Quick intro, just sold my mint 54 plate Mini Cooper S, really nice car but I fancied a change after 2.5 years and I've always liked the vRS having bought one before the mini that got put into a hedge before I got to pick it up.  Last time it was a black 06 plate with full leather, this time it's... a black 06 plate with full leather.  Spooky!

 

The mini sale price was the same as the fabia purchase price, so it's practically a free swap meaning I can put some money aside for a while, or at least, that's the plan.  The fabia isn't as mint as the mini was, but it just needs a bit of TLC and tidying up and it wasn't dear considering the condition.

 

The car and current condition;

• 06 Fabia vRS in black magic.
• 67000 miles with almost full history, but...
• "duplicate book" service history - stamps from different dealers but is it all above board?  Well better than nothing I suppose.
• Decent condition, had a scuff and re-paint on the NSF wing, original wing, nor full of filler but prepped by a monkey with a sharp rock...  The clear on top is actually well applied and flat I can just see the carvings underneath.  This might bug me, but it's on the other side so maybe not.
• Medium depth foot long scratch OSR 1/4 panel, might just be in the clear coat.
• A few long but lighter scratches on the bonnet.
• Chips and bunch of keys wear around the drivers door handle/edge.
• Rear door cards show water marks, no damp inside but I need to check the seals.
• Alloys aren't bad, no kerbing but some lacquer bubbles here and there.
• Just had 12 months MOT, needed a rear shock.  Slight play in OSF anti roll bar bush advisory.
• Drivers seat upright to bolster seam has a 2-3 inch bit that need re-stitching, otherwise the leather is in good nick.
• Needs a decent clean inside and out, it's been cleaned and smells ok.  Fine for now but needs a deep clean.
• Has a bit of a shimmy at idle, probably gunked up EGR valve and/or injectors.  It's not DMF, I checked it before I decided to buy.
• Needs a service.
• I should probably put a cambelt, fittings and a water pump on it as I am unsure of the history of these.

 

That's it.  It's a fairly honest car that runs and drives well but has a few jobs needed to make it right, starting with the bottom few of the list I suspect.

 

My project aim for now is fairly simple, tidy it up so it's a decent looking and running daily driver.  It has to be good enough that it doesn't make me twitch everytime I leave the front door but I doubt I'll ever be entering any show 'n shines with it.

 

Pics from the advert.

 

Day 1 - picked up car, battery felt a bit weak after filling it up on the way home.  Stuck it on charge, didn't take long, seemed OK.  Ordered a Connects 2 iPod interface.

Day 2 - started fine, went to tax it on the way to work.  Came out - dead battery.  Called the dealer rather than the AA as it was flat when I first tested it but the lights had been left on, it was supposed to have been checked and confirmed fine.  Clearly, dying the next day was not "fine".  

Dealer came out with a "good used" battery, barely apologetic, couldn't get the skeleton cage off with the tools he had (fair enough, it's a bit of a bugger!) gave me the battery instead, jump started it and I drove it home.

Worked from home instead (luckily I can do this) and after work I pulled the cage and dead 61Ah battery and swapped in the "Renault" 70Ah battery, it's a Varta so has a decent chance of being quite serviceable at least.

All the connections were pretty dry and showing some electrolytic corrosion so I cleaned them all up including the ones under the flip up cage things on top.  Gave them all a coat of dielectic grease and re-assembled.  This battery so far seems fine, started it twice - span it over very quickly and took it for a 10 minute drive.

 

Day 3 - hopefully, will be uneventful!

 

Some immediate observations coming out of the Cooper S, straight into the Fabia vRS.

The mini steering and front end was sooo much sharper and more nimble feeling, the vRS drives fine but the ratio feels a little slow.  I'm not bothered, just an observation and to be expected really.

The Fabia feels so much more solidly built (battery action aside).  Better plastics, less rattles and creaks.

The Fabia also has better seats, a better ride and a much nicer steering wheel that isn't "fashionably chunky".

The available torque reminds me of my Golf VR6, in fact, the whole car is quite reminiscent of it though the engine noises aren't even remotely similar!

 

Day 3 was uneventful, it started on the turn of the key and drove to and from work fine.  

According to the fuel computer, I averaged 57mpg for the day I do normally get good mileage out of cars while commuting but I wasn't expecting that sort of figure.  Could be inaccurate of course, I'll have to do a brim to brim measurement.

