StuartMR

I'm considering replacing my much loved Octctavia vRS later in the year and been looking at smaller engined cars but the DQ200 box puts me off. I've got the 6 speed DSG in my vRS but I've heard nothing but horror stories about the 7 speed dry clutch DSG in the smaller engined cars. Is the reputation deserved or have they fixed the issues on more recent versions? Am I better off sticking with bigger engines to get the DQ250 DSG? I like to keep cars a while (current vRS is not far off 180k miles, the one before that was 170k and before that was 250k) so don't really want to be buying into something that is going to be a money-pit at high miles. I know anything can go wrong but I'd rather avoid known weak points and transmissions seem particularly pricey and specialist. I've got a long term injury and long journeys in manuals don't do it any good so an auto box is kind of necessary. It would be a second hand buy and probably in the region of a 2015-2016 for age. Although I'm tempted by an old Caddy van as they seem good value but again the DQ200 puts me off. Cheers, Stuart

No, never managed to get to the bottom of it. The car went in to a local VAG independent specialist. Their electrics guy (who was Skoda trained) spent a few days looking at it but couldn't figure it out. He rigged a bypass cable into the cabin area that could be used to manually send power to the starter as a temporary fix and I fitted a push-button in the dashboard to make it a bit safer/easier to use. Two years on and the temporary fix is still working fine (touch wood). He thought it was a failed module but didn't want to try replacing it because of the cost. I'm happy with the push button start so didn't seem worth the £4-600 he was estimating to replace the module (and still might not work). It's had a new battery and a new starter motor since then so wasn't either of those.

A bit of luck, managed to get hold of a salvaged part for 25 quid.

I can't believe I'd never noticed they were also the sidelights. Just checked, still out with the headlight switched on. Ta for the warning. FFS, nothing is simple any more

That's weird, I can see the picture in the post on my PC. Never mind, it looks exactly like the one you posted so I guess is a Skoda fit then. My mistake. Thanks for the part numbers. Ouch, quite a pricey unit. I think I can live without it unless I can find one on Aliexpress or from a scrappy. Google tells me DRL's are only an MOT failure on post-2018 cars. Ta for the help.

Hi, the LED strip on my running lights seems to have blown. I've been reading through previous questions and I'm a bit confused now. The car came with them when I bought it (second-hand) so I just assumed it came from Skoda with them on as an option. But from reading old threads it sounds like that's not the case. Am I right in thinking these are actually an aftermarket add-on? This is the lamp: So... two questions. 1. I can get the plastic grille off but I can't figure out how to get the LED strip out. Do I have to remove the entire foglight unit? 2. Any idea where I can get a replacement? There's about a million choices on Ebay. I guess when I get the unit off then I'll be able to compare. Thanks, Stuart

Thanks, I'll have a check of those. The alarm has gone off at random quite a few times in the last few months. I'd thought it was just being a bit sensitive. Looks around 60-70 quid on Aliexpress for a new sounder which seems a lot less hassle than opening the old one up and finding a replacement battery. In the thread I posted above they mention this is a hard to source custom battery, in the past I've used a company called Cell Pack Solutions for making oddball batteries fairly cheaply so that might be of interest to others. The beeps are definitely coming from the rear of the vehicle though. I had my daughter check while I was driving and she agreed. My car doesn't have parking sensors so definitely not that.

Not checked if this is the problem but I've found the thread so it's a start!

Thanks I'll have a hunt.

Don't know, could be. Is that something that is accessible?

Hi, I had a strange beep from my car (2010 Diesel vRS estate) today on the journey home. A single beep evey few minutes. No warnings showing on the MFD or dash. The sound was coming from the rear of the car, like in the boot area (I don't have any items in the boot that could make the noise so is definitely the car). I've had the car three years and happened once before and just stopped at the end of the journey last time it happened. Never happened again so forgot about it. I can't see anything mentioned in the manual. Anyone know what it is? I've checked Youtube and Google but can't find anything. I've seen a couple of threads on here that have mentioned tow pack electrics or reversing sensors but my car doesn't have either fitted. Thanks.

Yeah, it's only on the left inner pad. I was surprised to see so much meat left on the pad, I'm pretty sure they've been on well over a year (though I might be mistaken). My last car (a Citroen) ate pads like digestive biscuits. Thanks to both for your replies.

So if I just connect the ends of what's left of the cable together then I'm good? Thanks, sounds like an easy fix. The old pads had the sensor fitted and connected, I did them a while ago. You can't really tell from the photo but there is still a trailing lead coming from the inner pad but the plug and socket are missing. I'm guessing I've driven over something that's caught it at some point.

