pikpilot

Ignore the disc and use one of the paid for apps, or one of the free trial apps. I was lucky in that, as an early user, I now have free updates on Carista but I believe new users now have to pay a yearly fee. However, it is probably the best app for VAG cars. It is unlikely that you will mess up irretrievably with these owner targeted apps, but you can do so with professional programs such a VagCom as the authors assumed you have a greater depth of knowledge.

So the failed connection is upstream or a poor earth connection. With a poor earth connection at the bulb holder, the bulb failure feature will detect no bulb current and shut off its supply (0.6V residual) until the next bulb test soon after start up, So it is correct to see this voltage at the connector in this scenario of no return path.

Once the system has detected a failed bulb it will remove the supply from that bulb, hence you only see 0.6V or so; the actually voltage depends on the input resistance of your meter. There are two common cases. One is a poor earth connection at the negative wire to body stud on the left hand side wheel arch area. As your other bulbs are working this is an unlikely cause. The second cause is poor contact with the bulb, or at the cable connector. This is more likely on a 13 year old car and has been reported before.

Not so. The reason I bought the Carista app was to set up the DRLs on my 2012 car. Cars from 2011/2012 came with DRLs fitted but not activated as the law requiring them was not yet in force. Using the Carista app I activated the DRLs and then switched them on using the left hand stalk procedure shown in the handbook. Worked first time and easy to do. Equally, if you wish to activate/deactivate the long press for window opening, you can do that too on these models using the app. If you don't like the feature then you can turn it off. In addition to opening the windows with a long press, it automatically gives you the same feature by using the lock/unlock switch in the centre of the car. This is particularly useful in the summer to dump warm air after the car has been stood in the sun. So, get in the car, start the engine and drive away then make a long press on the unlock side of the switch. All four windows open and and the hot air is sucked out. A minute or so later make a long press on the switch to close all the windows again just as the air-con starts to work. From the Carista app I have copied below the related windows features you might find useful.:- Enable settings for opening/closing windows and sunroof Yes / No Open/close windows and sunroof via long-press on remote Yes / No Open/close windows and sunroof by turning and holding key in door lock Yes / No Open sunroof via long-press on remote Yes / No Close sunroof via long-press on remote Yes / No Blink turn signals when done closing windows via remote Yes / No Open only driver's window via long-press on remote Yes / No Allow power window operation after ignition is turned off Yes / No

The enabling work for DRLs referred to above can also be done with the Carista app on facelift models. Once done, they can be turned on or off using the turn indicator stalk as mentioned above and also described in the handbook.

With the boot open, remove trim the left hand side so you can see a metal stud welded to the panel with a number of wires going to it, including the negative/ground wires for your boot lights. Often the connection become corroded by leakage from the screen washer pipe. If the water in the pipe freezes due to insufficient strength of washer fluid then the frozen fluid will push off a pipe connector with the result above.

Still sounds like a loose connection or a connection at an earth stud. When it happens can you use a multimeter to check the voltage at a non working part and then also the volts from a failed supply directly to battery positive and finally from the negative of the failed unit to battery negative. Alternatively, find someone locally to run diagnostics using VCDS software. This will show where there is a supply discontinuity. Not common but not unknown is a battery that has an internal connection fault. Borrow another battery to see what happens.

Check tightness of battery connectors; check for corrosion around the large fuses in the fusebox next to the battery. Your symptoms are indicative of an intermittent supply to high current loads. Can also be caused by a failing battery - when was it last changed? or checked?

The noise only happened on a previous car of mine when I was accelerating hard through the gears. Soon got very noisy so that people turned their heads to look. No noise at low revs as the turbo (not variable vane) wasn't doing anything.

If it sounds like a police car is following you with its siren on, its the turbo bearings on their way out.

Sounds like you have a head gasket leak. What happens after a short burst of full power is that the engine gasses are forced through the head gasket leak into the coolant system. The excess pressure in the coolant system causes coolant to be automatically vented out by the pressure release cap (filler cap). When the engine and coolant starts to cool down, the coolant in the expansion bottle get drawn back into the engine coolant passages. The variability you noticed is common as it depends on temperatures and amount of gasses leaked to get enough pressure to open the pressure relief valve in the cap. When it does happen it can be fast. Looks like it is a not a major leak so may be difficult to confirm with a coolant pressure test or a coolant chemical test.

I had one like that on a previous car after the key had been dropped. I opened it up and found that a solder joint on the pc board had failed. Soldered it up and it worked again. However, replacing the key is the way to be sure there are no further issues. Others who replaced lost keys through a Skoda dealer have reported on here that it takes about 4 weeks as it is custom made and then shipped from the Continent.

