Yorkshiremidge

Typical, but thanks for posting the outcome - and pleased you got yours sorted. I can see that ecu.eu charge 160 euro (excluding tax and shipping) for the repair so you're probably close to 200 euro for that. But just out of curiosity, how many hours labour was it to remove and then refit a selector? For those who don't want to try my DIY method using a hacked about VW switch kit, it might give people a viable and relatively cost effective alternative to bending over and having a dealer insert a brand new selector 😢

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. It will be interesting to see what ecu.eu do to fix the one you're sending off. At least that might give people an alternative repair option to mine, assuming they can arrange to dig their selector out the car and do without it for a little while.

@jtmattila Sorry, I've lost the thread a bit on where you're up to with your selectors. Was the selector you have just had fitted, and appears to be working, the one that your auto electrician had a go at fixing back in September but you weren't that confident about because he hadn't actually found the switch, just some defective soldering?

Most of the time I don't. It seems at its most noticeable when you're driving at speed with little steering input, and you need to make a minor steering correction and you're concious is just kinda sticks a bit. It's not the sort of thing you notice at (say) low speed manoeuvring or parking. Anyway, good to know it is on others - thanks.

Thanks - you could be right, but the rack on my Audi is electric too. I can't think that I've come across it with any other electric power steering cars I've had either.

We've had our Mk3 for over a year now. I've recently noticed that if I'm really gentle with the steering when driving along, I can pick up a very slight resistance through the first degree or so of movement of the steering wheel, and then it turns as normal. It's really quite difficult to describe it as it's barely detectable, and Mrs Midge had certainly not noticed it when she drives it. I notice it because my Audi doesn't do it! Just wondered if anyone else has experienced anything that sounds like this? I was thinking it might be a bearing or ball joint binding so there is a tiny bit of resistance until the power steering overcomes whatever it it. Thanks!

Yeah you will, as most will quote for a new selector as that seems to be the official way to deal with it on a Fabia. I'll ping you a message on the garage who reckon to have done it cheap so if they are close to you, it might be worth giving them a call.

@jtmattila You're welcome. Did ecu.eu confirm exactly what they do to repair them?

@logiclee Yes, they always did sell four variants. 5Q0 713 128B is listed for the Skoda Kodiaq. It is difficult to be certain from the pictures but the switch plate on that kit might well have the same issue, and you'd assume that if it also fitted the Fabia, websites selling it might be keen to communicate that out as it means more sales! I'd also expect my local indy to know about it if that kit fitted - but they told me they swap the entire selector on Fabias if they hit the fault. We can ignore the 3Q0713128 and 3Q0713128A as those are for different selector units entirely. Regarding your guy, I did update him with what I'd done and invite comment but I don't think I got anything back so have just pinged him a message.

@jtmattila Looking at the diagram, J217 is the the gearbox control unit under the bonnet. So the multiway connector that you unplug from the front of the selector would be T10k, and I assume the "Tiptronic Switch" F189 is some sort of control unit within the selector. It looks like F319 is the faulty switch - and it appears to be a separate unit on its own pair of wires, though I can't yet find any evidence it is available to buy on its own. Then again, it could simply be a casing around an industry standard microswitch. T10k/1 seems to be ground. T10k/2 seems to be the switch output - both circled in red. So, if the selector lever can be moved with the unit off the car (i.e. it doesn't require power to the selector unit to unlock the lever), it seems possible the unit can be tested by measuring the resistance between pins 1 and 2 with the lever moved out of Park. The only issue I can see with that is we know the fault is very intermittent, so there is no guarantee that you would actually pick the fault up at the time you test (you'd just have to hope that there is a higher than normal resistance present all the time, and it just gets worse when the fault actually occurs). I found a diagram on the net of the T10k connector plug pin out so that is below so you can work on the pins on the selector socket. If I was you, I would email ecu.eu and ask them specifically if their repair is to "replace the failed F319 switch within the selector, or simply to fit the external VW switch repair kit that bypasses the failed switch" and see what they say.

It's been donkeys years since I had a car with hub brakes but from what you describe, I'd be thinking the following in order of likelyhood: The brake shoe actuating lever within the hub having a siezed pivot, so when you take the handbrake off, the lever remains stubbonly in place and holding a shoe against the hub until the return springs of the shoes overcome the sticking and the brake shoe snaps back. Corrosion on the raised areas of the hub back plate that the shoes slide against as they operate. The shoes are held against these raised areas by springs and the raised areas should be smooth and have brake grease applied. But if they haven't been greased and have corroded, it can cause the shoes to bind on. Again, when the force of the return springs is greater than the fiction, the shoe will snap back. Handbrake cable siezed. This would have the same effect as the first scenario - but I suspect you might have noticed the handbrake was a little harder to apply if this was the cause. This doesn't sound like a brake cylinder fault which would be the most expensive thing, but even those are actually pretty cheap to replace if it was. This is unlikely to be covered by any warranty I'm afraid so make sure you read your T&Cs. It is often the case that a dealer will charge a standard diagnostic fee to establish if it is covered by the warranty - so you can end up paying more than you would if you took your car to a trusted and cheaper independent. The good news is if it is either 1 or 2 above, it would take a good mechanic half an hour a side to get them working as they should.

@jtmattila Presumbly he has opened up the selector and replaced the original failed switch? There are some internationally standard formats/dimensions for microswitches so if the original was one of those, it would make for a neater/better solution than mine. I suppose the big question is whether that can be done in situ with the selector still fitted in the car. If not, it is going to be a longer job if it has to be removed to do it. For your repair, were you looking at ecu.eu to do it? I found them offering repairs on selectors too - though you'd need to be sure they weren't just charging you to fit the external switch kit for you 😄 Let us know how you got on.......

