Hello people,

i recently bought my first car in august of this year and am loving it. there are quite a few "simple?" problems i'm having with it:

• My electric boot button works sometimes and not others (manual release works fine).
  

• The heaters on the side mirrors don't seem to work.
  

• If i change gears a bit quickly, lift my foot off the accelerator pedal suddenly or brake suddenly and release the pedal, my car makes this loud squeak noise (maybe squeaky suspension?).
  

• My stereo sometimes just switches off suddenly and the speakers make a thud noise. If i try to switch it back on again, it doesn't turn on and turns on when it wants to. Other times it works fine and switches on and off when i do it.
  

• Recently the windscreen washers, both back and front, have stopped working.
  

I've searched through the forum thoroughly and am working on the washers problem from a thread here. However, i can't find anything on the other problems i'm having.

Can you please help guys, it would be much appreciated

For the mirrors, is the switch in the middle position?

As to the squeak, get the engine mounts checked.

Yeah, it may be that the mirrors only heat when the rear screen heater's on too...

the electric boot opener (I assume you mean the switch on the boot). This only works if a door has been opened, and if your drivers door switch sensor thing (the one that tells the car if the doors open) isn't working then it wont work unless one of the other doors has been opened.

For the mirrors, is the switch in the middle position?

As to the squeak, get the engine mounts checked.

Cars this age have the heated option when turned to the upmost position (assuming its the same as mine from the same year).

I assume you have also checked the fuses etc?

Hello people,

i recently bought my first car in august of this year and am loving it. there are quite a few "simple?" problems i'm having with it:

• My electric boot button works sometimes and not others (manual release works fine).
  

• The heaters on the side mirrors don't seem to work.
  

• If i change gears a bit quickly, lift my foot off the accelerator pedal suddenly or brake suddenly and release the pedal, my car makes this loud squeak noise (maybe squeaky suspension?).
  

• My stereo sometimes just switches off suddenly and the speakers make a thud noise. If i try to switch it back on again, it doesn't turn on and turns on when it wants to. Other times it works fine and switches on and off when i do it.
  

• Recently the windscreen washers, both back and front, have stopped working.
  

I've searched through the forum thoroughly and am working on the washers problem from a thread here. However, i can't find anything on the other problems i'm having.

Can you please help guys, it would be much appreciated

If the switch is on L or R the heated mirrors will not be on.

If the switch is central the heated mirrors will be on constantly. could be the elements have burned out or gone faulty?

Recently the windscreen washers, both back and front, have stopped working.

Have you filled the washer bottle?

Thats prop the pipes need reconnecting. common niggle on Fabias. Happened to my cousin but searching Briskoda helped.

If the switch is on L or R the heated mirrors will not be on.

If the switch is central the heated mirrors will be on constantly. could be the elements have burned out or gone faulty?

Some, as said above, have it so they only heat when on the top setting (middle does left and right, and bottom does just the left).

Like so. (Sorry for picture, it needed the flash unfortunaty.)

THink it was that setup on earlier models, and changed at some point later on.

And I think there maybe a 20minute timer on them, but that could just be the rear window. It does seem they coulda burnt out as mine, and least one other car on here of the same age (Woolfy) has got the same issue.

Edited 28 October, 200916 yr by TriggerFish

Some, as said above, have it so they only heat when on the top setting (middle does left and right, and bottom does just the left).

Like so. (Sorry for picture, it needed the flash unfortunaty.)

THink it was that setup on earlier models, and changed at some point later on.

And I think there maybe a 20minute timer on them, but that could just be the rear window. It does seem they coulda burnt out as mine, and least one other car on here of the same age (Woolfy) has got the same issue.

My car has the same switch as the pic. If i want the mirrors heated, i am supposed to flick that switch to the top aren't i?

As to the posts earlier on washers. Is there only one bottle for both back and front? and i think i am right in saying that the washer bottle is to the right of the battery with a blue cap aren't i?

Does anyone know about the stereo? is it a loose connection or something like that?

With the electric boot button, it opens sometimes when all the doors are closed as well and sometimes not at all, whether doors are open or not. The dirvers side door sensors (back and front) don't work. how do i fix that please?

regards all

^^ I was going to look into it but as I understand it was either expensive or overly complicated. So I left it. My Drivers door suffers the same problem. If the boot wont open, I just open and close a rear door and it works fine.

My car has the same switch as the pic. If i want the mirrors heated, i am supposed to flick that switch to the top aren't i?

As to the posts earlier on washers. Is there only one bottle for both back and front? and i think i am right in saying that the washer bottle is to the right of the battery with a blue cap aren't i?

Does anyone know about the stereo? is it a loose connection or something like that?

With the electric boot button, it opens sometimes when all the doors are closed as well and sometimes not at all, whether doors are open or not. The dirvers side door sensors (back and front) don't work. how do i fix that please?

regards all

The mirrors should heat in the top position (I am guessing a little as I am at work and can't see the picture), and should stay on for 20 mins. However, as Apogee said before on some cars the heated mirrors will only come on when the heated rear screen is on. If they still don't work then the most likely problem (if the fuse is ok) is that the heater element in the glass has burned out, and a replacement glass is the only answer. However, it could be a faulty switch, wiring or convenience unit.

