2003 SKODA FABIA brake fluid

Inspecting and Replenishing179
Using the systemSafetyDriving TipsGeneral MaintenanceBreakdown assist-
anceTechnical DataFabia Praktik
For the sake of the environment
Do not re-use coolant if it is necessary to drain the coolant in the system.
It should be collected and disposed of in compliance with environmental
protection regulations.
The radiator fan
The radiator fan may switch on suddenly.
The radiator fan is driven by an electric motor and controlled by a thermo-
stat according to the coolant temperature.
The radiator fan may continue running for up to 10 minutes after the
engine has been switched off - even if the ignition is also off. It may also
switch on suddenly after a certain time, if:
•the coolant temperature has risen because of an accumulation of heat
or
•the warm engine compartment is heated up additionally by strong
sunlight.
Brake fluid
Inspecting the brake fluid level
The brake fluid reservoir is located on the left of the engine
compartment. The brake fluid reservoir on right-hand steering
WARNING
•The cooling system is pressurized! Do not open the cap of the
coolant expansion bottle if the engine is still hot - risk of scalding!
•The coolant additive and thus all of the coolant is harmful to
your health. Avoid contact with the coolant. Coolant vapours are
also harmful to the health. It is important, therefore, to always
safely store any coolant additive in its original container out of the
reach of children - risk of poisoning.
•If any splashes of coolant get into your eyes, rinse out your
eyes immediately with clear water and contact a doctor as soon as
possible.
•You should also consult a doctor without delay if you have
inadvertently swallowed coolant.
WARNING
You must therefore be aware when working in the engine compart-
ment that the fan may switch on suddenly - risk of injury!
Fig. 130 Engine
compartment: Brake
fluid reservoir

Inspecting and Replenishing
180
models is positioned on the other side of the engine compart-
ment.
– Switch the engine off.
– Open the bonnet ⇒ in “Working in the engine compart-
ment” on page 172.
– Inspect the brake fluid level in the reservoir ⇒page 179,
fig. 130 . The level must be between the “MIN” and “MAX”
markings.
A slight drop in the fluid level results when driving due to normal wear-and-
tear and automatic adjustment of the brake pads, and is perfectly normal.
There may be an indication of a leak in the brake system, however, if the
fluid level drops significantly within a short time or if it drops below the
“MIN” marking. A situation where the brake fluid level is too low is indi-
cated by the warning light
 lighting up in the instrument cluster
⇒ page 35. You should drive carefully and immediately to the nearest
Škoda Dealer and have the brake system inspected.
Replacing brake fluid
Brake fluid absorbs moisture. This causes the fluid to absorb moisture
from the surrounding air over a period of time. Excessive water in the
brake fluid may be the cause of corrosion in the brake system. The water
content also lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid. This is why brake
fluid must be replaced every two years.
You must only use new genuine brake fluid from Skoda Auto. The speci-
fication for the brake fluid is “FMVSS 116 DOT 4”. We recommend that you have the brake fluid replaced by a
Škoda Dealer
as part of an Inspection Service.
Caution
Brake fluid damages the paintwork of the vehicle.
For the sake of the environment
In view of the problems involved with proper disposal of brake fluid, the
special tools and the professional knowledge required, you should have
the brake fluid replaced by a Škoda dealer.
WARNING
•Using old brake fluid can result in severe stress on the brakes
because of the formation of vapour bubbles in the brake system.
This greatly impairs the braking efficiency and thus also the safety
of your vehicle.
•Brake fluid is toxic! It must therefore be kept safely in closed
original containers and well away from children.

Index227
Index
A
Abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
ABS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Adjusting seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Adjusting the steering wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Airbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Front airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Antilock Brake System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Antilock brake system (ABS) Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Anti-theft alarm system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Ashtray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Auto Check Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Automatic gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Automatic vehicle wash systems . . . . . . . . . 160
B
Belt tensioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Biodiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Bonnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Brake
Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Brake booster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Brake pads Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Buttons on the driver's door Central locking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
C
Car jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196, 201
Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Central locking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Changing a wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Changing bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Changing oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Changing wheels around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Charging the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chassis number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Child safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Child safety locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Child safety seats
ISOFIX system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Child seat on the front passenger seat . . . . . . . . . . 131
Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Cigarette lighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Compartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Convenience operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Coolant temperature gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Coolant temperature/coolant level Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Counter for distance driven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Cruise control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
D
Deactivating an airbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Defrosting windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88, 92
De-icing windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Detachable towing device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Digital clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Dipstick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Index
230
Setting temperature
Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
The air conditioning system . . . . . . . . . . 91
Setting the clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Shifting gears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Sliding/tilting roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Snow chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Spare wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Starting engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 after fuel tank has run empty . . . . . . . . . . 98
Storage compartment Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Storage compartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Storage facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Sun visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Switch on the driver's door Power windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Switching the engine off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
T
Taking care of your vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
The air conditioning system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 The battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Inspecting the electrolyte level . . . . . . . 183
Operation in winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
The radiator fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
The roof luggage rack system . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Thickness of brake pads Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Towing a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Towing a vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Tow-starting a vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Traction Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Transporting children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Turn signal system for vehicles towing a trailer Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Turn signals Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Two-way radio systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Type plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
U
Underbody protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Unlocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
V
Vanity mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Vehicle data sticker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Vehicle immobiliserWarning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
W
Warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Warning symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Warning triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Washing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Washing vehicle by hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Wheel bolts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Windscreen Wiper and Washer System . . . 185
Windscreen wipers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Windshield washer fluid reservoir . . . . . . . . 185 Warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Winter tyres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Wiper blades Replacing windscreen wiper blades . . . . . 60
X
Xenon headlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212