JHowe

Thanks for all your suggestions and help! I'll be following up on all tomorrow. Cheers!

Thanks vRSant. It's a new battery so I don't think the issue is the battery. Its a manual gearbox, i should have stated that. The OBDeleven non pro version allows me to recode the car to the new battery? This is via a device that I'll need to buy I think. It that right?

I already had a lot of help to fix broken gear selector - thanks! I also found that the passenger side front suspension spring has broken - so I'm off to the garage for that! However, electrical issues ongoing. Here's the story: skoda octavia mk3 2013 tdi estate Car sat for 8 months. AGM battery flat and won't recharge New AGM battery Not recoded as yet. Battery at 11 volts. On overnight charge with smart charger AGM, rises to 12 volts. clicking sound (starter solenoid?) when battery is attached, it persists when engine is running engine warning light glow-plug warning light Airbag warning light ABS warning light alternator putting out only 12 volts - i got a multimetre onto the altn but its impossible to get a good view of the connections at the back of altn. in situ. Serpentine belt is running smoothly. At battery connector, when engine running, 12 volts only. Rises a bit when engine reved. Coolant level low, topped up and after short run, coolant level dropped 20%. I took off the under engine cover. No sign of any leaks. Oil level good and stable. Fusebox under bonnet checked. All fuses okay. Earth connector battery to body good. On visual inspection no obvious wires or connections loose or damaged. Any suggestions or help ? Thanks in advance.

@ords I asked two garages and an auto-electric specialist and they all said that they'd never heard of needing to recode. I can see that the battery charging warning light is on, so I'll keep asking around. @Alasdair1 I used a bolt as you suggested and got the car moving through all gears. Thanks for your help!

Great advice, thanks. I've ordered a replacement part, but your fix looks like a good option too. Thanks so much for your help!

@Alasdair1 Thank you. You were right, where the plastic spigot goes through the metal casing was seized and I broke it too as I tried to get the car into reverse, it did go into reverse and I thought I'd solved it but then no gears, so I checked and the spigot had broken. The oil i used didn't get it free. The video was useful too btw. Should the gbox selector locking pin be set verticle or horizontal? Horizontal allows the pillar to go up an down, so I guess that's correct. Any tips on how to get the plastic spigot out of the metal cast hole? Can I remove the metal case unit with causing more issues, do you know? At least the problem is known.

Hi Alasdair, this looks the same. How did you get it unseized? Or how do I reset the cable?

Hi @Warrior193 @BlueWagon .I took out the airfilter box and have a clear view of the linkage. The 1st and 2nd selector arm moves easily, but the reverse linkage (sideways movement) arm won't budge. It moves a millimetre. It looks like there is a solenoid under the armatage. Might this be locked closed when I changed the battery? I don't think there's any sideways movement available, only forward and backwards gear stick movement. I have a new battery but can't get to a garage to recode the battery because I can't get into reverse.

@Warrior193 It presses down, moves left but doesn't go any further, so stops at the gate is a far description. @BlueWagon I can select 1st to 4th, but not reverse, with the engine off. I've got a new battery so I'll know more tomorrow. If i can push it back so I can get underneath, and find the shifter on the box. Thanks both for your help so far. Cheers.

Hi Warrior193. Thanks for your message. I've updated my profile :) The vehicle does move forward in first and I've tried that and then tried to find reverse. The gearstick does depress but doesn't connect to reverse. I also notice that it doesn't select 5th either.

Hi! I'm in need of some help please. My Octavia estate sat for 8 months unused. The battery went flat (AGM Varta) and doesn't charge. I got the car started with a different battery and then swapped in the dead battery to see if it would start charging. BUT, now the engine was running I needed to move the car a bit and found that the gear stick won't go into reverse gear. It can select 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th but not reverse. I've ordered up a new AGM battery (due in a couple of days) but this reverse gear issue is the new challenge! Any experience of this folks? Any suggestion gratefully appreciated. Its a manual gearbox.

Thanks so very much J.R. !

Thanks J.R. That's a top tip! Something I wouldn't have thought of. Merci.

Thanks sepulchrave. The ECU recoding to match with the change of car? Is this something a garage can do or is it more complicated process. Thanks for your help.

Hello again. I've found and extracted dash, both airbags (passenger and drivers), steering wheel and airbag ECU from a scrapped Skoda Fabia 2005 Combi Tdi (55 plate) to replace the airbags in the car I bought. I couldn't find any impact/crash sensors at the front of the car. Are there any sensors? Another post suggests the ECU is the only sensor. What am I missing here? Do I need to replace the seatbelt units also? Thanks for any help!