montecarlo

Good morning Whitedot, it looks as though we were both writing at the same time. I hope you get it sorted as well, it certainly does help to have a rear washer this time of year. I had considered fitting a second washer pump for the rear washer and a push button switch to power it, especially if it was going to be a time consuming, complicated or expensive job to fix, the parts are cheap and it could be quite a satisfying little project. Good luck with yours.

Reply to Whitedot Firstly, thanks for reading my post and welcome to Briskoda, I’m sure you’ll find it very helpful, just as I have done for several years. Next, your problems might not be caused by the stalk, when the stalk is pushed to the the “on” position for the rear wiper it sends a signal to the body control module (BCM) which then tells the wiper what to do, so the BCM might be faulty instead. The stalk is less expensive to replace though so it’s a better starting point. When the rear wiper switch is in the on position (intermittent) the BCM appears to be getting the signal to put the wiper into “wash wipe mode” (constant) but not to start the washer pump. Unfortunately I don’t know how to determine which part is causing the problem apart from a process of elimination, you could try the method I used to get mine working, it’s worth a go for the price of a can of WD40 (with the straw attachment) and ten minutes of your time. Good luck with it and don’t forget to let us all know when you’ve fixed it.

Thanks Alasdair I am going to leave it for now and if it completely stops working I will consider testing or changing the pump, according to Haynes it’s a bumper off job and I don’t fancy doing that in the current climatic conditions. So it sounds like you think the flaps aren’t working properly and that’s why the washer starts to spray then stops?

After doing a few checks of wiring, fuses and the washer outlet which were all okay, I decided to try squirting WD40 into the wash wipe switch while moving it around and this seems to have worked so it is probably burnt or contaminated contacts causing the issue. However the washer pump starts at full pressure for a second and then quickly diminishes to nothing just like it did before it completely stopped working, there are no blockages in the pipes and the pump works well on the front screen, so I’m not sure if that means the pump has a fault or not.

Is there a way to test that the rear washer will definitely work without actually fitting a new stalk first? I’m not really a fan of secondhand parts because they might have a different fault or not last long so I will probably buy a new one and they’re quite expensive. If I could connect a live wire somewhere to test it that would be great. Thanks

Thanks Crucian, that's what I thought but I didn't want to change the stalk so was hoping for an easier fix, however, if it's only a 40 minute job I don't mind having a go. Do you have a link to some instructions?

I have a 2013 Fabia Mk2 estate, the rear washer was working but if the stalk switch was held in the rear wash position the pump would slow down and stop within 5 seconds, the wiper would do the usual few sweeps and then stop normally. Now pushing the stalk switch forwards to use the rear wash doesn't work at all or do the few constant wiper sweeps, however the intermittent rear wipe does work, and the front windscreen wash also works. As far as I know the same pump is used for front and rear screens so that must be okay, so does this mean the stalk switch is broken? If the stalk switch requires replacement is it a big job and would it be easier to fit a small momentary push switch to use the rear washers? Thanks

With the help of Breezy_Pete I have managed to fix the problem. The solution was to replace the drivers door window motor with a reconditioned one supplied by Pete. It seems strange to me that a dodgy window motor could cause so much trouble but I guess that’s the wonder of the can bus system. Many thanks Pete you’re a star!

Fabia 5J 2009 randomly re locking when driving or parked and the alarm is being triggered flashing the indicators and sounding the siren. I have disconnected the siren by removing fuse 54 to avoid disturbing neighbours, the siren doesn’t sound without the fuse which suggests that its internal battery is worn out. I found a broken wire in the door wiring harness which was connected to pin 15/28 at the A post plug between the drivers door and the car body. I have replaced the wire which made the door switch (the one that turns off the internal sensors) work again, the alarm was quiet for a few hours but has just triggered again. Is there a way to disconnect the alarm permanently and keep the remote central locking function, or a way to just use central locking by using the key in the drivers door lock? Many thanks

I tried holding the car on the handbrake this morning instead of the footbrake to test the theory that it would set off without a pause, but after a couple of seconds of releasing the foot brake the car engaged drive and the back of the car suddenly dipped down making the rear brakes creak as the car tried to overpower the handbrake. I do usually use the handbrake in heavy traffic because I too think it's bad manners to dazzle the following driver with my brake lights, but I will also have to select neutral and learn to tolerate the hesitancy when I put it back into gear, and perhaps the odd beep from impatient following drivers, when setting off again.

