AnnoyingPentium's Adventures - Fabia Fettling and Other Nonsense

[AnnoyingPentium]

Finally got this fitted... fools, money... yadda yadda yadda.

Stupid bloody forum software. Just tilt yer heid.

The job wasn't too bad besides the fact I can't hang upside down and the ground was too wet to kneel on.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Nothing new or "exciting" in my corner of the world... just a lot of confused screaming and other nonsense really. With all this storm malarkey I haven't been that far in the car. I've been itching to take it a massive* run like I used to, the only problem is actually having commitments in life, and the fact that I'd rather not be taken out by a flying HGV at this point in time.

I've even got some cassettes to play on these trips, including one I had got for a very good price, Level 42's 'Staring at the Sun'. Sounded quite good on my trip up to Dalmellington to wash the motor because I got it caked in mud the other day from a wee day 'up the loch' in the snow with my Springer and the family. Who needs a 4x4?!

Planning to service it soon, waiting for 60k or a year (April), whichever comes first really. I've got a whole stash of goodies (servicing items) here and they can't hang about sitting on the dining table at the back of the living room much longer or else my Mum's going to go off her rocker. Anyway, a milestone was achieved the other day.

 

[JMotor]

Was told by a pal who is a Fabia fondler.

Forget trying to get a good handbrake on a drum equiped car. 

Which I soon learned on my old Estate. Even after replacing the whole lot and adjusting as recommended. 

It was still pish at best 😂. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

12 minutes ago, JMotor said:

Forget trying to get a good handbrake on a drum equiped car. 

It's miles better with new cylinders on the back. They were knackered. Handbrake holds enough now. I'm still not used to pulling the handbrake and it stopping so suddenly now on two clicks, used to be I'd have to pull the damned thing about 11 'clicks'. 😂

The foot brake is also miles better, was absolute pish before.

I think it's a lot better than it was as the brakes were horrid before but I was able to drive it like that. Managed to go from 60 to 0 in a split second when a wee auld dearie in a Pug 207 pulled in front of me (going to her right) on the road outside Dumfries House. Missed her by a few inches.

[AnnoyingPentium]

So yesterday evening my Fabia developed a misfire with no dash tell-tale. Would switch off or be incredibly lumpy at idle, would be hesitant and then misfire upon hard acceleration below 2,000rpm and was down on power overall. I had two coil packs kicking about ready to go in at the next service, but that came early. So, taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, I went out and sorted the damned car out.

I had already changed coil pack two back when it severely misfired last December, leaving me to change one and three. Which I did, armed with a pair of screwdrivers and my good Roebuck pliers. Pack three seemed to have some undisclosed substance on it and was pretty rough looking, so I'm assuming that's the one that has died. All of the old ones were Lucas branded, so I'm assuming they're OEM? Anyway, the new ones are Delphi's from TMS in Ayr (£20 a pop) so I'm pleased.

Now, just to be sure the car was running okay, I took it a run up to one of my favourite haunts, Loch Doon. Or rather, the entrance to Loch Doon, where there's a nice car park. On the way up I decided to push it pretty hard to make sure it was pulling well, and can confirm it is. It's very torquey now unlike before and doesn't bog down when setting off from a standstill. Overall, I'm quite pleased. 

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

So yesterday evening my Fabia developed a misfire with no dash tell-tale. Would switch off or be incredibly lumpy at idle, would be hesitant and then misfire upon hard acceleration below 2,000rpm and was down on power overall. I had two coil packs kicking about ready to go in at the next service, but that came early. So, taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, I went out and sorted the damned car out.

I had already changed coil pack two back when it severely misfired last December, leaving me to change one and three. Which I did, armed with a pair of screwdrivers and my good Roebuck pliers. Pack three seemed to have some undisclosed substance on it and was pretty rough looking, so I'm assuming that's the one that has died. All of the old ones were Lucas branded, so I'm assuming they're OEM? Anyway, the new ones are Delphi's from TMS in Ayr (£20 a pop) so I'm pleased.

