My 5 month old Superb Combi suffered a major electronic failure yesterday. On an uneventful drive to the West Midlands the engine cut out without warning at a roundabout near Stratford. Dash board display informed me of a ESP failure. Engine would not restart. After five minutes I switched the ignition and all was well until I reached Warwick when it decided it had had enough and decided to cut out in the narrowest part of town (Sods Law). This time every single warning light came on in the display. I was able to restart the engine to try and move it to a less conspicuous place as I was causing a tail back. DSG Gearbox would not work even though placed into drive, in fact I was able to do this even without having the foot brake applied. Rang Skoda assist for help. Within 30 minutes the RAC arrived and towed me to a less busy part of town. The RAC Diagnostic pointed to a major ECU fault as it was not communicating or seeing any of the peripherals. Was eventually towed to the Local Skoda Dealer in Leamington. Skoda Assist then rang me to arrange a replacement vehicle, and arranged for a taxi to take me to the Dealership in the morning to sort out the details. Within 30 minutes I was on the road again in a replacement car. Rang the dealer this afternoon and it seems that they are in touch with Skoda UK as it seems to be a complex problem. So lets hope it can be resolved quickly. I will keep you all in touch as to what the outcome is.

I have to say this is the first Skoda that has developed a fault, and I have owned 6 Superbs. Skoda Assist have proven to be fantastic in their response and deserve top marks. This has not put me off Skodas at all. The complexity of modern cars is also their downfall I am afraid. We demand more and more toys and by virtue of that fact more and more that can go wrong.[/size]

Damn typos...........Electric it should have said!!!!!!!!

Edited 13 October, 201015 yr by Drummond28

My 5 month old Superb Combi suffered a major electronic failure yesterday. On an uneventful drive to the West Midlands the engine cut out without warning at a roundabout near Stratford. Dash board display informed me of a ESP failure. Engine would not restart. After five minutes I switched the ignition and all was well until I reached Warwick when it decided it had had enough and decided to cut out in the narrowest part of town (Sods Law). This time every single warning light came on in the display. I was able to restart the engine to try and move it to a less conspicuous place as I was causing a tail back. DSG Gearbox would not work even though placed into drive, in fact I was able to do this even without having the foot brake applied. Rang Skoda assist for help. Within 30 minutes the RAC arrived and towed me to a less busy part of town. The RAC Diagnostic pointed to a major ECU fault as it was not communicating or seeing any of the peripherals. Was eventually towed to the Local Skoda Dealer in Leamington. Skoda Assist then rang me to arrange a replacement vehicle, and arranged for a taxi to take me to the Dealership in the morning to sort out the details. Within 30 minutes I was on the road again in a replacement car. Rang the dealer this afternoon and it seems that they are in touch with Skoda UK as it seems to be a complex problem. So lets hope it can be resolved quickly. I will keep you all in touch as to what the outcome is.

I have to say this is the first Skoda that has developed a fault, and I have owned 6 Superbs. Skoda Assist have proven to be fantastic in their response and deserve top marks. This has not put me off Skodas at all. The complexity of modern cars is also their downfall I am afraid. We demand more and more toys and by virtue of that fact more and more that can go wrong.[/size]

Damn typos...........Electric it should have said!!!!!!!!

Typos are KO!

Ecu failures are not uncommon in the VAG group

Ecu failures are not uncommon in the VAG group

which ones suffer from failures and i would be surprised a 5 month old car had that type of failure

My 5 month old Superb Combi suffered a major electronic failure yesterday. On an uneventful drive to the West Midlands the engine cut out without warning at a roundabout near Stratford. Dash board display informed me of a ESP failure. Engine would not restart. After five minutes I switched the ignition and all was well until I reached Warwick when it decided it had had enough and decided to cut out in the narrowest part of town (Sods Law). This time every single warning light came on in the display. I was able to restart the engine to try and move it to a less conspicuous place as I was causing a tail back. DSG Gearbox would not work even though placed into drive, in fact I was able to do this even without having the foot brake applied. Rang Skoda assist for help. Within 30 minutes the RAC arrived and towed me to a less busy part of town. The RAC Diagnostic pointed to a major ECU fault as it was not communicating or seeing any of the peripherals. Was eventually towed to the Local Skoda Dealer in Leamington. Skoda Assist then rang me to arrange a replacement vehicle, and arranged for a taxi to take me to the Dealership in the morning to sort out the details. Within 30 minutes I was on the road again in a replacement car. Rang the dealer this afternoon and it seems that they are in touch with Skoda UK as it seems to be a complex problem. So lets hope it can be resolved quickly. I will keep you all in touch as to what the outcome is.

