hi not sure if i am posting in the right area, need some advice about the warning lights on my dash.about 3 weeks about my battery died not sure why but I suspect that the battery that was in the car had been in there since the 2002, I bought the car recently after passing my test and this is the first major thing to happen. managed to gt the car started, (had to bump start it) not sure if this was good for the car or not but we had no choice, anyway took the car to halfords and got a new battery, £100 lighter for the priviledge of new battery and fitting it.

no problems so far, but the next day when turned the key to the first position for the electrics the following lights came on the engine management (en), battery, abs, traction control came on with 3 beeps, started the engine and the lights remained on all the way to work and the handbrake light was on even though the handbrake was off. came back to the car a few hours later and did the same as the above and started the engine and no lights came on and no beeps.

ever since then the lights and the beeping happen on some mornings but not on others, this is worrying.:confused:

any advice would be appreciated

I think this is in the wrong section but a mod will be able to move it to the Fabia I forum

Usual advice for unexpected dash lights is to get it scanned - check out the VAG-COM Owners Map >>here<< ...see if there's anyone in you area who can give it a quick scan?

thanks

moved the post over now, please can you tell me what VAG-COM is,as I am pretty new to all this

It seems odd that you did not have these problems before the battery change. Check that the battery has been fitted OK and that all the earths are good. Then check the battery voltage, it will be just under 12 volts. Then run the engine and check that the voltage across the battery, you should now see just over 14 volts. It could be that something is draining the battery slightly overnight.

Does the engine crank over ok?

The battery on the wife's Fabia is the original from Jan03 and when the car had been standing for a few days in the cold last winter the steering warning light would come on, this is a sign that the battery is down.

Next thing to do is get someone to scan the fault codes.

Duplicate threads merged and duplicate post removed.

It seems odd that you did not have these problems before the battery change. Check that the battery has been fitted OK and that all the earths are good. Then check the battery voltage, it will be just under 12 volts. Then run the engine and check that the voltage across the battery, you should now see just over 14 volts. It could be that something is draining the battery slightly overnight.

Does the engine crank over ok?

The battery on the wife's Fabia is the original from Jan03 and when the car had been standing for a few days in the cold last winter the steering warning light would come on, this is a sign that the battery is down.

Next thing to do is get someone to scan the fault codes.

thanks, sorry to be a pain but i am useless with cars, how do i check the voltage of the battery and if it has been earthed, you said your wifes car did a similar thing on a cold day, this is the same with my car on the morning that the lights have come on it has been a cold morning.:confused:

Edited 4 November, 200916 yr by skodafabialover

For a basic battery check you will need a voltmeter that can read DC with a range above 20 volts. Take a reading across the two battery terminals.

To check the earths you need to measure the resistance, but I would suggest removing the earth terminals and making sure the terminals are clean.

Make sure you have the radio code if it's required before disconnecting the battery earth.

The meter you require is the type in the photo with the black & red leads.

You can buy a cheap meter like this which is always useful.

Domestic Multimeter : Multimeters : Maplin