OctaviaJo

Hi, If I remove the battery in a 2014 Octavia MKIII, either to change or charge it does the Amundsen unit require a code to reactivate it? I can't find a code in all the paperwork that came with the 2nd hand car - though I've got all original papers and can find nothing about a code in the Amundsen book. Can I assume that it will all be fine if the battery is ever disconnected please.

I finally got the USB stick back into the system last night. It never played up once!! I reckon what it needed was the good clean with the computer screen-y wipe. Seemed to fix all, so many thanks for the advice friends 😄

Well I tried the reboot - it seemed to give an extra bleep whilst turned off with the switch pushed in which I took to mean it had rebooted - though nothing obvious on the screen to say it had done so. I'd been playing the radio and for a while no extra bleeps, but couple of days ago it did a whole load of bleeps. So now I've given it a good clean with a lens cloth and it's still playing the radio. I haven't had time to play around with the USB stick yet as I don't often have time on my side - which is why I haven't reported back yet, but no bleeping since the good clean - though not a lot of use yet either. Further follow-up in due course.

Ah, didn't know I could do that - it is just like a bricked computer then! - will DEF go and try it. Will also give a bit of clean with computer screen cleaner and see if that helps - that's for the tips - at the moment I'll try almost anything that sounds logical.

I don't know how connected it is, or not, with the fact that the car had a minor service last Wednesday, but I've developed an issue with the big central computer that sits in the centre of the dashboard - the big Amundsen screen system. Prior to the service I was plugging in a USB drive full of music and had full screen control over things like selecting music. Now, all I am getting is problems. The system is supposed to bleep when the screen is activated, but now it goes into periods of bleeping when nothing is touching the screen, it is often non-responsive to main edge button presses as well as screen presses at various times. It won't let me change settings for the USB stick at all so I've taken that out, but I don't even have full control over radio selection, sometimes it just locks up and basically it just seems on the verge of falling over for good. Yes, I've tried turning it on and off, I've tried different USB sticks, I've tried music from the phone, but issues with the peripherals don't explain it locking up me without anything being access or not being able to select radio stations from the touch screen. If it was a desktop computer I'd defrag it, do a disk cleanup and reboot it. Would they have disconnected it during the service and could the service be related to the problems? Last night and this morning it also reckoned that I had a side light out (I hope if it's right that these are not tricky to change), but at the moment I'm loathed to believe anything its doing and haven't had a moment to go an physically check - if it is then it seems just a bit coincidental with all the other issues. Now I have noticed that there is 'return to factory settings' option in the settings area, but if I have a bash with this A) could it solve the issues described above? and B ) what will I change/lose if I try it? I thought there might be some experts on my favourite forum that might have some advice for me - many thanks.

Thanks for the link just music. Well it looks like the buzz rack quattro has been discontinued the Altera is an arm and leg to buy, and even something calling itself a Maxxrack looks out of stock on the roofbox website - sure signs I'm looking for something at the end of a hot outdoorsey summer

In all my years of driving I've no experience of carrying bicycles, I'm contemplating carrying 3 adult bicycles without a lot of messing around (mounting something difficult!) - I want them on the back of the car not on a roof rack, I also want to be certain of buying the correct carrier without having to worry about adaptors etc. A search online for carriers reveals that it is possible to spend anything between £20+ -£400+ on cycle carriers - at £400 its almost cheaper to buy bikes at the destination, at £20 I have to wonder if they are any good!! I've got a MKIII Octavia Estate and it has a detachable tow bar that can be fitted (I use it sometimes for towing my small camping trailer) - I wondered if there was a Skoda approved recommendation or maybe someone might have some recommendations for me based on their own experiences (or what to avoid!)

Year of registration 2014 Engine 2.0 Tdi Mileage when fault occurred 46,400 miles - fault occurred on the very day the service was due - I just couldn't shake the feeling that the issue was related to the service LOL! Dealer name & response (i.e. "don't want to know"/"yep, they all do that"/other) Underwoods, Colchester. Not the original dealer or the one that normally serviced the car - that is usually done when I am the other side of the country at work. Can't fault them, fitted me in at v.short notice when no other dealer could, Said they had heard of the problem, though they insisted on 'diagnosing' it first. sorted out the outstanding service and we fitted a new timing belt for good measure at the same time, took about a week. I cannot sing their praises highly enough. Warranty or goodwill contribution? The car was out of its warranty and apparently the part would have been replaced at my expense as a routine item during a later service. However, Underwoods did some calling for me and as the fault was known Skoda parts line contributed 70% of the costs of the part and 50% of the costs of the work of replacing the part which, given the fact that it would have been replaced at my expense at a later service anyway, I thought was an entirely fair settlement from Skoda. Many thanks Underwoods, Colchester Any other info. (Full Skoda service history/independent?) Full Skoda service history

So is there no solution to releasing the boot if the KESSY fails again please? As noted above, I cannot get it scanned until after my holiday.

