Instrument panel goes dead!

[Crash_Bandicoot]

Okay, picked up my Fabia yesterday. It has been sitting doing bugger all for a year so I expected a few teething problems. But every now and then for no apparent reason both the tachometer and speedometer go dead and I get all the warning lights on at the same time. First time it happened I pulled over, turned the ignition off and then on again and it seemed to work fine for the next 200 miles. Thing is it happened 3 times on a 3 hour journey today, once during average speed cameras which you can appreciate is a nightmare and i'm not sure where to start looking. Don't have a VAGCOM so can't help you with the codes. Anyone experienced anything similar? My initial thoughts were a bad earth or loose battery terminal.

Thanks in advance

[Crash_Bandicoot]

Bump

[sparky2]

Have a look at all the fuses/joints terminals and look out for corrosion or loose connections, it could be a sticking relay (some above the pedals) buy the Haynes manual and follow the circuit diagrams to see which fuse its fed from, if you can find somebody with VCDS that would be a step forward - cheers - Stuart

Edited 6 April, 2011 by sparky2

[vrs180]

Have a look at all the fuses/joints terminals and look out for corrosion or loose connections, it could be a sticking relay (some above the pedals) buy the Haynes manual and follow the circuit diagrams to see which fuse its fed from, if you can find somebody with VCDS that would be a step forward - cheers - Stuart

IMO the fabia Haynes manual is fecking useless when it comes to circuit diagrams, for example; they seem to have forgotten all about the relays when they did the diagrams.

The wifes 2006 fabia vrs had been playing up for months with weird intermittant electrical faults that Skoda failed to sort out while the car was under warranty.

Sometimes, the power steering would go off, or the engine would'nt start, or relays would click under the dash with the ignition on, or the hand brake warning light would come on, or the lights on the dash would flicker, or the alarm would go off for no reason, etc etc etc.

Four weeks ago (after many many hours of fault finding), I changed the short earth lead from the battery to the N/S inner wing, and so far (touch wood) all the probs have gone.

[Crash_Bandicoot]

Righto, just to update, still no developments. Took out the entire battery assembly and looked at the earths for the battery and down next to the PAS pump. Both look like they've just been changed but didn't see any harm cleaning them and putting them back on. Still getting the fault though. Spoke to a VAG specialist, who said its most likely an electrical issue and that I should get it checked by a sparky before putting it into a garage. Spoke to Taylor's in Aberdeen (Local Auto Electricians) who said its most likely to be the dashboard that needs replacing (ontop of an £80 per hour service charge - OUCH!). Lots of conflicting opinions so i've bitten the bullet and got it booked into the specialist in Maud (comes highly recommended on here).

To be more specific about the fault, it seems to only occur when accelerating around corners, and since the PAS is electric/hydrolic i'm assuming i'm losing a massive amount of voltage somewhere which is causing the ECU to cut something out of the equation, first thing being the instrument cluster. When the car is started, both the airbag and engine management light are on, but when the fault occurs the engine management light goes out, and the following comes on: PAS, ABS, Brakes, Airbag and Oil. As previously mentioned both the taco and speedo die. In addition to this the milage DOES NOT climb at all. I drove the car for about 20 miles today, neither the trip or the actual milage changed.

This is a video of it in action -

The car is mechanically perfect (apart from a pourous sump which has been temp. fixed with metallic putty until such times as I can get a new one) so the incident has to be isolated to an electrical issue. Would appreciate any pointers in the right direction.

Cheers,

Mike

Edited 7 April, 2011 by Crash_Bandicoot

[Overhaul ed]

Have had problems with old style octy dash inserts but usually when they go you lose all gauges fuel etc and yours appears to still work so suspect somewhere else.

[Overhaul ed]

Also may be worth checking the main wiring loom on the curve next to abs unit on right hand side, they tend to get water contamination in the curve

which then gets into wires in the loom, you can check by carefully opening up the tape on the curved part.

Just some things i've come across which may help!

[Crash_Bandicoot]

Cheers Ed i'll look into it tomorow!

