Minor detail re. The jacking point inserts:

theres a longer version of the “hard plastic pin  insert” available, an Audi part for 12.95 post free on Ebay.    Were a touch too long in the Superb but easy enough to trim 5-6mm off with a multitool saw.  
For the rear positions covered by plastic undershields snd a small removable  cover, a 57mm hole saw worked perfectly for the jacking point inserts to fit.

Would save wasting the soft rubber halves/parts you have Commievid:

 

First pic shows the trimmed version

 

Edited 20 May, 20242 yr by Shuggyboatsuperb
Spelling and picture reference

Thanks for the heads up @Shuggyboatsuperb! Something for the near future!

 

Went and took off the steering wheel and replaced it with the original one, I think maybe 2 or 3 splines to the right. A short drive and it now feels centre, so will do for now.

 

In the future, I think I'll reinstall the wheel in the correct position based on the notches/guide marks, and then get the wheels aligned once the track rod ends are replaced, as that should be done as a matter of course. No idea if a 4 wheel alignment will be physically possible given the state of the rear suspension, but that's for the future.

 

Car went and had a moan about only having 35 miles of range left after the drive and in various modes, the thing took 61 litres, so quite a hungry thing and I guess 65 litres is the tank size.

 

Interestingly though, the cruise control still doesn't work with the original wheel back on.

 

So the only two things remaining is the replacement stalks, the heated steering capable clock spring, and the Kufatec loom.

 

I now suspect the Kufatec loom, but sod's law, it'll probably be the last of the three above that I check that might be the culprit. For now I'll swot up on the loom and the wiring between the two clock springs.

 

Maintenance: £2317.23

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Edited 21 May, 20242 yr by commievid

Well done on the MOT pass 🙌

Ok, so found a tiny bit of spare time before work to disconnect the battery again, and this time take off the wheel again, and put in the old clock spring.

 

This also means the Kufatec loom isn't in play, as they can't be isolated, with the old clock spring being 16 pin and the replacement being 14 pin.

 

Dry fitted the steering wheel back on so the airbag is loose for now, and well, the cruise control now seems fine, VCDS coming up with no faults and the measuring values showing the stalk is receiving inputs.

 

Continued on and replaced the original steering wheel with the new one, and it is still working.

 

So I can only suspect the replacement heated steering capable clock spring is the culprit here.

 

At this stage, can only guess it's the software being different?

 

Original non heated clock spring:

Address 16: Steering wheel (J524)       Labels:| 5Q0-953-549.clb
   Part No SW: 3Q0 953 521 BD    HW: 5Q0 953 569 A
   Component: Lenks.Modul   075 0195  
   Revision: FF033033    Serial number: 20160118401316
   Coding: 6410
   Shop #: WSC 73430 790 00063
   ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSVALEOMQB 001015
   ROD: EV_SMLSVALEOMQB.rod
   VCID: F3B833CBFB374B22A21-80A6

 

Replacement heated clock spring:

Address 16: Steering wheel (J524)       Labels:| 5Q0-953-549.clb
   Part No SW: 5Q0 953 521 ET    HW: 5Q0 953 569 B
   Component: Lenks.Modul   100 0265  
   Revision: FF035035    Serial number: 20220218501004
   Coding: 6410
   Shop #: WSC 66564 385 16448
   ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH 001007
   ROD: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH.rod
   VCID: 8842742792B158FA9F3-80DC

 

So the HW bump from 5Q0 953 569 A to 5Q0 953 569 B makes sense as that's what the rest of the forums suggest (either that or 5Q0 953 569 C).

 

But the software is probably the main difference, going from 3Q0 953 521 BD to 5Q0 953 521 ET, so not just a suffix change but prefix too.

 

Wild guess is that the 5Q0 was for a different car in the group.

 

So I guess the question is what next? Is it a case of finding someone with ODIS now to reset/reflash/update/rewrite the software on the clock spring? Is that a thing?

 

If it's possible, then I can refit the new clock spring and just get it sorted, otherwise, for now the car will just have to have the heated steering wheel without it working.

 

Any advice welcome!

 

Maintenance: £2317.23

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

 

 

Took the car out for a drive last night and unfortunately the cruise control stalk is still being a bit funny. Had an orange light when coming on, then when turned off and on again, nothing.

