Hi just got the missus a 51 plate Fabia 1.4 MPi estate (has aircon) with 35k on the clock & a full years MOT.

Car runs great, was pleasantly surprised at how pokey the little engine is and everyone who gets in is surprised that’s it’s only a 1.4 and amazed at the general condition for a 10 year old car. Very pleased so far!

Bit confused on a few bits so was hoping you guys might be able to help.

Fab’s not been serviced for about 18 months so looking at getting that sorted over the next week or so with a mobile mechanic guy we've used in the past. I just need to get the bits and it's over to him. Only history I've got is the service book, no receipts so not sure what's been changed so planning on replacing the basics as a matter of course.

This website is a mine of info but I think I've hit the "wood for trees" bit at the moment so thought it best if I start a thread.

Been looking at various car parts websites and found that carparts4less seem to be the cheapest so looking at getting the bog standard bits from them, ie oil filter (Bosch), sump plug washer, rocker cover gasket, air filter (Guttmann), pollen filter, 5 litres red antifreeze/coolant, spark plugs (Beru) and wipers (Bosch).

Oil - already got plenty of Shell’s Helix HX 10W-40. Is it worth replacing the oil filler cap?

Drivebelt – CP4less have 2 different belts listed but I seem to remember from another parts website that there are different belts for aircon and non-aircon models. Not sure which one to get.

Thermostat/temperature gauge – the Fab’s temperature gauge sometimes takes 20 mins or so to reach the mid-point and other days it’s there in a much shorter time and sometimes it just drops to the bottom. Is this likely to be a thermostat problem or a sensor fault? If a new thermostat is required do I have to get the full housing or can I just get a thermostat? And are the thermostat’s interchangeable? Skoda dealer suggested that our Fab needs the whole housing but that’s £40+...ouch! Did try to find out from CP4less using their “Questions can we help?†bit but that kept dropping and then they said dealer only part even though putting in the Fab’s reg plate showed a Circoli stat on it’s own, a Circoli with housing, a Vernet (possibly with housing) and a “No image available†other stat....housings were about ½ the Skoda dealer price. Suspect that we’re not gonna know until we get the stat out which is a pain cos have to part drain the system first...was hoping to have all the parts ready to so could do everything in one day and saves going to get more parts!

Tyres – seen a good deal on Barum Brillantis 2’s £167 fully fitted for a set of 4. Anybody got experience of these or other tyres?

Fuel filter – read on here that it’s a bit of a pain and don’t know which type it is until it’s taken off; so not planning on doing that just yet. Kind of the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it†mentality

Brakes and clutch - all fine but going to change the fluids as a matter of course. Handbrake needs adjusting otherwise good to go.

Cargo net for the boot to stop stuff flying around - any suggestions?

Any comments, suggestions, recommendations etc will be greatly appreciated and I’ll keep the thread posted on how things go.

Thanks.

Welcome!

Firstly I'd price check with some local dealers first. You'd be surprised how cheap parts actually are and because they're genuine they fit first time. Also asking for their best price sometimes works too to get some money off. I've never changed an oil cap but you've already said you will give it a full service so that's fine. I'd also get the belts changed too along with tensioners and water pump. The kit for my Polo was around £150 about 5 years ago and when I did it for my old vRS it was about the same. My dealer also gave me money back when I took them the old water pump.

Not sure about the thermostat but I'd leave the fuel filter. If it was a diesel then fine but I've never changed one on a petrol before. Cargo net would be dealer or on the bay somewhere. Seems a good price for 4 tyres but have no experience of that particular make.

TBH I'd just get the parts from a Skoda dealer.....cheaper than you think.....fuel filters are ok to change......the most difficult thing is the rusted screw holding the brittle plastic clamp together over the filter!

The last thermstat I got for a mates car cost around the £40 and was the housing and thermostat itself!!...

Thermostat is a common thing to fail on the mpi. What happens is the housing itself breaks up internally, therefore you need a new complete housing. It's also not unknown for the temp senders to go awry. See http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/207323-14mpi-changing-thermostat-and-flushing-coolant-system/ for an idea of what's involved replacing it. As for which one to buy, I recommend the Vika one sold by Jorily (if they still sell them). Edit: here we go http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skoda-Fabia-1-0-1-4-Mpi-Thermostat-Complete-BRAND-NEW-/280704742039?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item415b4e7297 moulding looks as good as the original, and I believe Vika make OE parts for VAG in certain parts of the world.

