nta16

Martin, I'm confused, have I got it wrong, I thought you'd put that Skoda (UK or dealership) had your car down as not having stop/start.? If the DMF isn't faulty just jerky you could leave it in to save spending more money.

@rum4mo If Skoda UK have the car registration as without stop/start then they too might have ordered the wrong parts.

Martin, you've got to get the right parts to keep the computers happy. You have now found what I found, that the stop/start and battery management systems and extremely invasive to the car overall. What you need to get to the bottom of is your car registration if it really doesn't tie up with the Skoda UK records and perhaps your VIN. Check your VIN on your V5C and actually on your car, in however many places it is on the car. Type your car reg, into parts suppliers websites, Opie Oil as just one example and check the information matches what you have. https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ https://www.vehiclestats.co.uk/Home/About?Length=4 https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax https://www.opieoils.co.uk/

Everything's getting a bit heated considering it's all about air-con. Wot ain't even needed in a car . . . . . . I'll get me coat.

I guess that's the same with the ego setting of all tractions controls "off" on certain European performance vehicles.

I totally agree, that's why I've got a synthetic chamois and wind down windows in my car and we use a Pingi dehumidifier bag in the Fabia as prevention better than cure sort of thing. I've never been to Scotland in a car with a/c (other than 2-50 as mentioned before) and I've encounter the Scottish weather in various states but not extremes other than the 80f when I wanted to be cool instead. Certainly encountered the four seasons in one drive going from hot sun deteriorating as we climbed to horizontal sleet like rain at the top and improving going back down to hot sun again. A fantastic 120 mile oval route recommended to us by the ambulance driver husband of the B&B we were stopping at in mid-Scotland in Naim IIRC.

I wish the a/c could be set to come on before getting into a hot car that's been sitting in the sun for hours on end, I can't take getting into an oven, and of course it's the law that the car must always be fully closed, locked and alarmed even when parked on your "drive" or you're negligent. I have to open the door(s), put the key in to drop the electric windows, "bing, bing" you've left the key in and door open", manually wind(!) the rear windows down a bit, get in push the clutch in to start the engine, then the a/c is used! Moments later it's decision, or debate time if 'the navigator' is onboard, as to whether the electric windows are going up or a/c off. A little later of course there's the debate about the acceptable amount of buffeting and gap from the rear windows still being down a bit - and they say old married couples don't talk to each other enough.

Interesting questions, I don't know the answers. So much depends on how the driver drives and what settings they put in to the ACC I guess. Drivers vary so much in the way they drive that's why some wear out their tyres, brakes and clutches much sooner than average and some seem to make them last for ever. I'd think (hope?) with man against computer braking in normal circumstances would be six of one and half a dozen of another. The quality of materials in parts can vary from time to time even for the car manufacturers, or thy certainly used to and parts quality more recently seems to vary in the stuff I buy even with known good brand names. The Front Assist on my wife's Fabia a couple of times has jumped on the brakes as we've safely passed a car turning off the road so two-nil to human against machine there.

Lots of conditions where you don't need a/c, many may want it or choose to use it, which is fine, but it's absolute need on occasions might be debatable. The large window area and interior can encourage it's use especially during the normal urgency to be somewhere else that many seem to have. Plenty of days where it's not too hot, cold, damp or humid, today for instance, well here anyway, lots of lovely cold dry days in late autumn, winter and early spring, surely even Scotland must get some of those days, they have when I've visited. Depends what you're used to, things that are essential to some now were unnecessary luxuries to miserable old farts so handy at times but could be lived without, my manual a/c on my car if required is manual use of a synthetic chamois and manually winding the windows down.

Yes, if you have the fan off but have been driving for a few miles when you first turn the fan, but not the AC, on you can feel cold from the vents. I didn't read the OP properly I was thinking at start up even though it didn't say so. Yeap this is a good idea, now I know this I can go back to turning the a/c off while I'm in the car and it's not hot or other conditions where it's not needed.

