Hi i just got a 2003 fabia comfort estate 1.9 TDi a couple of weeks ago, and have a few niggles was wondering if anyone had any thoughts?

Firstly the Power steering light comes on sometimes when you start the car first thing in the morning (and thus the power steering doesn't work), if i stop the car and restart it the light turns off and everything is back to normal, i've topped up the fluid but to no avail. I'm wondering if it had anything to do with the battery or alternator? The lights flicker when steering at slow speeds too.

Rear door seals are leaking but I've found the answer and will hopefully sort it out this weekend! Any tips when removing the door card / trim thingy?

Also the heater seems to have a life of its own, sometimes it just contsantly blows hot air, even if its turned off. Any thoughts?

Much appreciated

David

The heating issue sounds like a sticky heater flap motor! Exactly the same issue as I had with my 03 comfort that I bought back in June!

The motor is behind the dashboard and can definitely be DIY'd with a bit of time and patience. The motors are about £100 new and so better to source from a breakers! I attempted to dismantle, clean, and refit mine without replacing - it works better than it did, but it still sticks in super hot fairly regularly.

Lots of discussion and guides here:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/137932-has-anyone-replaced-a-flap-motor/

The power steering is more than likely going to be the steering angle sensor. Very common part to go on a Fabia, I had same issues, and it can do worse (10mph assistance is NOT fun at motorway speeds!). Cost me £220 fully fitted at a Skoda dealer, and the part was the expensive bit! There's plenty of it on here mate.

Hello,

I had the same issues as you regarding the heater and the power steering light.

I thought that there was a problem with the heater, but after a lot of reading I found that it is a thermostaticly controled system. The heater puts out a lot of heat to start with and as soon as it is up to temperature it cools down. This might take 5 minutes.

The flaps did appear on the error codes for my car but they do work, you should be able to check by putting the control down to the blue setting, below 18c. It should blow cool air after 30 seconds or so. I think my car wasnt used for quite a while (lots of cobwebs and a mouse nest under the bonnet!) and it took a few goes to get the flaps working again but they are fine now.

The power steering light come on when my car has been left overnight. I think it only gets reset when you stop the engine and then start it again. It seems to measure voltage and comes on if the voltage is a bit low. The advise I've found is not to worry about it, if it stays on when you turn the ignition off and on again then there might be a problem.

I'm planning to get a battery test done at some point but it's not urgent just to get a light to go off every now and then.

"Firstly the Power steering light comes on sometimes when you start the car first thing in the morning (and thus the power steering doesn't work), if i stop the car and restart it the light turns off and everything is back to normal, i've topped up the fluid but to no avail. I'm wondering if it had anything to do with the battery or alternator? The lights flicker when steering at slow speeds too."

Very often this is the battery, particularly in the winter. The starter and the glow plugs take all the juice and doesn't leave a lot for the steering. It goes away on restart as the engine turns over more easily and the glowplugs are on for a shorter time. Mine has been doing this for years.

I somehow missed the part about the steering not working until you turn of and on. Get the battery checked.

I agree re-lack of power steering, it happened to me, probably a new battery required especially now winter is here, quite common.

DB

Oh yeah, check the battery first and the earth strap too, they're kinda obvious. Mine had a nice new battery and strap so I know it wasn't those what were fubared

yeah i think its probably the battery, it only seems to happen when particularly cold - was fine yesterday morning.

the heater is probably a bit beyond me, time wise particulalry, and as its only a problem if i turn the heat up and then try to turn it back down, i'll just leave it in the middle.

Cheers everyone!

do have to say though that all these little issues are quite annoying!

I've had my fabia about 3 weeks and have got used to most things now.

Overall it's not a bad car but it's obviously been built to a price, it is after all based on a Polo. The advantage of this is that although parts do need replacing as they wear out the parts are cheap.