Drax

Strange problem - my doors seem to want to lock/unlock every so often. I could get into the car and 5 minutes down the road they would automatically lock themselves and thena few mins later unlock. It is quite intermittent, but at times is goes through a loop of locking/unlocking. Cant seem to pinpoint if it is a specific door that is causing this. Any ideas? Cheers.

Hello All, Have a problem where my drivr door is now locked. I have noticed recently that while driving the central locking would lock all the doors without warning. Then today I went to open my drivers door and something clicked and it wouldnt open. I imagine it is a simple thing like a cable has become detached from the opening lever. However the problem now is that the door is locked and I cannot access the screws to remove the trim to investigate. I cant open it from the outside and opening the other doors has no effect. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

Hello All, Anyone know if I can adjust the hydraulic clutch in my Octavia (1999 GLX model). When I bought it, they said they replaced the master and slave cylinders as well as the clutch itself. I have problems engaging it into first and sometimes reverse gear. It seems to bite as soon as I release the pedal. ...

I am currently having the same problem and it is driving me nuts! There seems to be quite a few people on this forum with this problem. Probably a known Skoda issue. I took the instrumentation cluster out this evening to take a look. This is easy. The black plastic surround pops out after removing the two screws located under the round caps at the top. Next out is the clear plastic - this pops out - be careful taking this out as the tabs are prone to breakage (one of mine went). Then its time to undo the two screws holding the dash unit in and pop the lower grommets. You will have two cable connectors going to the right and left side. The one on the left appears to power it. I started it up without the right one disconnected and it cuts the engine after ignition so it is possibly related to the immobiliser. I removed the dash unit by unhooking the two cable connnectors that are held in with small levers. About 10 minutes work. This unit is not 'sealed' It is possible to open it up - 2 screws and a few tabs. I reconnected it back to the cables in the dash and used an insulated screwdriver just to push various components on the board to test for a possible loose connection, but no luck! The top of the board seems inaccessible because that is where the clocks are. I suspect it is related to the power supply for the needles as all 4 go at the same time. Also there is a speaker on the board which looses power aswell (used to warn if you have left your lights on) - this stops worknig too. I am going to try and get my hands on a second hand unit although this could be tricky. Does anyone know if the mileage is stored in the dash unit or in the ECU? Cheers!

A strange problem started with all the guages on my dashboard recently. They all drop back to zero - rev counter, speedo, fuel and temp guages... Then a few seconds they come back! This can happen at any speed, in any gear. The problem is intermittent and I havent been able to recreate the problem. I notice though it seems to be becoming more frequent. It's almost as if the power supply to the dash goes, but the headlight and handbrake lights remain working even if the clocks go to zero. I cant think of anything that might have caused it apart from an oil/filter change ... any ideas? Cheers!

Just bought some new rubber stops for the shocks from my local Skoda dealer - came in at a whopping 32 euro! Will try fitting them at the weekend....

Interesting peice on turbos... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo In it, it talks about idling te engine for a short time (30 secs - 3 mins) to allow the turbo to cool and prevent 'coking' of the oil. Would this apply to an Octavia 1.9TDi?

Cheers Lummox - I will take a look - From what I remember it was 2 large bolts at the top - is it just a matter of taking tham off and sliding the damper out?

Hello All, While doing some work the other day I had the rear wheel off - noticed a nice shiny metal rod coming out of the shock absorber. Then I realised that the 'cover' where the lower bit slides inside has broken at the top and dropped down onto the lower section. It does not affect the workings of it but means that the slide-rod is exposed. It seems that the rubber bit holding it to the top has disintegrated. Anyway, my question is if it is a huge job to replace this? Does it mean taking the whole thing out or is it easier than I think? Cheers!

Does anyone know if it is possible to 'tighten' up the gearshift lever - there seems to be a lot of play in it...even when it is in gear. Gearshift works fine but just wondering...

Cheers lads!

How do I find out what power my Octavia is giving out? 90Bhp or 110bhp? Is it related to any pat numbers etc? Cheers!

Cheers Wedge - wondered what that button was for! So does the stalk coming from the dash do anything?

Hello all, Does anyone know if it is possible to get an online version of a 1999 Octavia owner's manual?

Hello all, I picked up a 1999 Octavia last week. On the dash under the rev counter is a display which has a degrees celcius symbol and MFA. What is this readout? I thought it was the fuel consumption. 3 days ago I was getting 55.x or thereabout coming up on the display - yesterday I was getting 10.5 and 11.0 and now today I am getting 2.5 and 3.0. I have also seen 5.0. What the heck is going on. Also, should I be able to change the display by pressing the stalk coming out of the dash? There is no movement in it... Any ideas. Cheers!

How difficult is it to change the clutch master cylinders? Bought and Octavia 2 weeks ago and has been difficult to change gear etc... The have me booked in later this week but am so tempted to pick up the part and do it myself. Stupid dealers!

Hello All, Just joined the site. Bought an Octavia last week - very happy with it. When I test drove it I noticed the clutch was 'grabbing' very quickly - the tiniest release of the clutch pedal and it engaged... also it was quite difficult getting it into first and second and it was crunching several times. The mechanic told me he was bleeding the clutch and that should solve the problem. I picked it up yesterday and have found that the problem still exists. Told the mechanic and he says that the clutch slave cylinder will probably be replaced. Has anyone had this problem? I dont quite understand whats going on - if the slave cylinder is not working correctly where is the hydraulic fluid going? If this is replaced, will the gear crunching go away? I assume that the clutch isnt fully disengaging properly... Cheers!