Or (partially) blocked? Stop/start could have been disconnected at the battery connection (I forget exact details now). Is it the clutch pedal that dictates the start or not or some tie-in at clutch area itself?

Fair enough but was your air-con still cold or had warmed up? I'd expect more than 5 years from the air-con but perhaps I'm kidding myself. My wife's Fabia is very cold very quickly at nearly 6 years old but perhaps it's on borrowed time. Would 6% be noticeable, unless you've got your fingertips to over the vent, having put that last month my wife had 5 layers of clothing in 27c sun and heat as we drove up the motorways with the roof down! I was wearing t-shirt, shorts and sandal thinking how pleasant it was and not the promised 27c, until we stopped at the services then I knew it was 27c, I think even my wife took her jacket off (I'm not joking, she actually took her jacket off!).

Martin, battery is good for turning over at the minute, with more false starts it shows why it's best to have the battery in a good state of charge and continued failed starts will bring the battery down, so whilst the car isn't in use check the battery is a good state of charge or get it there otherwise you might cure the problem but not be able to start the car. If you can remember next time to to video in horizontal to get full width of dash and perhaps even the stop/start button. When you say your engine growls do you perhaps mean the alternator, is that near your air intake? AGF makes some good points, just confirm that you are pushing the clutch in and not touching the accelerator at each attempted start, as the rev counter jump up.

Martin, have you checked your VIN with what's on record. AFAIK your VIN should list all that was on the car from factory. Given what Skoda (which Skoda, a dealership or Skoda UK?) have told you don't go by just your vehicle's registration cross check it against your VIN. Where you standing in front of the screen that gave the information about the car to check details were keyed in correctly? Mistakes are made, just for once the computer in the car (should) be more trustworthy. Presumably when the new DMF was fitted a scan was done and if you have a record of this it will give you the VIN from the computer, also I'd have thought but don't know, that the new parts might need coding into the system? If you enter your vehicle's registration into somewhere selling car parts it should bring up lots of details about your car to check also a government site like check MoT / road tax will give you more info. You know what I'm going to put next - check your car battery is in a good state of charge for the computers (means very little that the car starts and lights seem bright) and that the battery connectors are secure and firm.

Hi, welcome. I wouldn't have thought so, check the operating instructions to make sure you have the settings correct, then you could look in the engine bay to make sure the ac compressor is turning freely and without wobble, I've no idea what the ac fuse really covers but you could check that. Operator's Manual (Driver's Handbook), your printed paper book or the online PDF. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models

Apparently the air-con system looses a little in normal use but can go many years before it needs topping up, depends on use I expect, but if it's still putting out cold both sides of the car fairly quickly it probably doesn't need topping up - but it's another little revenue stream for the garage. In the old days for air-con you'd just wind the windows down, 2-60 aircon, drop two windows and go at 60mph.

I'm not a mechanic so just my opinion and experience, you don't need to have the air-con on all the time but it's best to use it fairly regularly or at least occasionally to keep it in trim and test its working, same as for other items some don't use a lot, like the horn, hazard switch and so on. As with much on the car if not used regularly it can be detrimental to seals and connections. @Deligater I wonder if you have the airflow set to the windscreen which will automatically switch the manual air-con on but you can switch it off manually every time (like the stop/start) and whether it's that unassisted (by the fan) residue cold air getting through by the ram air effect of the car moving. Have a look at the operating instructions in the Operator's Manual (Driver's Handbook), your printed paper book or the online PDF. - https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models Otherwise your garage has fobbed you off a bit as an item that has an on/off switch/button like the manual air-con should turn both on and off - but check you're operating the system correctly first to save embarrassment and expense.