A key can be damaged by dropping it onto a hard surface. The other more likely way to "fail" is if the key has not been used for a while and it has lost synchronization. Regaining synch varies between models but for my Octavia it says: "If the vehicle cannot be unlocked by actuating the remote control system then it is possible that the code in the key and the control unit in the vehicle are no longer synchronised. This can occur when the buttons on the radio-operated key are actuated a number of times outside of the operative range of the equipment or the battery on the remote control was replaced. This means it is necessary to synchronise the code as follows: › press any button on the remote control key; › pressing of the button means that the door will unlock with the key within 1 minute." For some other VAG vehicles the process (from my poor memory!) is to open the car with the good key, then turn on the ignition and open the driver's window (as a safeguard). Then use the key blade of the "faulty" key to lock and open the driver's door. This will rewrite the faulty key. Note the comment above about having to do this procedure when you change the battery in the key. I have never found it necessary. Look in your driver's handbook as there may be a paragraph about re-synch in the key section of "Using the System"

You said: "I have sometimes heard a loud noise that goes on for some time after the engine is switched off - bit like a fan running, really quite noisy." That could be the electric cooling pump. It comes on after you turn off the engine to give coolant circulation for a short time. I can hear mine in the cabin and outside but is not what I would call noisy.

Yes, the pdf version has links attached to all page numbers shown in the index and text references. Click on a page number in the index and it jumps to that page - in my version anyway. Not checked it on yours.

The emissions fault light is just a summary indicator telling you get a garage to do a diagnostics check to find which of many possible faults caused it to light.

You can reset the service indicator yourself but it sounds like it may be worth getting an oil service anyway.The information below is taken from the Driver's Manual for your model and year. If you don't have a manual, you can download it from here: https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Model/Octavia_1Z. Remember to first choose your production year in the drop down box. Resetting Service Interval Display The service interval displays can also be reset as follows by using the reset button 6 Fig. 2 on the trip counter: Switch off the ignition, press the reset button of the trip counter for distance driven and hold it down. Switch the ignition on and release the reset button. Now turn the reset button to the right. The service interval displays are reset. The procedure is different on later models.

The cause is usually someone has put (forced) two CDs in the same slot. There is a how to do it video on here somewhere showing how to take the unit apart to fix stuck discs. Do a search using the search function at the top right or, If unsuccessful, look on YouTube.

Take a look at this thread from pos 2 onwards:-

With a diesel engine, the revs rise to around 1000 rpm as you bring up the clutch pedal and can produce considerable torque at such revs. I use this to reverse up my drive: bring in the clutch as normal without touching the accelerator and the car will start to move even though there a considerable load on the engine due to the hill. It is like having anti-stall fitted as the revs do not reduce. Try this on a petrol engine and the engine will stall. With a petrol engine you have less torque at low revs and the torque rises initially almost linearly with increasing revs. So in the above example, a petrol engine needs the revs to be increased by using the accelerator before you raise the clutch pedal. It is the same on hills. If you let the revs drop too low you are also reducing the torque available; hence the need for more gear changes. With some diesel cars you can stay in fourth gear most of the time in town but you need frequent gear changes in a petrol car. This is a generalisation of course but makes the point. So, use the revs and change to a lower gear earlier and your petrol car will not seem so sluggish - and you have a higher max revs to play with too. At 30 mph you may need to stay in 3rd gear.

I assume you mean you disconnected and then reconnected the battery (with a pause of a few minutes) but the brake lights are now on continuously. Is this what you mean? Does the diagnostic port now work? If you only disconnected the battery for just few seconds, do it again as there is storage in the electronics that needs to be discharged.

I agree with post above if it starts and then cuts out 10 seconds later. This is deliberate when the immobiliser has not received the correct code from the key. As you have both the immobilier problem and lack of connection to the diagnostic port it could be a result of a blown fuse, poor earth connection or failing battery (usually accompanied by various spurious dash warnings). It would be helpful if you could add more car details such as year of manufacture, model (VRS? Diesel? Petrol? engine size?) or best of all your engine code such as CAYC, BMM etc

The following is a list of changes (facelift models) you can make to the windows using the Carista App. VCDS may do more but I doubt it. Ignore references to sunroof. In addition to opening and closing the windows using a long press on the remote or holding the door key at open or close for few seconds, you can do the same with a long press on the open/lock button in the centre of the car (useful on a hot day to dump the hot air by opening all windows simultaneously once you are in the car). I am not clear from your posts whether your long press and key in door is working or not. If not , then this app could program it for you, assuming your 2009 car is a facelift model. I have a facelift model with rain sensor and the windows do not close automatically when it rains. Enable settings for opening/closing windows and sunroof Yes / No Open/close windows and sunroof via long-press on remote Yes / No Open/close windows and sunroof by turning and holding key in door lock Yes / No Open sunroof via long-press on remote Yes / No Close sunroof via long-press on remote Yes / No Sunroof action when opening via remote Slide / Tilt Blink turn signals when done closing windows via remote Yes / No Open only driver's window via long-press on remote Yes / No Allow power window operation after ignition is turned off Yes / No

Have you looked at your cable? Is it a mono or stereo cable? If stereo (at both ends?) then use a multimeter to check it end to end for breaks.

Your main beam problem may be due to incorrect rewiring. In NHS use it may have had the lights wired to another unit to give alternate flashing headlights. In which case you need to connect the lights to the original lighting wiring from the on-board power control unit (early models) or equivalent on face-lift models. In the same vein, 03138 - Input AUX IN Open circuit may be because the radio aux input was connected to a 2 way radio transceiver and the original wiring to the aux input was not reconnected. Fault 01503 - Bulb for high-mount brake light Open circuit/short circuit to B+ similarly may be due to its use for other purposes in the past such flashing with the "blues and twos". Check wiring.