 

Suspect the replacement stalks might be dodgy now, so will put the original back on to try and ascertain if that's a reason. Probably not today though with the weather.

 

Car appears to be fine, the Bilstein's aren't super firm, less squidgy than before but can't tell as we're comparing relatively knackered OEM dampers.

 

Front wipers are really smudging the windscreen, could be due a replacement, but could the fact that the car has been laid up for a couple months and all sorts of rust proofing overspray and whatever is probably on the windscreen, so need to give it (and the entire in general) a proper exterior clean.

 

Looks like the front headlight washer totally misses and shoots straight up, which is sorta amusing.

 

Maintenance: £2317.23

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Edited 22 May, 20242 yr by commievid

So reinstalled the original stalks over lunch, and after a short drive, still not turning on, the car saying no ACC.

 

Seen several post which suggest to just let the car have a rest, so after work, went to do some shopping, and the cruise control and ACC and all worked absolutely fine.

 

So apart from the facelift steering wheel, it's pretty much reverted.

 

So either the replacement stalks are dodgy, or there's some coding or firmware that is misaligned. It was from a SEAT I suppose, so just enough difference in some software somewhere.

 

Not really sure how best to proceed, because it sounds like a load of stuff is in play:

• Stalks
• Clock spring
• CAN gateway
• BCM

Probably need to continue asking around. I'm less confident with any future virtual cockpit retrofit based on this steering wheel fiasco, but I'm hoping sheer stubbornness will get me somewhere.

 

Maintenance: £2317.23

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Just noticed on another post that there is coding around the speed limiter button being installed or not.

 

Double checked on VCDS this morning, and there it is. Interestingly, it's not obvious in the experimental features section, just in the normal coding section.

 

Setting that changes the coding from 6410 to 6414. This doesn't work on the original stalks (out of range). Will need to check the new one to see if it accepts the coding and whether that might do the trick.

 

So I'll do that when I spare moment, either this evening or Sunday by the looks of it.

 

-UPDATE-

 

So that was a bust. Once installed, tried to code it the same 6414 with speed limiter installed and the same out of range error. So am waiting for a few minutes before taking off the airbag and reinstalling the original stalks once again.

 

With the measurements facility on VCDS, it looks like most of the on/off and speed changes work, but the "Mode" button is registering as the "Set" button, the actual "Set" button does nothing, and the top slider for the ACC distance does nothing, until you let go, after which it then stays on "Increase" distance according to VCDS.

 

Based on that, my current guess is that software/firmware on the clock spring is a tad too old on the original clock spring and doesn't know the arrangement of the newer stalk, and that the replacement clock spring just has the wrong firmware for a Skoda.

 

I will start asking around based on that as my only lead. However, I don't really see anything on the Internet about firmware for the clock springs, so this might be a massively incorrect guess.

 

Maintenance: £2317.23

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Edited 24 May, 20242 yr by commievid

Something a little less exciting:

 

A new pair of wipers for the front. A pair of Bosch Aerotwins, namely 26U for the driver side, and 19U for the passenger. The 19U was suggested elsewhere on this forum instead of 18U. Came to £22.99 on eBay, not too bad I thought.

 

The wipers have a suffix U presumably for universal, as it comes with 4 different fittings to attach to the wiper. The box labels the Skoda as "4" (technically the 19U doesn't specify the Superb, but Octavia was on there, and well, it'll be 4 anyway).

 

So got the clip labelled "4" and slotted it in:

 

The manual was a little vague in orientation, but the wiper blade had an arrow as did the clips, so just aligned them to point the same way.

 

I then initially went to try and lift the wiper arm before realising it fouls the bonnet, so consulted the manual, and it suggests to turn the ignition on then off, then hold the wiper stalk to position "4". This position being downwards, the single wipe option (some cars call it mist). After a couple of seconds:

 

It goes and stays put, was expecting the position to be just slightly up, but this is fine.

 

I recall seeing a chap outside Halfords attempting to replace the wiper blades on his car, and when attempting to do so, removed the wiper blade and let go of the arm without the arm being opened up fully. The spring tension on the wiper arm then smacked back onto the windscreen, leaving him with an enormous crack on the windscreen.

 

Hence I didn't stop to take pictures of me pushing the square button down, pulling the old wiper off and sliding the new wiper blade on until the square bit clicked into place:

 

Repeat for the other side, then car ignition back and on and some wiggling of the wiper stalk. Quick test and it's streak free.

