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Dashboard Instrument/light Failure


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We have an Octavia 2 and have today suffered from the common 'dashboard Instrument failure' problem. Speedometer/ Rev, light indicators...all gone.

Having done a search on this forum (and elsewhere on the web), I know that this is a common problem on the Octavia and that there is a lot of good advice out there... even how to fix it yourself.

I have spoken with two Skoda/VAG Dealerships here in France, and they say that they have never heard of such a problem, and want to charge us a lot of money to diagnose the fault....even though its well known problem ???????.

What is the best course of action. Replace the whole unit (with Skoda), or get it repaired somewhere else ? From what I have read its an easy fault to fix, if you know what your doing.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Kindest Regards

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A little update: Some advice would be great :'(

I checked the battery on my Octavia and the cell which indicates the status of the battery is clear. This indicates I think that there is a problem with the battery.....although the car starts fine !!

Up until today the dashboard dials would not move on start up. Today I took the car on a long run and now (on start up) the dials/lights MOVE halfway up before falling back to zero. They did not do that before. It seems that putting a little charge back in the battery makes the dashboard work...a little.

If I replace the battery could this solve the Dashboard failure....or am I hoping for an easy fix.

Hope someone can offer some advice.

Mark

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Same here, also never heard of any mass error like that. Where did you get this info from?

When the problem first happened I of course 'googled it'..i.e lights speedometer not working skoda octavia...and many other variations.

There are a lot messages relating to this problem. http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/7335-octavia-90-tdi-intermittent-instrument-panel/. There is a lot of info on other sites as well.

Whilst most complaints relate to the MK 1, I did assume that because it happened to me, the problem must also affect the MK2.... and of course I thought everyone knew about it.

The problem relates to the dashboard cluster that is prone to fail due poor components, bad joints etc. There are a lot of people trying fix the problem themselves (with a soldering Iron)or sending the unit off to be fixed by the likes of 'cartronix.co.uk' or cluster repairs etc. There is even a guy on ebay that has written a manual on how to fix it.

However in my case, I think that I have solved the problem. Before the unit failed, my wife was complaining that there was a lot of moisture in the car (pouring down the window !). She only uses the car for short journeys and therefore the car was not having enough time to dry out.

I yesterday took the car out for an hour long drive (the first for some time) with the heating on full blast.

For some reason, this seems to have resolved it. When I got back I waited an hour, then re-started the engine. Sure enough everything burst back into life..lights, spedo, computer etc. Initially I thought it was the battery but I had the battery tested this morning and its fine. So it must be down to moisture creating a bad contact somewhere in the electrics.

So if anyone in the future suffers from this problem, try what I did before spending your dosh on a new and expensive dashboard unit.

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