2002 Fabia 1.4 - various problems!

[maurice28]

Hi all,

I’m taking my 2002 Skoda Fabia 1.4 in for a service and MOT next week, and while it’s there I will also be asking them to look at a few other things that have been going wrong on it. Before I did I thought I would list them here and see if anyone could spot a likely cause and if they might all be related:

• The ‘headlights on’ warning alarm does not come on when the lights are on and the driver’s door is opened. Also, on occasion, when I unlock the car and have the driver’s door open, the car will sometimes try to lock itself again. I assume this is because it does not always know the driver’s door is open – could this be the microswitch?
  
• The rear washer pipe appears to be split/unhooked. When it try to wash the rear window water just spills out on to the ground, seemingly near the front of the car.
  
• Occasionally, the boot will refuse to open using the pressure sensor above the number plate. It will, however, open if I open the rear driver’s side passenger door.
  
• There is sometimes water in the driver’s footwell and behind the driver’s seat. This seems mostly after it has been raining but I can’t see any visible leaks. The passenger’s side seems unaffected.
  

Does anyone know if there may be a primary cause to all of these leading to a ‘domino effect’? If so, are there any rough ideas as to what this might cost at a garage to fix?

Thanks all!

[Rob.]

Sounds like your rear washer pipe has popped off at the bulk head.. there's a guide somewhere on here, but basically it's on the right hand side when looking under the bonnet and at the back, about half way down.. It's one of a few places it can pop off. It's normally the result of not having a strong enough concentration in the washer bottle as the nights get cold....

Water in the foot wells is normally leaky doors but it's not always obvious.. behind the door card is a kinda of inner door called the carrier.. Skoda used rubbish sealant on this and after a time the water goes straight through / past it, on to the rubber door seals and then through into / onto the carpet.. search for sealing leaky doors as there's a guide for that too.

And yeah, it does sound like the "open" switch is playing up on your drivers door.. You must find the interior light doesn't always illuminate as well then? Unfortunately I think I've read on here that unlike older cars, it's not an obvious switch but a switch somewhere inside the door now, maybe on the latching bar thingy?

Can't help with the rear boot latch I'm afraid.. sounds like a bad switch? If you have a 3rd "open boot" button the the fob, does this work when you hold it in for a few seconds? If not, it aint the switch.. if it does each and every time.. it's the switch. See, the pull release is purely mechanical, but the rear latch and fob are electromechanical..

[anewman]

Other issues that can cause water to enter the car are leaves blocking up the plenum chamber (the bit under the plastic where the wipers are).

The washer pipe can pop off rear passenger side behind the trim at side of the seat back. As it is leaking from the front, however, seems more sensible to look there first.

You must find the interior light doesn't always illuminate as well then? Unfortunately I think I've read on here that unlike older cars, it's not an obvious switch but a switch somewhere inside the door now, maybe on the latching bar thingy?

The number of people I've known to have their interior light turned off all the time perplexes me, so wouldn't necessarily have been noticed.

[maurice28]

Thanks all, that’s very helpful, the plenum chamber may be the offender actually re: the leaks into the footwell, I’ll take a look and see. Thanks again!

[anewman]

It's just two caps over the wiper nuts, need a 13mm socket I think, take off then put the nut back on a few turns - then rag the arm to try separate it from the spindle (they can be difficult sometimes). No need to do the nut up particularly tight when you put it back, to make it easier to remove next time. The 3 clips are all liable to break no matter what you do, so best to pick up some spares.

The best way I found to pick up leaves etc was to use a vacuum with the nozzle attachment, as there are some areas difficult to get a hand down.

[tag1_uk]

Oh I recognise those symptons. The switch inside the driver's door doesn't work so the car doesn't know the driver's door has been opened. This is why it locks it self and also why the boot won't open (another security feature - the idea being that the boot can't be opened after car has been used unless a door is opened to indicate a passenger has got out (i.e. to stop someone raiding your boot whilst in stationary traffic)). I enquired before and the door switch is integral to the lock so it would mean a new lock and around £100 to fix; I've left mine and put up with having to open an alternative cabin door if I want the interior light on or if I want to access the boot. The water ingress/washer is covered above - common faults which you'll find on this forum if you search.