I'll try to keep this brief....

I have a October 2006 registered Octavia II 2.0TDI Elegance Hatch purchased from a Skoda main Dealer in London in March last year and under Skoda warrenty until the end of March this year. I live in London but during the week I work in Swindon. The office is only a 4 minute walk from my apartment so the car lives in an underground car park during the week.

I was off out this evening until I went down to the car park and discovered the car won't start and bears all the hallmarks of a flat battery, instead of the engine turning over all I get is a clicking noise that I strongly suspect is the starter relay.

Ordinarily I would phone the AA/RAC, however the last time I used the car was when I picked it up on Monday evening from the Skoda dealer here in Swindon after they replaced the Cruise Control stalk under warrently. Could the warrently repair have caused the flat battery? Is the battery covered under Skoda's "12 months comprehensive part and labour warrenty".

I have AA cover through my employeer but if I call them I'm assuming they will want to sell me a new battery. If I call the company who provide the "12 months roadside assistance" that came with the car (not that I know who provides that cover) will they be more open to a warrenty claim or will a flat battery in January on a 27 month old car automatically be a "wear and tear" item?

Kind of annoyed at this latest failure (Monday was my third warrently repair), but I need to know what the best plan of attack for tomorrow is so that I can head back to London and avoid spending £50-100 on a battery if at all possible.

I would go for trying to jump start the car or recharge the battery...then see what developes from their.

They may have had your doors open all day or something or maybe your radio going...lol and if you never drove far your battery may just not have enough in it. They may have disconnected the battery to do your cruise...check the battery connections are not loose.

I would go for trying to jump start the car or recharge the battery...then see what developes from their.

They may have had your doors open all day or something or maybe your radio going...lol and if you never drove far your battery may just not have enough in it. They may have disconnected the battery to do your cruise...check the battery connections are not loose.

I have jump leads in the car, but unless I hang around the car park and wait for someone to arrive or leave I have nothing to jump from. I did check the battery - lead connection and they are firmly attached.

At this point I will probably wait until the morning and phone Skoda customer service to get the Skoda roadside assistance number and inquire if the battery is a warranty item.

Call out Skoda assist they should get you going and provided that it is a car supplied by Skoda UK and under 60000 miles the battery should be covered in my opinion, unless they have changed the warranty conditions.

Call out Skoda assist they should get you going and provided that it is a car supplied by Skoda UK and under 60000 miles the battery should be covered in my opinion, unless they have changed the warranty conditions.

I bought the car from Marlborough Skoda in West London when it was 17 months old and I've had it 10 months, it now has just over 22,000 miles on the clock, and as Skoda have already repaired it under warranty on three occasions I assume it was a Skoda UK supplied car.

Do you know who supplies the Roadside assistance, I've had a look through the paperwork and I can't find any contact details.

The phone number for Skoda Assistance is 0800 526625. Hope it's nothing more serious than a flat battery

Call out Skoda assist they should get you going and provided that it is a car supplied by Skoda UK and under 60000 miles the battery should be covered in my opinion, unless they have changed the warranty conditions.

I have an Oct 06 reg petrol VRS that I've owned for about 20 months. About 3 or 4 months back I came out to start it to try to drive to work in the morning (it gets a run out about six days a week) and encountered a similar problem to you.

Rung the Skoda Assistance folk, the guy was with me in about 40 minutes. He thoroughly checked the connections and various arrangements and found that the alternator was fine and there were no obvious leaks from any of the circuits either when it was live or after shut down. (I hadn't done anything stupid like left the lights on or door ajar). Anyway, he jump started it from his box of tricks, then ran my engine for about 25 minutes which seemed to charge the battery fine, and it's been perfect ever since. Complete mystery but pretty good service and didn't cost me a bean.

I blamed something weird in the atmosphere - a colleague at work who lives about 4 miles from me also went out that same morning and found he had a flat battery too. (He's got a six year old Escort or something, so it's not a VAG specific thing!)

I have heard of radiator cooling fans operating when they shouldn't (when the engine is cool and switched off). I think there are a few other problems that can also drain the battery on Octy IIs (IIRC There was a "campaign" for stereos doing it too). If it only an intemittent fault they can be difficult to diagnose.

Call Skoda Assistance on 0800 526 625 operated by the RAC - they will get you going.

Most likely cause to me; something electrical left on and given you a flat battery.

I phoned roadside Assistance, and 10 minutes later they where outside. Car was running 5 minutes later. Nothing untoward and his suspicion was that the battery was run very flat on Monday when they replaced the Cruise Control switch, and while it started outside the dealers, the 1.5 mile 4 minute trip from dealer to home simply didn't put enough charge into the battery.

I then took it for a 30 minute drive and went back to work, as long as it starts this afternoon the 2 hour drive back into London should prove if it was just flat or on it's way out.

Cheers for the replies and the number to VW's roadside assistance.

I phoned roadside Assistance, and 10 minutes later they where outside. Car was running 5 minutes later. Nothing untoward and his suspicion was that the battery was run very flat on Monday when they replaced the Cruise Control switch, and while it started outside the dealers, the 1.5 mile 4 minute trip from dealer to home simply didn't put enough charge into the battery.

I then took it for a 30 minute drive and went back to work, as long as it starts this afternoon the 2 hour drive back into London should prove if it was just flat or on it's way out.

Cheers for the replies and the number to VW's roadside assistance.

result ; well done ; hav a good weekend .

