I must admit though, it is wrong on the part of the garage, you could threaten to go to trading standards but usually what they would say is to exhaust their "complaints department" before they would entertain it. I am not qualified to say how they would go about investigating them, but i dare say they would require evidence to show negligence etc and what you signed for. It does sound like its complicated it somewhat being that its a third party warranty, they will have their own terms and conditions as you have already mentioned. Its more the selling it to you without servicing it that seems unfair to me plus they should have made you aware of that before putting you onto the warranty package. Id be going straight to them about that i wouldnt botyer phoning them id go to them in person.

Arr right. Could be tricky, as spinna says u could do with vagcom or someone with it to check on the codes for the engine management light. In terms of the starting issue it may not relate to that problem as i plugged it in when i had that problem and it didnt come up with anything but u definately want to check it sooner rather than later incase its something serious. If you dont know anyone with it a local garage should be able to help. The average charge im use to for garage prices is £25 to diagnose.

A quick vcds/vagcom assessment could help you know the depth of the problem before you go back to them.

But to be honest I agree with me old mate mark's comment on complaints. But if you get the codes and work out the problems you may be able to get some evidence to prove they sold you a lemon or it could be a £40 sensor fix.

My suspicions are they knew about the issues, light was on, they cleared the codes and it has returned.

Cynical yes. Justified, you decide...

A quick vcds/vagcom assessment could help you know the depth of the problem before you go back to them.

But to be honest I agree with me old mate mark's comment on complaints. But if you get the codes and work out the problems you may be able to get some evidence to prove they sold you a lemon or it could be a £40 sensor fix.

My suspicions are they knew about the issues, light was on, they cleared the codes and it has returned.

Cynical yes. Justified, you decide...

Does make you wonder mate doesnt it. not serviced it because they knew about it?? Would show on the report? I know its speculation really.

Like Spinna has said could be something and nothing and I agree with him you do need to build yourself a report as such to build your evidence incase it is something you do need to pursue. Have it plugged in and get a print out of what it reports. Take it from there. Hopefully its nothing.

Seriously give plantman a shout.

He's local to you.

Should give you a v CDs summary for the price of a pint , IMHO,

This'll help with your situation

Hi Spinna - thats a great help - I have PM just now so hopefully he can help me.

OK - had car serviced today - full service including change of fuel, pollen and air filters plus new glow plugs. The problem with EM unit coming on was that the pipe came off. I had to do a running repair but now repaired properly. Error message was cleared as was glow plug light flashing.

All but one of the glow plugs were knackered and he had awful problems getting them out. Obviously not been changed for a long time.

Went to start car (warm engine) - would not start. Bear in mind this is my normal garage and he can be trusted 100% - he was gob smacked because he said when engine was cold(ish) he just started engine and it went first time. Lent in window engine and it started first time.

Then the glow plug flashing warning light came on and the engine management unit light came on like before. He was astounded.

He wants me to go back Friday to let him know if Ok on cold start and how I got on with warm starts.

I have tried some more warm starts and to be honest it a variety between starting on second crank to not starting or winding engine up until its starts.

Contributor Kblackburn suggests above that it could be battery so will address that on Friday. Mind now with new glowplugs in car it flies! Even the garage owner was well impressed with the car.

Just another oddity, when I was driving back from Peterborough to Plymouth I could not get the MPG to work. Then when back in Plymouth it started to work, but still no average MPG. Now car serviced its stuck on 42.0 which I assume is the average miles per gallon but cant get it to move. I take it that the unit that works out your mpg is knackered?

I am not fussed about it really, so long as it does not affect the starting. Any comment anybody?

The garage owner told me that the car is generally in very good condition which is good news.

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Have you tried fully Resetting the on board computer , not suggesting that will fix it but sometimes the average mpg takes a while to change if it hasnt been reset for a long distance/period of time.

HOW DO you reset on board computer please?

Do you find the handling as std id better on the octy vrs though??

Mine was brilliant at cornering as std, i agree the furby mk1 vrs is great in terms of power and torque and accelerates harder than my octy did bit i do need to get the handling right on my fab as i do miss the cornering potential my octy had .

Sorry for the late reply..... yes absolutely, the petrol cars are far superior in roadholding and all aspects of handling ..... the diesel lumps are much heavier and change the CoG a bit, so do kill the handling a bit..... but I still love the PD lumps!

I wish they did the mk1 octy vrs with the option for the pd 130 and pd 150 engines. That imo would be a nr perfect combination. Ideal car i think.

Absolutely! ..... I was amazed when the Octy VRS first came out that it was 1.8T only, with no option for the PD130 (or 150)... but similarly couldn't really understand why the Fabia VRS Mk1 was diesel only ........ don't know why both cars didn't come as 1.8T or PD130 variants.

HOW DO you reset on board computer please?

On the wiper stalk where at the end you can navigate through the computer. Well if you look/feel under the stalk there is another button, press and hold that in for a second or two, that resets it.

Sorry for the late reply..... yes absolutely, the petrol cars are far superior in roadholding and all aspects of handling ..... the diesel lumps are much heavier and change the CoG a bit, so do kill the handling a bit..... but I still love the PD lumps!