Here’s a a scary thought, I often join a busy derestricted road from a T junction. I reckon it normally takes about a second to move from the foot brake to the accelerator to set off, with this “feature” it takes two seconds. So, if I stop briefly then set off again without holding the car on the handbrake as suggested there’s an additional one second delay, approaching vehicles travelling at 60 mph are now 88 feet closer to me by the time I join the main road. Well done Skoda!

Have to go now as Mrs Montecarlo is beckoning with a bottle of wine, but I will check in again tomorrow. Thanks for your help so far!

Just checked the spec and it does have hill start assist, rear disc brakes, 1.0 3 cylinder Si engine (engine code DKLD) and 7 speed automatic gearbox (transmission code UUE) I can't be sure when the brakes were serviced but the car was serviced by Skoda not long ago so I'd like to think they were looked at then and they work properly as well.

You've just given me an idea though, is it possible to stop the drive disengaging every time the brake pedal is pressed at a stand still? This would fix the problem because when the brake was released the car would be ready to set off like a real automatic

Thanks I won't try that, chances are the engine will just rev up anyway

I thought I'd just add this in case it helps you to find a solution. When the car is standing still on an incline with drive selected the brakes don't immediately release when the brake pedal is released, the delay is the same as the delay in engaging gears (about two Mississippi's), obviously this must be to compensate for the fact that the car cannot hold itself stationary using it's engine power. Aren't cars too complicated these days!

I've just checked for error codes and there were none, I also tried to find calibration settings for the accelerator and there were none of those either. However, I noticed that when I started the car from cold just now it idled at about 1500 rpm for what seemed like 30 seconds so that will partly cause it to lurch when setting off in a morning if one isn't patient enough to wait for it to calm down, the other observation I made was this. When drive or reverse is selected with the brake pedal depressed the car doesn't respond like a traditional automatic where you would feel it engage into a gear and want to move, then when the brake pedal is released there is a kind of pregnant pause before the car begins to creep forwards or backwards. If the brake pedal is re applied the pause happens again. So I think I've figured out why it leaped forward this morning just after starting the engine from cold, the revs were already high and because nothing seemed to happen when drive was selected and the brake pedal released more revs were added so when the car eventually decided to go into drive it did so with great enthusiasm. My next question is this, can the time delay between releasing the brake pedal and the car engaging gear be reduced or eliminated as it seems a bit too long for busy junctions etc I'm guessing it's all to do with emissions so the engine isn't labouring at stand still and it probably has to disengage the gears to use the stop start function as well.

No this is the only one I've driven but I've driven a lot of automatics and they've never set off as abruptly as this one does, at first nothing seems to be happening and then it suddenly lurches forwards. I'm fairly sure it's not designed to be that way. When it's going along the gearchanges are very smooth though.

Many thanks for the advice, the accelerator moves smoothly so I don't think it's dirty and the mileage is very low so I don't think it will be wear and tear related. I have an iCarsoft code reader which is quite good so I will have a look through the settings for any kind of calibration. I'm fairly sure it's not been remapped as the previous owner was a middle aged lady who bought it from a main dealer, but I guess I shouldn't categorize her. What is IIRC?

I've got a 2021 Fabia Mk3 Automatic and the accelerator pedal is much too sensitive when setting off so it's difficult to move away slowly which causes a problem in traffic jams and when manoeuvring in parking spaces. Is it possible to calm it down a bit so I can set off smoothly? Thanks in advance

Hi Fabia29, yes there was just enough oil, a few drops left in the bottle afterwards. Good luck with yours

Update.......... During the frosty weather the selection of first gear became so difficult I had to do something about it. I guessed it must be something to do with the oil becoming too thick during the night in the cold temperatures, because the gearchanges became easier after a few miles of driving. After doing some research I found a German brand of oil which was developed for VW gearboxes like this one so I bought a litre of it and arranged for my local garage to change the oil again. The garage advised me not to buy more than one litre because it would be enough even though the capacity is meant to be 1.1 litres. The transmission code shown on the boot floor sticker is QAE I'm pleased to report that the gearbox is now changing gears much more smoothly and so far I haven't been locked out of first gear like I was before. The oil that I bought is this one and it cost £21.95 Liqui Moly - Top Tec MTF 5300 70W-75W - Fully Synth. Transmission Gear Oil - 1L I should also mention that the garage said the filler bolt was so difficult to undo that there was a real chance of breaking the filler, so they had to remove the reverse sensor switch and fill the gearbox through that instead. I hope this helps someone else in the same position as we were almost considering selling the car at one point but using this oil has made it pleasant to drive again.

Thanks for your reply. Are you talking about the main battery? I have tried disconnecting this for a while but it had now effect on the light