 

I might have gone a bit mad over the Bank Holiday weekend, and have started to entertain the idea of a clone ODIS interface coder to see what it can do. Might be a further waste of time and money, but I suppose better for now that it's my own.

 

Maintenance: £2340.22 (+£22.99)

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Fitting new blades and having a streakless windscreen brings me immense joy 🤣

Edited 28 May, 20242 yr by petrolcan

I mentioned going a bit mad. So went and bought a clone of the VW adapters and retrieved some versions of ODIS in some form or another.

 

For the curious, it was a VNCI 6154A, which was €107 which resulted in £95.10, and a €5 "activation" of ODIS, which meant £4.11

 

I then took another deep breath and paid up for membership to MHH Auto, which was $30 which meant £23.66. This allowed me to get a bunch of "Flashdaten", specifically, one for the Steering Module, in the hopes that would help.

 

After a good week of swotting up and mentally preparing, I reinstalled the 569 B version of the clock spring, with the newer indicator stalks, and went about attempting to flash the firmware for the steering module. This was specifically file FL_5Q0953521ET_0245.frf which ODIS-E highlighted automatically when selecting a local file.

 

Here's a snippet of the results log:

 

So essentially, I actually downgraded the version from 0265 to 0245, with the wild hope that it being the firmware for a Skoda (Brand C I think it was in all of that Flashdaten), that would help in some way.

 

It didn't. No real effect from what I can tell, there's still a "Short to Ground" fault with the CCS, so either the stalks are broken, or there's still something else amiss. No idea if parameterisation is one of the factors, or if it does involve updating the CAN gateway as well.

 

Not brave enough to do that, as I'll either need to acquire a just-as-dodgy online account, or get someone who has one for the component protection whatnot.

 

At the very least, the VNCI thing did appear to work, so at least I think I have the ability to mess around with firmware flashing.

 

For now though, disconnected the battery and waiting so I can take the airbag off the steering wheel and reinstall the original clock spring. Maybe I'll try the original indicator stalks first to see if that helps.

 

Any ideas welcome!

 

Maintenance: £2340.22

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £820.07 (+£122.87)

Edited 1 June, 20242 yr by commievid

So putting back the original indicators with the new clock spring still produced the same issues.

 

Putting back the original clock spring and original indicators and we're back to square one again.

 

The errors from VCDS:

Address 16: Steering wheel (J524)       Labels:| 5Q0-953-549.clb
   Part No SW: 5Q0 953 521 ET    HW: 5Q0 953 569 B
   Component: Lenks.Modul   100 0245  
   Revision: FF035035    Serial number: 20220218501004
   Coding: 6410
   Shop #: WSC 66564 385 16448
   ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH 001007
   ROD: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH.rod
   VCID: 8842742792B158FA9F3-80DC

4 Faults Found:
229127 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 11 [00001001] - Short to Ground
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.40 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.60 V
                    A/D #1: 0.00 %
                    A/D #2: 0.00 %
                    A/D #3: 0.00 %

229143 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 11 [00001001] - Short to Ground
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.40 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.60 V
                    A/D #1: 0.00 %
                    A/D #2: 0.00 %
                    A/D #3: 0.00 %

229145 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 12 [00001001] - Short to Plus
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 2
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.50 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.70 V

229160 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 29 [00001001] - Signal Implausible
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.40 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.60 V
                    A/D #1: 0.00 %
                    A/D #2: 0.00 %
                    A/D #3: 0.00 %

 

So right now, it's either:

• The replacement clock spring itself is broken
• There is something else, which is making the steering wheel module do things just differently for the cruise control switch to be handled differently

With the original clock spring and newer indicator stalks, the cruise control switch almost works, with the buttons being a little bit rearranged, presumably as the coding to allow for the speed limiter can't be applied to the original clock spring.

 

I'm not brave enough to flash the old clock spring with the same version as I tried with the newer clock spring, lest I mess that up with no way back.

 

If I could source even a second hand example of 5Q0 953 569 B (or C I think) then I could at least confirm whether its the replacement clock spring.

 

Maintenance: £2340.22

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £820.07

Edited 4 June, 20241 yr by commievid

So another set of clock springs and indicators arrived today, ordered last Monday, so took a week to arrive from Lithuania, bought for £180.79 from eBay.