****! Currently sat in the Skoda dealer in Swindon.

Finished work and went back to pick the car up from the car park and this time there wasn't even enough power to unlock the doors. Rang Skoda Roadside Assist who where with me in less than 30 minutes. This time the chap did a proper diagnosis on the battery and discovered that it has a dead cell. So back to Skoda. According to SRA the dealer should sort it out under warranty, or SRA will provide a hire car.

Hopefully they have a battery in stock but already I can see my Friday evening disappearing in the distance!

UPDATE:

Right, started the Journey in my Octavia II 2.0TDI and finished it in a dealer Fabia II 1.4 TDI, and 5 hours later then expected. Dealer had a look at it and thinks it might be the alternator but can't confirm anything until Monday. I got the impression that the replacement car should have come from SRA but they refused to arrange this so the Dealer took sympathy on me and supplied a loan car. I don't know who should have supplied the car but right now I'm pretty impressed with Fish Brothers Skoda in Swindon.

Edited 30 January, 200917 yr by GoodDoc
Update

Im experianceing similar issues to GoodDoc, i think. i have a '99 mk1 octy TDi. if the car is left sitting for more than 12hrs or so, and if i dont take it for a good run- it wont start again!

has all the symptoms of a flat battery.it turns over a few times miserably to a stop with flickering lights on the dash. the battery is only 10months old and it got a new starter at the same time.

it will start with a jump everytime though and shows 13.6volts with a meter across the batery when running so i dont think its the alternator.

Has anyone else come across this on the mk1 octy?

Cheers,Dave

Hi Dave, try posting in the Octavia Mk 1 forum, you might get a better response

Im experianceing similar issues to GoodDoc, i think. i have a '99 mk1 octy TDi. if the car is left sitting for more than 12hrs or so, and if i dont take it for a good run- it wont start again!

has all the symptoms of a flat battery.it turns over a few times miserably to a stop with flickering lights on the dash. the battery is only 10months old and it got a new starter at the same time.

it will start with a jump everytime though and shows 13.6volts with a meter across the batery when running so i dont think its the alternator.

Has anyone else come across this on the mk1 octy?

Cheers,Dave

Check the fuses on top of the battery and also the wiring to the starter and earth.

Obviously be very careful with this and disconnect the battery when doing it.

Also check the cooling fans are not staying on and that the radio or something else isn't staying on once the car is off

There was a problem with the Stream radio causing a battery discharge.

Hi m8 ive had a similar problem and it turned out to be a crank sensor, Maybe worth a look. thing is a diognostics throws loads of faults back even if sensor slightly out of place. Have u tried a clutch start?

Thanks to all the adivse....so apparently theres a mk1 forum?!?...(im new :-P)

The fuses on the batery are ok.

The radio is an aftermarket Sony that goes off with the ignition.

I checked the wiring to the starter and body points are tight and surprisingly clean.

Haven't ever heard the fan running after turning off but very possible and seems to be common.

The crank sensor wouldn't be the culprit as the engine refuses to turn over...not as if it turns and turns but it doesn't see the crank spining.

One other thing....The car had been given a good drive and when i pulled in the driveway at home, I managed to stall the car.(smooth...)

the car wouldn't start again even though it was fully warm- 'Dead battery' symptoms.

4hrs latter I tried it again and it burst into life as if nothing was wrong?!?!

I just had a thought, The starter was replaced using the old solenoid. could it be faulty?

Again, Thank you to all!

If the solenoid on the starter motor is sticking you will get the 'dead mans click' when you try and start it up. Could be cooling down and freeing up again after a while.

The Mk1 forum is over here: Octavia I Skoda Model Discussion Area - Octavia I at BRISKODA.net - BRISKODA - The Skoda Forums

Well, it's been 8 days since my car failed to start, 7 days since Skoda have had it, 4 days since Skoda confirmed that it was a faulty battery and would be replaced under warranty, 3 days since it was suppose to have been repaired, and I'm still driving around in a Dealer loan car.

So while most people have been braving the snow in their own cars, when I woke up on Monday morning and was greeted by the scenes below I was actually glad that my car was in a dealer car park waiting for a part.

I left London on Monday afternoon leaving the snow behind, only to head down to Swindon where the snow caught up with me again. While I'm content to drive a loan car at the moment I have to confess to be being surprised that a Dealer doesn't have a battery in stock. The cost or providing me a loan car for over a week must far exceed the cost of the replacement battery.

Hopefully by the time the roads are beginning to approach normality I will have my car back.

Most dealers arent allowed to stock batteries, they come under the hazzardous substances rulings. 3-5 day orders on some due to the same regulations believe it or not.

Most dealers arent allowed to stock batteries, they come under the hazzardous substances rulings. 3-5 day orders on some due to the same regulations believe it or not.

I never knew that, it would certainly explain the delay I've experienced so far.

Also Batteries come under ADR regulations for road transport.

Well, I have my car back. On Friday 30th of January Skoda Roadside (That will be an RAC bloke in an RAC van) turned up and said I had a faulty battery, and last night, the 9th of February I get my car back from the local dealer.

Including the first weekend it took a few days to decide it was faulty rather then flat, and add a few days of delays for "Snomegeddon 09 - The days the Country stood stilll" and it's not as bad as it first seems, and to honest I was happy for the car to stuck in a dealers car park during the snow related hysteria. I'm pretty chuffed that a battery was replaced under warranty on a 27 month old car with almost no fuss.