phs12

Obviously, replace the road wheels before lowering to the ground and torque to 120nm but I can't edit the post now. Moderator? Replace the road wheels and bolts before lowering to the ground and torque to 120nm. 21 = 22 22 =23

I carried out this job on a 2012 Fabia 1.2 TSi 1. With the vehicle on level ground, chock a rear wheel. 2. Loosen the front wheel bolts slightly (both wheels, maybe 1/16th of a turn). 3. Raise the front of the vehicle and support on axle stands. 4. Remove both front wheels. 5. Spray penetrating oil on the ends of the bolts that hold the ARB clamp to the sub-frame (both sides). The captive nuts on the Fabia face the rear of the vehicle, so this is where you need to look for the ends of the bolts. 6. After leaving the penetrating oil for 10mins, use a suitable ratchet to undo both bolts. At this stage, only unscrew them to leave 5mm of bolt showing beyond the nut. On the driver's side, you will need to raise the lower suspension arm by placing a jack under the lower ball-joint to gain access to the bottom bolt.Using a 13mm ratchet spanner may negate the need to do this, though access is tight. Repeat this process on the passenger side. 7. Undo the upper nut holding Anti-Roll Bar link to the suspension strut bracket and remove the link from the bracket. This releases tension on the Anti-Roll Bar. Repeat this process on the passenger side. 8. Now fully remove both bolts on the driver's side. Plenty of rust came out when I removed the lower bolt. 9. Lever the clamp off the rubber bush with a suitable tool. I used a fat cold chisel. 10. Remove the split rubber bush from the bar. 11. Clean the bar where the new bush will fit. I used GT85 wiped off with an old rag or paper towel. 12. Before fitting to the car, I sprayed the new bush with silicone lubricant on the bracket contact side and pushed the bracket on and off a few times. 13. Open the bush where it splits and fit it onto the bar. 14. Fit the bracket onto the bush. This is the difficult bit as it's a tight fit. You'll need to push hard or use a lever against track rod whilst being careful not to damage it's rubber gaiter. You can use the steering wheel to move the steering gear to help. 15. Insert new bolts into the sub-frame. I used; Hexagon Collar Bolt, 68mm (60mm under head),M8 x1.25, Tensile Strength 8.8, 13mm head, as specified in the unobtainable at the time Febi kit 37660. 16. Push the clamp hard towards the sub-frame and align the captive nuts with the bolts. Start the bolts off by hand before continuing with a ratchet but don't fully tighten; as I found to my cost, this will hinder lining up the bolts on the other side. 17. Repeat steps 8 to 16 on the passenger side. 18. Re-fit the ARB links to the strut bracket and hand-tighten the nuts. 19. Tighten the ARB bracket bolts (both sides) then finish tightening with a Torque wrench to 20NM + 1/4 turn (or 90 degrees). 20. Torque the upper ARB link nut to 40NM. Strictly speaking this should be done after lowering the car to the ground but you will need to use a Universal Joint on the end of a long bar to access the nut. Alternatively, use a jack under the lower ball-joint to load up the suspension. 21. Lower the car to the ground and remove the chocks from the rear. 22. Test drive and enjoy the silence.