Over 40, yeah you cold be my son (just about depending how much) - but you certainly wouldn't wanna be. Yes I agree, although a proper old fart like me might suggest if you had a vehicle without auto and 4WD you could perhaps have a more fun vehicle, plus the skill to pull off quickly without mechanical and electronic aids but with mechanical sympathy (not that I could) - but greater wisdom will come with greater age (and if you believe that you'll believe anything). Definitely sounds like summats up with the S3 but don't jump to conclusions without first covering the basics and on to full diagnostics and testing of results and possible remedies. It might be that there is a problem with the oily metal computer thingy but what's causing it and has it affected other parts, components or systems adversely. Others might disagree but I think once the original thread subject has been sorted further (as I've probably already done some) thread-drift is fine and the S3 is a related car, some seem to relate VW models to the Skodas for obvious reasons, the system on the S3 is also on Skodas. Just realised my neighbour's cars were RS3s but he's even older than me and drives slow. He got his first RS3 stolen off the front hard standing (drive if selling the property) both were totally wasted on him as he did such few miles and drove slow but he'd had fast cars before. As he also worried so much about getting the replacement stolen I persuade him to swap it for something he could easily get his fishing gear in, he had the estate/"Touring" type body one. Two Honda SUVs later he much happier other than trying to workout how all the gadgets work on it and there are so many.

I couldn't find a suitable video but was reminded of the much better idea of using a a length of hose, as wide as possible, to hold to your ear to listen for the noise rather than risking cracking your skull or ear with a long screwdriver or stick and a bit of metal on a stethoscope that might also go astray and damage you and stuff in the engine bay.

Unfortunately the dark side does need considering in which case anything that reduces the stress there is a good idea so having good sparkplugs to help the engine run well is a good idea, as is reducing the work the alternator does. This would mean babying the car by not driving it hard, overloading it, lugging in too lower gear or revs and to keep your electric load to lower levels where possible and have the battery in a good state of charge. On the optimistic bright side perhaps it's the alternator making the noise or contributing a lot to it, careful use of something like the stethoscope might help pin this down more. - ETA: see also my next post One way to see if the tensioner or alternator are making a noise is to bypass them one at a time with a made-up belt but if it breaks or comes off more damage can occur but if the alternator was making that much knocking noise you should be able to tell just grabbing its pully and spinning it and rocking it, you should feel and/or hear it. You might also be able to feel or hear get some movement on the pully too. These two items might be damaged independently, separately, together and/or with or without something in the engine, a good interpretation of a scan read might establish this. I'll see if I can find better ideas for tensioner or alternator, in the mean time, this Gates link. - https://www.gatestechzone.com/en/problem-diagnosis/accessory-drive-system/tensioner-failure-signs And this video is well explained and gives audio to noise. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVZK7iMTdc8

@BasilHume sorry, I've just thought, you might think my previous post was getting at you, it wasn't and wasn't intended to seem so, it was just about general car tuning and driving feel. For all I know you could be a truly excellent driver, or truly dread or anything in-between.

