Gabbo

I guess it is to prevent corrosion between the battery and terminal but I can't see that this is worth £2 or really necessary for a battery unless you live in a very harsh environment Sounds to be like an easy money grab by the garage like when they offer to fill you tyres with argon instead of air...

This is definitely possible because I remember having 10 minutes in the Eurotunnel trying to find this option before arriving in the UK. I'll try to have a fiddle in the morning to see if I can find it again... If I recall there's a while section for units where you can change speed, consumption, temperature, pressure etc

I said exactly the same thing after struggling with slow starts... For ~€100 it can make a huge difference to the car.

I don't think the battery or coding can cause this. I changed my battery 2 years ago & didn't change any coding and it's worked fine since. Assuming your battery was an AGM type before ?? I can confirm that VAG DPF works with a cheap ELM Bluetooth device. I've installed VAG DPF Lite and it works with my Carista ELM device... I have been using Car Scanner which is a free app which can read DTCs, live data & is free... Some fault codes or VAG DPF Data would give you an idea where you start looking..

Unfortunately not... (Facepalm) The factory unit will synchronise the time via GPS but doesn't change between BST/GMT automatically. Each time zone change you need to go to the date/time settings and tick/untick the summer time option..

I think you're over thinking it... Just change the battery, clock will reset the time from GPS... You will have no issues. Providing an additional power supply whilst the battery is disconnected through the OBD or 12v line will only introduce the possibility to cause problem as suggested above with fuses etc

If there was a fault code set it should stay after an ignition cycle but would show as inactive rather than active. I wonder if it was derrating because of the boost air or intercooler temperature, coolant or oil temp? These would not typically show a DTC because it's not a fault rather just a protection of the engine for too environmental conditions. If you have a obd reader you could perhaps try to record some live data of the temperatures to help diagnose the fault?

What did you do to repair it? Before I took mine out I gave it a blast with an air compressor with small adapter fitting on the end. It's not perfect still but considerably more reliable than before. I guess dust and crumbs over time can work their way into the rocker.

If you have the tools you can do it. My thinking was, £60-80 for OBD11 or Carista was too much for nothing. you can buy another battery for that price so if it last a year or two less you are no worse off. I didn't change anything, stop start was available on the first drive & I think it was around 2 years ago I changed it, I've had no issues since. I would hope the software in the BCM is able to recognise a new battery based on its behaviour so coding is only really needed if you change the type or significantly change the size.

Nothing will be lost unplugging the battery as far I remember.. +1 for Varta. I replaced my OEM battery with one. (Varta Silver). I didn't do any recoding as it was a like for like swap & all was fine immediately. Just pay attention to whether you have an EFB or AGM now and order the same. But if you have OBD11 anyway you can always code the change.

As long as you replace the same type of battery (EFB for EFB, AGM for AGM) and the size of the battery is the same you don't really need to do the coding... I change my OEM battery for a Varta of the same type 68Ah to 70Ah without coding & it's worked fine for the last few years without any issues. After replacement there were no DTCs and stop/start was immediately available. If you already have the tools (vcds/Carista/obd eleven et la) then you could do it. But on my side I didn't think it was worth it to sort out another £60 for one of these tools & subscription.

Part arrived & fitted without issues. Another 400CHF saved by DIY so a great start to the year. Fitting details are in anohter thread:

Short update for anyone that find this post in the future. I changed the sensor & the fault has gone. The sensor itself was completely seized & I'm surprised it hadn't snapped already. The job is really easy to do (1 nut, 1 bolt & the electrical connector which was actually the hardest part to remove 😁) I saved myself around 400CHF for 30minutes work & 85CHF from Skoda-parts so I am quite happy.... The New Part The Part that I ordered was supposed to be the "OEM aftermarket" part. The packaging had no indication of manufacturer but it does have the VW logo & part number stamped on it. Changing the Part: Changing the part was very easy. I removed the wheel for easy access but if you have a ramp you probably don't need to do this. There is a 10mm hex bolt fixing the lower part of the sensor & a 10mm hex screw to fit the upper part to the body. Access to them is very easy. New Part Installed & Electrical Connector To remove the electrical connector, push the small tag at the top inwards (you can hear a small click). I found that pushing hard down on the sensor before giving it a good tug upwards allowed the plastic lock to release. The internals of the connector were clean but around the outer exterior parts there was lots of dust/salt/dirt which drops out when you lift it up so its best to give it a good "blow" before refitting the new sensor to avoid anything dropping inside the new part when installing it.

I had a 320D for 15 months as a company car (my wifes actually). She hated driving it so I used it as a motorway grinder until she could give it back.... Quality wise, the BMW is obviously a bit better built & the interior materials were better. However, from a driving point of view the Octavia was much nicer particularly around town & felt much more nimble than the heavy BMW. Practicality for a family they are both the same but servicing costs for the BMW were double the Octavia (both taken to official dealers but I didnt actually pay for the BMW). One thing I disliked about the BMW (it was from 2014 similar to my Octavia at the time) was that you could not update the navigation maps for free. You needed to buy a DVD for €400 a pop for the BMW... I guess you can probably buy from "amazon" much cheaper & more modern versions will have OTA updates I guess. I was very happy to give back to BMW & get back into my Octavia. You sound like "performance" is more your interest though & I cant really comment on this much. The vRS TDi is more than quick enough for me & although not immensely exciting to drive it is very comfortable for cruising on the highway & munching through the miles.

