Well, a month ago I picked up my lovely not-quite-new Fabia 1.4 16v

Unfortunately, it turns out that 'Ollie' isn't interested in caring for me as much as I do it...there are two main issues I've run into in my first months' ownership.

Firstly, when I'm driving with the fan blower on in anything on the cold side (which it never really leaves), even if it's at the bottom where it's literally just air from outside or the air con is on, the blower will completely at random (though usually just after relatively 'fun' accelerating from my thinking back), the blower will start pumping out hot air instead (the heat level varies but is always a noticeable change)....I've no idea what could be causing this, and would love any of your opinions?

Secondly, and most importantly:

Today, I was driving my dad home from a family friends house. On the way back, he opened the window which, when about half way down, started making a grinding noise (it sounded like a small stone was stuck in the mechanism) and stopped moving completely. He tried to put the window back up, and I tried from the drivers side, but it wouldn't budge, and won't manually now either. As I was given a warranty when I bought the car, it's obviously going straight back on Monday morning, but wanted to see if anyone here had had similar issues in the past?

Forgive me for not uploading any photos just yet for reasons which one would hope are obvious :(

the window problem is probably the cable on the reg has snapped/chewed up

Not sure on the first one but the window problem is the carrier i think, something to do with the plastic clips breaking or something ?

It's a bit fiddly and about £100 a carrier iirc but seen as you have warranty you have nothing to worry about

sure ive seen something about a heater problem/fault as a 'sticky' on here somewhere, hang on ill av a look

found what i was thinking of but not sure its same thing actually,its a fitting guide tho if you end up having to swap it out..... here it is anyway

http://briskoda.net/...w-to-with-pics/

Edited 14 August, 201015 yr by MarkMac

The temperature control is automatic and if the temperature in the car drops below the temperature you have set, it will blow hot all by itself, so there may be nothing wrong with it. It's worth remembering that the lowest temperature you can set is basically 16C and in the winter it can be hard to get the car to ever blow cold air.

And I don't want to appear unsympathetic, but you bought a 7 year-old car. Surely you don't expect it to be perfect?

Edited 14 August, 201015 yr by wja96

As wja said it may not be broken, and there might be a way to cure it.The sensor on mine for the temperature got clogged with dust, and was either hot or cold as it couldn't detect small variances. By the A/C /recir controls, there is a grille thing - stick a hoover nozzle or something over it to clean the dust off the sensor, might make all the difference. (Might be best to use a weak hoover or from a distance at first!)

Edited 14 August, 201015 yr by TriggerFish

Heater flap motor! That's your culprit!

Heater flap motor! That's your culprit!

+1

As I have the same fault with my Fabia, I also have a faulty temp. sensor as well) but due to not having the money to fix I am having to live with it

Funnily enough my window reg broke Friday night. Common problem and I bought a new reg from euro car parts for £42 and it now comes with the metal panel attached which is awesome value! Yes it's a bit of a ballache to have to take the door card to bits ect bit it's not that bad! (provided the panel is bolted on and not riveted in). I'm sure the garage will sort it bu it is a know common failure

Funnily enough my window reg broke Friday night. Common problem and I bought a new reg from euro car parts for £42 and it now comes with the metal panel attached which is awesome value! Yes it's a bit of a ballache to have to take the door card to bits ect bit it's not that bad! (provided the panel is bolted on and not riveted in). I'm sure the garage will sort it bu it is a know common failure

window regulator failure is very common, had to change linkage twice so far and just bought another fabia, but every time I do it faster

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SKODA-FABIA-WINDOW-REGULATOR-REPAIR-KIT-FRONT-L-99-07-/130384690316?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM

Heater flap motor! That's your culprit!

Whilst a lot of people often suggest as such I believe the thermostatic operation quirk mentioned earlier is at least an alternative explantion. My 2004vRS which I had from new always blew hot air in the manner described until the set temperature was achieved in the cabin. That's the way a thermostatically controlled ventilation system works. I haven't experienced it sufficiently in the new one owing to the external temperature obviously being warmer at present.

Agree with the rest - its the heater flap sticking and you need VAGCOM to reset the electronics, cheers - Stuart

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all very much for your most informative feedback!

Thankfully the car was in and out of the dealer within a matter of hours. The electric window was indeed the wire which had just snapped, so thankfully it wasn't too bad and it was fixed for free under the warranty.

With regard the heater, the problem happened again last night and I figured I'd let it keep going just to see if it was indeed the car regulating the temperature electronically, and it did after a while start pumping out colder air again, so for now at least I'm going to go with the diagnosis of it being perfectly normal and part of the electric heater control.

To the person who mentioned it (I apologise for not being able to recall your username!), obviously I don't expect a 7-year car to be entirely fault-free, but equally I do have the expectation that as it was supposedly checked over in full, serviced, and MOTd by the dealer, I would expect it to be able to live out the 3-mile warranty. I realise the window is something that nobody is likely to ever notice in such checks, it's just a bit annoying because of the obvious security problem that it causes from being completely stuck half open.

Perhaps "let me down" is the wrong wording, I was quite annoyed at the time though!

In case you're interested, I've put some pics up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-keith/tags/skoda

Thanks again everyone,

Andrew

Haha, let me down. Please, I was expecting you to say the engine blew or something. lol

Edited 18 August, 201015 yr by simonhutton1

And I don't want to appear unsympathetic, but you bought a 7 year-old car. Surely you don't expect it to be perfect?

7 years old is near enough new to me, unless they're designed to self-destruct (which seems to be the case, lol).

Full marks for the dealer sorting your window out. Was it a Skoda dealer?

Full marks for the dealer sorting your window out. Was it a Skoda dealer?

It was really great of them to fix it.

It's not a Skoda dealer, no. It's a pretty small independent called K B Car Sales in Long Crendon, a lovely little village down the road from me. They provide their own warranty for 3 months on every car so you're only dealing with them unless you purchase an extended one, so it comes down to how good your relationship with the dealer is, which is a nice way of doing business methinks

Ha! I got my Fabia (also 1.4 16v) from them too!

Not too keen on fixing my console bushes, but did sort out my gearbox oil and alignment for me.

Where about in Oxfordshire you based out of interest, judging Thame area if it's just down the road from you?

Ah finally, someone who lives near me How strange that you got almost the same model considering they're so small!....how long ago was it?

Console bushes sound expensive :| did they do them in the end?

Indeed I am in Thame Whereabouts are you?

Edited 20 August, 201015 yr by andrewkeith5

Aye, I was thinking the same about people nearby, no-one has the misfortune to live near me (Aylesbury). Er, I got mine in. . . June or August 2008 I think. Was replacing a Punto I learnt to drive in originally. Think he took mine in p/x against something (later saw in the service history the steering rack was leaking hence it being sold off).

Console bushes cost around £180 or so IIRC, and no, they didn't do them in the end, they weren't bad enough to be picked up on under warranty (slowly degraded over the next few months, listen for a knocking noise). Also, watch out for oil usage on the car, and keep revving it (I would take it right up through the revs once a week or so) to clean the engine out and prevent piston rings going/worsening. If oil usage is high, could be the piston rings are going, which you may be able to get done under warranty.

Lucky guess on my part there! As said, I'm in Aylesbury, but go through the outskirts of Thame most days when I'm at university to get to Oxford.