You are right about the washer bottle, there is only one, and you fill it through the blue cap. When you try to wash can you hear the pump working? If so then it is most likely that the washer tube has become disconnected somewhere (do a search on here and you will see lots of other people have had the same problem, and you will see where the unions tend to come apart). If you can't hear the pump working then you need to check the fuse and then wiring and also the pump itself.

The stereo is a specialist job if it is not something simple like a loose/broken exterior connection. The easy way to check is pull the stereo out (you will need to get some radio removal keys) and then check all the connectors on the back. Pull each one out and then re-connect them, and then with the stereo on gently wiggle the connecting wires to see if the stereo plays up as before. If it does you will have a broken wire/connector that may have been trapped inside the radio cage. If not then it is internal to the stereo and the best fix is a replacement from a scrap vehicle, as they are uneconomic to repair usually.

With your boot button problem, the difficulty is that the switches for the door sensors are integral to the locks and you will need to replace the whole lock for each faulty one, which is a fiddly and expensive job i'm afraid. Just use the internal boot release if you have one, or the release on the remote if one is on there.

HTH:thumbup:

The mirrors should heat in the top position (I am guessing a little as I am at work and can't see the picture), and should stay on for 20 mins. However, as Apogee said before on some cars the heated mirrors will only come on when the heated rear screen is on. If they still don't work then the most likely problem (if the fuse is ok) is that the heater element in the glass has burned out, and a replacement glass is the only answer. However, it could be a faulty switch, wiring or convenience unit.

You are right about the washer bottle, there is only one, and you fill it through the blue cap. When you try to wash can you hear the pump working? If so then it is most likely that the washer tube has become disconnected somewhere (do a search on here and you will see lots of other people have had the same problem, and you will see where the unions tend to come apart). If you can't hear the pump working then you need to check the fuse and then wiring and also the pump itself.

The stereo is a specialist job if it is not something simple like a loose/broken exterior connection. The easy way to check is pull the stereo out (you will need to get some radio removal keys) and then check all the connectors on the back. Pull each one out and then re-connect them, and then with the stereo on gently wiggle the connecting wires to see if the stereo plays up as before. If it does you will have a broken wire/connector that may have been trapped inside the radio cage. If not then it is internal to the stereo and the best fix is a replacement from a scrap vehicle, as they are uneconomic to repair usually.

With your boot button problem, the difficulty is that the switches for the door sensors are integral to the locks and you will need to replace the whole lock for each faulty one, which is a fiddly and expensive job i'm afraid. Just use the internal boot release if you have one, or the release on the remote if one is on there.

HTH:thumbup:

thanks for the help

I tested the mirror thing out today and no luck, so i guess it's fried units in the mirrors. I can hear the washer motor going for both the front and back when i try to do it. so i guess that could be a loose pipe or something.

For the stereo, i was planning on getting a replacement head unit. If that doesn't sort the problem, I'll have to check the wiring out i guess.

For the boot button, i can look in scrappies to see if i can find any door sensors and get a mate of mine to fit them, (he's a "mechanic" ).

Do i have to get the sensor and lock together? or if i look for lock units, will the sensors come with them?

thanks a lot for the help guys, really, much appreciated :goodvibe:

The easiest way to find the water leaks on the screenwash pipes is to fill the washer bottle, open the tailgate and use the washers. Look under the front of the car to see where the water is going when the pump is running. For the rear wash look for water running out of the tailgate, if so that's where the pipe has come off (common problem).

As for the heated mirrors it seems odd that both have failed. There is one fuse for both mirrors, so check that first.

If your Fabia is a 1.4 mpi it only has 8 valves.

The easiest way to find the water leaks on the screenwash pipes is to fill the washer bottle, open the tailgate and use the washers. Look under the front of the car to see where the water is going when the pump is running. For the rear wash look for water running out of the tailgate, if so that's where the pipe has come off (common problem).

As for the heated mirrors it seems odd that both have failed. There is one fuse for both mirrors, so check that first.

If your Fabia is a 1.4 mpi it only has 8 valves.

Thanks for the info, will definitely give it a look.

Do you know which fuse number it will be for the mirrors?

My car is the 16v 1.4MPI with 100bhp. the 8v ones are a bit older than my one i think.

I think the fuse for the heated mirrors is No.38 (5 amp).

The mpi engines were used until around 2003 these were modified 1.3 pushrod Skoda engines with 8 valves. The 1.4 16v engine is not Multi Point Injection.

The 1.4 16v engine is not Multi Point Injection.

Is it not? I thought they both were, just one with more valves (and other differences I know).

Triggerfish, yes the 16v is most likely to be multi port injection it's just that it's easier to refer to the 1.4 8v as 'MPI' as that's how it's badged. Where as the 16 valve is badged 1.4 16v.

Ah, cheers. I thought you meant it was single point injection.

Guess I just mis-interpretted your point.