Now, just to be sure the car was running okay, I took it a run up to one of my favourite haunts, Loch Doon. Or rather, the entrance to Loch Doon, where there's a nice car park. On the way up I decided to push it pretty hard to make sure it was pulling well, and can confirm it is. It's very torquey now unlike before and doesn't bog down when setting off from a standstill. Overall, I'm quite pleased. 

1.2 engine right? 

Coil packs are usually prime suspect on these so good thing you started with them! Did you do the plugs as well? Old plugs with high resistance usually kill coils. James from Chops Garage YouTube just went through this with his one. Just worth bearing in mind these engines like to burn valves on Cyl 3!

Being only a 3 cyl they dont tend to run very well on 2 cylinders when misfiring 

[AnnoyingPentium]

22 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

1.2 engine right? 

Yep. 12v so less likely to burn the valves unlike the 6v version.

Still on the old plugs which I'm assuming are OEM as were the coil packs presumably. Changing the plugs on Saturday since I'll have access to the tools for it then.

23 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Being only a 3 cyl they dont tend to run very well on 2 cylinders when misfiring 

Oh I know! 🤣

[RoverFolkUs]

6 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Yep. 12v so less likely to burn the valves unlike the 6v version.

Still on the old plugs which I'm assuming are OEM as were the coil packs presumably. Changing the plugs on Saturday since I'll have access to the tools for it then.

Oh I know! 🤣

Ok yes I see, 12v is better 👍

Yes spark plugs well worth changing if there's a question over how old they are, wouldn't want to shorten the life of the new coils!

[AnnoyingPentium]

Just now, RoverFolkUs said:

Ok yes I see, 12v is better 👍

Solid wee engine I reckon. It just wants to keep going when driven, a feeling I never really got with "ye olde Punto" 😆

Just now, RoverFolkUs said:

Yes spark plugs well worth changing if there's a question over how old they are, wouldn't want to shorten the life of the new coils!

Definitely. It's coming up on 60k too so that's the service interval for them oddly enough IIRC. Just seems a bit high, but here we are. I've got all the other stuff for servicing too, so I'll need to get that job done as well. Probably on Saturday too.

[RoverFolkUs]

Just now, AnnoyingPentium said:

Solid wee engine I reckon. It just wants to keep going when driven, a feeling I never really got with "ye olde Punto" 😆

Definitely. It's coming up on 60k too so that's the service interval for them oddly enough IIRC. Just seems a bit high, but here we are. I've got all the other stuff for servicing too, so I'll need to get that job done as well. Probably on Saturday too.

They're good enough for what they are. Not the best but better than say a Ford Ecoboost

Id be changing plugs every 2 years or 20k (whichever comes last) to be honest unless they're the irdium type. Especially given they only usually cost a few quid each well worth doing if it saves the coils and gets you a fraction of an EMPEEGEE more

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 minute ago, RoverFolkUs said:

They're good enough for what they are. Not the best but better than say a Ford Ecoboost

I learned to drive in an Ecoboost engined Fiesta, was quite nice and peppy. It always felt quite harsh when the turbo kicked in to me though.

3 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Id be changing plugs every 2 years or 20k (whichever comes last) to be honest unless they're the irdium type. Especially given they only usually cost a few quid each well worth doing if it saves the coils and gets you a fraction of an EMPEEGEE more

Will do, I'm doing just shy of 10k a year so both will occur at roughly the same time.

[RoverFolkUs]

2 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

I learned to drive in an Ecoboost engined Fiesta, was quite nice and peppy. It always felt quite harsh when the turbo kicked in to me though.

Will do, I'm doing just shy of 10k a year so both will occur at roughly the same time.

Oh what I meant by better than an Ecoboost was reliability. Sorry I should have made that clearer! 