This is something I bang on about all the time - but also from a safety point of view, tyres are a very complex and important component on a car (way ahead of the engine in priority, but most components and systems are too). Tyres effect the braking, steering, suspension, handling, road holding and comfort and noise of the car. Unless things have changed with different materials used this is a NO, NO! You should have been told to take it easy on the tyres for the first 100 miles or so (200 if wet) as tyres are can be 'greasy' (forget the correct word) from new plus you need to get used to the new tyre's characteristics. They also (used to) tell you to check the wheel nuts (horrible bolts on these) for tightness after about 30 miles. Remapping reduces the margins put in by the manufacturer for the very varied use the car will get though all sorts of conditions so can be more wearing on the car, more care, attention, maintenance, servicing, parts, consumables and their quality may be required, insurance to be notified. Similarly to a car being driven hard all the time. I'm not against spirited driving, I encourage it where suitable, and certainly occasional Italian tune-ups may be needed even more by modern cars. Just because there are no error codes showing doesn't mean information isn't showing deeper, a proper VW scan with live data on a run might point to things to investigate. I've never driven an S3 only passenger'd in (a new) one about 5 years ago but having driven my wife's Fabia I'd say there must be something wrong as I don't feel the Fabia SE 1.2 TSI chassis is particularly 'sporty' and should easily be shown up by a S3. I get the feeling you're probably a few decades or more younger than me so have different experience and attitudes so may not agree with or like my old fart advice but it's here anyway. Do not rely on the car's electronics, use your own computer first, what's between your ears, you can prevent problems and issues on the car before it needs to warn you about them or tell you when it's already too late. With driving you can get the car into more trouble sometimes than the car's computers can fully prevent or rescue you from. Don't worry about how high you can get the speedo and rev counter needles or numbers it's all about how it feels not ego numbers, the better it feels at lower numbers the better for everyone and everything. Unless you're in adverse conditions, in which case you'd be going slower, the 4WD, only helps you go too fast for any good road feel, you could get better feel from lower speeds without it. The speed limit on single-carriageways is 60 mph, where's that on the S3 dial (or even Fabia). James Hunt a F1 Champion used to drive an old Austin A35 slow very low powered van (Wallace & Gromit van) for a few reasons but got a lot of fun out of driving it in a very spirited way, it's not all about what you've got but how you use it. Now here a bit most men don't like, and this from a man who isn't a good driver - one of the very best tuning aids for any car is driver training, and you can transfer it to each car without cost or hassle and may decrease rather than increase insurance premiums. Most men will think they're already good drivers and some will be (not me) but can improve with this investment. Wheelspin is generally the driver's loss of control over his vehicle, not driving to the conditions or anticipating road conditions, if you've got unexpected wheelspin because you're driving too fast or road conditions you'd slow down - if you weren't driving too fast and it's a fault of the vehicle or its computer systems then it really needs sorting. I bet that's upset a few (many Fabia?) readers.

Other than changing a few bulbs that have blown or gone silver/black on other people's cars I can't remember having to change many bulbs on our cars since at least 1985 (first Skoda!) - or I've forgotten, which is very likely. Before even these computers messing me about with brake light bulbs I had a neighbour's car do so, it was a Mk4 Cortina, but far from new at the time. I noticed his brake light out so offered to change it with one of my stock. To cut a long story short the replacement bulb was intermittent because when the filament was hot it broke but when it cooled it touched again. As my neighbour was pressing the pedal and lifting off on my instructions this made diagnosis less obvious until I told him to keep the pedal pressed and then tried the replacement bulb in the light cluster on the other side. I have seen this with a filament before but I was thinking the light cluster, it's connections or wires might be at fault. Though very many years ago this may have been the start of poor quality car bulbs but I didn't get another dud car bulb again until many years later. I needed to replace, da dah, a brake light bulb on my wife's car after 7 years of ownership so thought I'd change both sides brake light bulbs and keep the working one I took out as a spare. I'd bought a spare bulb kit for the car when it was new and it had the dud brake light bulb just sitting there waiting. IIRC at that time Halfords sold "Heavy duty" brake light bulbs, which I imagine were the old days standard (and only) quality with non-heavy-duty bulbs being the poor quality modern versions. Later I noticed Halfords and others selling 'Quick response'(?) bulbs. After at least the last15-20 years of **** poor modern made parts for "classics" (over priced and over-valued old cars) I'm much more used to over-cheap quality parts and as every year (month?) passes I expect to see more of these quality of parts on more modern cars . All factory bulbs in the Skoda AFAIK so hopefully the car's computers will look favourably at that.

To add insult to injury I've just put away in the shed the two new 'Halfords 25% Longer Life' bulbs to find I already have two unopened (ring standard) so now we have a choice of what to use.

Wouldn't a scan with the VW special program scan tool show this S3 issue up especially if taken out on a road test with recorded live data. Or am I over estimating what secrets VW would want to let out. All four tyres same make, model and tread depth I assume. A mate has just bought a modern VW camper van so I sent him the following video, he's not one for getting vehicles serviced and when he does he sends it to a neighbour's tyre place, the neighbour is typical car trade which is probably why he retired younger before and lives in a street of at least millionaires (unless the taxman is looking and then they just poor tenants, to themselves overseas). Quick and easy tips - https://youtu.be/OkL9wYgWLlI