andyreed

Excellent, that's really handy thanks. From knowing nothing about this I now feel much better informed. I'll arrange a leak test and for the fun of it I'll have a better go at the compression test I made a pigs ear of today! (for the record: warm engine yes, the rest pretty much no). So out of interest does anyone know what the cylinder pressure should be for the 1.4 16V Fabia, like when it came out of the factory?

Fabia 1.4 16V Comfort 42K miles Hi, I've just been testing my cylinder pressure as the engine management light came on and the garage said 'piston rings £1000 repair' based solely on the fault codes. Reading some of the other posts there has been some misdiagnosis of this all-encompassing light so here's what I got: 1: 180PSI 12.4bar 2: 195PSI 13.4bar 3: 195PSI 13.4bar 4: 215PSI 14.8bar The guide that came with my halford's compression tester said a discrepancy of more than a bar indicates a problem so it's not good but I wondered what the pressure should be? Also the guide said to open the throttle when cranking - really? Do I understand this correctly - does this mean foot to the floor? I just read about pouring oil into the cylinder to clear carbon deposits - should I have a stab at this? Anything else I should try before resigning myself to an expensive bill? Any thoughts gratefully recieved.

Tried to fix something - made it worse. :( The problem: A number of the lights that illuminate the dashboard when the headlights are on don't work anymore. It's on the speedo side, and all but one are out so now when I go faster than 30mph I have to squint to see tghe speedo. All the other lights are fine. On examination: The lights in question are surface mount LED's and very tricky to get to. The solder appears OK and anyway it seems unlikely that there would be a dry joint on multiple LED's. Connectors seem fine. The bodge: I had a prod with my multimeter at the power connector (LHS as you take the pod out) and I identified the one(s) that go 0 to 12V when you turn on the headlights. I found a 12v LED, stuck it behind the speedo, and wired it directly to the corresponding pins on the circuit board. The outcome: Oh dear. The new LED is much dimmer than it should be and does bugger all to solve the problem. Now the airbag light has come on and doesn't go off. The back pedal: De-soldered and removed unsuccesful LED and wires and reinstalled pod. Closed eyes, crossed fingers, grimaced and turned on the ignition. The result: Airbag light still on. Goes out a bit after engine start but then comes on again. Stays on. Oh poo. Please help.

Depends on what your security is like, not just at the army base but travel to and from it. Would you be in the base the whole two weeks or would you be expected to travel around? Will the army be looking after you or will it be private security firms? Have you been to a hostile environment before? Will you get any training in working in hostile environments before you go? I've been to Iraq four times in the last two years. I think as long as you manage your risks well it's fine.

I should be able to fault find the circuit board OK, was hoping to not have to get into it but

Well it all came apart in exactly the way described - thanks for the great directions. I took the pod apart as well but sadly it only confirmed your suspicions, namely they are SM LED's... The fella at my local dealership informs me that a new pod is

I haven't taken the pod out - I can't see even how to go about taking it out! There don't appear to be any obvious screws or clips to have a go at. Sad to hear that they might be surface mount LED's, that's makes it a bit trickier to fix...

Hi, I need some techie maintenance help. One of the lights that illuminates my dashboard when the headlights are on has gone, and now I can't see the speedo when it's dark. Does anyone know how to go about replacing it? I can't see any obvious way to dismantle it... Thanks (W reg Fabia 1.4 16V Comfort)