem reoccurs anytime soon will get it in for a new steering rack, or a repair if possible. Cheers for all the help, I'll report back after tomorrows driving. Pete

Hi Quick update... hooked up to computer, no fault codes showing. They looked at the steering rack and found a slight fluid leak, will take out the battery to get to the pas fluid tank later and check levels. Would a leaking rack need full replacement? Any idea of costs? Cheers Pete

The alternator was replaced a year ago so hopefully that's ok. The load sensor wire was repaired same time as it broke in the same place a lot of them do on this model. Not noticed any leaks. What's the best way of checking for this? Where would the reservoir be to check levels?

Rack?

Hi My '04 Fabia seems to have developed a fault where the steering will occasionally go stiff for s brief moment, like the power steering has failed, however there are no warning lights. The problem lasts for only a second or so then returns to normal, but it happens frequently. Found a bit of info regarding a steering sensor but not much else? Any thoughts? Thanks!

Hi Can I ask, what was the initial problems with the steering? My fabia has recently suffered occasional stuff steering. Just for a brief second then returns to normal. No warning lights on etc.

When the load signsl wire on mine broke I had intermittent ABS light on too. It broke somewhere underneath the battery I think, a common fault.

They reckon the manual adjusting screws on both sides aren't working problem and the beams can't be lowered enough for mot standard? They put it on the ramp and showed my wife (who is a qualified mechanic herself) and she agrees with them. I still can't help but feel something isn't right. But strange both sides failing?

She spoke to a guy called Mr Tibbles and there was a lot of purring going on, that's all I know. She's taking the car down to Halfords shortly, see what they say. They have it booked in Thursday morning for the work & retest, but I might whip it to a Skoda place or somewhere else beforehand to get them to adjust the aim & confirm it's adjustable.

Yep, just found and adjusted them myself with an allen key, both manual adjusters are working fine. So both manual adjusters are working and the internal electric one are working. Not sure what they think the problem is then, but my wife (car expert in our family) will be heading there after work to speak with them, there's no way I'm paying £300 now. Cheers for the help & advice, I'll post back with how it goes. Pete

My wife spoke to someone at Skoda, he reckoned there was no manual adjuster on the back of the headlamp unit?

It's not the wiring fault that's common with these is it? About a year ago I was losing power in my Fabia, lights shutting down, wipers not working etc. It seemed the alternator wasn't charging the battery. Replaced the alternator but problem persisted. It turned out there was a damaged cable (load signal wire I think) that told the alternator to charge the battery or something? Is your battery warning light working? http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/248615-no-battery-warning-light-alternator-not-charging-unless-revved/ http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=209472

These adjustment motors, are they separate to the ones that are used by the internal adjuster on the dash? Halfords (thats the garage that did the MOT) reckons these can't be bought separate. Also, the MOT expires tomorrow, so I'm very limited in my options as I'll need the car friday.

Hi, My Fabia ('04) just failed its MOT as the headlamp aim on one side is too high and on the other side it's too low. How do you adjust the headlamp aim to fix this? The internal adjuster is working fine as I just tested it, for the MOT is was set to high (not sure why I had it on high). When I use the interanl adjusting I can see the lights move up and down on the garage wall and I can here the electric motor on each side whirring away. The guy I spoke to reckons the motor that adjusts the aim can't be replaced separately and that I will need new headlamp units on both sides, which with parts and labour will be about £300! I thought the aim could be adjusted with screws on the back of the unit then adjusted further (up & down) via the internal adjuster? £300 seems like a lot of money for what I thought was an easy fix?! Thanks, Pete