Problem: My old BBS alloys need a serious refurb, and the worst looking parts were the centre caps. I can’t afford a proper returb!
Solution: The centre caps are plastic, with a thin alloy stamped, painted and lacquered inset. Firstly I removed the plastic cap from the main alloy centrepiece. (more…)
Problem: My VR6 was having trouble starting and idling when cold. Many forums suggest this is due to a faulty “Blue” temperature sensor.
Solution – Testing the Sensor: To test the sensor while it’s fitted to the car, remove the latched plastic connector from the sensor and measure the resistance (Ω) between the 2 pins.
If the sensor is working correctly it should measure about:
I’m my case, the resistance was infinite, I.e. open circuit. So needed replacing.
Solution – Replacing the Sensor: The parts you will need are:
Problem: My front windscreen wipers stopped working yesterday. Oddly when trying to use the momentary front windscreen wash, the REAR wiper worked.
Fix: Replace fuse 21.. simple but effective.
Project: I want to restore my old GT6 brake calipers and the old chipped paint us very VERY tough so I plan to use paint stripper. To do this without harming the seals and soft alloys I need to split each caliper and remove pistons.
Problem: The pistons are stuck in, and will only come out under pressure. (more…)
Problem: My Fabia’s temperature indicator light started flashing and beeping at me a few minutes after the engine was started, each time I used the car. The coolant level was fine, and the car seemed to get up to temperature quickly and stay there, never overheating. A quick search of the Briskoda forum revealed that this is a common fault, caused by faulty terminals and/or electrodes in the expansion tank vessel.
Solution: On the VRS models, and possibly others, the electrodes that measure coolant level cannot be replaced or cleaned, so a complete expansion tank replacement is needed. Thankfully these are cheap (about a tenner) and easy to fit. Here is a fitting guide, with photos where necessary: (more…)
Problem: According to many websites and a few mechanics, replacing the nearside headlamp on a Mk1 Fabia vRS involves removing the battery and battery box. This is because the clear plastic light-cluster cover almost touches the plastic battery box. Thankfully this is not true, as I’ve just found out… you don’t even need very small hands 🙂 (more…)
Problem: When re-fitting the ARB to the GT6 with new U Bolts, I found the new ones were too wide, and forcing them in would have resulted the badly seated washers and nuts:
Fix: The new U Bolts could be bent to shape in a metalworking vice, but there’s an easy way to make sure they remain parallel:
I recently replaced the water pump on my car, and found the existing paper gasket clinging solidly to the pump face on the head. I needed a very quick removal method, as it was getting dark and the car had to be driven 30 minutes later, so I searched around for something hard, flat, but not likely to damage the surface. I found an old Stanley knife blade and tried it, but it wasn’t very easy to hold while scraping the papery crap off.
In the end I found a blunt hacksaw blade, snipped it in half with some tin-snips – making sure the cut was flat and neat – and ground off the teeth on the chopped-off end. This gave me a very hard, flat tool with which to scrape the paper off. The ‘half-blade’ could be held in both hands at a good angle to avoid scoring the gasket face. Soaking the gasket paper residue in some detergent helped the process along also. 5 mins of careful scraping around the 3 studs saw the job done. New gasket and pump fitted in another 5 mins, jobs-a-good’un!
Please let me know if this post was useful with a click!