Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong place. I have been googling the various fault codes and it has got me all confused with a problem I have.

I had the EPC warning light come on in my Fabia (05 Plate 1.2L petrol) and took it to a local guy who read the codes and then reset the for me as the warning went out as I was driving it to the garage this morning. The guys mentality is that as none of them are showing as currently failed, when it goes again we might catch the active fault code before it resets itself.

The fault codes they found (and all I got were the numbers as it was printed on the invoice) are:

ABS 01314 and 18265

Engine 16725, 16955 and 17978

The car itself did not appear to handle any differently apart from being sluggish on hills, which I assume is the Skoda "limp home" mode kicking in.

Searching through BRISkoda, I get the impression that a fault with a brake switch might have tripped out the ECU? OKay I admit it... that means naff all to me, but I am sure someone on here might be able to give me a laymens account of what might be happening.....

Many Many thanks in advance.

The codes don't reset themselves and disappear, their status gets downgraded to intermittent and they stay logged until they are cleared.

All your fault codes can be found here:

Ross Tech

I suspect that a few of your codes are historic, the 17978 - engine start blocked by immobiliser would be one, the 01314 - engine control module - no communications would be another. The 18265 - load signal, error message from ECU may be down to the 01314 code.

From the symptoms that you describe, the 16955 - impausible signal from the brake light switch would cause the EPC light to come on, even a couple of failed brakelight bulbs will. A switch is around £10 plus a leisurely half an hours fitting. The 16725 - implausible signal from the camshaft sensor may account for it been sluggish as the timing may not able to be fine tuned.

With regard to the brake light switch, it has an additional input into the engine ECU, so that it knows when the brakes are applied so that the fuel can be cut on the overrun, the ABS ECU can be notified, the brake and throttle can be applied simultaneously and a few other things.

You sir are a star.

I did also find the Ross Tech wiki through searches on google and here but did not fall across the index for the fault codes, so I will save that to the favourites list.

Some of your thoughts on historic faults ring bells as I have once or twice stalled the car and had a red flashing key symbol prompting needing to take the key out and starting the engine from scratch. I will have to investigate double checking the brake bulbs and whether I feel competent in changing the switch to try and narrow down the causes.

Many thanks again!