I had been looking at getting cruise control fitted to my Octy vRS for a few weeks and had nearly settled on taking it down to Awsome GTI next time I was in manchester (I live in Edinburgh). However, I realised I wouldn't be down that way for the next few months and so decided to look into getting it done more locally so I could have it sooner. Sorry Awesome, I know you are damned good but I have a few long drives coming up soon and I really wanted to have cruise for them.

So, took it to a local VW/Audi specialist who reckoned they could do the job at a price that seemed fair to me. I asked for the newer stalk (1J0) and they thought it would be about a 2 hour job.

Unfortunately, when I went to pick it up, I found that the kit that they had receieved from skoda had included the older 8L0 stalk. The mechanic had fitted it in good faith though so I decided just to live with it.

The issue though is that he can't get the damned thing to activate. The stalk is on, the wiring is in but nothing happens when you try to enable the cruise. He reckons VCDS tells him that it is enabled, but it does nought!

I have read that the 1J0 stalk comes with three looms to make it work with the vRS but he only found one in the Skoda kit with the 8L0 stalk (stated as being compatible with the 1.8T 180bhp engine and source by skoda to be compatible with e REG of the car).

Does anyone who has fitted cruise to a vRS have any suggestions? How many wiring looms did you need to fit and is the wiring for the 1J0 and 8L0 stalk different?

In total I have been out to them three times trying to get this thing to work and we are fresh out of ideas. Before the mechanic starts stripping out clutch switches etc, is there anything obvious we could have missed?

sounds like i'd be asking for a refund and taking it elsewhere tbh.

Nah, these are good guys doing their best to sort this. The garage is decent and I trust that they are doing their best to solve the issue. I have read over all the instructions they have receieved from Skoda and reviewed the contents of the kit that Skoda sent them. They have followed these instructions to the letter and done a really neat job too.

My suspision is that either Skoda has sent them the wrong or incomplete kit or there may be an issue with the clutch switch.

The confusion I have is that all the kits that I have seen online show three wiring looms while this kit only came with one. However, all the kits on line come with the newer 1J0 stalk so maybe that requires additional wiring when compared to the 8L0 stalk that was fitted to my car.

As I say, really nee the advice of someone who has fitted this themselves!

Cheers,

iep

sorry, i just see see the fact that they didn't get what you asked for, fitted it anyway, it didn't work and they have had 3 goes at making it work. this is not inspiring confidence mate, now they want to start taking other parts of the car apart to make it work, i'd be worried that even more stuff is going to stop working.

best bet i'd say is take it to someone that has plenty of experience in doing this.

This is the most experienced Audi/VW Garage in the local area (run by two Audi Trained Senior Mechanics). They have fitted cruise to loads of Audis, Seatas and VWs, just haven't done the Octy before. As for getting the 8L0 rather than 1J0 stalk, this is a minor issue and I'm not about to hold it against them especially as they ordered the latest kit from Skoda (we both assumed this would ensure that we got the latest Stalk).

Most importat to me is that they accept full responisbility for the job and have remained totally comitted to finishing it correctly. I should also add that, though I have been in to see them three times, this has always been on a Sat moring and only for an hour or so when they can't contact Skoda live (they're trying to get it fitted around my schedule).

Cheers,

iep

Hi

Most prefer the 8L one :confused: or am I wrong again????

Havr they checked the brake and clutch switches , as they can stop cruise from working if faulty

ohh and your OK

Sarah

I think the Octy needs an extra wiring loom.

I will go and dig out the wiring that is needed as i purchased all the wiring off Stu last year so i just need to get the stalk.

I fitted mine last weekend, 3 looms in the kit ( from teeside vw) but only 2 parts used, one from the stalk to the connector under the wiper motor and to the fusebox (power feed) and the other loom from connector under wiper motor to the ecu. All activated ok and then I checked the measuring blocks to make sure switches were all ok. The extra loom is a choice depending on the ecu fitted which depends on the engine.

Took about 3 1/2 hours start to finish , much of it removing the wiper arms and double checking the wiring in all the connectors. Only thing not working is the warning light in the dash but not sure if that is fitted as std on all models, I guess it may depend on the dash fitted

hth , Dave

hth

Whats the part number of the kit they are using?

If they have only one loom then they have the diesel kit so i'm not superised it wont work as only half the wiring is there. The petrol kit uses the same stalk but has the additional wiring.

If they have VCDS they can get the measure blocks up showing switch functions.

see, use someone that knows what they are doing.

Thanks for the useful posts.

dcr, do you recall which measurement blocks in vag-com are used for the clutch and brake switches? I can check the switches myself this evening with my own copy of vag-com.

Also, since he has definitely routed wiring from the stalk (including power from the fuesbox) and also spent ages getting the wiring into the multipin connector for the ECU, it sounds like he must have used two looms after all (I haven't seen the connections to the unit under the wiper motor but I know he had it out so I guess he must have done them)? He told me he had only one loom but maybe he didn't understand what I was asking.

In answer to bengie, I've seen the kit they used and it was specified for the 1.8T 132kw petrol engine so I'm still pretty sure they know what they are doing.

Cheers,

iep

Also, dcr, do you know what the third unused loom was meant to be for?

the info I found said block 66 which I used to check stalk switch actuation, you will see around 8 zeros or ones and some will change when switch operate . Can't remember if the brake light switch and clutch switch showed up on it .Golf mk4 - How to fit cruise control

the extra loom I didn't use was for different ecu which is determined by engine type , I think it's 1.6 engines , the instructions list numerous engine codes and which loom to use. The only difference is the type of pins on the wiring to fit the ecu connector . The instruction are on the Teeside vw shop on ebay as a pdf, there for a golf but the vrs (AUQ I think) code is on there , mine wasn't( ARX) but I guessed they would match up the same.

hth , Dave

When you try and activate cruise, a fault code should be logged which should show something at least.

Hi dcr, really useful info. The guide claims block 6 but I guess this is just different in the Golf. Your recollection of block 66 was bang on.

So, what did I learn? Cruise control is definitely activated and the stalk is detected. The clutch and brake switches (which do show up in block 66) are also working fine.

Only issue is that, despite being happy that the stalk is there, it does not rspond to the buttons. Weird one as I have followed the wiring through the car and it appears to have been installed exactly as dcr describes.

So, faulty stalk? Seems unlikey but I guess possible. The guys at the garage have offered to pick it up and take it to Skoda themselves for the day and then return it in the evening. I guess that has to be my next step.

Cheers,

iep.

whats the usual cost of fitting cruise control to a vrs then?

most petrol engine octavias you need to put extra wire up to engine ecu as the wire is not at the connector as with diesel engines

So, got it working! The only issue was that the instructions for the cruise kit specified the wrong fuse to wire the stalk into (whichever one it was it was not ignition live!). So I had cruise control but only when the fog lights or something else were on.

Eitherway, simple fix and all working fine now. This is a bit confusing since the kit definitely only had one loom but at least it's done.

Cheers,

iep