Being a relative newcomer to the site and recent Octavia TDI owner, I feel a little overwhelmed when looking under the bonnet to see so many sensors sprouting out of everywhere and when reading through the posts on this site many problems are answered by "Get a diagnostic check done".

I recently had a fault with my car..... wouldn't rev much past 3500 rpm. The local dealer was happy to get me in saying "we'll run a diagnostic check". They fixed the problem, new air mass sensor and now the cars performance has been transformed.

The part was

Most of use use a piece of a software called Vag-com (www.ross-tech.com). I bought a serial cable with a USB adapter and use the above software.

In my car I don't seem to have access to all the modules - but the important ones work. I run it on an old Dell Latitude CPi (p2-233 with w2k), but have trouble getting com1 not to be be used by other applications (some for a windows reinstaLL I think). However I am doing up my garage currently and I have a number of rubbish old PCs, so I might just set one up down there and use a nice long serial cable. (Next I will just need to nice ramps!)

btw: My car did the same as your (and was gutless on hills, etc). I had the MAF replaced, and then a few months later the problem was back again. Then they changed the n75 valve (problem still there), and eventually the turbo :-( All reported the same fault via vag-com:

VAG-COM Version: Release 303.1

Control Module Part Number: 038 906 012 CL

Component and/or Version: 0000SG 3316

Software Coding: 00002

Work Shop Code: WSC 31480

Additional Info: TMBGP21U512486883 VWZ7Z0Y3096563

1 Faults Found:

17965 - Charge Pressure Control: Positive Deviation

P1557 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

I use Ross-Tech's HEX-USB+CAN interface plus their latest software. Not cheap but fully functional on any laptop or PC and suitable for the latest generation of VAG cars. I far more than saved the cost when I identified a Haldex ECU problem the first time I used VAG-COM and got it replaced just before the warranty expired.

Like Denis I've got the full cable. My thought was that although the Fabia doesn't need CAN it will come in handy one day, or may help someone else, so got the official one. Overpriced? Perhaps but considering the cost of repairs if a bad cable caused a problem, I didn't think twice TBH.

There are cheaper cables out there which work. Some are illegal copies of the original, others are to be used with keygens etc.