Hi, I need a bit of electrics advice. I've had the check the brakes warning light on the MFD (yellow circle that flashes up now and again) which I figured was just the pads needing replaced. So bought a new set of front pads, took the wheel off and spotted the problem with the cable below. It's the Y-shaped cable with one end which goes to the inner brake pad and the other (I'm guessing) is the ABS sensor. The socket where the plug from the pad connects is gone. Not sure what has happened as the plug on the lead from the pad has also gone as well. Anyway, is this an easy DIY fix? I know nothing about electrics. Do I just splice on a new connector and heat shrink it up or is it more complicated than that? Like would I need to replace the entire cable? Any advice or part numbers much appreciated. I can't find the actual cable on the exploded diagrams in the Skoda parts catalogue. Or should I just take it to an auto-electrician? I'm also wondering if this is the source of my mystery electrical problem. I posted another thread a few weeks ago, my car wouldn't crank and neither a general auto-electrician nor an independent Skoda specialist could trace the problem. The Skoda guy had it for a week and couldn't find anything (he's rigged a temporary bypass until he gets a chance to dig some more). I'm also wondering what caused the cable to break as I don't want to fix it for it to happen again. Doesn't appear to be anything where it was rubbing. Cheers, Stuart

Update from the garage, they've eliminated the starter motor and battery as the issue so they're having an auto-electrician look at it. The mechanic said he managed to start it by powering the starter directly. So will have to wait and see. Fingers crossed it is something simple.

Green Flag guy has just been. He tried it with a booster pack and still nothing. Not sure how to check for that, what would I be looking for? Nope, nothing. Turn the key and nothing happens. No noise, dash doesn't dim or flicker. It's like the ignition isn't even connected. The breakdown guy tried a booster battery, tested the fuses and ran a scan. He said there are no error codes showing which sounds strange as the ESP & power steering lights are on. He reckoned it's a stuck starter motor but I'm a bit sceptical of that. I've had that before on other cars and there was at least some reaction when you turn the key. This is literally like the ignition has been disabled completely. He's towed it to a local garage. The guy there didn't really seem convinced it was the starter either and has at least said he will run tests before doing anything.

Ta. I'll have a check depending on what the Green Flag guy says. In chronological order: - was running a compressor to top up one of the tyres, tried starting the engine while it was running but nothing. No crank, no clicking, nothing. Lights didn't dim, engine didn't seem to make any attempt at starting. - checked the fuses in both boxes and seemed ok - tried again, noticed the ESP warning was on (don't know if this was already on) - this jogged my memory and vaguely remembered reading something about this so did a search and saw the dead battery posts - checked the battery in the car with the tester. Read low. This was on the cable connectors, not direct on the terminals. - cleaned all the connections up with wire brush and tried again. Nothing. - removed the battery. Checked it again when out of the car and the "medium" light was lit on the tester. - charged the battery overnight, tried again this morning, still nothing. Battery tester light says "full". Car has been running fine, no issues other than the erroneous TPMS warning the other day and the "check brakes" symbol which I think is because the front pads need changing.

Hi All, my first post as it's my first real issue in the 40,000 miles since I got the car. As the title, car won't start, no crank. The ESP warning is on the MFD and the dash light is lit. The power steering light is also on (starts red but changes to yellow). I don't know if these were on the first time I tried, I never really noticed, but they are on now. I searched old posts and the general suggestion was a dead battery. This made sense, the last time I had a dying battery I got the ESP warning now and again on switching on the ignition. Checked it with a tester (cheap Amazon one so don't know how reliable they are), said low when tested in the car, medium when removed. Stuck it on to charge overnight, green light on the tester, refitted it but still nothing. Any ideas for what it might or where to look? I thought it might be a fuse. I had been running a compressor as one of the tyres was a bit low and had cranked the ignition while it was still on. I thought that might be a bad idea about a millisecond after I turned the key. Could I have blown something? I checked the fuses in both boxes and they seem fine. Could the battery still be duff even though the tester is showing good? I can't find my multimeter to check the actual voltage. It's about 2 years old now, done about 28k miles on it. Do the error codes need to be cleared before it will start or something like that? Am I missing something obvious? Electrics are a mystery to me. Some background: it's a 2010 VRS diesel estate. Just turned 141k miles. It's been regularly serviced by me and the previous owner by either Skoda dealer or independent VAG specialists. Service light just came on the other week, it's been about 16 months since the last one so probably due. The only other warning light is the check brakes circle on the MFD which I'd assumed was because the front pads need doing and just not got around to it. One thing that was out of the ordinary, tyre pressure warning came on but pressures were all good (I'd just checked them before I'd left home about 5 minutes earlier). Driving is generally short journeys <10 miles during the week with motorway runs at the weekend. All suggestions welcome. Green Flag are on their way and there's a local mobile auto electrician if it comes to that. Thanks, Stuart