First time poster, let me know if I'm out of order in any way.

I am the most recent owner for an abused 2001 1.6 (MPI, AEE) Skoda Felicia Fun, and he is desperately wanting his clutch cable changed. I bought one (Maxgear 32-0206), and handed it to a local mechanic to fit for me while he was having some more work done. Apparently it has the wrong attachments, and isn't compatable with my Fun, and the mechanic isn't able to buy the genuine article as it is out of production everywhere. Any help would be appreciated, be that reassurance that I have the right part and my mechanic is wrong, or a link to the correct part.

Thank you all in advance :)

Hi welcome.

Sorry I don't know the vehicle but others will know more details and places to perhaps get parts, as they're VW there might be a VW part number on the original part (if it is original or VW part) and you can look up based on that VW part number, the part and part number might have been superseded too.

You can also look in the threads on this forum and perhaps Classic Skoda Guides and Classic SKODA Projects forums for information (links below).

Perhaps an old long time VW or VWŠkoda garage (ex)Dealership might be able to help with parts and information (but VW got rid of the old friendly helpful (real) Škoda backstreet garages to be more corporate decades back).

Unless your local mechanic is an old car, VW or Škoda fan I doubt if he (always a he) will have any intertest and put in much effort (like many/most of them for any vehicle in the English motor trade).

If you have not already tried them here are a few of the more obviously suppliers you could try. -

Škoda parts - https://www.skoda-parts.com/online-store.html

7zap -https://7zap.com/en/catalog/cars/Skoda/

LLL Parts UK - https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/skoda/CZ/FAB

Classic Skoda Guides forum. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/178-classic-skoda-guides/

Classic SKODA Projects forum. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/206-classic-skoda-projects/

HTH.

Wow thank you for the detailed response. I am now 100% sure that I have the right part, and 100% sure I'm not going back to that mechanic ;)

I'll try and find some time to get it up on blocks and switched, thank you for the resources linked as well, they've already been very helpful

Unfortunately I have a few decades experience of the English motor trade and a lot of the experiences aren't good to bad or very bad and even cons so that's why I started doing work on my cars myself as often I could do a better job just because I cared more to and I'm mechanically inclined or can do brilliant work plus I loathe(d) working on our own car(s) (but don't mind doing small jobs on other people's car).

If you need any general advice on working on old cars I can offer very general advice, one point is always take your time, be patient and double and treble check before, during and after doing the work.

I once fitted a clutch cable to my FIAT in a mate's garage and when I asked my mate to start the car so we could check the clutch worked OK the car leapt forward as I had put fitted something back-to-front, good thing it was a very short car otherwise it might have hit the rear wall. Goes to the old adage "measure twice cut once", or in my case check thrice, obviously I none neither or well enough that time.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Ha ha that's gold with the clutch :3

I deliberately bought an older car so I could work on it, but the buy-in cost of tools is slightly too much for bigger jobs like this right now.

I'm hoping to be changing the pads next week on my own, wish me luck ;)

Yes the Germans love their dedicated tools (bloody self-closing hose clamps for one.

I have no idea what special tools you might need for changing a clutch cable but if VW insisted on them if you can find someone who used to work on these cars independent garages you might find they used standard tools or adapted/modified old tools for certain jobs.

General tools are lower priced now than in the past even better quality ones but some cheap ones are absolute rubbish and not even worth having for one use only. Old second hand tools in perhaps odd sets can be bargains. Some of the cheap names are pretty good too for DIY use Bergen/US Pro tools I've found to be good for price. Halfords Advanced used to be very good at very good prices but prices are higher now and very few special offers. Even the cheap just Halford tools were alright but I don't know about now.

I gave away a few sets of spanners and sockets over the years, not realising some were good quality as they were from the 70s and early 80s and the likes of the screwdrivers I had to buy two at a time as that's all I could afford one at least is a collector's item £50 when I was looking for good s/h screwdrivers that fit my small chubby hands and fingers. My wife bought me some for a present and they were all ruined by someone without a clue cutting and grinding back to shape, I use them to open the lids on the tin of wood preserver.

For brakes particularly THE most important system, components and parts on the car (and tyres are part of the braking system) you want the job done properly so plan everything well in advance, get everything together before you start the work, check you have stock of all you need plus reserves where appropriate or might be needed. You can't always reuse the existing fixings so check that and their condition, someone might have butchered them, or fitted the wrong parts or fittings previously. Never assume any part just because it is on the car is working is fully fitted properly or fully functioning proper, don't copy what's there check how it should be before you start the work.