 

The part number on this particular stalk is 5Q0 953 521 LA:

 

Costly yes, but to be honest I don't see it second hand for any cheaper and its a bit more brand new from most other sources. The item also appears to be from a 2017 Skoda Superb and also has the speed limiter button on the stalks:

Alas, like the original stalks, the cruise control is a bit worn. So decided to swap this clock spring onto the nicer looking stalks and did the entire rigmarole again.

 

Battery disconnected, wait about 15 minutes, airbag disconnected and out, bottom steering cowl disconnected, unbolt steering wheel, steering wheel out, indicators and clockspring removed, then reverse of all the previous.

 

Once the power was back on can immediately see the cruise control icon appear with the stalks, and plugging in the VCDS and checking the buttons, everything is absolutely fine!

 

So the VCDS scan for the Steering Module:

Address 16: Steering wheel (J524)       Labels:| 5Q0-953-549.clb
   Part No SW: 5Q0 953 521 LA    HW: 5Q0 953 569 B
   Component: Lenks.Modul   100 0245  
   Revision: FF036036    Serial number: 20170427500937 Dataset Number: V03935250QX 0001
   Coding: 6414
   Shop #: WSC 33361 790 00141
   ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH 001007
   ROD: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH.rod
   VCID: 7CAA98F75669845A0BB-8028

No fault code found.

 

So compared to the one that didn't work:

Address 16: Steering wheel (J524)       Labels:| 5Q0-953-549.clb
   Part No SW: 5Q0 953 521 ET    HW: 5Q0 953 569 B
   Component: Lenks.Modul   100 0245  
   Revision: FF035035    Serial number: 20220218501004
   Coding: 6410
   Shop #: WSC 66564 385 16448
   ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH 001007
   ROD: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH.rod
   VCID: 8842742792B158FA9F3-80DC

 

Part number differences of ET vs LA suffix, with the working one also having a dataset number field with the non-working one being blank. Is that the main difference?

 

So yeah:

 

Two wornish indicator stalks, two steering wheels, and two clock springs, with one either broken or just not compatible with the Skoda Superb:

 

Not sure what to do with the spoils. The flat bottom wheel could be used for a change of look. Not my cup of tea, the Superb is hardly an F1 car with restricted leg room or 270 degrees of steering lock to lock.

 

I guess I could sell the clock springs on as spares or repairs or something I suppose.

 

I'll need to check things over with a quick drive some time. For now, the heated wheel button doesn't work, and still only kicks in via the touch screen panel. Can only guess some coding somewhere is missing. For now, I'll leave it and take the very expensive victory.

 

Next thing I think I will swot up on is this:

Address 57: TV Tuner (R78)       Labels:| 8V0-919-DTV-V1.clb
   Part No SW: 8V0 919 191 G    HW: 8V0 919 191 B
   Component: DVB-DTV       H09 2660  
   Coding: 0304030000000101000000
   Shop #: WSC 73430 790 00063
   ASAM Dataset: EV_TVMELC 001039
   ROD: EV_TVMELC_VW37.rod
   VCID: 43D8230B6B173BA20A1-8016

1 Fault Found:
8211 - Antenna 1 for TV; Tuner Antenna Module; Antenna 
          B124F 13 [00001001] - Open Circuit
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 4
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 39
                    Mileage: 165771 km
                    Date: 2024.06.10
                    Time: 15:38:12

                    Voltage terminal 30: 11.5 V
                    Connection status antenna 1-Antenna current: 0 mA
                    Connection status antenna 1-TV tuner to impedance converter: electrically OK
                    Connection status antenna 1-Impedance converter to antenna: Open circuit
                    Connection status antenna 1-Phantom voltage: 5.1 V
                    Connection status antenna 1-level: 19

 

This has only popped up with the full scan today, no idea what it's about. Guess is one of the antennas needs replacing or a look, so I'll need to figure out which one is "Antenna 1". I did have some drama with the tailgate trim, and I can't help but feel some of the antennas are tucked behind said trim.

 

Maintenance: £2340.22

Upgrades: £1595.25 (+£180.79)

Miscellaneous: £820.07

Hey all, apologies for the pseudo thread revival!

