Hi guys

I bought an Octavia Elegance 2.0TDI in march 2010 and have had no problems with her up until now!

I'll start from the start, but bear with me please this is gonna be quite long one!

I started noticing some small problems going wrong with her like, the washers not responding, the air ducts not working as good as they had been. Then came the biggie... I used the car in the morning and when I had finished and parked up the fans came on (which I thought nothing of as it would have just been cooling the engine). When a friend popped over she asked me if I new the car was running?? When I went out to check the fans were still running so I tried to start her and she would start!

A friend came over with jump leads which failed to start the car, but when we tried a bump start she started . I then drove it to the nearest skoda dealer where it got plugged in and came up with a whole host of problems! The technician cleared the problems there and then (thanks to a friend of a friend who was luckily enough in the pub at the time he was and overheard the conversation), tightened the battery connectors and away I went happy as Larry that the problem had been solved and everything was running beautifully!

However here the story darkens!! When I got home parked up, keys out, again on come the fans!! I decided just to leave her and deal with it in the morn.

When I next tried to start her she was completely dead with no response whatsoever! (even the key fob didn't work). Same friend came bk over with his leads which wouldn't get her to start. They put some power in but the only response was a clicking noise from the car. I then tried another bump start which didn't work either! A passer by stopped and magically produced a power pack which again failed to start her, he asked us to hold on and he would get his "good car". When he returned "in a ford mondeo st3" we hooked up the leads and my car started. I then drove straight to the garage and left her there.

I have since had calls from the garage firstly saying they cant find the problem but it looks like my car has been immersed in water!! They say the ECU has a white scum line around it and there is moisture in some wiring! But they could seem to find why the fans where coming on?

Latest update from them was that they have taken out the E-box and it too is corroded by moisture! (it may be a good time to say that I have recently been snowed in up in Scotland for a week!).

I have been quoted £107 for the box and a healthy £600 for labour in trying to find the problem! (nice 1!!).

So to finalise (and those of you that have beared with me thank you).

1. Do you know if the E-box would cause the fans to come on and wear out the battery?

2. Will a new E-box solve the problem.

3. Once/If this is solved am I best to trade in and get a new car due to the water damage on mine?

Cheers

Adam

Right then, I have had her back from the garage now and all was running well.

They fixed the problem by changing the E-box, it was corroded with water damage thanks to Scotland!! (Point to note, clear all snow from your car ASAP and don't drive in torrential rain!!)

As soon as I drove home I noticed the car had an awful lot less power than before and the engine management light was on so I took it back in and they cleared the problem saying it was just a glitch.

I drove home with everything back to normal until the next day (2day) and now the engine management light is back on with no power.

The original job cost me £724 due to labour trying to find the problem. Should the garage be fixing this 1 free of charge because the prob wasn't there when the car went in!

The original job cost me £724 due to labour trying to find the problem. Should the garage be fixing this 1 free of charge because the prob wasn't there when the car went in!

Well, in principle, yes, but the fact that they claim water damage mans they can plaster it on anything. Definitely stick to trying, but I'd expect the dealer to charge, claiming it is also a water damage issue.

Good luck mate,,,