As said before allow loads more time than you think you will need and all conditions like, weather, the light available, space available, tools, consumables, cleaning car, parts, area and yourself (brakes are often a very dirty business). As much as possible use the correct tools or at least very appropriate tools, don't risk damaging or breaking anything.

Forget WD-40 Muti-Use instead use GT85 as a longer lasting lubricant and as a penetrating/releasing fluid (or PlusGas for penetrating/releasing fluid but it's not ass good as it used). Clean area as required, shake can well if spray, apply, leave to soak as long as possible (over night or longer if possible) slightly tighten if possible (to break rust/muck seal) before try to loosen, never over force fixing or they might shear.

When getting the break pistons back don't forget to allow for brake fluid rise in reservoir but don't let dirt or moisture get into the reservoir.

If you are changing the pads aren't you also changing the discs? What about the rear brakes and handbrake?

Good luck, stay safe, believe me a small injury you shrug off when you're young can turn into a bigger regret when you're older and much older and you wish you hadn't been so macho (another description of stupid) back when.

Thank you very much, Nigel. That's all good advice :)

I was going to buy a jack and stands, but then someone stole both my numberplates before I could go on a trip so that's where that money has gone lmao.

GT85 is a good shout, and preparing for the extra hardware wasn't something I had considered even though I know damn well that they are thin metal crap.

I'm trying to work out why you would need a specialist tool. Is it just to lock the clutch arm? I did a gearbox on a 1.6 years ago and can't remember it being anything special at the gearbox end (never took the pedal box end of the cable off). My normal method of doing a clutch cable is press the pedal, get a volunteer to hold the clutch arm in place with a crowbar, release the pedal and the cable should be loose to move.

Do you need to raise the car much to do the clutch, could you improvise something (safe of course) borrow jack and stands or could you use ramps or (safe) improvised ramps. At least your wheels and tyres should fit on wheel ramps. I like to keep the car as much as possible with all four tyres on thee ground.

Always clean and check any tools or equipment you borrow well before doing the work, lubricate as required to ease operating them, even if you where given the tools and equipment dirty do consider handing them back clean, fully working and lubricate some with appreciate this and be more willing to lend out more or again, some might just take advantage but learning how to handle such people is part of life. Many people with decent tools may not lend them out or be very reluctant.

Unless the suspension has sunk or dropped there's a reasonable amount of ground clearance for some jobs under the car I guess (could well be wrong) also depends on your body and body health. ETA: StevesTruck may say you can't do this job without some lift.

Doing the brakes of course will need the car supported.

I remember owners of old cars telling others you only need a few basic tools, basic tools yes, a few may get you started on many/some jobs but the more you do the more you find no matter how many tools you have you could do with different ones to make the work that much easier, and then you need storage for all these tools.

Always look after the tools, don't say use decent screwdrivers as chisels or prybars. And if working on/under rusty or mucky cars have eye protection, the eye A&E has closing hours! 😄

Proper tradesmen or craftsmen (not me) were taught how to make some of their tools of the trade and may keep or still be using them when they retire. If you don't have much money then you buy the best you can afford and look after them. You can buy full sets now for reasonable costs instead of buying individually - of course you have to prevent them being stolen, or lost.

I had those Allen keys since 1979, no idea where I left them, imperial too . . . 😢

On 11/06/2025 at 18:08, nta16 said:

Sorry I don't know the vehicle but others will know more details and places to perhaps get parts, as they're VW

Felicia is not a VW. It's a facelifted Favorit, only fraction of the parts was carried over from contemporary VWs. Fir example, the 1.6 is a VW engine, but it used an adaptor plate to mate it to Skoda gearbox. Unfortunately that means that the cable is also Favorit/Felicia specific part.

@Schloompa Is your Fun equipped with AC? Some cables and hoses were specific for variants with AC to clear the larger heater box, but I'm not sure if that includes the clutch cable.

2 hours ago, Papez said:

Felicia is not a VW. It's a facelifted Favorit, only fraction of the parts was carried over from contemporary VWs.

VW took over Škoda whilst the Favorit was a current model as that is when I had my Škodas and my wife had her Favorit and corporate VWŠkoda UK wanted to get rid of the friendly helpful back street Škoda Dealership to be more corporate VW, those that didn't or couldn't conform to this had to go, Dealerships and customers. The Felicia followed the Favorit, similar shape but more fashionably rounded for the time.