 

It's been a while because the car has been dropped off to a body shop, specifically my nephew's in-law's bodyshop to have a crack at the sills.

 

Then went on holiday for a couple weeks.

 

Not sure when they started, but they've been cracking on:

 

I was presuming it would be a quick removal of rust and blowover, but instead looks a bit more thorough, wasn't expecting doors to be removed as part of the process! From the pics I've been sent, they're still at the rear arches from looking at the primer there. I've asked to not bother with the front bumper because I honestly reckon a complete replacement would be better value and I'll get there when I get there.

 

Guys involved are just as shocked as everyone else regarding the amount of rust, but hopefully, this'll help some.

 

No ETA but I'll assume it'll be another week or two, then I can find out whether the cost has genuinely meant this car was worth all that effort!

 

Maintenance: £2340.22

Upgrades: £1595.25

Miscellaneous: £820.07

Hi all, so last weekend got the car back, here's some random pics:

 

 

I think they technically missed a spot on the B-Pillar, where there's a bit of primer that wasn't covered with white, but it's nice and lacquered, so not going to worry. The rest is not too bad, and the use of the stone chip for the sill underside hopefully helps.

 

The benefit of having relatives in this industry is that from their overall quote of £2800, I was asked for less, and paid £1200 for the job.

 

Given the amount of effort, I'm very happy with the result. Most of the rust they encountered and ground down appears to have been surface rust somehow rather than my fear of coming from the inside out.

 

I'll give the car 3-4 years before I go further with it, and hopefully by then there'll be more power and whatnot assuming all's well. Assuming none of this comes back again...

 

Only niggles were that the doors were off which triggered the airbag light, but nothing the VCDS couldn't clear (missing sensors, which makes sense as the doors were missing).

 

The other niggle was that the car was left standing for long periods of time, which took its final toll on the battery. Despite leaving it overnight on a trickle charger, a trip to the petrol station to fill up left me stranded and standing like a lemon when my backup jump starter couldn't give it enough juice to tick over. I was at the mercy of a kind white van man who drove over and lobbed over his jump leads. Was super lucky he was around and it was early enough in the morning to have not caused a massive queue at the forecourt.

 

That poor original Moll battery was ditched, and amusingly, lying around in the garage was a 096 battery.

 

Specifically a Yuasa YBX5096, so technically not compatible with this car due to not really being suited to start-stop.

 

However, that's been on the trickle charger for years, and it starts up the car without issue, so will suffice whilst I recover from the bodyshop bill and swap it with a proper one. Wife doesn't like the start-stop so disabling it is usually the first thing she does, so the battery will tide me over for a while.

 

Would make sense that a YBX9096 is the target.

 

I think that's that for a while though. Maybe I'll take pics of a battery change if really required, but other than planning for the future and maybe some tiny bits, the car's ready to be used!

 

Maintenance: £3540.22 (+£1200.00)

Upgrades: £1595.25

Miscellaneous: £820.07

So something in the backlog over the bank holiday weekend:

 

A boot lip protector thingummy. Bit too late for this particular bumper in all honesty, but I'm hoping this covers what's already there.

 

So a quick dry fit:

 

With some wiggling to try and get it aligned:

 

Then a case of using some masking tape to mark where it goes, and give it a few wipes with the alcohol wipe provided:

 

Took a few breathes and:

 

Didn't succeed perfectly in all honestly, the right side is a little off by a few millimetres, but it's there now!

 

Got this particular thing from RGM, and was £69.56 with delivery for the standard black. To be honest, I think the gloss black would have matched up better with the trim pillar finishes, but it'll do for now!

 

Tow hitch is still bothering me, I'll need to get the back on ramps to get a proper look underneath I think.

I've ordered a replacement battery, using the 5% discount currently available on eBay. I'll take some pics of that whenever it arrives and goes in.

 

Maintenance: £3609.78 (+£69.56)

Upgrades: £1595.25

Miscellaneous: £820.07

This is a sucking eggs moment:

 

New battery arrived, a Yuasa YBX9096. I've found most batteries to be much of a muchness, and I guess I chose Yuasa as I've had a habit of getting either those or Bosch whenever I do. Could have also got a 7000 which I think is the EFB type, but decided to feel a bit fancy. It was also £116.83 from eBay with a 5% discount, which I felt was too good to ignore.

