I bought the car in Sept 2023. It has a mainly Full Service History via invoices passed on to me and a stamped service book (not main dealer or VAG Indie).

 

I can do my own servicing; have trolley jack, socket sets, electric impact wrench, torque wrench etc. Obviously, it would be cheaper (local indie charges £148, £210, £285 for Interim, Full, Major Service) but I don't feel fully committed to the car (overly light steering, somehow it's a bit dull to drive despite impressive power from the 1.2 Turbo engine). How would a prospective future owner view my 'own servicing'.

 

Also, I'm sceptical of garages. The last service bill (Apr 2023) included replacement of the off side front suspension arm and included just £10 for tracking. I took the car for a wheel alignment check 2 weeks ago (NS slightly too much toe in, OS too much toe out) and the guy said he could see where they'd marked the track rods before dismantling, so I reckon this was their idea of tracking, yet the garage gets 5 stars on Google reviews. 

What has been done recently in the way of servicing since you have a Full History? 

 

What are you going to do?   

A 12 year old car getting Serviced with invoices for consumables is as good as any random Service Record from a garage.

 

Spark Plugs, Pollen & Air Filter, Oil & Filter change,  Service Brakes.

2 hours ago, Rooted said:

What has been done recently in the way of servicing since you have a Full History? 

 

22/04/22 62,760mls

Service (and MOT)

Engine Oil

Oil Filter

Air Filter

 

12/04/23 73,700mls

Service (and MOT)

Engine Oil

Oil Filter

Air Filter

 

Repairs

O/s Lower Arm

Antifreeze (spelt Anti Freeze) top up

Balance wheels

Tracking 

 

Useful exercise this, as it's prompted me to look at last plugs change, which was 23/05/16 (24,849 mls) 😲 by a Ford garage. I know they're long life and expensive, but that's maybe taking it a bit far.

 

Had a new turbo and actuator in 2020, £1200😲.

 

Edit: The one gap in the service history is 2020 and according to the grid @Rooted posted above, that was the year for the 2nd plug change, so despite stamping the book in 2021, and therefore having sight of it, the same garage that did the last two services, missed (or ignored) the requirement for a plug change.

Edited 13 March, 20242 yr by phs12

23 hours ago, phs12 said:

overly light steering 

 There appears to be an option to change the weighting in VCDS

 

Only just got round to starting the service yesterday.

 

Shopping list was;

 

VW 502 type Oil

Oil Filter

Cabin Filter

Brake Fluid

Front Wipers (for future fitment)

The Air Filter was checked on Monday and was still clean as I've only covered about 1k miles since the car was purchased.

 

After searching through ECP, CP4L, GSF and Halfords, to my surprise the latter was just about the cheapest for every single part. This included £5 off a minimum £30 spend by joining their Motoring Club for Free plus 10% off "Car Parts" on the 2 filters. My final purchases were;

 

Halfords 5W40 N4 Oil (5 litre) £27.79

MANN W712/94 Oil Filter £8.86 after 10% discount

Bosch Pollen Filter £6.13 after 10% discount

Comma DOT 4 ESP Brake Fluid £10.49

Bosch A502S Wipers £20.78

 

No Sump Plug at Halfords, so a visit to GSF (no Skoda dealer or TPS nearby) procured one for £3.07.

 

1. Oil Change

 

Here's the old filter.

 

https://imgur.com/a/XWygRVo

 

Difficult to check whether this was the correct item. Crosland website unhelpful and refers you to ECP as sole supplier.

 

I only needed to jack up the front offside to access the 19mm Hex drain plug. Amazingly easy to withdraw the plug without getting oil down my arm and no spillage at all. 

 

Filter easily accessed from the top, but can't recommend the chain type filter I have for this job as it's more suitable when there's a side on approach. Just about managed to loosen it for hand untightening. No oil spillage as the oil drains down away from the filter. Left the oil to drain while I got on with other things.

 

2, Cabin Filter

 

The old one pretty dirty.

 

[img]https://i.imgur.com/GpO34qR.jpg[/img]

 

Not changed since 2018 and 37k miles the service history suggests.

 

Already checked this a few months back, so knew it was only a 5min job. Just push the two clips inwards and the cover comes off. Slide the old one out and the new one in observing the air flow arrow on old and new filter and hope that the old one was in the correct way round (air flow pointing towards the driver's side)?

 

Are we allowed to upload files direct, like this?

 

 

3. Next was inspecting the rear brakes. I already knew there was a problem here as the handbrake had locked on solid one day in the winter (since read it's a Fabia thing) and the handbrake wasn't holding great. MOT time approaching so this needed sorting.

 

I'll start a new thread for this as it might help others more than if it's on this one.

 

Whilst the car was up at the back, I took the opportunity to try cracking open the bleed valves after a double application of penetrating oil. All good there with a 7mm ring spanner after I wire brushed off the surface rust.

 

Working today but I'm on with more items to address tomorrow.

 

Yes the old "Halfords cheaper than ECP" while Halfords are sourcing these parts from ECP, something that I've become aware of - but ALWAYS check to make sure that is true and don't just assume it is, because it isn't always true.

 

I was recently wanting to buy Lemforder lower swivels for a 2015 VW Polo, slightly cheaper from Halfords, BUT as stocks are low, Halfords are declaring them "not available" while ECP was still selling them.  Annoyingly, the Halfords website was not really declaring them "not available" - just sending me round in a loop when I tried to select them, so please note that Halfords website has not been designed and maintained by a competent software house, just thicko's or lazy stupid people.  I had to stop raging to myself and get around chatting to a "bot" before this was pointed out, no "sorry our website is terrible" just "item is showing as being not available", ah well!