Absolutely! ..... I was amazed when the Octy VRS first came out that it was 1.8T only, with no option for the PD130 (or 150)... but similarly couldn't really understand why the Fabia VRS Mk1 was diesel only ........ don't know why both cars didn't come as 1.8T or PD130 variants.

Couldnt agree more, i do miss my octy mk1 vrs for that, i kept to the sport contact 2s that they came on from new and it was great at cornering.

Im with you on the confusing decision to only release the octy mk1 vrs with the 1.8t lump , and again the furby vrs with pd130.

The other things to bug me are why on earth do the fab vrs mk1s not have climate control or rear elec windows??? This is confusing considering octy vrs mk1s come as std with them and imo so it should but why oh why doesnt the furby mk1 vrs lol

Anyway rant over haha

Might have to get another octy lol get the bug everytime i think of them.

Ahhhh I wondered what that was - makes sense now.

had battery checked on car and it is in tip top condition - starting problem - had it checked re error codes - specialist garage thinks its the crankcase sensor or at worse fuel pump. In garage on Monday.

Ahhhh I wondered what that was - makes sense now.

had battery checked on car and it is in tip top condition - starting problem - had it checked re error codes - specialist garage thinks its the crankcase sensor or at worse fuel pump. In garage on Monday.

Did you not disconnect the crank sensor mate?

I mentioned that to you in an earlier post, if you disconnect it and it turns over better you know it will need the sensor changing. You can reach it down the back of the block on the side by the air box.

I have only just got the car and because I dont know what I am looking for, I am reluctant to pull anything off. I read on here somewhere that it was underneath near the gear box and awkward to get to.

As a matter of interest, if it is disconnected and it starts better then why do i need one at all? It may be a silly question.

Also how long would the garage take to fit one of those sensors?

Shouldnt take long tbh . Half hour tops. Its accessible from the top towards back on the right hand side. I ll take a pic tmrw if i remember and post it for u. In short the sensor tells the injector when to fire. So if its better without then its cutting the sensor out of the equation hence faulty sensor. It wont be great without it as its not firing at the right time but will just be better because if the sensor is faulty the ecu cant read the signal efficiently.

This may sound a silly question - how many times would you expect the engine to crank over before it starts ( or time wise). I also have a mitsubishi delica which when cold starts instantly. When warm a couple of engine turns and it fires. Strange yesterday I had a damn food day in general with engine staring on the Octavia and started very well this morning but not instant. But they improved starting happened after the flashing glow plug light decided to go out for no apparent reason.

Thanks

Tbh my fab vrs starts instant. Like a petrol in honesty.

Very interesting Mark - there is a fine line when starting my car - if i turn the ignition key very quickly it wont start even when warm. If I wait until

a) fuel pump has finished clicking

and a click has made somewhere in the engine compartment

but before all lights go out on dash -

then I can usually start it after two cranks of the engine

But if I miss that exact point after I have to wind the engine up to start.

Anyway, I am off to the garage tomorrow and will pick it up on Tuesday. - this saga will hopefully come to a close then. Fingers crossed.

Strangely the previous problem with the glow light flashing has suddenly decided to stop flashing (now disappeared all together) - how odd.

the smiley = B - did not know it would do smileys

Keep us informed mate. There is a place nr me called feather diesels that are known as geniuses in the diesel world that if all else fails would be worth a go but they do cost and i cannot see ur location to know if ur local or not.

Like i say i ended up doing the crank sensor and starter motor and it was perfect ever since but without seeing ur car its hard t say

Edited 17 June, 201213 yr by MarkC-VRS

Success at last - resolved - not crank case sensor but heating sensor for glow plugs. Now starts when i turn the key, don't have to wait for glow plug light to go out!!! And, car runs smoother for some reason.

I am no where Halifax Mark - down in the West Country - near the bridge in to Cornwall. Now have a telephone number of a guy who does private work on Skoda, VW, Audi - works for specialists in Plymouth.

Thank you so much everyone for guiding me through possibilities and offering advice. Learning all time about car. Loving it, love the gutsy engine!

Glad its sorted mate. Happy worryless motoring ahead.

Mark you spoke too soon mate - had a 4x4 Nissan go in the back of me today at a roundabout - he admitted liability - need a new bumper and a tail gate has small dent - more damage to his car than mine - got whiplash and spent over 4 hours at hospital having xrays etc.

When i went to start car after accident - very very hard to start and glow light came on again and engine management light came on and stayed on - such a nuisance. Obviously shook something up in the car.

Mark you spoke too soon mate - had a 4x4 Nissan go in the back of me today at a roundabout - he admitted liability - need a new bumper and a tail gate has small dent - more damage to his car than mine - got whiplash and spent over 4 hours at hospital having xrays etc.

When i went to start car after accident - very very hard to start and glow light came on again and engine management light came on and stayed on - such a nuisance. Obviously shook something up in the car.

Jees!! How bad do I feel!!

Hope your ok mate?

Cant believe how unlucky a month youve had.

You will have a good run of luck soon im sure.