Hi All,

New to me, Fabia 2018 1.0 SE.  As per all my cars last 30 years, I buy the Haynes Manual to keep in the car.  It's in the garage or car whilst I effect repairs.  Not so, this car!  Online only!  Listed by Haynes as "2018-2009" (in error) as it's a Mk III, 2015+ at a later emissions standard, but Mk III 2015+ is only online.  I'm sure I don't want to be fishing around on my phone whilst I attempt a roadside repair, especially at the £25 that a printed manual might cost.

Haynes has clearly quit with the expense of print and gone for the 'marginal cost of zero' online subscription option to maximise profits.  So disappointed.  All my family drives this car and I'm the only one with Auto experience, so they're stuffed if it stops.

I checked Autodata, but they're worse.  Online only and ~£10/month.

Has anyone else stepped in to fill the gap?  Other than here, of course

Cheers,

Mike

1 minute ago, Miikey63 said:

Hi All,

New to me, Fabia 2018 1.0 SE.  As per all my cars last 30 years, I buy the Haynes Manual to keep in the car.  It's in the garage or car whilst I effect repairs.  Not so, this car!  Online only!  Listed by Haynes as "2018-2009" (in error) as it's a Mk III, 2015+ at a later emissions standard, but Mk III 2015+ is only online.  I'm sure I don't want to be fishing around on my phone whilst I attempt a roadside repair, especially at the £25 that a printed manual might cost.

Haynes has clearly quit with the expense of print and gone for the 'marginal cost of zero' online subscription option to maximise profits.  So disappointed.  All my family drives this car and I'm the only one with Auto experience, so they're stuffed if it stops.

I checked Autodata, but they're worse.  Online only and ~£10/month.

Has anyone else stepped in to fill the gap?  Other than here, of course

Cheers,

Mike

erWin Skoda, create account, pay 7 Euro for an hour (About £7.50 roughly) and you have ability to download all you wiring diagrams and repair manuals.

You can print any pages needed if you prefer to have hardcopy for a repair.

Not sure what road side repairs you will do other than changing a wheel if you have one. Or a spark plug if you have one and tools.  As it is finding the servicing required of recommend is good.  Plugs are due if not done, airfilter needs checked, maybe brakes serviced and fluid change, Skoda has the cam belt due a change in the UK, the polls filter should have had a couple of changes at least. So basically it is all the usual with similar cads of recent times.  A device to read the OBD being important, and servicing and maintenance. 

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, toot said:

Not sure what road side repairs you will do other than changing a wheel if you have one. Or a spark plug if you have one and tools.  As it is finding the servicing required of recommend is good.  Plugs are due if not done, airfilter needs checked, maybe brakes serviced and fluid change, Skoda has the cam belt due a change in the UK, the polls filter should have had a couple of changes at least. So basically it is all the usual with similar cads of recent times.  A device to read the OBD being important, and servicing and maintenance. 

 

 

 

Toot, that's part of the problem.  I have no idea what might fail on a 2018 Fabia, it's a new car to me, hence the desire for a manual in the car. 

I've already found that no Cruise is a feature, despite all the hardware being present for Adaptive Cruise.

If I put it into reverse, the rear wiper turns on to intermittant.  Not one wipe like my Fiesta did, but until I turn it off. 

I have 35 years Auto industry experience, two Auto degrees, and am a petrol head; so you'd be quite surprised at the roadside repairs I can do.  An example would be a head gasket replacement on my 1968 Morris Traveller, with creative use of passenger beverages for coolant to get me to a garage.

 

OBD dongle is a great idea, thanks!  I have 4, so I'll pick one that talks to the phone properly.

<M>

There is not so much rubbing the face of a cut potato on the windscreen if the wipers fail or a stocking for a fan belt or egg white or pepper in the radiator when you have a leak going on.  Removing ignition coils with zip ties does.  Best look at the tool needed when doing the cam belt on a 1.0 TSI. 