 

While on the topic of parts, if using Halfords or ECP, please be aware that ECP is playing some "funky" games/tricks at times - like when I checked for the Sachs part number for rear springs for a 2015 VW Polo, ordered them online from ECP, what was handed over was not the correct Sachs part number on the Sachs branded boxes, just no Sachs label instead a ECP label with what I know is a Lesjofors set of part numbers for a shorter spring! So needed to create a "returns" via the ECP website and hand them back in, ECP "contact us" help said just to aske the branch that I use to source the correct Sachs parts - and that did not turn out to be a option, a bit annoying using ECP, but I end up close to them every Wednesday while we look after a grandson. I keep saying that for a DIYer, using ECP can sometimes save you time and money, and can be convenient, but only if you really really do your homework.

Thu (22/08/24)

 

Only really had half a day (food shopping in the morning and by the time I'd got to my mum's then had lunch it was about 3:30).

 

Front Pads 1

Raised the front and supported on axle stands. Somewhat optimistically as it turned out, I removed both wheels and set to work removing the brake pads for a clean up and regrease. Before removing the wheels, I attempted to turn both. The near-side turned normally but the off-side was very stiff to turn indicating a problem.

 

After some time researching on the internet to try and find what caliper I had for anything specific about removing the pads from these calipers I gave up and just had a go. The caliper seemed to be marked 542. Seems to be a large caliper for a Fabia but maybe that's because it's 105PS?

 

It looked like the first thing to do was remove the wirey spring that clipped onto the top and bottom and into two holes in the caliper. Then I removed the two guide pins (each protected by a rubber cap) using a 7mm Hex bit. Thankfully, no turning nut to hold with a thin spanner as on some cars.

 

After some light hammering, I managed to remove the caliper and tied it up to the coil spring, first removing the inboard pad from the piston. The outboard pad was stuck fast and wouldn't budge. I sprayed the contact points with penetrating fluid and left it a while. I eventually managed to release the pad, cleaned up all contact surfaces, greased with Ceratec and re-assembled. 

 

And that, was all I got done yesterday.

 

Today (23/08/24)

 

Front Pads 2

Did the same with the near side (the pads weren't stuck) which probably took half the time.

 

There's always something to slow you down though. I'd already cracked open the rear bleed nipples (7mm) on Tuesday ( swiftly closed up), so  now it was time to try those at the front. With a nice fat 10mm nut you'd think it would be no problem but a 10mm socket wouldn't fit. I tried a 10mm spanner on each of the (is it five) possible positions but on one it would not fit. Spent 10mins with a grinding attachment in my dremel type tool carefully grinding off what I assume was a burr on each of those sides until eventually the spanner fitted on, but tight. Then I used a 6 point socket from my impact set on a T-bar and after several applications of penetrating oil it cracked open.Phew!

 

Bleeding

Fairly straightforward with my years old Gunsons pressure bleeder. Followed the Rear Left, Rear Right, Front Left, Front right sequence. The fluid came out light green on the first wheel but got progressively darker as I moved on, looking dirty black by the finish, so probably not bled for a while. 

 

Underbody checks

I'd already jacked up the rear to do the bleeding, so got underneath and checked the exhaust mountings, underbody fixtures (lots of plastic protection), then at the front, checked CV boot condition. steering gaiters, tie rod ball joint dust covers, lower suspension arm ball joint dust covers.

 

Finally, while the front wheels were off, I gave them a clean on the inside with a mildly acidic wheel cleaner as it's obviously much easier to clean this area while the wheels are off the car. Replaced the wheels, torqued up and lowered to the ground.  

 

 

 

 

Edited 23 August, 20241 yr by phs12
Bracket closure

The car passed its 12th MOT today😃

 

Advisory for "Oil leak, but not excessive". Any regular places for leaks on Fabia 2? 

1 hour ago, phs12 said:

The car passed its 12th MOT today😃

 

Advisory for "Oil leak, but not excessive". Any regular places for leaks on Fabia 2? 

 

Yes, from the engine, whatever that is!

Well, one thing that the 1.4 16V petrol engines suffered from, round about the 2008>2009 production period, was duff/possibly leaking O-ring seals on the engine oil separator, and that can lead to a film of oil existing on the lower surface of the inlet manifold, and maybe even dripping down from there.

 

But as said or inferred earlier, which engine is in this car?

 

Edit:- okay, I’d forgotten the “TSI” being mentioned, so dump my first suggestion and check the PCV .

Edited 4 September, 20241 yr by rum4mo

On 04/09/2024 at 12:59, rum4mo said:

Edit:- okay, I’d forgotten the “TSI” being mentioned, so dump my first suggestion and check the PCV .

You were right @rum4mo, broken crankcase valve which I replaced today.

Oil Service

25/09/2025

82,385mls

Oil - Castrol Edge 5w-30 LL 4L

Filter - Mann 501440609

Sump Plug - BGA PK0101

Plugs & Ignition Lead set

23/12/2025

83,053mls

Plugs

Uploading Attachment...

Ignition Lead Set

Edited 23 December, 202523 Dec by phs12
Slow upload

Having problems editing my posts, so start again.

Spark Plug & Ignition Lead set

23/12/2025

83,053mls

Plugs

NGK IZFR6P7 Stock No 97153

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Abwmjfky3BsjukpP9

old plugs

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeFNdqk88UCCqnyC8

Do they indicate any problems?

Leads with Marten protection

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pvX8ZaLLGavEZ9L99

Clips on the metal pipes can't be used with these.

CI X1698 (box marked Commercial Ignition and Quinton Hazell

Edited 23 December, 202523 Dec by phs12
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