Niggles

[thebloyn]

Thought I would sort out a few niggles today.

The rear parking sensors have been intermittant since we had that rain a few weeks ago, when reverse engaged I get 3 second beep, I thought some rain had got in somewhere, today I took all the boot stuff out of my estate, spare wheel, floor etc, and found the bottom wet. I noticed there was a rubber grommet? with a thick wire going through, this must be for the parking sensors, and was wet so cleaned it all out and dried it out as best I could, and the parking sensors are working again. Any where else I should check? I heard there was a controller somewhere but I do not know where.

Secondly tried to sort out what the daft previous owner had done, some pikey auto open boot mod.

How can I remove these, they look daft as they had rusted, I managed to get a collar? off one of the struts, and removed the strut from the boot, but could not get the plastic end off. do you just pull hard?

How is the high level brakelight screwed in, is it from the bottom? as mine seems loose at the jet end, do i need to remove the boot plastic lining to get to it?

Passenger sill kickplate was coming off, so i removed it totally and it needs reseating, looks like has been done before with some black double sided tape, although not very well, i have some epoxy resin, ok to use that?

[booke23]

How is the high level brakelight screwed in, is it from the bottom? as mine seems loose at the jet end, do i need to remove the boot plastic lining to get to it?

The high level brake light is indeed secured from underneath. You need to get the top bit of the internal tailgate trim off to access it.

However keep your epoxy handy.....my high level light came loose at the jet end a few months ago. While examining it to try to see how it was attached the whole red lens assembly came away in my hand. Really a new light unit was required, but at about £35 for a replacement I thought i'd have a go at sticking it back on.

I got my epoxy out and put a bead of the stuff all around the fitting (to try to make it water tight) and stuck the lens back on. That was 3 months ago, and it's still stuck on there and the light still works with no sign of water ingress!

In my experience of using epoxy, if it lasts a week then it tends to last years......time will tell.....it may not survive the winter so well.

[blackspaven]

I would tell you how to get the spring off since i've done it with some amount of success myself with some proper plastic-coated die springs, but as you think it's pikey, I won't .

[flying pig]

Your spare wheel 'swimming pool' could be the result of the rear wash / wipe pipe coming loose and leaking into the boot. There are plenty of threads concerning this on this forum.

I know my car had developed this fault prior to me owning it and was repaired under warranty.

Hope this helps.

[thebloyn]

I would tell you how to get the spring off since i've done it with some amount of success myself with some proper plastic-coated die springs, but as you think it's pikey, I won't .

haha I dont think it 'pikey', but I'm sure I remember a thread on here years ago for the fabia VRS called pikey autoboot mod or similar. I suppose the previous owner was thinking of his wife as she was very petite and she had just had twins.

the rear wash works fine and does not appear to be leaking.

[sherlocks VRS]

The tailgate mod is easy to remove, Simply remove the retaining clip that holds the ram to the tailgate (but remember to hold the tailgate up with a broom or something to stop it hitting you on the head, lol) and simply unscrew the black plastic end from the ram, remove the spring and rebuild in reverse. Simples.

[VRSPhil]

The plastic end on the strut unscrews usually.

[blackspaven]

It's nigh on impossible to get to work 100% of the time as cold weather affects the strength of the spring, but I love it the 85% ti does work and even when it pops it just enough for me to flick open.

Once the strut is off (only need to get the end stub off), grip the silver piston with some pliers in a it of cloth to stop it scratching the metal and use another set of pliers to screw the small end off. The spring will fall off, then refit it in reverse.

[blackspaven]

Those two, posted as I was writing, but make sure you 'grab' the silver inner bit of strut otherwise it just turns endlessly.

Oh, and don't take the clip off completely, just enough to pop it off the nipple, otherwise it's a bit of a pain to get back on.

Edited 6 October, 2012 by blackspaven