[AnnoyingPentium]

Meant to add earlier that I've also just went and fitted the CD changer in the boot. Was a glovebox out job for the wiring but was dead easy. Five screws, a panel, and the box comes down on your face. 🤣

[High Jetter]

Um... in the boot, but glovebox out? That's smoll. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Um... in the boot, but glovebox out? That's smoll. 

Had to run the cable into the back of the stereo, but that meant getting the glovebox out to do it neatly since it's running under the plastic kickplates and other lower trim on the pillars.

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Had to run the cable into the back of the stereo, but that meant getting the glovebox out to do it neatly since it's running under the plastic kickplates and other lower trim on the pillars.

Neat? This is Autoshite, you know the correct* procedure is to splice the wiring into something else with choc block connectors and hide* the wiring with tape 😁

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

One whole year since I sunk money into the absolute shed that inhabits a space on the driveway wee Fabia from a bit in Hamilton and brought it home.

Now, would I buy another one?

Aye probably. Definitely not another 1.2 though as I'd like to outrun milk floats next time.

I'd like a plush spec one, but with my budget I might get a ropey X-reg bASe one in Classic trim. Which might not be the worst thing in the world.

Do I like it?

Aye, I do. It serves a purpose, and I'd have remained a bus wanker without it. So sure.

What's next?

Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe I'll buy another shed to accompany it. Might mean pulling the driveway apart a bit, or buying something incredibly smol, like a Micra.

^ a year ago, today.

^ the other day there, not today.

[Matty]

On 3/1/2022 at 12:58 PM, AnnoyingPentium said:

Loch Doon

Scottish covid response (sorry) 🤣

[AnnoyingPentium]

3 hours ago, Matty said:

Scottish covid response (sorry) 🤣

Haha yes, I remember that absolute cracker.

[AnnoyingPentium]

In typical VAG fashion, the Fabia's electrics are pretty prone to massive hissy fits and tantrums whenever I ask the electric windows to do anything. As in the Grumpy Thread, the electric windows caused the whole car to have a spasm with the dash lighting up like a Christmas tree, the stereo restarting, and my lights momentarily switching off and on. Plus it kept cutting out at idle, but sometimes picked back up before it stalled... in neutral. On top of this, my driver's side window at the front goes up so far, goes back down, then becomes very argumentative about closing again. Plus the switch is a little funny still, could be dying, or just damp.

Was placing this erratic behaviour down to the battery, so went out with the multimeter... a little low with the engine off but absolutely fine with the car running with a lot of stuff switched on like the heated mirrors, stereo etc. on. I'll have to wait and see if this improves or degrades any. The battery in it is a Yuasa which seems to have been there about 4 years I reckon, I've ran it flat once as well, which definitely didn't help.

Now, depressing shite aside, I managed to repair the rear screenwash/washer jet pipe on the car. This is a common issue with the Fabia where if it freezes up and you go to use the rear washer then the pipe at the pump pops off and all your screenwash pisses out of the passenger side wheel arch. To resolve this, you either need to simply reattach the pipe, or in my case, use something to bond it back on as the connector is pretty grim looking now. It's now held on with a jubilee clip and some adhesive that I can't remember the name of.

The job can be done with the wheel and arch liner in situ if you have really small hands. The other option is to jack the fucker up, remove the wheel, the arch liner and get to the pipe that way. Removing the arch liner also allows you to clean any crap that's living in the sill and around that area, minimising the chance of rot somewhat.

These bloody wheel bolts must have been put on by feckin Geoff Capes. Took all 17½ stone of me jumping on the breaker bar to slacken the bastards off.

New seat set up for use while removing the arch liner which has so many screws that it's a pain in the arse. Even the ones connected to the undertray thing had to come out.

Once I got the liner off, I took it round the side of the house and subjected it to a damned good hosing down to get some of the dirt and other crap off of it. Came up alright, was still a pain in the arse to get back on though, about an hours work because the plastic wouldn't fit again. I'd get one hole lined up and the fifty others wouldn't be close. Grrrrrr.