I've got one of the MKIII Octavia's (hence posting in this forum). It has a KESSY system and a Estate boot. About twice in the last 6 weeks I've had problems with the tailgate not unlocking when the rest of the car has done so. I am wondering if it has anything to do with a rear passenger door being opened before a drivers door is (or maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part). I've done a search and found a thread for the problem with a MKII, but couldn't easily find a thread for a MKIII. What I'd like to know is there anyway of 'manually' opening the rear hatch if the mechanism fails? I am about to go on holiday and haven't got time for a garage visit before I go and don't want to strand the packing in the back of the car! I'd also be interested if anyone knows what causes it and how to fix it? As with the first time I just kept unlocking and locking KESSY and with the key-fob buttons this morning and in the finish it just freed up as though there had never been an issue. Thoughts would be appreciated - solutions even more so!! :-D

Finally got the car back today :-D Underwoods managed to speak to Skoda and Skoda volunteered the £90 diagnostic (I actually don't know how essential a diagnostic was - I had told them what the problem was likely to be! However, despite this apparently it had one), they also offered 50% of the labour costs and 70% of the cost of the parts. Better than the proverbial poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I was also getting it fully serviced too as it was also due literally on the day the pump expired, I know what the service was going to cost and in total the additional work for the pump looks like it cost £255 inc. VAT. That seems to compare well with the other reports on this thread so I guess I am relatively pleased with the outcome and have to give a big thumbs up to Underwoods Colchester for fitting me in the day after the pump went. Back up and driving again - Hurray!

Yes they changed the design of the pump slightly so the issue shouldn’t happen again after repair. Excellent news, thank you.

Update: I've heard back from Underwoods, apparently it is the 'known' issue with the water-pump. They are contacting Skoda to see if they will offer me some 'goodwill' towards the cost even though the car is bit beyond warranty. Then they will order part - at the moment I am looking at Tuesday evening for earliest repair as we are now into the weekend in terms of getting the part send. Still at least they were able to take it in the day after I called which was hugely useful. Gabbo, as you note above I reckon my 'sleeve' was in a fully stuck position and that was perhaps why the temperature didn't ever reduce on the trip - I certainly don't think I could have driven mine for a month - the trip to the garage was the first trip following the first manifestation of the problem and as I noted above I had huge issues even doing the 20 mile trip to the garage. Fingers crossed that I might get some money off - it's good that the garage are asking for me. I just hope that Skoda changed the design of the system following the problem being identified and that they can now fit an updated design of pump - I don't know how these things work, modern engines seem very precisely made and I just hope that it is not a scenario where the only thing that fits is an originally designed pump.

Hi Gabbo, well it's at Underwoods at Colchester at the moment (wonderful people to fit me in at such short notice and not my usual service point). Didn't think I was going to get there - should have been 45 mins (took nearly double that) away along A12 couldn't do more than 45mph, often less, the overheating warning light came on around 10 times and it sat in the 'red' section for longer than I was comfortable with (best part of the last 15 miles!). Uphill stretches were the worse when it had to work harder. The guy at Underwoods was adamant on the phone yesterday that I could drive it there though so although it was nerve wracking (esp. doing that slow speed on a dual carriageway full of lorries) I kept going. It's never taken me so long to get to Colchester. Back home now in dad's Fabia and just waiting for the verdict and final Ouch! bill. I sure hope that they can fix it and that maybe it is this known problem then at least there should be a tried and tested solution. If it takes a replacement water pump I've told them to do the timing belt as well. Feeling a bit bereft with no car on the drive at the moment, but on the basis of the trip I've just had it does need looking at! The worrying thing is 3 weeks go I drove it all the way to Austria and I guess I was lucky the problem didn't occur there!

Gabbo, many thanks for this: Once the sleeve is open, it will stay open for the rest of the time the engine is hot (so no need to worry about continuing to drive normally). I had a long chat with the dealer about the still reasonable length journey that I would need to do in order to get to them and they essentially told me the same thing, so it is good that you've confirmed it. The dealer suggested that I do exactly the same thing, if I see it overheating on the journey just back off the accelerator, then the 'sleeve' should function and let the water circulate and that should solve the problem for the rest of the journey. Mind you they also said that if the worst happens I should claim on my breakdown service and get some money's worth from the policy and get a flatbed to bring me in! LOL He didn't think that I'd need to though :-D

I'm OK, I've found a more local dealer that can look at it tomorrow :-D

I've got a 2014 Octavia Elegance about 45K on the clock and mine's just dropped this problem on me - 2 miles from home this morning lights all over the dash - engine overheat, stop immediately, temp. in the red etc., knowing how close to home I was I eased off the accelerator and immediately the temp. gauge started to fall. Hazard lights on and I drove home at 20mph and the temp gauge sat happy. The interesting thing is due to holiday it's service is due today - according to the dash board messages and I was going to book it in this afternoon - big problem is that the main Skoda dealer who services it for me is 100 miles away (I get it done on a regular trip that I do) and I'm not there for another two weeks. I need to know will it be OK and what I do in the meantime - currently trying to get through to them on the phone. Coolant and oil levels are fine.

