Ryanfsr

Just a note, OEM Hella headlights are not fully sealed from factory. Each headlight for the Fabia has two small vents on either side on the rear of the headlight, either side of the backplate, so despite your efforts you may not prevent them fogging up at all. It it makes you feel any better, my old Fabia OEM Xenons misted up, my current A3 (factory fit Xenons also) fog up, my dad's XC60 headlights fog up, my neighbours Mercs headlights fog; and working at JLR, I see a lot of misty headlights on those as well at this time of year. Just a trait of Xenons it seems

Ah apologies, I misread the bit about the high beam out of align aswell. As you mentioned above though, think it might be a case of remove headlight and check the projector bowl alignment. As you've retrofitted them there's a good chance each headlight is aimed differently

What about the manual adjuster screw on the top of the headlight unit itself?

Sensor on the rear beam automatically adjusts the headlight beam. I.e. If you have heavy objects in the boot, the rear of the car compresses which in effect points the nose of the car up. The rear beam sensor measures this level of compression and automatically adjusts the headlights to ensure your lights don't dazzle oncoming vehicles. If fitted from factory, when you start your car up, your headlights should perform the little 'up and down' check to ensure this functionality is working. The fact yours isn't means somethings not quite right. Personally if I were you, I'd take the car to garage specialising in VAG cars (basically a decent garage that use VCDS) of which is also an MOT centre. VCDS will be required to align the headlights (it would hopefully find the source of the fault aswell!), and being an MOT centre they will also be able to put your car on the lens's they use to align headlights to ensure they are set correctly. Granted, this will probably involve spending money, but when it comes to headlights and beam setting it's one of those situations where you simply need the right kit to do the job properly!

Bulbs are D2S if they're genuine. As above though, the dullness might not be down to the bulb age. The projector bowl over time may well have burnt out, meaning the reflective coating on it may be no more. So even if you did buy new bulbs they may not make any much of a difference

No, there shouldn't be any need to purchase anything else. As you have factory fit xenons, just use the existing brackets as the ballasts in the link you gave are exactly the same size. Regarding the D2S adapter lead, yep, the item in the link has the D2S lead pre-attached. Some cheap after-market ballasts just come with connector leads that you can plug an array of adapters into dependent on what bulb type you are using. The nice thing about the genuine ballasts though is that they have the seal clip that secures in the back of the headlight back plate. Stops any crud and dirt getting into the headlight unit, plus aids in the headlights not fogging up! Good to know they're not heat damaged though!

Ballast wise, you'll need one with a D2S adapter lead on it. Ideally, if you're you're replacing just the one ballast it would be best to replace with a genuine Hella unit as your current 'functioning' one is also Hella. Reason being, the Hella units ignite the bulbs far quicker, and from my own experience when I tried the cheaper aftermarket ballast units, the cheaper ballasts caused havoc with radio interference. Link to a genuine unit: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XENUS-5DV007760-V1-Xenon-Vorschaltgerat-Steuergerat-Ballast-Zundgerat-wie-Hella-/381168486583?hash=item58bf6988b7:g:Vf8AAOSwxg5XxER7 Regarding brightness though, it may not be the bulb that is to blame.... Mk1 Fabias with factory xenons are around 10 years old now. Over time, projector bowls burn out, which of course has quite a severe impact on light output. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=burnt+projector+bowl&oq=burnt+projector+bowl&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.3735j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Simplest resolution to this though i'm afraid is new headlights. DEPO units are the most popular on here.

Top one you've circled stays put (the depo units have there own plug adapter that will plug into the ballast unit) The bottom one does require to be unplugged, but can be a bit of pain.... Just requires a very firm press with your thumb to lift the retaining clip, and a bit of a wiggle. You might loose some sensation in the your thumb, but it should come off

I see from the photos that the screw/dial is missing, but I don't understand why it falls back out of alignment when you let go. In the 3rd photo, the peg that sticks out from the headlight (of which the little dial should fit onto) should rotate, but friction should keep it in its position to prevent it spinning. That's the bit that's stumped me i'm afraid....

Ahh, I see what you mean now. I don't understand why they can't be adjusted still though? Pair of pliers should do the trick if you ask me. Once those 2 top adjusters are set, they are pretty much 'set and forget'. The rest of the adjustment is taken up by the electric adjuster motor within the headlight unit, which, if your car is factory fit xenon, is all automated anyway as long as the levelling sensors are all working on the rear beam.

I'd be wary of the headlight in the link being 'left hand drive' specific too considering it's coming from Germany. I'd be surprised if the adjuster is corroded though... the majority of it is plastic. The adjuster itself connectors to the headlight lens via a ball and socket type joint. It could be that this ball and socket have become detached?