 

So here's some pics of me swapping out a battery, in maximum patronising mode:

 

Lifted the cover and took off the plastic cover for the negative terminal. I don't have a corresponding one for the positive, but it's completely unimportant. It's a 10mm bolt for the terminals. Disconnected the negative terminal, moved it out of the way, then the positive:

 

You'll notice I've got a CTEK trickle charger connecting thingummy on the positive terminal, so that gets slightly in the way:

 

So the battery cover needs to sorta slide under it to allow it to then be wiggled free. To be honest though, you could probably leave it on the battery, as the clamp bolt is visible and accessible:

 

It's a 13mm bolt for this, which then becomes one of those fiddly moments to get it and the clamp up and away. The battery sorta then slides forward before it can be lifted clear:

 

It's a reverse to get the new one in place. Might need a wiggle to get it to slide back into place:

 

Basically, if you can see the bolt hole for the clamp, then it's fiddly stuff to get it back in place:

 

It's 15Nm for the clamp bolt. The next fiddly bits involve the battery cover, and sliding that in between the terminals and battery and then pushing it into place:

 

The rest then just falls into place, so positive terminal first:

 

I have some battery terminal grease which I got the first time I ever picked up a spanner, so its been going on for some 14 years now! Just put a dab on the battery poles and the inside of the terminals, then bolted up to 6Nm:

 

So yeah, err, battery replaced. Only other thing is to tell the car its been changed. So basically just followed this: 

To code in the new battery parameters. So it's 19 - CAN Gateway -> Adaptations - 10 and then the appropriate channels:

 

So IDE03256-MAS06106-Battery adaptation-Battery technology which is now set to "Fleece".

 

 

With IDE03256-MAS06105-Battery adaptation-Rated battery capacity changed to 70(Ah) to match what it said on the outside of the battery.

 

The other two, for manufacturer and serial number aren't as important, one could do it for completeness really.

 

So that's that. I'll probably give it a short drive over the evening to see how the start stop feels, and I guess to get all those warning lights reset which will pop up with a replacement battery.

 

Maintenance: £3726.61 (+£116.83)

Upgrades: £1595.25

Miscellaneous: £820.07

On 20/05/2024 at 17:12, Shuggyboatsuperb said:

theres a longer version of the “hard plastic pin  insert” available, an Audi part for 12.95 post free on Ebay

Any chance of a link?

52 minutes ago, numskull said:

Any chance of a link?

Currently showing as out of stock - but keep an eye out

i heard these can be used without modification -  8N0804583 ?

 

15 minutes ago, dilino said:

i heard these can be used without modification -  8N0804583 ?

 

Both parts are needed- both the rubber with 4 “barbs” that pushes into the car as your part, then the hard plastic insert with “pin” that pushes and locks into this rubber to lock it into the car ( if available).

Hi all,

 

Hope Christmas has gone along swimmingly for all!

 

I've not had any updates for ages so apologies for this and the thread revival, but it's mainly because nothing dramatic has really happened.

 

Over the year, the car has shown two low oil level lights, so both occasions popped in a little over half a litre a time, so it's probably roughly using a litre every 4-5000 miles, which I think the VW group have covered themselves enough with them saying a litre every 1000 is considered acceptable?

 

The tyre pressure warning light was also coming on, in regards the front left. Looks like something happened so its been slowly leaking air, necessitating a pump up every 2 weeks, it looked like about 10 psi a week.

 

Took it to a tyre place who couldn't find anything untoward, so just removed the tyre, resealed and reinstalled, which came to £30.

 

I also spent £40 on a replacement rear ashtray, primarily so I could replace the socket with some USB ones:

 

So first mission was to remove the existing socket. To be honest, I still don't 100% remember how I did it:

 

But essentially, the silver metal barrel bit can be separated from the black plastic rear part, and once done, some twisting and swearing and the thing can be removed:

 

I think for anyone wanting to attempt this:

 

There are these black plastic tabs which keep the metal barrel in place, so I think attacking those is probably the way to go.

 

The replacement sockets are some AliExpress generic kind:

 

Which was £8.27 shipped, which doesn't immediately go in:

 

As the original socket is keyed, with the bottom right having a slight notch.

