Recently I have bought an Octavia 2.0 SLXI on a V plate. It runs fine but the day after I got it the engine check light came on. With the documentation that came with the car was a receipt from August showing that the previous owner had taken it into the garage (what appears to have been whilst he was on holiday) because the light had come on. In that case the error was 'Mixture too lean' and the dealer did nothing more than reset the ECU.

Yesterday I took it to my local Skoda dealer and they said it was poor output from the HT leads so they replaced them and the plugs all for a princely sum of

If you still are getting mixture to lean faults then there is a diagnostic procedure for your dealer to follow from service tech if they are not aware of it.

It gives a flow chrts of checks and results, usually ends up being a air mass meter but there can be a fault with an altitude sender which is in the engine ECU itself. This isnt programmed correctly and in certain conditions it thinks the car is up a mountain where the air is thinner so it alters the mixture accordingly which brings up a fault as the air isnt actually thinner if you get me.

I would put money on a

. In that case the error was 'Mixture too lean' and the dealer did nothing more than reset the ECU.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Mixture too Lean...........

My former Octavia 2.0 developed this. Reseting the ECU won't doo diddly.

I've got no idea what HT leads are, but my dealer never mentioned those, but did diagnose a problem with the MAF.............you can replace that part yourself far cheaper than the dealer will quote you btw............

What you could do with more than anything is finding someone nearby who has a VAG-COM equipped laptop and suitable cable...........

Where are you based?

Im in Wolverhampton area.

Well im gonna speak to the dealer again any way, see if they'll have a look at the ECU again. I think changing the MAF might be the way to go anyway. Had a chat with my dad who's far more mechanical minded than me and he's well up for giving it ago (I think he learnt his way around an engine in the army fixing tanks. I hope modern German engineering wont baffle him too much ).

So if I do it myself is it easy to do or are there any guides on the forum as it seems a common job. And as a quick check, am I going to have to see the dealer or someone with a VAG-COM to reset the ECU or will that disconnect the battery for so long trick work?