The miscreant in question is here, at the bottom of the reservoir, attached to the pump. Now that it's reattached I can clear my back window again, which when having a hatchback is a must if I want to see behind me since all the dirt sticks to it.

Anyway, the job is done, and hopefully for a long time coming! 😆

As an aside, though, I have found that my front wing is beginning to bubble at the corner on the inside with no exposed metal or rust, yet. I'm going to have to monitor that closely as changing wings on these is a bitch, or so I've read, and I don't want to have to be doing that. I've also got lacquer peeling on my bumper, I think, so more on that later.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

On 3/1/2022 at 11:01 PM, AnnoyingPentium said:

Had to run the cable into the back of the stereo, but that meant getting the glovebox out to do it neatly since it's running under the plastic kickplates and other lower trim on the pillars.

I applaud your attention to originality there.  I used the CD changer option on my Golf to hook up to an aux input adapter box instead.  Fitted that to the back of the stereo (a Gamma, in this case), tucked it in next to the stereo, RCA phono cable to 3.5 mm 'extender' adapter (two female sockets), then took out one of the blanking plates, made a hole in the middle and superglued the 3.5mm extender into it.  So now the only external evidence of the modification is a blanking plug with a connector on it.  Total time?  10 minutes.  About £40 total cost at the time a couple of years ago.

Currently only working in mono for some reason so I'll change the in-dash RCA phono connector first up but when it was working properly it was spot-on.  Meant I could use my old iPod without any faff.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Just now, GrumpiusMaximus said:

I applaud your attention to originality there.  I used the CD changer option on my Golf to hook up to an aux input adapter box instead.  Fitted that to the back of the stereo (a Gamma, in this case), tucked it in next to the stereo, RCA phono cable to 3.5 mm 'extender' adapter (two female sockets), then took out one of the blanking plates, made a hole in the middle and superglued the 3.5mm extender into it.  So now the only external evidence of the modification is a blanking plug with a connector on it.  Total time?  10 minutes.  About £40 total cost at the time a couple of years ago.

Thanks, but it's not an original unit I'm using as my Symphony CD unit was getting a bit past it and I wrecked the fucker trying to get it out last year. That looks like an excellent solution, though. The one I'm using is a Sony cassette unit with a 10 CD changer which is vastly better over what was there. I had considered a VW Gamma unit as those do fit in nicely and the wiring is correct from the word go but I didn't know if it was going to be a permanent fixture so I didn't want something that was coded. I also considered using an Alpine unit I have with CD and 32-pin iPod connection and running the cable into the glovebox, but I didn't gel too well with its blue illumination because you couldn't dim it enough for it not to distract me through glare on my glasses.

2 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Meant I could use my old iPod without any faff.

I bought one of those 'state-of-the-art' Kenwood head units with the intention of plugging my 5th gen iPod Video into it. Plugged it in and it didn't see it, so ended up using Spotify on my phone, but people kept phoning me and I don't like people. So, that stereo got yanked out and I gave it to my Grandparents for their caravan.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

All fair.  My Dad's old boat had a MiniDisc player in it for maximum hilarity.  I must see if he's still got that as I've got a pile of old MiniDiscs somewhere (love that format).

Out of interest, does this generation of Fabia have the really shite rear washer setup that goes through the wiper motor's spindle?  I've had to sack off the rear wiper after changing it twice and each time it eventually leaking and seizing up the mechanism...

[AnnoyingPentium]

6 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

All fair.  My Dad's old boat had a MiniDisc player in it for maximum hilarity.  I must see if he's still got that as I've got a pile of old MiniDiscs somewhere (love that format).

I love MD as well, much better than CD in terms of portability. The portables were/are great for recording keyboard demos etc, plus I recorded my French speaking exam on one of them! 😆

8 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Out of interest, does this generation of Fabia have the really shite rear washer setup that goes through the wiper motor's spindle?  I've had to sack off the rear wiper after changing it twice and each time it eventually leaking and seizing up the mechanism...