 

There's probably fancier ways to sort this out, but I ended just having at it with a sharp craft knife:

 

Few careful slices until the socket goes in. The replacement socket has a threaded plastic nut or ring to keep in place, however, the ashtray doesn't allow the ring to actually rotate, so the socket has to. This actually meant a few attempts before I got it to a position where it was tightened up and aligned:

 

This took way too much time than I'd like, about 4 goes with the constant winding in and out.

 

I took the original wiring socket and then poked out the grey wire:

 

 My guess is that wire was for illumination or something...?

 

Then it was a case of cutting off the remaining wires from the socket and crimping on replacement spades for the new socket. I went with typical car wiring convention of the positive being red, leaving brown as the negative (which I double checked given British house wiring has brown as live).

 

Then it was a case of just swapping out the old ashtray with the new one:

 

I will assume previous posts must have pics of the process given the rear console has been disassembled before.

 

It looks like the positive is permanently on, as the socket appears to illuminate even after the car is off, unless it turns off after a period of time and I haven't waited long enough. Regardless the replacement socket has its own on/off switch so it shouldn't be an issue.

 

No other dramas to report really, although there's been signs of carelessness:

 

A new rear bumper scrape, which I suppose is less annoying that if it was the fairly recently resprayed wings I guess. It's been up and down the country, so could have happened anywhere, I am assuming it'll be the wife or in laws somewhere.

 

Assuming all's well over the new year, it'll be the beginnings of some slightly bigger modifications. The front left tyre still needs observing, but I reckon ultimately I'll be swapping to 17" wheels. I think that could well be the first major thing, but money's a bit tight for the next few months, so we'll have to wait and see!

 

Maintenance: £2370.22 (+£30.00)

Upgrades: £1643.52 (+£48.27)

Miscellaneous: £820.07

Well that was a long read, we had an A4 in last week that had snapped its rear roll bar, its a first for us. 

 

I've never seen one as rusty as this underneath, mines a 2016 and nothing like this.

 

Rear springs - you don't need to use compressors, remove the bolts, jack under the arm and lower it. Those compressors work well on  Fiestas though !!

On 14/04/2024 at 22:14, commievid said:

It's a little nerve wracking given the compressors have to compress QUITE A LOT. I guess most people undo the hub nut to get the arm completely free and down.

 

It probably would make this a lot simpler to be honest, but it assumes that the bolt will actually disconnect from the hub and I think I have already noted on a previous post, that I would bet my mortgage on the bolt being seized into the hub bolt.

"...remove the bolts..." is three words but I guarantee would have been days of fury. I'll be replacing those bottom arms and cutting things out if I ever want to do anything with the rear springs without the compressors.

Hi all,

Apologies for the thread revival, didn't think a new thread for the same car made sense.

It's been a little over a year since we got the Superb down to England and started this whole odyssey.

So here's a (not) wild thing:

Rear rubber mats! This has been on the back burner for ages, and decided time to order them along with other stuff from Skoda Parts.

This was 3V0 061 551 in particular. I also ordered a seal for the oil pan, 06K 103 649 J and an o-ring for the oil level sensor, 038 103 196 B. This is for the future, as part of additional moments of madness.

That came up to €74.60 which at the time of ordering came to £62.34. I miss pre-Brexit...

To complete the madness:

Wheels. The original plan this year was to just do a stage 1 and leave the wheels and other bits for later, but with the front left wheel looking like it's losing air slowly, and a tyre place not identifying the tyre as the cause, leaves me to believe the corrosion on the wheels is probably the cause.

So decided why not, just splurge and deal with the consequences later. Came to a total of £660.24, taking two weeks to arrive.

These are Bola FLE's in 17x7.5 with ET40. I think if my homework is correct, this will leave the wheels a 2 couple of millimetres inward, so ideally ET38 would have been bang on, but these wheels only go as far as ET40. I guess I could get spacers, but the point of these wheels and this size was weight.

The original wheels will be offloaded, so I'll probably put them up for sale once removed to save some space.

With no tyres on:

They weigh 7.6kg, so roughly as per website statements (I saw 7.4kg mentioned, presumably with different offsets and so less metal). Any lighter and it'll start becoming really exotic and thus really expensive (Magnesium? Carbon Fibre?).

There will be more updates over the next few months, how far I go though depends whether the credit card burns out.

I mean, tyres are the next thing right?