This is the sort of fault where you're into auto-electrican territory rather than mechanic really - but the explanation on the connector is entirely feasible and might just explain some of the other errors too. Hope it has sorted it for you.

Very true - and a nice little earner for them. But in this case where the part is over a grand fitted, and it is to resolve a single failing switch within - which was evidently not fit for purpose in the first place - that isn't exactly doing the brand any good, and scrapping an entire selector isn't environmentally friendly either. What VW Group should have done of course is make a variant of the switch kit for the Fabia. After all, they evidently went to the trouble of making a variant specifically for the Skoda Kodiaq (that is part 5Q0 713 128 B). But what do we know 😄

Good idea - I have put them in the guides section. Yes, I was doing this with my phone so it was a bit of a challenge and a mix of views.

My YouTube video on how to modify and fit kit 5Q0 713 128A to make it suitable for a Fabia mk3, to resolve the Error: Workshop! Only leave in P position fault (code B116229 Selector lever park position lock switch implausible signal). Prerequisite is the removal of the centre arm rest (if fitted) and centre console, covered by these two videos: Centre arm rest removal Centre console removal

My video on Youtube on how to remove the centre console on a Fabia mk3.

My video on YouTube on how to remove the centre arm rest on a Mk3, which is a prerequisite for removing the centre console.

I've had a dig about and found a good guide on YouTube to CAN bus faults which I thought was worth sharing. The OP stated that the battery had already been checked but I noticed that the first recommendation on this video was to do just that, so it's clear there can be a link as some of you have said. @Rheumy Agreed, problem is it is difficult to know what is and isn't related in this case. All the rear lighting is off the body control module so I can't see why there would be a connection to any CAN bus issue with those errors. So maybe an intermittent bad earth - perhaps another issue of wire breakages in the tailgate grommet? I happened to spot another familiar error code in there - the B116229 gear selector one and I bet I know what that is 😄

As an aside, our Fabia has just gone into our local VAG indy for an air-con regas so I asked how they deal with this fault on Fabias - and the answer was they replace the entire selector, which would be north of a grand (expensive part and a fair bit of labour as we'd all deduced). So I suspect this is going to boil down to whether any given garage is willing to do the sort of thing I have just done - and putting myself in their shoes, I have to say that I can understand why they might not be happy hacking a component about to make it fit.

Folks, as promised, I did actually do some videos on everything I've done, and these are now up on YouTube. There are three of them covering removal of the armrest, removal of the centre console and fitting of the kit as follows: Arm rest removal Centre console removal Fitting of the kit

There are loads of ECUs in a modern car - and to reduce wiring, they communicate with each other using a data circuit called the CAN bus. i.e. they are actually messaging each other. I'm looking at all those errors and the common thread is CAN bus issues all over the place - so I think it's probably the CAN bus wiring itself (intermittent break, short etc.). If you consider the CAN bus as the car equivalent of a your spinal cord, you can begin to understand what sort of chaos a fault on it is going to cause - and I think that is exactly what you are seeing. It could be a simple wiring fix, but finding the fault might take the garage a bit of time.

@logiclee Correction, the contact at your indy has been away and has just got back to me today. It would be good to get the professionals view on this so I'll give him a shout next week.

In the absense of any corroboration on the need to modify the switch, I decided after measuring again and using a bit of Blue Tac, that it was fouling where I thought it was as per previous photos. So I taped up the selector to stop any bits of plastic going in, took a deep breath, and ran the tip of my power file across the R/H side of the switch to take some of the plastic off. I have to say that I ended up taking more off than I was comfortable with to get the gaiter plate to fit - almost down to the two securing tabs (removing some of the reinforcing plastic above them). However, the switch plate still feels as secure as it did before. @logiclee Thanks for the info on the indy who fitted yours, but I didn't get any reply from them on how they had done it. Maybe if they have done something similar, they aren't too keen on saying. @jtmattila Not sure where this leaves you having a left hand drive car. The switch plate does look narrower on the L/H side where your gear indicator is going to be but that is as far as I can say. So to sum up, whilst this has been a success, if anyone wants to attempt it themselves, they do so at their own risk. The part isn't cheap and you can't exactly return it when you have hacked lumps out of it as I had to do.

Well, some good news and not so good. Got the 5Q0 713 128 A switch fitted to our Fabia and it seems to work fine. Refitted console - fine. BUT the gaiter/plate is refusing to clip back on. Through a bit of measuring and feel, it seems to me that one shoulder of the new switch that sticks up fairly high (arrow in red in my photo) and is wider than the same bit of plastic on the other side might just be fouling the underside of the selector plate by a few mm on the side where the gear indicator PCB is. i.e. the underside of the plate feels as if the area I have marked with two red lines is pivoting over the bit of black plastic show with the red arrow. I feel sure if there was some other switch out there specifically suited to the Fabia, one of us would have found it by now. So I'm wondering if OFFICIALLY, the kit doesn't fit the Fabia and maybe there is a little bit of undocumented bodgery going on when Skoda dealers do fit these. I guess the only way we would know for sure is if anyone who has had the fix done at a dealer would be willing to dig out the gaiter plate and take a photo (with the little risk of damage if it it isn't done carefully). In the meantime, I've left a comment for the guy on YouTube who put the video up of his gaiter plate being removed on his Monte Carlo (see earlier in this thread) to see if he had any issues when he re-fitted his. Certainly don't want to start hacking mine about until I'm more certain it can be made to fit. Off to find some BlueTac now, to see if I can impression where parts might be making contact........