Engine management light came on for a day, a fellow Briskodian kindly ran vagcom to come up with:

16825 - EVAP Emission Control Sys: Incorrect Flow

P0441 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

16524 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S2: No Activity

P0140 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

16514 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: Malfunction in Circuit

P0130 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

17978 - Engine Start Blocked by Immobilizer

P1570 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

Readiness: 0010 0001

The oil level is about 2mm above the max when the engine has cooled down, which might be frustrating both lambda sensors? SO, given that my cunning plan to put narrow tubing down the dipstick pipe failed, I need to drain some oil from the sump. Should I invest in a trolley jack and axle stands or a set of those ramps? Looking around the 'bay for a quick bargain...

If you ever intend doing anything to the suspension, brakes, etc, then you need axle stands. You can't do anything to items such as these with the wheels on/on the ground (or ramps).

If you do get a set of ramps, then make sure the front of the car doesn't catch on them.

Might as well go for the trolley jack then. Assuming I don't make an absolute mess of it, when tightening up the sump drain plug, does it have to be done using a torque wrench at the specified torque? Or is a bit of welly with a ring spanner enough (but not overtightened as per the sticky on oil changes)?

Once again, I have to apologise for sounding like such a noob!

Edited 30 July, 201114 yr by fsa

Engine management light came on for a day, a fellow Briskodian kindly ran vagcom to come up with:

16825 - EVAP Emission Control Sys: Incorrect Flow

P0441 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

Suspect a fault with the charcoal cannister valve thingy.

17978 - Engine Start Blocked by Immobilizer

P1570 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

This is usually caused by the battery dying. Clear the codes and I doubt it will come up again.

Readiness: 0010 0001

Mine never fully zero's all the readiness codes, for some reason. It is supposed to do it by testing things automatically. You can make them clear by manually running the tests, but TBH there's no benefit I'm aware of from doing it. They may not have cleared due to the other errors in your case though.

As all say "intermittent" I would clear the codes and see if they come up again TBH.

The oil level is about 2mm above the max when the engine has cooled down, which might be frustrating both lambda sensors? SO, given that my cunning plan to put narrow tubing down the dipstick pipe failed, I need to drain some oil from the sump. Should I invest in a trolley jack and axle stands or a set of those ramps? Looking around the 'bay for a quick bargain...

I doubt 2mm would cause any issues. You can use a "pella" type pump to extract oil, but it is best done when the oil is hot (after a bit of a drive) otherwise it takes forever.

Those four codes were after clearing....so presumably they're a continuous problem?

If 2mm isnt something to worry about, then I should think about changing the second lambda sensor?

Am hoping to do the 10k service myself when it's next due in 7k miles time...so might as well invest in a trolley jack and all the trimmings instead of an oil extractor? Then I could flush the engine too...

Edited 30 July, 201114 yr by fsa

I just bought a trolley jack and stands from ebay ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TROLLEY-JACK-2-TONNE-TON-PAIR-3-TONNE-AXLE-STANDS-/110656347260?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=item19c3a1dc7c )

in case you're interested.

I got those and they were great when working on my Fabia 1.4MPi

Always be careful under a car either way, I've heard of brand new ramps collapsing underneath I think it was a VW Polo.

Sump plug is an allen key type. Forget which size, could be 8mm. It needs to be tight enough to prevent oil leaking, but not so tight you strip the threads on the sump. You can make an approximate guess at torque by imagining how much the weight is (the lb bit) - think of one bag of sugar which is around 2lb. Apply that amount of force 1ft (12") from the bit that turns, until it stops turning. At 2ft distance from bolt you can halve the weight. I hope I have understood the mechanics of this correctly

All 4 of those fault codes could be caused by a dodgy earth somewhere

Always be careful under a car either way, I've heard of brand new ramps collapsing underneath I think it was a VW Polo.

Any reputable brands I should look for/avoid?

You can make an approximate guess at torque by imagining how much the weight is (the lb bit) - think of one bag of sugar which is around 2lb. Apply that amount of force 1ft (12") from the bit that turns, until it stops turning. At 2ft distance from bolt you can halve the weight. I hope I have understood the mechanics of this correctly

Back to high school physics and turning forces!

All 4 of those fault codes could be caused by a dodgy earth somewhere

Is it a needle in a haystack type of situation to find that dodgy earth?

Cleared all the codes and ran my newly procured handheld code reader. Two lambda sensor related ones remain and the EVAP sensor. 16514 16524 and 16825. On the one hand, the Vag405 MAXSCAN is pretty useful for the novice. It can read and clear. Obviously not as versatile as Rosstech...but it's enough for my amateur efforts at repairs. Now on to look at some old posts and see what I can do about them.

Thanks to all!

