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The Skudder 2004 Fabia TDi beater


WoodieGuthrie

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Where to start on this?

 

In October last year, I took a trip from home to sunny* Blackburn in that there Lancashire. The purpose of the trip was to attend an interview for a potential new role.

 

Long story short, it went well and I was offered the position. Excellent news so far, bar one small issue- I didn't have a car suitable for the required 400 mile round commute.

 

I set out looking for a mk1 Octavia TDI after the good experiences I had with my last one 

But they were not to be found..

 

Next option was to try and source another VAG group TDi. I viewed a couple, but found little to inspire.

 

I was almost ready to give up and broaden my search to such delights as Mondeo TDCis etc. One last trawl of Gumtree flagged up a very pleasantly priced Fabia not more than 1 mile from my house.

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As bought, I got a 2004 Fabia 1.9 100bhp TDi with 152k miles on it, and MOT until Sept 17.

 

Its Elegance trim level seated me upon heated seats, beside electric front windows and listening to an actual CD player! Glamorous in extremis compared to my other steeds.

 

Its not all good news though..

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The car is somewhat lacking in the looks department, as most panels exhibit some dents, rust or paint damage.

 

Worst areas are the sills and wheel arches as you can see from the below..

 

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I really need to get it up in the air and see what condition the underside is in- this will dictate what happens further down the line come MOT time.

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Inside is a bit nicer, and I can certainly say that the heated seats are a boon when leaving at 5am in the morning..

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She's been doing a fair whack of mileage, covering about 450-600 miles a week.

 

So far the only real work needed has been an oil & filter change, fuel filter and Air filter.

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The only other thing done has been the fitting of 2 Dunlop Sport Bluresponse to the front end

 

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These tyres cost £90.09 fitted and have greatly improved front end grip in both wet and dry conditions. I see the traction control light very rarely now- well worth the spend. 

 

Edited by WoodieGuthrie
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  • 2 weeks later...

7 miles after filling the tank, this was being a total ****** to start. Looks like another fuel filter change is required.

Its done 11k miles in 23 weeks, and cost 14.4p per mile inc fuel/servicing/purchase. I think you'd struggle to do it cheaper:)

It's getting a well deserved rest, and the Lexus is on Fabia Replacement Duty this week.

I have a week off at the start of may, so I'll get around to deciding what to do with it then.

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1 hour ago, retro said:

Wow 11k miles in 23 weeks is some pretty good going.

 

Wonder if the problem starting is water in the fuel?

I dunno- previous filter gave horrible cold starts as was drawing in air. Filter was replaced at 158600, now on 162800.

 

That said, it was a golf filter with feed and return at different angles from fabia one (only one I could get and needed urgently for early morning departure the next day).

 

I've got the correct filter now and will fit it during my week off. I think its likely a small air draw. Hopefully the filter will rectify.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Took it Drag Racing today..

 

How did it do?

Well, stock it ran 17.59 seconds (vs 18.001 that the Octavia managed) so a good 4 tenths quicker in stock trim.

The decent Dunlop's and traction control are a boon for getting off the line.

We put a map on - only a tenth quicker.. WTF??

 

Turns out there are 5! Smoke limiter maps, and my software was only showing me one- the one for -20 starts..

This meant that at operating temp, the car was reading a stock smoke limiter map. A swift copy/paste saw significant progress:)
https://youtu.be/dArXac_CmK8

 

Upshot of this was a 16.921- much better but still not right.

 

 

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Bearing in mind I've schlepped 12000miles on this in 6 months, and all its had is 1 service, 2 fuel filters and a couple of tyres I thought I better show it some love.

Today, I cracked out the Vactan and the drill, having at the copious quantities of surface rust to be found at the lower extremities of the car.

I did the passenger side first, as it was the better of the two (All being relative!)

If I'd found holes on this side, then there was no way I'd be attempting to get it through an MOT in Sept. Luckily it appears solid:)

Each patch was stopped, treated with Vactan, and then primered with Poundshops finest.. Totally Giffer.

I'll get some actual paint mixed shortly and tidy it up- the key thing was getting it stripped and protected

 

Rear Arch First.

 

 

 

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Edited by WoodieGuthrie
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  • 2 weeks later...

I changed the oil again on this today.

 

The filter was 13 weeks and 5700 miles old..

 

I wasn't particularly impressed with the state of it, so set about taking apart the EGR to see if it was blocked up.

 

It wasn't too bad, but gave it a bit of a clean and will see how we get on.

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  • 2 weeks later...
7 hours ago, WoodieGuthrie said:

I finally managed to get a video made with a wee review of this- on the way down to trade it in for the Alfa...

https://youtu.be/oe83dU-Yf60

I tried watching it but it just kept going to circle of doom no matter how many times I refreshed it.

 

Hopefully you have e enjoyed your time in the fabia and enjoy your alfa.

 

I have driven my brothers 164 3.0 V6 and that was an amazing car and in the 5 years he owned it, it only broke down once and that was due to oil leaking in to the distributor.

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