It does indeed. It sprays it up and out against the rear lip at the top of the tailgate. I haven't had much issue with it in that regard, but the pipe came off at the pump as above a few times and at the firewall area up beside the ECU. The Fabia seems to have the fugliest wiper as well, big lump of a thing. Results in the 9N Polo wiper arm becoming a common modification for the Fabia since it fits.

[beko1987]

A good mate of mine ran a minidisc player in his car for years through the early 2000s! Was amazing at the time! Hundreds of tunes on a single cart

Nearly had it nicked once, we came back to 3 people bending the door of his mk1 clio back to get in once. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

8 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

A good mate of mine ran a minidisc player in his car for years through the early 2000s! Was amazing at the time! Hundreds of tunes on a single cart

Nearly had it nicked once, we came back to 3 people bending the door of his mk1 clio back to get in once. 

My Dad had a cassette one with an MD changer in the late 90s in his first Nova which got pinched down at Blackpool. I'd quite like an MD one but I'd be buying another car to go with it! 🤣

[Dick Cheeseburger]

33 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

My Dad had a cassette one with an MD changer in the late 90s in his first Nova which got pinched down at Blackpool. I'd quite like an MD one but I'd be buying another car to go with it! 🤣

I used to love minidiscs. I ran  a minidisc separate with my hifi setup in my student days and also ran on of these in my car at the time.

I've since sold the gear as CDs were so much easier to get hold of, especially as time went on. I've still got fond memories of MDs though. 

In fact, I've just recalled going to one of the (several at the time) music shops in Plymouth in the late 90s to buy minidiscs as they had a decent range at the time! I've still got a few tucked up in the loft somewhere...

[AnnoyingPentium]

Just now, Dick Longbridge said:

I used to love minidiscs. I ran  a minidisc separate with my hifi setup in my student days and also ran on of these in my car at the time.

I've since sold the gear as CDs were so much easier to get hold of, especially as time went on. I've still got fond memories of MDs though. 

In fact, I've just recalled going to one of the (several at the time) music shops in Plymouth in the late 90s to buy minidiscs as they had a decent range at the time! I've still got a few tucked up in the loft somewhere...

I've got a MiniDisc separate that sometimes gets used. Needs a new belt for the eject mechanism as you have to give the discs a little hand out. My two portables are a snot green Sony R55 (?) which eats batteries like they're going out of style and a silver Sony thing I paid 50p for and got a free disc lol. Good wee things too. All of my discs are recordable types apart from one that is the Brit Awards compilation for 1999 or 2000 I think. I stuck to cassettes for the main part of the car since I've got a stash of them as it is, the CD changer is a nice touch for longer trips though.

[AnnoyingPentium]

So I've had a recurring issue with the Fabia where the passenger side indicator bulb holder was shifting out of position with the contacts and stopped working. I believed the little rubber seal was causing issues.

The solution in my head was to take the rubber o-ring gasket off and let it steep in boiling water to soften it up for it to fit better.

Mmmm... a nice wee brew, that is.

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

To be brief, the car is doing my fucking head in.

As discussed in 'The Grumpy Thread' with @RoverFolkUs, the car is being a petty little bitch. It's inconsistently cutting out or dipping in revs when the clutch is fully depressed... sometimes. It seems to be okay in traffic though.

This wouldn't be half as bad if I had a cheap shed to run about in and when one gets fucked I can switch to the other one. But nawwwwww the driveway just has to be too small, doesn't it? Ignoring that my Mum would definitely throw me out as well, but sure.

Anyway, Saturday will be the day of poking about and a lot of screaming and swearing at the car. If it's nice then I'll conduct the full service a few months early as well. Apprehensive to do so though as knowing my luck this'll turn into something stupidly major because this absolute heap, although the best car I've driven (sometimes), likes to test me and my mechanical abilities, which are next to nada.

Will update this in due course on what I plan to do. John Cleese-ing isn't out of the question quite yet. (See also the Grumpy Thread)