If you look again you will see I did put there might be a VW part number on the original part (if it is original or VW part) not that there was a VW part number necessarily, as I don't know as I'm not an expert but anyone can look for any numbers on parts to perhaps give clues to the parts required, VW part numbers or not, subject to the part being correct for application, but detective work is needed and might not lead you anywhere.

This why someone like yourself is needed to help Schloompa identify and get the correct part (or one that can successfully be used)you know specifics I only know generalities some of which are experience with Škodas in the UK in the mid-80s to early 90s, ordering all sorts of parts for different items since the later 1970s and living fulltime in England since 1960. Admittedly I might not always remember things correctly but that life and age. 😄

Edited 17 June17 Jun by nta16

7 hours ago, nta16 said:

there might be a VW part number on the original part (if it is original or VW part)

For educational purposes: the side repeater cover of Felicia is orange, i have found that some others (even crystal clear) from VW models as Golf/Polo with a bit different front shape can fit, i have them for more than 15 years.

I go to a VW parts store and i give them the VW code, they ask me ''which VW model you have'' and when i answer ''a Felicia'' the look me in a weird way. 😃

Small English car manufacturers used to use car parts sourced from different large car manufacturers and sometimes "modify" or modify them for fit, my mate was up in his 1996 car this morning that has Ford and Rover parts that I can think of. Or even within the same group of companies parts were often shared, such as an MG having a Morris steering but fitted other way up. And luxury brand like Aston Martin or (formerly sports) Lotus having BL parts from humble family cars.

Then of the car manufacturers don't make most of the parts anyway . . .

19 hours ago, nta16 said:

If you look again you will see I did put there might be a VW part number on the original part (if it is original or VW part) not that there was a VW part number necessarily, as I don't know as I'm not an expert

My point is that this is not the right assumption in case of Felicia. They did use safety systems and engines from VW, and Felicia had a similar design language to Polo.. but that's where similarity ends. So it's better to not rely on finding parts in the VW parts bucket. That's overall advice when dealing with Felicia repairs and service - it's no different from previous Skoda models (=it's becoming impossible to get actually good quality spare parts)

Looking into catalogue, it seems that the maxgearnpart is for an LHD Felicia. RHD is a different part (6U2721335A/E/G)

14 hours ago, nta16 said:

And luxury brand like Aston Martin or (formerly sports) Lotus having BL parts from humble family cars.

I remember in Youtube, Jaguar owners making complains that their car had interior parts from Ford trucks, Maserati from Chrysler etc.

2 hours ago, Papez said:

My point is that this is not the right assumption in case of Felicia.

Yes fair enough my mistake to put VW, should have just put look for any numbers that might be part numbers on the part to help identify the part but of course these numbers, if any are on the part, may not be part numbers at all, just somewhere to start from.

2 hours ago, Papez said:

Looking into catalogue, it seems that the maxgearnpart is for an LHD Felicia. RHD is a different part (6U2721335A/E/G)

Well done on finding the information on the Maxgear 32-0206, I didn't look it up and a quick Google search now and first result shows this to be, to me, a worryingly inexpensive cable suggesting possibly not the highest quality but I could well be wrong, at Autodoc a supplier, like many others, that seems to offer these low priced brands of part manufacturers that possible buy the same Chinese made part but again I could well be wrong and I have never bought any parts from Autodoc and see they also sell from brands with reputations for well made parts.

Checking the correct part is ordered and delivered and is correct for application, preferably well before installation so there might be time to get it's correct replacement and not at point of having the car apart and then discovering it's the wrong part is all, er, part of the process of doing the work.

It's bad enough when you get the correct part and find it's not as well made as it should be or is faulty or not fully functioning, often you might find this later with common use of the car and have to start the whole process all over again, oh the great joy of that!

I have ordered the wrong part and manufacturers have sent me the wrong part, sometimes miscatalogued, or part miss-boxed and or labelled and the greatest joy a faulty or wrongly made part that is "one in 5,000" or "one in 20,000" errors and of course, a favourite, "you are the first person to have a problem with this".

On 16/06/2025 at 20:08, nta16 said:

Do you need to raise the car much to do the clutch, could you improvise something (safe of course) borrow jack and stands or could you use ramps or (safe) improvised ramps. At least your wheels and tyres should fit on wheel ramps. I like to keep the car as much as possible with all four tyres on thee ground.

Always clean and check any tools or equipment you borrow well before doing the work, lubricate as required to ease operating them, even if you where given the tools and equipment dirty do consider handing them back clean, fully working and lubricate some with appreciate this and be more willing to lend out more or again, some might just take advantage but learning how to handle such people is part of life. Many people with decent tools may not lend them out or be very reluctant.