I think splitting the headlight is going to be your best bet I'm afraid. Is it definitely the inside of the lens that's cloudy though? You could just require the lens to be restored externally; that's quite a common issue for aged headlights

Cheers Nick! I spoke to Ian today at Chris Knotts. He explained this to me also! Did a quote; quote came out better than any comparison site figure, and I'm now insured through yourselves! Nice to speak to someone on the end of the phone that was able to answer my questions so quickly. Great service! Thanks!

Hi all! Picking up a new car on Saturday and of course, I'm going to have to take a new policy out in order to get it home. The reason I'm taking a 'new' policy out with a different insurance company is because my existing one with my current car is a 'modified' policy. I have already spoken to my current policy holder (Adrian Flux / ERS), and because the new car is 'un-modified', the premium would jump up to silly amounts! The question I have is regarding my NCB. I have built up 3 years NCB on my current policy (4 years come mid August which is the renewal date) Can I insure the new car and use the 3 years discount from my current policy on the new policy I want to take out; whilst still allowing my current policy with Adrian Flux to run until it expires?

I fitted the "anti-mooing" kit to mine about 2 years ago when I fitted the 256mm upgrade. I was a bit dubious at first, spending best part of £130 on a couple of rubber weights, but they worked!! Had silent brakes ever since!

Managed to get the hose from TPS today,and have to say it was pretty simple to fit! Either end of the hose is held in via a rubber grommet type fitment, so a quick wiggle and they come right off!(definitely makes life easier to remove the EGR first though to access the hose end where it joins the servo) Braking performance has certainly improved, but not perhaps as much as I thought it would.... is there any other vacuum hoses worth checking that contribute to the brake system?

Cheers Ross! I'll give it a go tomorrow if I can manage to get the new hose I've seen the pipe travels to the brake servo which looks a bit of a PITA to get to with the EGR slightly in the way... Do you reckon its possible to remove the existing hose without having to remove anything else?

Just been having a little search around, and apparantly it's quite easy to replace (any tips and tricks though from anyone who has done this in the past though would be appreciated... it looks a little bit of a squeeze down by the brake servo itself!) Searched for the part number on Skoda Parts website, and they look to be around the £30 mark, so a trip to TPS on the way home I think

Yeh they seem to feel ok..... no different to what I consider to feel 'normal' anyway. Either that or I've been experiencing poor brakes for the last 3 years of ownership; even with the 312 / 256mm upgrades!

Hi all After a little advice from someone with a bit more of a technical head than mine if possible. Was cleaning the car this afternoon (Fabia vRS, PD130 BLT), popped up the bonnet to refil my washer bottle when a disconnected hose feeding into the tandem fuel pump caught my eye. (See photo below) Considering how perished / split it is, I can imagine it's been like that for some time now, but knowing its like that now has naturally got me a bit worried if this is something I need to get sorted urgently. Any chance someone could first of all explain what this hose actually does, and secondly, am I am going to cause damage driving it any further before I get it sorted? Thanks in advance!

You're not using an LED sidelight are you? When these are on the way out I've known them to flicker. Either that or remove the side light and bend the metal contacts to ensure it has a nice snug fit in the holder. If not then I would unclip the large black plastic plug that goes into the headlight unit itself. As above though, it can be a right PITA to get at! Give the connector a quick spray with some WD40 (ensure the headlights are not on; disconnect the battery if you feel safer doing so) It could well be a dry connection on one or a few of the pins.

Carriers can stay in place on the rear, although you do have to wiggle the discs a bit to remove them. I preferred to remove them though when I did mine, purely because the calipers/carriers are painted and I didn't want to chip any off

I went a little bit silly when it came to headlights a couple of years ago. Purchased a set of Depo's with a set of D2S ballasts and bulbs. Had an issue with beam cut offs and weird colours being emitted, and eventually got rid of them after a replacement set doing the same. (The ballast kit also interfered with the radio which was another reason I got rid of them) The bulbs I had with those were the cheap 6000k options that came with the kit, and although the light output was better than the halogen bulbs, it perhaps wasn't quite the improvement I was hoping for. Eventually found a genuine set of Hella units someone was selling on Ebay, so grabbed them as soon as I could! Lenses were frosty, so got those polished up, and it was using a set of 4300K Philips bulbs, which again didn't quite give the output I was perhaps hoping for... (I assume they were the originals) So I then took the plunge on the 66240cbi 5500K Osrams you mentioned, and the improvement was incredible! Much more uniform light projected either side of the car as well as directly in front, and the colour being slightly more white certainly makes it easier on the eye! So IMO, if you don't mind spending the extra on a set of 'genuine' bulbs, then certainly go for the Osrams!

If they are genuine HID / xenon headlights, the dipped beam bulb will be D2S, 35 Watt

Underneath the slam panel just above the radiator. On Fabias with factory Xenons there was a little cage to put it in, unfortunately not present on cars that came with halogen lights. I've put mine between the fuel filter and wing with some sticky back foam stuck to the ballast to stop it rattling around