jars' 2005 Fabia vRS

[Titanium_Man]

:p

[Dark_Hero]

Was great to meet you earlier mate, sorry it was only a brief passing as I was heading to track

[Titanium_Man]

Likewise, Charlie.

Did you see my grand entrance.....?!

[Dark_Hero]

No I missed the grand entrance. What happened?

[Titanium_Man]

I developed an erratic idle between leaving Garry's house this morning and coming to rest entering Combe, switched her off the see if it stopped whatever it was doing, but wouldn't turn over :(

Managed to get her going later on and limp back to Bristol, in limp mode as I removed the MAF as I was told it was the culprit, but we'll see. Left her at my mates garage ready for when he arrives

[Dark_Hero]

Bad times mate. Glad you got back ok

[Titanium_Man]

So update after my disastrous track debut....

So what was causing my erratic idle...... It turns out that the new tensioner that was fitted with a new cam belt and water pump back in November, failed. Not only that, when my mate was dealing with that, he noticed that the water pump was also showing signs of wear, despite being the supposedly stronger metal impeller type... WTF! But the most annoying part of it is I know my timing is out by 2o (Dean at Dirty Torque told me when he fitted my new blower) as my mechanic doesn't have VCDS and would have been a perfect opportunity to get someone in with VCDS to time it up 100% perfect

After an annoying drive through rush hour, a f*****g w****r in a van decided he wanted to be in my lane, despite me being sat stationary, in my car. So I'm now left with this.....

It does look like a lot of paint has been transferred, but I'm not willing to touch it until liability has been established. Funnily enough my missus was behind me in her car when this happened and managed to take photos of his van as he simply drove off after we nearly had it out in the middle of the roundabout, so I know I have back-up should it go to court. My insurance company were good to start with, until I told them not to bother getting the garage to call me as I won't let them near my car until it's all sorted and proceeded to try to tell me that they can't continue with my claim!

At this point I was told that they couldn't continue with my claim.... so I dropped the bombshell that I did his job, for that company for near on 12 years The tone changed a little, we d**k measured for a bit unit he gave up! It's now left that their engineer will contact me in 24hr, despite the fact that I won't let them near my car and they know it! What is the point!?

Initially, I didn't know that he had actually made contact until I pulled up outside a mates shop and took a look. Whilst I was there, I heard this god almighty noise coming up the road but couldn't see what it was. So turned back to the shop, looked up the road again and saw this....

A car exhaust on a motorbike!!!!

I then arrived home and finally got my hands on this....

[grr666]

Maaaaaaate!!! 

 

What a run of bad luck. 

Fkingvandrivers....

[Dark_Hero]

Oh man, seriously bad luck! Hope you get it all sorted without further issue

[Titanium_Man]

I don't consider you a white van man, Garry, you're too considerate

Thank, Charlie, everything replaced FOC.... we'll see about the claim. Won't put it in if it becomes a pita.

[grr666]

. Won't put it in if it becomes a pita.

???

 

[Toxicvrs]

Has that creased the panel or scuffed? Can't see very well on phone! Gutting hope it gets better from here

[Titanium_Man]

[Titanium_Man]

Has that creased the panel or scuffed? Can't see very well on phone! Gutting hope it gets better from here

 

It looks like I got lucky with just paint transfer, but won't know 100% until it's removed. 

 

I got a friend to check the MID (Motor Insurer Database) today... I'm in for a looooooong battle after finding out who they are :( But it could have been worse so I'll just take it on the chin and be patient. I also tried to report the hit and run to the Police, but they won't take the report over the phone and I have to go into a local station. Most unhelpful, but I knew that anyway 

[Toxicvrs]

Could've been worse I suppose my Fabia got reversed into by a lorry which took out the bumper rear 3/4 panel and light which resulted in a non fault claim with damage costing about £1100

[joelk2010]

Hope everything gets sorted for you mate. It always seems that all the bad luck comes at once :(

[Zuhayb]

Not going too well for you is it? I'm sure it will be all sorted and ready for track day  

[Titanium_Man]

Yeah it could have been a lot worse. No injury and I can still get about.. he's still a t**t though

 

I'm waiting for number 3 .......

[Titanium_Man]

So, after messing Tech1e around a couple of weeks ago, he has now fitted Cruise Control

 

First things first, anyone who is considering getting it fitted, Tech1e is your man! The guy obviously knows his onions and is a top fella, he really is. Had a good chin wag for a couple of hours whilst he got busy and took a look around his lovely camper

 

Got to say mate, looks bloody good so far and cracking work. Really looking forward to seeing the finished product  And was awesome to meet you, Ross.

 

Anyway, a few snaps at the legend at work (sorry if I put you off :p ) 

 

 

Thanks for showing me how to remove my steering wheel

 

Steering wheel off...

 

nakedness

 

Prepping the wire ready to go into the bulkhead, then ECU

 

ECU wires being removed, then were cut and the blue wire soldered and wrapped. 

 

And Ross doing his magic trick

 

The main reason why I got Cruise installed is because I travel up and down the M5 a fair bit and with my loud pedal being that bit more, erm.... louder, I felt I needed a restraint! Don't get me wrong, I am not d**k on the road, the slightest touch now and I'm off... and then it's hard to step off So fuel economy played a big part in all seriousness, although bizarrely my trip computer was less on the way back

 

One thing I will say on that.... since the turbo upgrade, my trip is waaaaaay out now. Before, it was almost spot on, just a mpg or so in it when comparing it to my fuel app, but I can already sense that around town, even when driving like Miss Daisy is in the car with me, it's reading a lot better than it actually is. Previously it would read 40-41 on the trip, it's now showing more like 50 and although I still haven't gone through enough cycles to get some proper calculations for city driving, from the 3 years I've had her, I know she is actually worse than before. 

 

So what's on the horizon? Well, in all honesty I've neglected her these last 18 months. Only in terms of keeping her looking smart, she never goes without if something mechanical goes wrong, but she is a right state at the moment, as those who saw her at Combe will no doubt testify :p I'm pretty much ready to go baring a couple of essentials like a decent snow foam lance and suds, possibly some new polish for the polisher. 

 

Oh, and I have a new toy in my garage

 

... and this will come in handy when I spend a week working at Glastonbury

[grr666]

Nice one mate, mine had cruise and I've missed the S3 not 

having it tbh. 

[Titanium_Man]

It's a really neat little thing to have, especially with the number of average speed check areas on the M4 & M5, although I personally blame the introduction of Cruise Control on those I tend to have issue with when on the motorway. They pull out to overtake a car 30/40 meters in front of them, which takes forever and a day to get round them as they're going 72mph instead of 71, then sit in the middle lane for the next 10 minutes whilst they overtake.

[tmwarner]

Would love cruise on mine. Would you say it's worth the monies?  

[Titanium_Man]

I reckon so, but can see why others think it's a waste.

I do use the motorway a fair bit and as I've gotten older I'm slower and it's much easier to maintain this, especially with those pesky average speed check areas.

I had a play with the system on the way home and regulating the speed using the hand control is actually pretty good! Slows down pretty quickly, although a little slow to react, and takes off surprisingly well when asked to Increase the speed, obviously the foot way is much more fun and explosive :p

If I changed Fabia's and the new one didn't come with it, I'd put it in again, by Tech1e of course

[Tech1e]

Nice to meet you, you are more than welcome

[Titanium_Man]

I'm sure we'll meet again... I want to see your end product Plus, I do have that spare awning in my garage that we'll have a chat about after me travels tomorrow. 

 

I noticed no picture of the stalk yet....