Unless the suspension has sunk or dropped there's a reasonable amount of ground clearance for some jobs under the car I guess (could well be wrong) also depends on your body and body health. ETA: StevesTruck may say you can't do this job without some lift.

Doing the brakes of course will need the car supported.

I remember owners of old cars telling others you only need a few basic tools, basic tools yes, a few may get you started on many/some jobs but the more you do the more you find no matter how many tools you have you could do with different ones to make the work that much easier, and then you need storage for all these tools.

Always look after the tools, don't say use decent screwdrivers as chisels or prybars. And if working on/under rusty or mucky cars have eye protection, the eye A&E has closing hours! 😄

Proper tradesmen or craftsmen (not me) were taught how to make some of their tools of the trade and may keep or still be using them when they retire. If you don't have much money then you buy the best you can afford and look after them. You can buy full sets now for reasonable costs instead of buying individually - of course you have to prevent them being stolen, or lost.

I had those Allen keys since 1979, no idea where I left them, imperial too . . . 😢

When I did the gearbox on my old pickup, I had the car on stands. You'll need to get under to pull the driveshafts out and undo all the bell housing bolts, so how far you want to lift it depends on your physique. Bear in mind it's a Skoda box, not a VW one, so the driveshaft has a spline that goes into the box and makes the oil seal, rather than bolting onto an output shaft. By necessity, I did mine on axle stands, and lifted the box out the top (it wasn't particularly heavy).

5 hours ago, Papez said:

Looking into catalogue, it seems that the maxgearnpart is for an LHD Felicia. RHD is a different part (6U2721335A/E/G)

Oh motherf.... that explains it. istg how hard would it have been to use the same part for both LHD and RHD. Good advice from all in this thread, thank you. Doesn't seem to be anywhere to buy one...... I'll keep looking, thanks again everyone :3

Apologies for double post, but would it be wise/possible to replace the actual cable bit and reuse all of the mountings? I am under the impression theyre in alright condition.

I am finding a lot of listings for the cable and none for the rest

You must consider that Europe (vast majority) drive on the right hand side other than UK it means if you buy a RHD car it is generally a modified altered vehicle and there can be lots of changes needed to do this, some unexpected and some that aren't the best solution, cars are full of compromises, especially mass market(s) models.

Japanese cars are RHD. 😁

Yeap you've seen examples in this thread alone about checking things and not trusting some bloke on the internet.

19 minutes ago, Schloompa said:

would it be wise/possible to replace the actual cable bit and reuse all of the mountings?

The likes of Papez would most likely know about this, it might be possible or it might be that the cable lengths vary, or different fitting arrangements on the different cables making a simple cable swap not possible or practical. Those that build up project or modified vehicles may have made up their own mechanisms but often these people have more knowledge, skills and experience and sometimes with more access to materials, tools and machines and know similar others.

Another thing I used to advice was unless you had to then not to start a or do a job when the shops wouldn't be open to supply more parts, materials, tools, etc.. but modern thinking is that Amazon or others will get it to you but my thoughts are at the shop you can check the items are correct and perhaps get the correct one or suitable alternative there and then (btw Amazon aren't always lowest price anyway).

4 hours ago, nta16 said:

it means if you buy a RHD car it is generally a modified altered vehicle and there can be lots of changes needed to do this,

By the way: the first years of Εbay.cο.Uk here in GR many start buying items without paying attention to this, the first ''Oh No'' came from the guys which bought hadlights.

OE/OEM Part Number 6U0721335

Manufacturer Part Number 6U2721335D

The weird think is that they give some other codes for Skoda as

008 039 260

008 039 415

8039256

8039415

Mhe most expensive are sold as ''set"

The D of 6U2721335D doesn't tie in with Papez RHD 6U2721335A/E/G - the D still maybe for RHD I've no idea it's just about double-checking and cross-referencing aftermarket parts manufacturers and suppliers databases.

I've previously found with parts for my old cars that when databases are merged errors and omissions are not only merged but more errors and omissions from the merging.

As was put in the earlier days of eBay UK one supplier would just copy off another and so the inaccuracies grew, things are much better now but even car parts (and car manufacturers) databases had errors and omissions so nothing is perfect.

Often or usually things thing don't matter much until such as now you can't source the part or you are at the point of fitting the wrong part or have fitted it without knowing until something plays up again later. A parts manufacturer using the wrong material for an O-ring seal (2 in 20, units over 20 years error) can mean engine and/or gearbox out, again, guess how I know.