Another development in things - the dials didn't die on me today but realised driving home at night time that the lights behind the instruments to illuminate the dials were not working. Would make me think that it was a wiring issue with the dash. HOWEVER, was parking today whilst the mysterious fault was happening and it would appear at low speed and low RPM the power steering doesn't work. Still suspecting a bad earth or a voltage spike somewhere. Does anyone know if Fabia's are prone to voltage spikes in any particular area? Worst case scenario could be that the ECU is knackered. I'm scared to ask but does anyone know how much they are to replace?

Cheers,

Mike

[Mike B]

What sort of condition is the battery in?

[Crash_Bandicoot]

As I said before bought a brand new bosch silver(thingy...) one when I got it to make up for the lack of amps the current one had.

But alas, problem is fixed. Do you know what it was? I actually laughed when I found out...

Turns out the resistors in one of the spark plugs was causing a voltage spike at low RMP - changed the plugs and voila! Guy at victoria garage said that he'd seen a fault exactly like it on another Fabia and had spent days and heaps of money trying to find an electrical fault, only to find it disappeared after the plugs were changed during a service.

Summary of costs:

New battery - £120.00

Fuses - £2.50

x4 Spark plugs - £19

Labour - £18.50

Hope this helps any future users!

Mike

[fabdavrav]

That is well weird!! :S Have known that crap spark plugs or leads cause interference in radio units....but dash!!!! Hope fix is permenant!!!

[sparky2]

Well I wouldn't have thought it was just the spark plugs :S but glad to hear you have hopefully sorted it and saved a few bob as well. cheers - Stuart

[Vitzefritz]

I have the same problem - Octavia 1.9 tdi. Seems this is worth a try :yes:

[grr666]

I have the same problem - Octavia 1.9 tdi. Seems this is worth a try :yes:

If you can find a set of spark plugs on your car

I'll pay for the replacements myself.

TDI = No spark plugs

[jakeain]

I have an 03 reg Skoda fabia, 1.4 petrol, which I have had for 6 months. There seems to be 2 electrical faults currently.

 

1.) -this has been present the whole time I owned the car.

     -randomly while driving the dash would beep for a few seconds and the power steering, oil, handbrake, ABS, warning lights would come on, the speedo           and rev counter would drop and stop working, or sometimes freeze where they were at.

     - when you restart the engine everything would return to normal.

     - the car seemed to work fine other than at low speeds the steering would get heavy.

     - when I mention this to a mechanic he was not too concerned as everything was still running.

 

2) - about a month ago now, as the weather started to get colder I was driving at night, all the lights on the dash turned off and the speedo and rev counter stopped working. ( there was no warning lights this time)

    - the vehicle ran fine, and I thought nothing of it but when I returned to my car the engine would turn over initially but  then cut out and refused to start.

 

    - I have had the keys checked and there is no fault with the keys

    - an auto electrician came to diagnose the problem and he found that none of the modules could communicate with the instrument cluster

    - I sent the instrument cluster to BBA reman for repair, and paid nearly £200 to repair the unit. the report said they "Technicians had tested this unit and have found common issues on the circuit board. These issues were resolved and the unit passed test."

    - after refitting the instrument cluster, the car worked fine ( problem 1 remained, but 2 resolved) but exactly a week later the problem 2 returned, the lights on the dash all turned off and the car refused to start up after the engine was turned off.

   - the auto-electrican returned and again found that none of the modules could communicate with the instrument cluster again

   - I sent the part back to BBA reman under warranty to which they claimed there was nothing wrong with the part and said "Upon receiving the unit back under warranty, the unit was tested and passed test, also another visual inspection on the circuit board was carried out which revealed no issues. No further repairs were carried out."

   - after reinstalling the dash again the car worked fine for 1 week (problem 1 remained) and now the car is not starting AGAIN.

   - the breakdown mechanic said they this could be due to the the ecu getting damp? and also found that the fuel pump wasnt working he didnt understand how the instrument cluster could be sent off for repair without the ecu?

 

Has anyone had a similar fault or any idea where to go from here as I seem to be getting conflicting advice?

are these faults related? 

 

 

any incite would be greatly appreciated!