Here I am about to replace the battery in my four year old Fabia VRS,I have read the threads here,looked at the Haines manual when I decided to look at the Owner's manual. On page 194 under a heading Caution it states' You must only disconnect the battery if the ignition is switched on,otherwise the electrical system(electronic components) of the vehicle may be damaged.'

I would of thought that this would lead to damage and suspect that there is a typo and it should read 'ignition is switched off'

Any advice please as I may well be wrong, bear in mind that the last time I changed a battery, engine managment systems were not invented- think it was on my Escort Mexico mark 2 -yes I am really that old :eek:

I'd say 'off' too. Likewise, the only time I've changed a battery out of choice rather than necessity, it was on a Bedford MJ, so there was nothing electronic to damage!!!

Changed the one on my old Fabia after it went closed circuit, remember to write down your radio code just in case (if you have one). And dont do it in a rush like i did and ruin your favourite pair of jeans :(

It's a pretty tight fit if you have the surrounding cover for the battery. Take the top cover off first (where the fuses are), disconnect neg live & earth. Then there's a front plastic clip on cover (between the battery and the front of the car) - removing that will give you more room to unscrew the battery clamp bolt, take the old battery out and put a new one in. HTH.

wont make any diff wether ignition is on or off.

did my vrs with the ignition off, but I did use a 9 volt memory saver thing I picked up for 5-6 quid. Saved worrying about radio codes/ecu etc.

Thanks for all the handy tips, it took all of 15 minutes and everything seems to be working fine. By the way battery was a bargain at £73.00 from GSF Car Parts compared to my local Skoda dealers '£95.00 +VAT please sir'.

Money I saved can go towards timing belt change!

Interesting that, yes I paid about £100 all in at a Skoda stealer to get a new battery. The main advantage there was that they could connect the car up to the VW/Skoda computer or whatever and reset the radio code and such like. Must work out about £5/number extra compared to typing these back in yourself!