I have to say this is the first Skoda that has developed a fault, and I have owned 6 Superbs. Skoda Assist have proven to be fantastic in their response and deserve top marks. This has not put me off Skodas at all. The complexity of modern cars is also their downfall I am afraid. We demand more and more toys and by virtue of that fact more and more that can go wrong.[/size]

Damn typos...........Electric it should have said!!!!!!!!

Probably a problem with the generator thus giving you an unstable connection to the ECU.

My (at that time) brand new Volvo S40 2.0D MY08 did it while i was driving with my family home from the theater.

Fortunately volvo has an emergency mode, thus making it possible to drive the car without any electric (no front/backlights, no Powersteering, no blinkers, no nothing that uses electric). So i drove it carefully onto a a safe parking space awating the cavalry.

I don't believe such mode is possible with automatic steering though.

which ones suffer from failures and i would be surprised a 5 month old car had that type of failure

I would expect a 5 month car to be more likely to have an ecu fault than a 5 year old car , i know of at least one Golf and one Touran owner near me that had new ecu's

I'll bet it's something simple, and the ecu has shutdown to prevent further damage, it should be interesting to see if there is a problem with the ignition barrel or a dodgy injector like the Passat suffers.

Update on my Electrical problem. Car is still in the Garage and Skoda UK are still offering advice on Diagnostics. The car is still dead and under investigation. Will keep you all posted

Update on my Electrical problem. Car is still in the Garage and Skoda UK are still offering advice on Diagnostics. The car is still dead and under investigation. Will keep you all posted

Latest update.

Tests seem to point to a failure of the ECU............but they are still not sure!

Dont know why they dont just plug in another to Test it out.

Edited 21 October, 201015 yr by Drummond28

Dont know why they dont just plug in another to Test it out.

Probably because they don't keep any stock of ECUs in the UK, ordering them as required from the CR. When I had a ECU problem, the factory even sent over a special cable to test the existing one before sending a replacement.

Ray

Two possible reasons.

Due to cost dealers wont stock :'(

Technicians not programmed to undertake such a simple action

But to be serious, modern electronics are getting too complicated, many of them are not required. For reliability you want simplicity, and technicians? need to be able to identify and rectify faults electrical and mechanical, without having to rely on computer diagnostics, it seems that the computer rules all. From these forums how often have we seen that obvious faults are dismissed by dealers because the computer says an item is O.K. when it could have been checked and no doubt instantly solved by simply slotting in a new component, I don't claim that this is always the case but surely it is always worth trying. Considerable time and cost could possibly be saved, and the customer would be happy.

think the ecu is around £1500 not surprising they dont keep stock of them

Well after exhaustive diagnostic tests it has finally been decided that the patient is in need of a replacement ECU. Only problem is there are none currently available. I have been quoted delivery in 10 working days. In the meantime I have to say the service I have received from Skoda Assist has been excellent. I have been provided with a Superb Combi and latterly a Superb Saloon since the Patient has been at the Dealership in intensive care. So 2000 miles added on to Hire cars rather than on my own. Every cloud............. One just has to be philosophical about things.

Technicians not programmed to undertake such a simple action

Physically straight forward to swap, but you can bet that there is a complicated procedure to get it up and running, with regard to immobiliser matching and coding. It may not be possible to swap from one car to another as with some manufacturers the ECU gets electronically locked to that particular car. The last thing that you want to do is brick a £1500 ECU.

This sounds rather fimiliar to what's happening with my Octavia. There are all sorts of faults between the ECU and air mass meter, but when it goes on the diagnostic, everything checks out ok. The garage have been batting emails back and forth to SUK, to no resolution, and the car has been there for 3 weeks now. The ECU is one part they haven't swapped out, even the split boost pipe has had to be sent from Germany as the part is not compatible with any other engine in the VAG apparently!

At least they have found it and you should be back on the road soon I hope!

Still waiting for the replacement ECU........Still none available. At least I am using a hired Superb c/o Skoda UK

Hopefully it will arrive next week

I have the car back. ECU was replaced as it had died. Everything apart from the cruise control is working. That by all accounts according to the Dealership that repaired it is a simple thing to sort out. Happy to have it back though

Edited 6 November, 201015 yr by Drummond28

Beware, if you have had the ECU remapped Skoda will wash their hands of any responsibility.

Holy thread revival batman!