Neily03, many thanks. MoggyTech - it's quite reassuring that it isn't so obvious - it seemed such a daft thing, but was a real issue. Gabbo - I reasoned the same, i.e. that the xenon's self dip/main beam function should work independent of the main screen being 'active'. However, I have noticed on a number of occasions that the lights do not appear to start working until well into the journey (this is setting off after dark) and sometimes this has seemed coincidental with when I have forgotten to take the main display off of standby, then they often seem to 'kick in' once I've got it running. As an alternative I'd welcome suggestions on how you make them 'kick-in' if they seem to not be operating. Once they decide to work they are really great, but often they don't seem to start.

So my MkIII Octy has got a computer display with all the bells and whistles on it just in front of the gear stick as most have. There are some occasions when I want it on, but have passengers in the car and want to turn the radio, music player etc. Off so can chat to my passenger. Maybe I'm missing a trick here, but my current solution is to turn down the sound. Can you do something as simple as turn the music players off and if so how please? Also, I've got the Xenon light system with the self-dipping technology (when it works its really clever), however I have noticed that it doesn't seem to function until I've turned the same big display on from the stand-by clock mode. Does this sound right? Many thanks

I'm putting my winter wheels with my Mountain and snowflake winter tyres on the new Octy tomorrow - temps are often below 7C now and that when the Winter tyres will outperform even my decent summer ones. I owe it to my kids to put the safest tyres on the car - they attach you to the road, and they are also needed when it goes skiing next Feb. Winter tyres every year for me and I'd even put them on for the winter if I wasn't skiing.

Hi PetrolDave, I was quite OK with the above (many thanks BTW) until I reached the Ouch bit of delete all files off of the SD card. Not that I won't attempt it, but it makes it sound more like something to be approached with a due degree of care. In terms of have I got an Octavia III with Amundsen? Well I am assuming its Amundsen. I bought the car (an Elegance) early second hand in the spring, I was lucky and it is considerably over-specced for even an Elegance, but I've never known exactly what system it had until I dug out all the supplied books earlier today (now that sounds daft, but I'd just been using the whole system on instinct until then - I'm not big on books until I can't work something out and most things work logically). As part of the books is one that says 'Infotainment Navigation Amundsen Owner's Manual' Hence my assumption that the nav system will be Amundsen and I've no idea if that is standard for that car or not, but as I explained above I've just started to play with it and have discovered that it can be updated. I know that the SD is a special one as I was given the genuine Skoda box it came in so I was fairly certain that I'd be told that I needed to use the original card, but it was def. worth checking. Mind you I might as well confess that I still haven't had the guts to try the parking assist LOL

FWIW I've got a brodit mount for my TomTom, but they do tend to be universal units, so imagine once you have the Brodit base mount installed you could change over from my TT holder to one for a mobile phone. I have one that attaches via the column between the windscreen and the door window and find this much more satisfactory for the satnav than having it on the dashboard side of the steering wheel. I like Satnavs where they obscure as little of the screen as possible, but are sufficiently accessible that you scarcely have to glance away from the road to know what they are showing - they are so much safer than ones which are mounted in such a way as you have to completely swing the eyes away from the road view to see them if you do need to check something. FWIW anyone that sticks sticks satnavs/mobile phones to the centre of their windscreen ought to be metaphorically hung by their respective short and curlies and shot - it is SOOO dangerous to obscure that part of the windscreen IMO I cringe everytime I get behind a driver, particularly on a dark night when they are noticeable who sticks them there. Sorry folks - IT mounting in cars is a bit of a hobby horse of mine.

I think the answer will be a re-sounding no, but can the car cope with having two phones blue-toothed to it at the same time? i.e. would it accept calls from both?

So I'm on my first Octavia with built in SatNav and it seems its an Amundsen system. Although I'm still a stand alone satnav fan, I have been using it when I've forgotten the TomTom and now find that an update is available. I've watched the Skoda update video and read the instructions and I am still not 100% clear - so although these questions may seem odd please can someone just clear things up in my mind so that I don't entirely brick the system? NB. You may assume that I am quite IT literate - I've just not done this routine previously 1. It talks about using a 32GB SD card. There are two SD slots in the car - one of them currently filled with what I understand is the SatNav card. Do I put the update directly onto the existing SD card, or do I download it to a separate 32GB SD card and place that in the 2nd slot and does it then update the master files in slot 1 from slot 2 2. It seems the download is a ZIP file, do I have to unzip it before it installs onto the final SD Card (whichever this is - see 1.) or is there a built in extractor/installation prog. that does all that for me? 3. In case it all goes pear shaped is there a recommended way to back-up the existing card prior to doing any of this? Many thanks for your help

mailme - that's useful to know and would seem to make good sense, but so far I'm not playing with VCDS - not brave enough! I was stuck at traffic lights for long enough this morning to have a play and finally found it under the heading of Autolock :-D I've turned it off and will be able to find out tonight if I've been successful. At least with the switch I should (I hope) still be able to activate it when I am ready by pressing the button once underway which is how I've always done it previously. It was becoming a real PITA when the kids ran up to open the driveway gate and then wanted to get back in and I'd forgotten to click the button - I was getting all sorts of grief! LOL