A very very small point on the way the rear wiper works on VW Group cars, if the front wipers are left in auto and being asked to work, then when you select reverse the rear wiper will operate, and its operation is always fixed period intermittent.

 

If you have got lot of Auto qualifications and practical knowledge then the best you can hope for is that you have proactively addressed any areas that are liable to cause problems when out and about.

 

Years ago I used to carry a lot of loads, but now I only have a Carista dongle in each of our cars, a torch and something to check for 12V DC and OV, oh and a set of bulbs with where necessary laminated details of "how to get to" any tricky ones - although both cars have mostly LED and/or HID plus I've actually made sure that I can get to every bulb in each car and have the extra tools to do that.

 

Including a quick rocker change is what an old uncle of mine used to build into going out with the family for a picnic in his HB Viva, for me, a quick do what you can, then call the AA life must go on!

11 hours ago, Miikey63 said:

If I put it into reverse, the rear wiper turns on to intermittant.  Not one wipe like my Fiesta did, but until I turn it off. 

I have 35 years Auto industry experience, two Auto degrees,

According to the free pdf copy of the VWSkoda 2018/11 'Owner's Manual' (paper copy should be in the car) "The rear window is wiped once automatically if the windscreen wipers are on when reverse gear is selected. The function can be activated / deactivated in the Infotainment menu  →  → Mirrors and wipers."  That's how it works on my wife's 2015 Fabia. If it's intermittent there might be a stalk or computer fault.

 

 

The 'Owner's Manual' will give you lots of useful information the macho workshop and Haynes manuals don't, you probably know the phrase RtFM but it also has to be the appropriate manual. I'm with you I much prefer a paper book to some small phone screen that you can't see in the slightest bit of sunlight and the battery is low and packs up because they're designed to be so.

 

Skoda Owner's Manuals - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models

 

You'll probably have plenty to keep you occupied on the car, German engineering quality. 🤣  If others are driving the car surely you've taught them all basic driver responsibility maintenance and checks rather than you needing to always rush out with your underpants on the outside as Roadside-rescue-man for them to at least get the car to the nearest pub.

 

The one thing you do want to watch with yourself and others using the car is the state of charge (and health) of the car battery as the computers systems can cause all sorts of unexpected issues if the battery is too low for them and that is often before any warning lights or messages.  Tell them even if the car starts and the lights seem bright enough it still doesn't mean the battery might be too low in charge.

 

You'll also obviously want a good level of scan tool that covers your particular model but sometimes fully recharging the battery with an appropriate battery charger and maintainer and just driving the car can get rid of some issues and error codes, or just delete them if the scan tool is handy.

 

You won't find a the Fabia as forgiving as a Moggy, blimey you babied that, I completed a weekend tour before keeping to 50mph to get me home on the A14 and getting the work done later at my convenience and not the A-series. ☹️  😄

 

I can't stand to see broken down old over-priced and over-valued old cars called "classic" as I've had enough of my own roadside stops, repairs and recoveries to last me three lifetimes, often makes the cars seem more unreliable than they actual are or could or should be.  German cars and "classics" in one post and I thought I couldn't get any more miserable today, I'm wrong again. ☹️  😄

 

Now, what did I come in this room to get   .   .   .

 

Edited 9 April, 20233 yr by nta16
missing words

This site gives a very good alternative to Haynes Manuals. It might me useful to you and others. It has manuals for most cars, even quite modern ones too. In the Skoda section there's one for the Enyaq.

 

Mk3 Fabia:  https://cardiagn.com/skoda-fabia-mk3-2015-2019-2020-workshop-manuals-wiring-diagrams/

Press the print icon to save to pdf.