The winning prize (metaphorically speaking) goes to @Alasdair1 , though not his first choice. Some weeks ago now, I'd eliminated the steering gear as a likely problem because there was very little free movement when moving the steering wheel (wheels on the ground). So, I moved back to checking the ARB links with the same result, no or little free play in the ball-joints. Next, and partly to prove the above, I removed the top nuts from the ARB links and fastened the links up to wherever I could fasten them and then took the car out for a gentle drive. Knocking noise gone. Checked out the ARB bushes and found significant movement in the near-side bush. Problem solved! Except I had terrible trouble getting hold of the only full kit (bushes, brackets and bolts) that appears to be available (bar using a dealer or TPS). First I ordered the wrong Febi kit from Partsinmotion. They soon emailed back saying the kit wasn't suitable having given them my reg. Then I PM'd @Breezy_Pete and he kindly provided me with the part number for the bush, 6Q0 411 314 Q and I then found from that number the kit containing the bushes, 6Q0 411 314 QS2. I ordered Febi 37660 kit from RTG Automotive (beware they have several companies based in Leyland) on 20th March. They supposedly dispatched it on 22nd March. It never turned up and they refunded. I ordered the kit from MDL Autoparts on 25th March (showing 5 in stock) then they messaged to say "this item couldn’t be located in our warehouse. I have tried to order it in but its currently not available with my supplier". Then they updated it as dispatched. Next day they issued a refund. I then contacted my local Motor Factor. They told me the kit was on 'back order' and none were expected in the UK until the end of April, so I gave up on trying to get the Febi kit. Luckily, the Febi website gives a full description of the bolts, Hexagon Collar Bolt, 68mm (60mm under head),M8 x1.25, Tensile Strength 8.8, 13mm head. I obtained these from Kayfast, 25p bolts that cost £5.83 (for 4) via ebay or more if you used the £3.95 postage on their own website. Ordered early Friday, should have turned up Sat or Monday using RM 24hr post, didn't arrive until Tuesday when I couldn't do the job. Ordered Delphi TD1170W bushes from GSF. Was a bit unsure when I got them home as the inner diameter is supposed to be 17mm for a 19mm bar and it measured about 15mm. Did the job yesterday. Most difficult part of the job was pushing the clamp onto the rubber bush on the driver's side but managed it with some levers against the steering gear. The off-side went on easier after I doubled up on the silicone lubricant on the outside of the bush. The bushes were fine and it really didn't matter that the bolts were only part threaded (22mm). All is quiet now. I've done a guide that I will post under Fabia guides to give something back to the forum. Many thanks to all that helped.

You may have noticed I went a bit quiet after @rum4mo 's above post. That's because that same day I'd done the 'rock the steering wheel' test before reading the post and found very little free play before I could see the tyres moving but have now solved the knocking; I'll update the Noisy suspension thread.

I've been looking for a knocking noise from the front of my 2012 Fabia TSi for some weeks. On Monday, I removed the near side Track Rod End from the wheel hub to; a) See if there was excessive play in the TRE ball joint - I would say no; it wasn't really stiff like a new one but it was still offering a certain amount of resistance (no signs of cuts in the rubber). b) To judge the condition of the Inner Tie Rod - from the linked (hopefully) photo (via Google Photos) you can see it's unable to support its own weight even; https://photos.app.goo.gl/H2tvt3j8UaPoyYH98 However, I've googled symptoms of a worn Inner Tie Rod and knocking when driving straight ahead (as mine does) doesn't appear to be one of them (when turning the steering wheel it is a symptom), so have I simply stumbled on another fault with my car (I've already replaced the near side lower suspension arm due to a worn rubber bush) or is it still possible this is what's causing the knocking)?

An interesting thread. So helpful from Jack.

I should have added, the off-side lower arm was replaced 12/04/23 by the previous owner's garage (according to an invoice). I bought the car in Sep 2023 and have only done 9,000 miles.

Following on from my Removing Anti-rollbar links thread, where I removed the upper bolts from both links and concluded there was no abnormal play (as far I could tell, given my experience) and found that the rear lower arm bush had deteriorated allowing too much movement where it connects to the chassis, I'm bringing this thread back up (as it's most relevant to the current situation). Update Yesterday, I replaced the near side lower arm*. This was a fairly straightforward job; the old arm came out quite easily. The new arm, I just needed to insert a long screwdriver from below to lever the rear bush into place. Locating the ball joint section into the arm was aided by turning the steering wheel onto left hand lock and manouvering the stub axle to line up the bolts into the three holes in the arm. Outcome The clunking noise due to metal to metal contact where the rear rubber bush had become too flexible (I put a 3/8" sq drive short bar in the hole once it was off the car, and there really was too much movement) has disappeared but there's still some knocking over rough road patches. I need to find the cause(s) before I spend £50-£70 on 4-wheel alignment. What next? Plan is, next week I'm going to put a jack and block of wood under the n/s ball joint, jack it up and try and get a lever in to see if there's any play. I already tested it by levering under the tyre and couldn't see any play but maybe the test was flawed. Please chip in with any other ideas. The knock sounds more like a ball-joint than anything to do with top mounts. I can't think of anything else. * I ordered the arm from Parts In Motion via ebay as there was a 15% discount coupon. I've used their website before and had no problems, not so with their ebay shop. I ordered the Febi 36923 on 27th Feb with an estimated delivery date of 2nd to 6th March. It arrived on Sat 7th March. Disappointing!