Edited 29 August, 201114 yr by fsa

....just a quick addition.... Toolstation sell ronson trolley jacks for around £27, and axle stands for not much as well..

In fact, with fear of sounding like an add... Toolstation are insanely good value.. I found this out when I lived near one on the same retail estate as a Halfrauds, Argos, Homebase & Wicks! If Toolstation did it, it was always cheaper and most times higher quality.

I just double checked... it's actually £21.90

Toolstation Cheap a$$ trolley jack!

....just a quick addition.... Toolstation sell ronson trolley jacks for around £27, and axle stands for not much as well..

In fact, with fear of sounding like an add... Toolstation are insanely good value.. I found this out when I lived near one on the same retail estate as a Halfrauds, Argos, Homebase & Wicks! If Toolstation did it, it was always cheaper and most times higher quality.

I just double checked... it's actually £21.90

Toolstation Cheap a$$ trolley jack!

I haven't seen this jack but I've always found Rolson tools to be of poor quality.

I haven't seen this jack but I've always found Rolson tools to be of poor quality.

I'm afraid I agree entirely, Rolson might be okay where safety does not count, but in car fixing personal safety does count a lot. For instance, I know someone that now only has one eye, but that was not due to a Rolson product. I have a cheap trolley jack - end of line at Morrisons, it was only £10, that same item is currently being sold along with cheap wheel wedges and gloves for £45 at ECP - though I should point out that that quality of small trolley jack is only ever getting used by me to move suspension parts slightly - I have a pair of larger quality trolley jacks for raising the car.

Problem is a quality jack that actually gets under the fabia's sills will be quite pricey. Otherwise you have the £30 or less Halfords, Screwfix, Toolstation, Argos or equivalent - which are probably all made in the same factory and labelled differently. Worst that could happen with a cheap trolley jack is it bends under the weight of the car, or the seals fail and the car goes ground-wards - but seals can fail after plenty of time, even in a quality jack. No-one's stupid enough to work under a car supported only by a jack though right?! Always use axle stands and wheel chocks.

Well, I bought a used Halfords one and a set of axle stands from the bay for £25...working on doing the hockey puck trick to stop it bending the sills. That should be ok for routine oil changes, right? I'm still a noob when it comes to car maintenance so won't be doing anything fancy. Might paint the calipers if I'm particularly bored one weekend...and I've got my eyes on a rear ARB.

But first, the air inlet upgrade. Got some days off coming up, so I'll get it done then. Got a dremel to cut into the airbox, some metal o-rings and air duct attachment for the airbox-ducting connection...and I went for a metal ducting connector to reshape and put in the air inlet at the front...bought a Bosch powerdrill for the 'strategically-placed screw'. Will post updates here.

I personally used some epic wood from an old square estate agents post, and cut to size. The wood after using a couple of times under the sill 'adapted' to the shape of the sill, spreads the load nice and now I don't have to worry too much about lining up - just stick the groove in the wood along the sill and put my jack under where the lifting point goes.

As for what jacks/axle stands I have, I did an amazon special and bought a set of silverline stuff dirt cheap, along with a silverline torque wrench for a tenner. It's not worth guessing torques for tightening certain bits like head bolts and it'll stand me in good stead over time (it has already!) - had the head off and a wheel bearing, and for suspension bits i'd definitely not want to chance it.

I generally stick the axle stands underneath the console bushes to support the car if i'm lifting the front - never had any issues with that.

BTW - nice work on the ghetto air intake upgrade - Where did you get the ducting connectors from?

I personally used some epic wood from an old square estate agents post, and cut to size. The wood after using a couple of times under the sill 'adapted' to the shape of the sill, spreads the load nice and now I don't have to worry too much about lining up - just stick the groove in the wood along the sill and put my jack under where the lifting point goes.

As for what jacks/axle stands I have, I did an amazon special and bought a set of silverline stuff dirt cheap, along with a silverline torque wrench for a tenner. It's not worth guessing torques for tightening certain bits like head bolts and it'll stand me in good stead over time (it has already!) - had the head off and a wheel bearing, and for suspension bits i'd definitely not want to chance it.

I generally stick the axle stands underneath the console bushes to support the car if i'm lifting the front - never had any issues with that.

BTW - nice work on the ghetto air intake upgrade - Where did you get the ducting connectors from?

Thank's so much for your advice...I'll pop over to the local recycling centre and find some wood lying about. So you didn't bother cutting any notches in it...just let the weight of the car do its thing?

Torque wrench for a tenner?? Must look for one of those...I keep coming across snap-on ones.

Glad you approve of the ghetto upgrade Ducting connectors were from a hydroponics supplier on ebay...i wanted to make it a little more permanent and make it easier to change the duct tubing in case i decide to go for an insulated one later on to protect air from engine heat.