I dont think leaving it plugged in will cause any problems, it will obviously have a small drain on the battery but it will be mininal as it is only a bluetooth device. As long as you dont leave you car for weeks without use, I cant see it will be a problem. In switzerland the large dealership franchise AMAG provides a bluetooth adapter free for your car when you use them for servicing. I have had one in my Superb for the last 15months. It transmits data on mileage, faultcodes, GPS position, driving style,.... so that with their app you can book a service or "find my parking place", pay for parking or charging etc etc.

A flashing glowplug light does not necessarily mean a faulty glowplug & broken glowplugs should give error codes to indicate which one. (I just replaced one at 256k km) The glowplug is often used to highlight an "engine fault" which is not emissions related (so does not need to set the MIL lamp)... Glowplugs are "mostly" only used when the engine is cold, with the exception of regen, so if it happens while drive & the engine is hot I wouldnt rush to change the glowplugs unless you can confirm a fault with a DTC. How are you reading the error codes because if the car is really in limp-home mode or a limitation is being applied there should usually be a DTC to say why?

I ordered the other part I needed from them this morning. Front Left headlight level sensor. They automatically adjusted 20% tax from the order & i had a FedEx tracking number from them 1 hour later... Great service from them so far 🤘

This is the part I ordered: Headlamp Level Sensor Europen Union - OE producer 5Q0412521C As Switzerland is outside the EU, it is only €84 + 8% = ~€90 Will post an update on the manufacturer & fitted when it arrives...

My Superb with AdBlue also counts in 500kms so Id give it a few hundred/thousand miles to see if it works. You're given a warning when you have a few thousand miles left on AdBlue if I remember correctly.

My Octavia 2014 vRS TDi 184PS has been throwing a warning for a while for AFS cornering light error. Scanning the codes I have C1034-15 Left Front Level Control Sensor Open Circuit or SC-Battery I have found the sensor on the front wheel assembly & was looking to replace it. I believe the part number is: 5Q0 412 521 C I've found the part on Skoda-Parts.com & there are 3 versions: Skoda Genuine €200 OE Producer (EU) €103 EU After-markert €43 I'm guessing there's no point to buy the Skoda part over the OE part as they are identical except for branding. What are peoples thoughts on the "AfterMarket" part vs OE Producer part ? As they are from "Europe" Id assume its not a chinese part but manfacturered in europe as an aftermarket part. I will take a quick check of the electrical connector before I order the part. Are there any things I should look out for when changing this part ? It seems pretty easy to do with the wheel off -> 3 bolts & the electrical connector.. Id hope I don't need to reprogram or relearn anything after replacement as its automatic at every ignition-on.

@toodeep Do you know the part number for the front sensor which you replaced?

If it was this price I would have left the stress to the garage no problem... Skoda here wanted 60chf (£55) for one glow plug excluding labour... I was also happy after investigation that my engine seems to have 4 normal cheap glowplugs. There isn't the expensive glowplug pressure sensor...

I guess so. I have a dongle from Carista but didn't pay for the subscription. I can use the device with other free OBD apps and it shows in them as a ELM something... I'll take a screenshot from home tonight to show you.

Do you have a Bluetooth OBD device to be able to read information from the ECU? The VagDPF app is very useful for visualising the system (pressures, soot mass etc). It would help understand if a sensor is not working properly & may help localise the problem. It's not unusual for the fans to run when you stop the car but there is clearly a problem in your car if you have the DPF error. My journeys are 65km twice a day. Despite mostly motorway mileage, my car likes to start a regen when I reach the sliproad at the end of my journey so often doesn't complete before I reach home ~4km later. As a guess I would say the DeltaP sensor is blocked/not working correctly. This is the main reading used to determine if the DPF is empty or full. If the garage said the DPF was not blocked, this would be what I looked at next.

Short Update... I managed to source a glowplug while I was back in the UK for Xmas for £12 incl postage. B&B Components – B&B Components if anyone is interested... They have an eBay & Amazon store front also. I went for the Bosch (GLP194 Duratherm)... Fitting went smoothly & actually the difficult part was popping off the electrical connector. Luckily cylinder 4 is the easiest to access & it came off after being a bit more brave & hard tugging with a pair of pliers. The glowplug itself came out with around 20Nm and a short "crack" on a hot engine. The thread itself & shaft were completely clean which I assume helps. New one greased & installed with 13Nm torque. DTCs cleared & MIL light is now gone & no more fault codes... Will keep an eye on it for a few weeks but I am quite pleased with the outcome.... £25 for glowplug & a big tube of ceramic grease as apposed to 60CHF (~£55) just for the part from Skoda.... I'd guess the fitting would be hundreds. A real Happy start to the New Year for me, Gabbo I found this video also quite useful: (Note: the plugs are exactly the same size although the new one looks a lot bigger in the photo)