Failure to start: new cluster fitted

[Nortones2]

Hi. Thought there might be some interest in this tale. 2.5 year old Yeti 1.8TSI simply failed to start and run, on Monday. Fired up, then cut out. No dash lights whatever.  No previous faults noticed.

 

Skoda Assistance (aka RAC) came out and upshot was that the VDO instrument cluster would be have to replaced as the immobiliser was kicking in. He tried a slave unit which started and showed all necessary lamps immediately, so not a key problem?

 

Next day he arrived late pm, and set to. Needed to recode keys, re-enter mileage (9400) and service details, and then several other parameters like stability/yaw datums. Not entirely clear what had to be done as he was finding it a bit of a trial, going through the sequence with an audience so I departed:)  He road tested it, and I did later and it seems to be AOK.  What was staggering was the cost (if it wasn't covered by warranty) - about £730 plus VAT for the cluster alone. 

 

Overall quite impressed by the service, especially as the cluster was sent over from Germany overnight. Jason the technician was helpful. Just have to take the beast out for a run now to double check.  Anything that needs further scrutiny? Couldn't find a great deal on this particular issue, so may be rare. Hopefully!

Edited 12 March, 2014 by Nortones2

[Phil-E]

Yup they're not cheap.

 

I nearly bought an almost used maxidot one from ebay that someone had just bought and not needed for £250. They had the receipt and it was just under £1k inc. VAT!

 

Phil

[Nortones2]

Might be worth buying a spare at ebay price, if out of warranty! Took the Yeti for a short run (12 miles or so) and the only thing that needs attention is the oil temp. gauge which is back to the dotted line state. Can it be altered without going to the dealer? 

[Llanigraham]

Oil temp reading doesn't start immediately.

[Nortones2]

I know. But as I climbed to 1300' from 1030' in the first couple of miles, I gave it quite a bit of work, at moderate revs:) It reads from 50c iirc. Nada.

[FlintstoneR1]

Not strictly Yeti, but possibly relevant from a cost comparison point of view......

Complete failure (black screen) of the entire dashboard instrument display unit, was a VERY common failure in mid-90's Renault Scenics. Caused by some dry solder joints that failed after 2-4 years of vibration and use. Full unit replacements out of warranty were upwards of £450+VAT, for a much less sophisticated unit than even an S spec Yeti carries. Independent, UK based, "remanufactured" units from people like BBA-reman, were £250, but came with a 2-year warranty. I.E. 12-months longer than Renault gave their own supplied brand new units, at the time.  Until RenOh were embarrassed by BBC Watchdog into offering out of warranty replacements for £100 cost to customer, on all cars up to 7 years old. Later, series 3 Scenics used a completely different unit. 

 

NOT saying Yeti dash clusters are about to start failing left, right and centre. Far from it!  Just that if it did happen to mine, there may be other sources of replacement worth looking into, and remanufactured units from Fleabay can actually be better than new, sometimes. 

[kenfowler3966]

Not strictly Yeti, but possibly relevant from a cost comparison point of view......

Complete failure (black screen) of the entire dashboard instrument display unit, was a VERY common failure in mid-90's Renault Scenics. Caused by some dry solder joints that failed after 2-4 years of vibration and use. Full unit replacements out of warranty were upwards of £450+VAT, for a much less sophisticated unit than even an S spec Yeti carries. Independent, UK based, "remanufactured" units from people like BBA-reman, were £250, but came with a 2-year warranty. I.E. 12-months longer than Renault gave their own supplied brand new units, at the time.  Until RenOh were embarrassed by BBC Watchdog into offering out of warranty replacements for £100 cost to customer, on all cars up to 7 years old. Later, series 3 Scenics used a completely different unit. 

 

NOT saying Yeti dash clusters are about to start failing left, right and centre. Far from it!  Just that if it did happen to mine, there may be other sources of replacement worth looking into, and remanufactured units from Fleabay can actually be better than new, sometimes. 

I would be tempted just to try and fix the dry joints first?

Its quite common for electrical items to fail like this and be relatively easy to fix, yet normally just thrown away and replaced.

 

If anything electrical fails on me I always take it apart if possible and look for simple fixable faults before binning it.

[Nortones2]

I suspect my little used but malfunctioning  example would be a prime candidate for a recycling job after soldering iron attention.  It was said to be destined for return to HQ for examination.