Oil and filter changed today, handbrake adjusted (too tight) and removed the dark window tints removed from rear.  Still a bit of glue to clean up.

Noticed EGR is leaking a little oil, probably the cause of the lumpy idle, will investigate further.

As its an 06 plate would i be right in guessing its got the BLT engine code? Some of these had to have the idle adjusted as it was making it run rough so may be worth getting skoda to check/adjust it

Indeed, it is a BLT engine and I don't know if it's had the reduced size egr gasket fitted in it's past either.  The lumpy idle goes away if the aircon/heated screen is on and is better +/- 50-100 revs so it's not something fundamentally wrong, it's a conditional issue.

 

If I take it there for the cambelt, I'll ask them to have a look.  Otherwise, I'll be getting VCDS anyway so might do it myself once I've checked the egr valve and gaskets.

Found my local MOT and service garage will do the cambelt, waterpump and coolant for £180 + vat with SKF parts.  Not worth even thinking about doing it myself so it's booked in a week from now.

 

I think the NSR caliper is binding a bit, I'll let them have a look at that too while it's in.

 

Can't get a response so far from the people I bought the connects2 ipod kit from, I've ordered a mini-iso plug kit and I'll just re-wire it myself, probably going to be quicker.

Not impressed with the standard audio in the Fabia, it's very tinny and lacking weight.  Not sure if it's just the radio, the head unit quality or the speakers.  I'll see how it sounds after I've got the iPod connected up.

Figured the NSR caliper binding was something I'd read about - did some searching and it's quite possibly the the handbrake return springs thing.  It doesn't feel like a seized caliper, it just felt like it wasn't quite clearing fully.  Ordered some of the 7HO springs (Sharan/Alhambra) from the Seat dealer next to the Skoda dealer (pretty much got one of everything now in Stockport) and picked them up this morning, should get chance to fit them tomorrow as today it was:

 

Connects2 iPod interface install!  This should have gone in easily in the first few days, sadly, I ordered the wrong one by assuming that Fabia > 05 with Symphony HU would be the right one for an June 06 built Fabia with Symphony HU.  Of course not, it really needed the pre-05 model. 

 

Contacted the dealer who I got it from twice, still can't get an answer about returning or swapping it so I bought a mini-ISO plug and pins instead and searched around for a suitable pin-out for the Technisat Symphony unit.  You'd think it was the same C3 CD pinout as the Blaupunkt Symphony OEM HU, but no, it isn't.

Worked it out in the end with a little multi-meter action and finally got it working and fully installed.

I just have the lead dropping out at the bottom of the centre console at the moment, not sure if there's a better place where I can see the screen though it's not strictly necessary now I can change tracks and playlists from the Symphony buttons.

Anyway, that's how a 5 minute audio install job becomes about 5 hours of searching for wiring diagrams, translating wiring and then rewiring again.

Fitted the 7HO springs today, rear brake binding/rubbing noise gone.  Took longer to get my ramps out of the shed than it did to fit them.   

 

Popped in at the garage that's doing the cambelt in 2 days and asked them to replace the engine mounting stretch bolts as per the guide on here.  Don't want my engine dropping on the floor for the want of a few bolts do I?

 

Taking a few days off work as I've been knackered recently, planning to clean, clay and wax the car and wheels and do my wife's Scenic too which is long overdue similar treatment.  Got some other jobs to do round the house too and need to take it easy so I may or may not get to some of the smaller jobs too.

Edited 2 September, 201312 yr by Buzzark

Got the vRS back yesterday following the cambelt work, it took and extra 2 days because TPS twice sent the wrong bolts when stretch bolts were ordered - eventually, they sent a bolt back with the driver to identify the part.  

According to TPS, people very rarely order these so the last ones they sold were over a year ago...  still, didn't need the car this week so it wasn't an issue - for the inconvenience, the garage rectified a leaking intercooler pipe joint they found while doing the job for no extra charge, which was nice.  The car is slightly more perky as a result.

Total price including the new bolts and VAT was £240, very pleased with that.

 

Noticed that one of the calipers isn't painted (obviously been swapped at some point) so I've ordered some RAL 6037 colour (Pure Green) caliper paint as the Minz Green original paint seems impossible to find in caliper paint.  I know hammerite light green is a good alternative but it's long since discontinued.