On 09/04/2023 at 12:01, nta16 said:

You won't find a the Fabia as forgiving as a Moggy, blimey you babied that, I completed a weekend tour before keeping to 50mph to get me home on the A14 and getting the work done later at my convenience and not the A-series. ☹️  😄

 

Thanks Nigel.  No-one ever accused me of babying a car 🤣.  Many passengers have expressed a desire that I move in that direction.  I'm more of the school that 'a happy tyre is a squeeling tyre', or, as I express it, if it never slides then you don't know where the limit is.  I commuted in my Traveller to Glasgow from Essex monthly for about a decade, and then we drove it to Cornwall as my Wedding car.

 

Before that, I'd pepped the 1098 up to about 70hp so it would top at about true 85mph and I didn't have to fight with lorrys, oil dampers instead of friction dampers, alternator, electronic ignition, comfortable, adjustable leather seats in matching colour from a montego turbo (sounds bad but it worked), that remote Lucas brake servo from mini Cooper, alarm, proper 3.5kW heater core from a modern mini, 5-speed gearbox from a sierra...  My goal was Classic looks and reliable modern traffic capability.

 

Handbook downloaded.  That's going to be useful when I get calls from the other drivers who may not have paid the requisite attention to my wise words.  I expected the Handbook to apply to all models so I must experiment to discover whether my lowly SE can do as it claims.  I was pleased to discover a full-sized spare in the boot   That's one 'space saver' hunt task off the list.

 

Cheers,

Mike

9 hours ago, Jim H said:

This site gives a very good alternative to Haynes Manuals. It might me useful to you and others. It has manuals for most cars, even quite modern ones too. In the Skoda section there's one for the Enyaq.

 

Mk3 Fabia:  https://cardiagn.com/skoda-fabia-mk3-2015-2019-2020-workshop-manuals-wiring-diagrams/

Press the print icon to save to pdf.

Jim, that looks just the job!  Please can you check that they haven't removed the print function?  I've tried firefox, edge and chrome and even the temporary html files don't have a copy of the manual itself.

Thanks in advance

Mike

Great to see you used your "classic" properly.  I've been accused of not having enough "mechanical sympathy" but that was from someone that has far too much respect for lumps of metal.

 

A mate had a 1098 in his Spridget it seemed a very good choice until he swapped it for a Maestro (van) 1275 A+ engine that were some sort of surplus military stock order that were never used and had the engine worked on before fitting it.

 

I really like the look of your Moggy, one time I thought about buying a convertible with a 1275, I drove a 1000 car for a few days and loved the feel of it, except the brakes on it, I was told it was "driven every Sunday" yeah every blue-moon Sunday.

 

For the T9 box I can highly recommend the red heavy duty red saddle clips to take the slop out of the Ford or other black plastic ones.  The guy that used to sell them went to prison for making firearms so they're not as easy to find now but I think still about. Also give a miss to the Comma SX75W-90 GL4 or Ford 75w90 Transmission Oil – 1790199 and change to something like Castrol TRANSMAX Manual Multivehicle 75W-90 for better changes and protection especially when it's cold.  (I used a modern GL5 but that scared the **** out of many).

 

 

 

The 'Owner's Manual' you need to consult even for very simple and what should be straight forward things such as changing the remote battery, using the emergency keylock and key (blade) and other stuff I forget made Simply not Clever by VW although the book I think was written by a German trainee engineer translated to Chinese before being printed in English, it's nothing like a Driver's Handbook of old and VW keeping somethings secret.

 

Bear in mind what I put about the car battery state of charge too.

 

Edited 11 April, 20233 yr by nta16

14 hours ago, Miikey63 said:

Please can you check that they haven't removed the print function?  I've tried firefox, edge and chrome and even the temporary html files don't have a copy of the manual itself.

I don't know about the print feature as I use downloadable PDF (might be the same thing?).

 

I've just tried and at first got - 

 

I had to press the page reload 'button' (more than once second time) and then got to -

 

 

Verifying I was human got me to - 

 

When I went to download it my antivirus didn't like it so I stopped but I do have some of the pdf on my computer which you are welcome to if yo message me, I don't know how they relate to a 2019 model and don't have engine or gearbox.