Thanks Pete🙂

Just found out my 'local' VW dealer closed 31/12/2025, so any tips on where to get the bolt from appreciated. Ebay crazy prices, GSF not listed, Partsinmotion - no, no TPS nearby. Is this bolt definitely single use?

I'd imagine rubber grease will last longer on the bushes (than silicone spray)?

Ah! Thanks @Breezy_Pete , much appreciated. I notice from that diagram there's nothing showing for the nut the bolt fastens into. Is it captive in the sub-frame i.e. doesn't need replacing?

Can anyone confirm that the part no. for the Front Wishbone Bush Bolt is still the revised N 10640301 shown at the top of Page 7 for Fabia 2 (2012 TSi). ...even better if anyone knows what I should expect to pay at a local VW dealer (or are there any other sources)? I'm only doing near side, so only need 1 bolt.

Thanks for replying @keeponrunning . Silicone spray where?

Here's a Youtube video link that will publish at 21:15 today https://youtube.com/shorts/yXw0lFqUuLo?feature=share

VID_20260223_134525.mp4....the rear control arm bush. So , I shove a crow bar in, and if this 3 second video loads up, this is what I find; Bingo, a very worn rubber bush. So, do I replace the bush or fit a new control arm? Looking at some Youtube videos it looks a pretty scary job involving special tools and disconnecting the driveshaft, but then I found a Mister Auto video for the Fabia Mk3 where they just undo the bolt holding the rear bush and three bolts holding the arm to the stub axle and that looks more manageable. VID_20260223_134525.mp4 Video file not working, so how do I post up an MP4 video file?

Ok, so last Monday I had another go at this. Again no success removing the nut on the off-side lower ARB balljoint but it suddenly dawned on me, why not take the upper balljoint nut off, remove the top of the link from its bracket and check for any play; there was no play. What didn't occur to me until I got back home that evening was to swing the arm round and check the lower ARB balljoint for play. So, back I went today. Jacked up both sides and sprayed penetrating oil on the near-side upper ARB balljoint nut. Left that to, well, penetrate I suppose and while I was waiting removed off-side upper ARB balljoint again and swung 90 degrees to test the lower ARB balljoint; still no excessive play as far as I could detect (there's a different (looser) feel when your holding the whole link rod but no 'play'). Back to the near-side, the nut undid easily but still had to hold the balljoint rod with the T30 bit in a T-bar. Again, no play in either balljoints. So, while I'm under there pondering what to do next, I notice this; Uploading Attachment...

Thanks for your very helpful post @rum4mo . Until reading your last paragraph, I was starting to think I was being silly not just cutting them off and replacing the links (even the Meyle HD's are not expensive on ebay) thinking they're bound to be worn out after 80k miles, though I don't know they haven't previously been replaced (nothing in the service history to indicate they have). So, having read what you've said, I think I would like to remove one intact just to check. My father (died nearly 40yrs ago) was a Cabinet Maker, and I have in my mum's garage somewhere, some taps and dies, but I suspect they're probably Imperial. I assume they wouldn't be compatible but would the closest size one be enough to just clean the last 3mm of the thread up? I've already wire brushed them. I think next week I will try some Deox-Gel (rust removing gel from Bilt Hamber) left on the threads for an hour or two, maybe re-applied and left again then rinsed off and some 3 in 1 oil applied to the threads. I'll also see if I can get a small set of mole-grips on the spindle once I've loosened the nut or apply some pressure to the back of the nut with a spanner between the end of the roll bar and the nut.