Oil filler cap - IMO remove the engine cover, extract the spare oil cap from the underside, put that on the rocker cover, stick the engine cover in the bin. The Shell oil should be more than sufficient I'd have thought.

Boot net - there's an official Skoda one a dealer should be able to sell, but no idea on price - probably quite pricey and a better bet to look around for a cheapie, maybe try Home Bargains.

I haven't kept up with tyre prices so not sure if your price genuinely is good. Barum is I believe a Czech company, and owned by Goodyear (don't quote me on that) and should be a reasonable budget tyre. Try sites like blackcircles.com etyres.co.uk mytyres.co.uk camskill.co.uk Consider that it might be cheaper to have the tyres delivered to your door and take them to a fitter to sort them out for you.

Drivebelt, go for the one with the highest number most likely (I believe it usually refers to the length). The other identifiers are 4pk, 5pk etc which indicates the number of peaks.

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll post some pics of the car at some point.

Will be swapping the radio soon as the display is temperamental. Got a spare from previous car so hopefully will be ok.

Cheers!

Quick update...the car's just been serviced, mechanic was impressed & reckons we've got ourselves a bargain!

So oil & filter & new oil cap, air & pollen filters, brakes all checked (ok) & fluid changed, new wiper blades, new coolant & thermostat housing (from Joirily's ebay shop...£10 cheaper than their website...thanks to anewman for the link) & drive belt...sorted!

Couple of parts were wrong size ie rocker cover grommets & oil sump plug washer...

Mechanic says his fault diagnostic is showing a problem with the temperature sensor...faulty new one on the new housing or is there another one somewhere? Any ideas?

Now to take her for a little drive.....

The code is probably from the old temp sender if it was not cleared. If you bought the one from Jorily you got a whole new housing and temp sender anyway Of course it is correct never to assume a new part is not faulty, so if the code comes back temp senders on their own are cheap enough to try changing (but are quite pricey from a dealers). Also try spraying the electrical contacts in the plug with electrical contact cleaner.

Just plugged the Vagscanner in and it's showing no codes so guess it's sorted.

Took the Fab for a drive, temp guage's working a treat and the heater is a blast, toasted the wife nicely!

The Fab's great!

Fuel filter id change. Its a pressurised system so 2 points in 1 end to 1 point in the other. push in the button and pull on the pipes n it clips off. Make sure you have very very low fuel to reduce pressure and do a quick clip off and clip onto the new 1 at speed. expect some floor spillage and close your mouth.

Use dealer parts as not that much more expensive. I dont as like the extra pennies.

Belts are easy to change.

Chain driven so no worries there.

Pollen filter drops out under the glove compartment.

Always air filter helps the power.

Temp sensors always go so do dealer for the 20 quid rather than 8 on ebay as it lasts 5 years not 5 mins.

Sump plugs always leak if re used so get a new 1.

New oil and use premium. Flush it before (not vital as sometimes dirty carbon oil sticks to piston rings that helps seal so may remove that dirt n start burning oil due to piston rings needing replacing. experience tells that story)

buy a vag com off ebay for 8 quid and plug it in to check faults (socket behind the tray that pulls down on the right of steering wheel give it a good tug to release)

Tighten sparks to 30nm of torque. (thats a good push with your hand but not so tight it feels difficult)

grease all the doors and clean any old excessive bits off to clean up

Tyre pressures and check brake pads and discs.

Take off drums and hoover out the brake dust, checking pads are ok (1 may be larger than the other as it has a leading edge for self servo from drums)

Peel back the rubber bit of the slave cylinder housing the 2 pistons in the drum set up. If theres brake fluid it needs replacing as the seals have gone and will poor out fluid leaving u with v poor brakes.

Do it yourself its all very easy, Or filters etc urself n get a mechanic to drop oil as need a T50 to undo the sump plug.

Hope this helps someone.

Mark