Why is nothing ever straightforward? Just returned from a weekend away and noticed the phone was not charging from the cig lighter socket (the one by the handbrake lever) I have only ever used this socket for the phone charger (i.e. no heavy loads). Checked the wiring behind the socket, all in tact but no 12 volts to the socket, so decided to check the fuse. Now here comes the problem, the illustration in my handbook shows a left hand drive dashboard, so I have to decide how to mirror this to right hand drive dash for my car. Have tried several options, not found any blown fuses but have managed to pull the fuse for the radio. Oh s***.... the music stopped! At this point I remembered that I needed a code to unlock the radio. I received a comprehensive file of documents with the car, the only thing missing was the card with the radio code!

I have set about obtaining the radio code, though have not yet received it and still have not figured out the correct fuse for the cig lighter. Today has not been my most successful day! Seriously though, has anyone figured out which way to mirror the fuse diagram? I may need to find something more important than the cig lighter one day.

Paul

Ah, the good ol' radio security code problem...been there many a time...

Haven't got a clue about the fuse diagram, however one thing I've learned to

check - usually in the cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter there is a fuse.

If you unscrew the tip that plugs into the lighter, it usually pops out, and

is a standard glass tube with a piece of wire in it.

Found this was the problem when my Road Angel stopped working (though

I was panicking for a bit!)...

Rob.

IIRC, to get the correct mapping you have to look a the diagram through the other side of the paper.

Real pain in the arse!

Cheers.

Adrian.

I traced the fusebox diagram then flipped the diagram horizontally and drew the resulting (correct) diagram on a piece of card. The final step was to identify the fuse numbers and ratings and make a note of them in the correct positions. Well worth doing the once to save the mental gymnastics of trying to interpret the original diagram in an emergency. I keep the card in the car document folder along with the Driver's Manual.

just in case u guys don't know but if you have the child window lock on (the button inbetween front + rear elecric mirror switches)on drivers door electric panel windows which prevents rear windows being operated by rear door switches the cigar lighter will not work (saves kiddies getting fingers burnt) on the subject of radio codes all the latest octavias don't come with codes the code is stored in the dash panel memory the way to code radio to dash in the event of power loss is to turn on ign then radio then radio should work if not try the process again a few times. hope this helps

big k

A thousands thanks are not enough, and boy do I feel stupid!!! You have provided me with the root cause of my problem(s).

My weekend trip with the family was the first with full complement of wife, children and dog; so it was the first time I had used the 'kiddie' lock on the electric windows............yes you've guessed it, I've just nipped out to the car turned off the kiddie lock and all is well with the cig lighter!

Since the radio problem only arose because I mistakenly thought the cig lighter was u/s then it seems I only have myself to blame.

I'm sure everyone else knew about this wonderful safety feature (and decided it was too obvious to point out!) but just in case that isn't true then I'm glad I shared the tale on Briskoda so that others may learn from my foolishness.

Paul

as i work with them all day long i see this all the time and have taken to the practice of starting at the very begining on faults. how did u get on with coding radio did i explain it clear enough. hope i can add valuable tech knowledge to u guys on the site but looking at all the treads/posts you all seem to be able to come up with the answer one way or another but if get stuck i'll try my best to get the answers for u guys (on here or by email mine is on here but please don't abuse) although not keen on tech questions on performance upgrades chips etc. cheers big k

Thanks again big k,

I haven't regained the use of my radio just yet. The unit is the factory Grundig and seems to store the code within the set itself (my car was registered Sept '99 so I guess manufactured earlier in '99), so I'm in the process of having the code traced from the serial number of the radio. Just my luck this happens the day before I set off on a 3 day/600 mile road trip. Looks like I'm going to have to survive without radio/music/traffic reports!

I guess it's my own fault though!

Paul

Had no idea the cigarette lighter didn't work with the window safety button on!

Then again, my window safety button doesn't work, so I wasn't likely

to find out...

Would it also disable the 12v outlet in the boot of the estate?

Rob.

The lighter socket by the handbrake is switched through the ignition, but the one in the boot is live all the time. Or at least that's how they work on my car.

Paul