My dear lady is seriously considering the purchase of one of these, having viewed/driven one today and liked it very much. Far as I can tell it will be a BME engine code, chain-driven cams, all-alloy engine. Has a few less than 100k on't clock. Any major 'look out for' comments from anyone with experience of this car/engine? I shall be going with her on Sunday to look again. Thanking you.
only common faults with fabias that i know of apply to the VRS. These being the electro hydraulic power steering pumps/racks can fail and front anti roll bars, both of which may not apply to you
Thanks DGT. It does have PAS, so that one may be relevant. Haven't checked whether it has a front ARB yet. So yeah, it got bought. Has AZQ engine code, not BME, though I have no idea what the difference might be. Goes alright; and the main thing is it's a very pretty red colour, says she. Guess I'll be getting to grips with VCDS in due course. Anyone want to buy a really shagged out Vauxhall Omega?
I had a 51 plate Fabia sdi. It had a power steering pump failure (expensive) but I read on forums it is often a steering sensor that fails initially. Mine was also fitted with ARB which had to be replaced, I think they probably all have one. The ARB problem affects the earlier cars as they were fitted with plastic(!!) centralising rings which fail and allow the ARB to slide from side to side in its bushes. Later cars and replacement ARB have metal rings and dont get this problem. Subframe/rear wishbone busehes wear out readily too and need a special tool to replace without risking cracking the subframe. Check out the briskoda forum, loads of info and guides on there.
Hey mate, thanks for that. I managed to spot that the so-called 'console' bushes looked a bit shagged in the showroom, so they got done before purchase. Still haven't eyeballed the ARB situation, sounds like it may have been solved by Skoda before they built this one, hopefully. I've had a browse round briskoda, but haven't joined yet for want of a suitably silly username. AZQ_Pete doesn't quite work...
How is this on fuel? I have been looking at the Fabia but possibly the diesel for the torque. How does it pull because most small petrol engines don't cope with the weight very well these days.
worth lifting out the battery and having a look at the PAS fluid level, the reservoir is integral with the pump. The rods on the rack are prone to pitting,and this causes leaks, you cant see the leak by checking the boots either as the fluid wont leak past them (a little annoyance with skodas, the money saved building these cars show in certain materials, weak plastics is another). If the fluids visible over the pump body your rack is probably fine. as said above, the steering angle sensor can fail, there's a diy on http://www.fabia-vrs.com/ overall, pretty amazing wee motors
Too early to say on fuel, but looks promising (according to the on-board range computer) to do about the same sort of 400-ish miles to the tank as the Omega it's replacing. Omega has/had 75 litre tank to the Fabia's 45 though! Not going to be a big 'puller' of an engine, but I've not driven it in anger myself yet. Performance was never really on the agenda/wishlist. Think it's meant to be 64bhp and 115Nm? About 1.1tonnes mass? DGT: Thanks for the further info, much appreciated.
