Dead Superb

[vRS_Si]

A friend has an '05 Superb and is having trouble with it. Lastest saga is that the car won't start today.

Pressing unlock on the keyfob will only unlock the drivers door (with repeated presses none of the other doors will unlock) and the alarm sounds.

When you get into the car and put the key into the ignition all the dash lights flash and theres a noticable clicking of a relay.

The car refuses to start and it won't get past the second stage of the ignition.

Anyone had experience of this? Does this sound like a dead battery, a duff relay or something more serious? I've not seen the car yet but will get a multi metre onto the battery this evening.

[ap0gee1978]

Battery's got to be the most likely culprit. I will bang my lonely drum regarding battery connections, and suggest you check they're secure (and not just that the nut's tight) while you're at it...

[Supurbia]

Put some new bats in the fob also.

Probably will be a relay in the end but best to rule out the simple 1st.

[bryanp]

Battery's got to be the most likely culprit. I will bang my lonely drum regarding battery connections, and suggest you check they're secure (and not just that the nut's tight) while you're at it...

Would definately say its the battery, Has same prob with mine last year and the Wifes car failed to start in exactly the same way yesterday, bought a new battery and it fired up first time, Spoke to the chap at the Motor Spares place I got it from and he said the current cold snap has been very hard on batteries and he's selling loads.

If you can ring around though, got a Lucas battery for the wifes car from the small spares shop for £43 but an equivilent Halfords brand battery was £70 and they all come with 3 years warranty

Also if you put a multi meter on it it wont really tell you much, regardless of the charge it will probably say theres 12V except when its completely dead, what you need to do if you want the battery testing is take it off and take it to a Battery supplier who will have a load tester, this basically puts a short across the terminals and records how much load its putting on the battery.

Edited 9 December, 2008 by bryanp

[vRS_Si]

Cheers guys, does indeed seem to be the battery.

It was showing 5 volts tonight so it's pretty flat!! Too low to try jump starting it so a call to Skoda Assist in the morning me thinks

[Bluefox]

Also if you put a multi meter on it it wont really tell you much, regardless of the charge it will probably say theres 12V except when its completely dead...

Unless it's dropped a cell or two. Si's reading of 5v below seems to suggest battery failure as opposed to cold snap death or old age.

Incidentally, yes a lot of our batteries are more expensive than local indipendants but all of our batteries are made by Varta, and some come with 4yr warranty - it's the latter that's usually better value.

[greg123]

The battery only affects the locking. The starting/immobliser is driven by the transponder in the key section, which is passive and not connected to the remote battery. New remote batteries will help unlock the car remotely, but not start it.

Greg.

Put some new bats in the fob also.

Probably will be a relay in the end but best to rule out the simple 1st.

[Custard Tractor]

Today our Nov 06 Superb Elegance 2.0 DPF refused to start, front doors only opened and the tiresome starter relay click of death. In mid Dec we had a similar occurence - again after 4/5 days without use. Skoda assist helped, we charged the battery, load tested it and found it okay and i put the event down to possible carelessness and maybe a door had not shut properly and a courtesy light had drained the battery. However, it has now happened again after some 7 weeks. The car is cold (open sided garage) but not as cold as when a fortnight ago we scraped the frost off it in the open-air airport car park where it had stood for a fortnight. She started like a good'un. Plenum chamber is clear (or was very recently) and the carpets are not damp. Heated seats and heated rear window are off. It goes to the local dealer tomorrow. Anybody had a similar experience (I don't recall seeing anything in the threads that I have read - apologies if I have missed one) or wish to offer an opinion? Thanks

[Custard Tractor]

Skoda Assist turned out, charged and tested the battery, again no obvious problem found. My wife took it to the local dealer and they ran the diagnostics but nothing helpful revealed. If suspicion lies anywhere it is with the on/off power button for the drivers seat adjustment - we will avoid using it. Having seen in the late 80s, a new Maestro turn its heated rear window on and off when the car was locked and left on a cold winter's night (poor thing), I can't help wondering if this is one of those (that can't happen!) faults. We left the dealer (always helpful thus far) with an agreement that next time (and we are resigned that there probably will be a next time) it is loaded up and taken directly to them on a truck. Thank goodness that it's still within warranty. We still love the car but if this continues ........

[Tech1e]

The battery only affects the locking. The starting/immobliser is driven by the transponder in the key section, which is passive and not connected to the remote battery. New remote batteries will help unlock the car remotely, but not start it.

Greg.

And anyhow if there is an immobilizer issue the car will still start, run then cut out.

[Custard Tractor]

And anyhow if there is an immobilizer issue the car will still start, run then cut out.

Thanks Lummox. I may be at fault here and not making it clear that I am finding the car in a coma, near death and she will not start, she does not even turn over, hence my thinking that we are not even getting close to there being an immobiliser issue. (But then, what do I know!). The vehicle battery has been tested and found okay (independently) and different key fobs were in use on the 2 occasions we found that we could not achieve mobility. Something is causing the battery to discharge; all heating element switches are off and the car doors/boot properly closed, no courtesy lights visible when the car was left. A mystery, still.

[greg123]

Agree with Ross (Lummox) immo issues mean the engine runs about 2-3 seconds then cuts out, with a flashing immob symbol (car/key symbol).

Willl it start with a jump start? What is the voltage across the batter when trying to start? Pulling fuses is pretty easy to isolate the seats etc. There may well be a small spark jiggling the fuse responsible for such a current loss. If not, measuring battery drain via ammeter/current loss while pulling fuses will be needed.

Greg.

And anyhow if there is an immobilizer issue the car will still start, run then cut out.