Had a go at removing the ARB links today and have posted a new thread.

Following on from my Noisy Suspension thread, I attempted to remove the off-side link today merely to inspect it to see if new ones were needed. After using penetrating oil on the top bolt, it loosened fairly easily with a 16mm socket in an extending wheel wrench. Of course, once loosened, the rod with a T30 fitting in the centre turns when the nut is loosened. I used a T30 bit in a 1/2inch T-bar to try and hold it while undoing the nut. This was hard work as you're effectively re-cutting the thread on the end and it gets more difficult as you get near the end. Anyway after a good while I got it off, so on to the bottom nut. Working underneath the car, the bottom nut is obscured by the wheel arch trim. I removed some T25 torx screws which gave me a bit more access. Again, I undid the nut but holding the Torx bit while trying to use the spanner on the nut is even more difficult whilst working underneath the car, especially as on the off-side, the only space to move the spanner whilst the wheel arch liner is still in place is on the left which is difficult if you're right handed. I found that with the Torx bit in my electric wheel wrench I could fasten it back up whilst holding the nut with the spanner (but not undo it) , and as I'd been at it from 12:00 until 15:20 with no lunch, I decided to put everything back together. So, anyone any tips? Should I remove the wheel arch trim? Is there a way to clear the visible threads in the rod? Should I try some cutting oil?

I have the same car and can confirm the battery is a straight swap i.e. no coding required, though not the easiest car to get the various fittings off the top of the battery. Also, you'll need some way (clips, string) of keeping the leads out of the way to get the new battery in. I can also confirm the one-touch windows needed re-setting; found the procedure on here somewhere. My battery is 13 years old. I only took it out to give it a charge. Maybe you already fitted the new battery?

Interesting thread this for me, as I've had a similar problem with Fabia 1.2 TSi and had to replace the ignition leads like you have. I'm wondering if that rubber on spark plug one is something that's been left on from a previous spark plug or lead change and maybe if you'd got that off and replaced the leads all would have been good. I know that when I was replacing my plugs, the rubber insert inside my 16mm plug socket would always stay on the plug terminal and I had to use long pliers to retrieve it; it's possible that could be what the rubber piece left on you No 1 plug was. In my case, 3 of the 4 metal sockets inside the ignition leads broke off and were left on the spark plugs. Did you use a special tool to remove the metal ignition lead boots?

I bought the above to remove the ignition leads on my Fabia 1.2TSi CBZB engine, in order to remove the spark plugs. This tool is not suitable for the boots on the ignition leads fitted to this engine. I couldn't understand why until I read some of the reviews on Amazon. Basically, the handle is welded to the inside of the functional part of the tool and the metal rod of the handle stops the tool going down far enough for the tooth to engage with the lug on the metal boot. Apparently it works ok on Smart car engines; presumably the boot size is smaller. I'll post a picture if I can to demonstrate. Uploading Attachment...

Placed an order on ebay yesterday morning for a set of CI X1698 ignition leads from Motor World Direct, a Tetrosyl company, with an estimated delivery date of 29th Dec and was amazed that they got delivered today by Evri. 15% off with code WINTERDEAL15. All fitted and car started first time. No problems on a short test drive.

Having problems editing my posts, so start again. Spark Plug & Ignition Lead set 23/12/2025 83,053mls Plugs NGK IZFR6P7 Stock No 97153 https://photos.app.goo.gl/Abwmjfky3BsjukpP9 old plugs https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeFNdqk88UCCqnyC8 Do they indicate any problems? Leads with Marten protection https://photos.app.goo.gl/pvX8ZaLLGavEZ9L99 Clips on the metal pipes can't be used with these. CI X1698 (box marked Commercial Ignition and Quinton Hazell