Maintenance: £2370.22

Upgrades: £2366.10 (+£722.58)

Miscellaneous: £820.07

Early this Saturday morning:

Packed the wheels into the boot ready to head to a local tyre place. Booked an early slot to attempt to beat the rabble of traffic that wakes up and slows things down mid morning on weekends.

15 minutes later and a quick drive home:

Tyres all fitted! Decided on a set of Continentals, AllSeasonContact 2 specifically, 225/55/17 for those interested, W speed 101 XL for the boffins.

Normally, I would have got some Michelin CrossClimates (the same as currently on the 19s), but for all intents an purposes, the internet pretty much stated "they're newer, so they're better" and I pretty much just went for them based on that. Presumably, once Michelin release a CrossClimate 3, they'll be immediately top dog again.

WIth a 15% discount from BlackCircles, the tyres came to £546.44.

Whilst offloading, took the opportunity to weigh one up:

So 16.9kg, so the tyre is a smidge over 10kg, I suppose as light as they're gonna get. Weights of actual tyres are actually never ever mentioned or considered in the scheme of things, which does seem amiss, I would be curious about whether there's a correlation between performance, profiles and other factors.

Originally, the plan was to fit these at a later time, as I would need to source different wheel bolts, to transition from the ball seat to taper seat that aftermarket wheels would have.

Fortunately though, the kind people at Driftworks where I purchased the wheels from threw in these alongside spigot rings:

A set of tuner wheel bolts, which pretty much mean there's no obstacles. It's pretty much a standard wheel swap. I took the opportunity whilst jacking up the car to also fit these:

These were purchased from lllparts ages ago, I think they're meant for things like Audi's or whatnot, and were mentioned in a few previous posts. Specifically that the intended part doesn't exist anymore, and previous posts suggest to trim these down, given they stick out a bit as per the pic above.

I'm probably just going to leave them as is for now, as they actually help highlight where to jack at a glance. I believe I've tallied the rubber parts in an earlier post, so the other bits here came to £77.34 with shipping, so a bit on the expensive side.

Just a case of pushing the rubber part into the holes on the underside, then slide the other part into the rubber:

Then a jack is used to push the other part until it clicks into place in the rubber:

So pretty much jack up a corner, take existing wheel off, set up the new wheel with the spigot ring, grease and whatnot and fit the new ones on.

So new wheel on (much easier as much lighter!):

Clearance of the caliper for the front:

Then the other side:

Torqued the bolts up to 140Nm, and then off to look at the wheel caps.

The Bola wheel centre caps supplied with the wheels have a metal Bola branded disc of sorts attached to the cap with a sort of adhesive:

So with some hacking with a craft knife, allowed some leverage to get the discs off:

Then, stuck some random Skoda wheel stickers. These were 56mm stickers from AliExpress, £4.37:

The stickers are a tiny bit larger than the caps, so 54mm would be the more appropriate size, but I reckon they'll be fine as is. If they don't and fly off, well, I'll just source smaller ones.

Those just push fit:

Done:

Day trip out showed enough differences over bumps and ramps, and effectively Sport mode being as comfy as Comfort was with the 19s. Wife also found it much easier to keep going too fast on the motorway, so maybe the weight reduction has done something.

Time will tell in regards MPG, hopeful of an improvement.

Once home though, noticed a grinding when slowing down, and a whine when reversing. The rear left wheel was warm, and sure enough, some water over the brakes and they were steaming.

So looks like the caliper is stuck, so I'll see if I can address that tomorrow. I'm loathed to spend any more money on the existing brakes as some other things are on the cards...

Gave the old wheels a quick clean:

Then lugged one of them into the house to weigh:

So 23.55kg on the scales, so over 6.5kg a corner! So more than 26kg of unsprung weight saved, which I'm sure will mean all sorts of benefits.

The 19s are in a horrid state, and with one slowly leaking air, all would need refurbishing, which would be a tiny bit more cost wise if there was a desire to keep them diamond cut. The tyres are probably usable for a few more months, though some have more wear on the inside of the tyres, which does suggest I should probably get the geometry checked.

I'll stick them up for sale, hopefully for what is considered a bargain price...

For now, the rear left caliper would be the current urgent thing to look at.

Maintenance: £2370.22

Upgrades: £2994.25 (+£628.15)

Miscellaneous: £820.07