Last September, on my return from France, my Yeti 2.0 CR 140 Elegance DSG was serviced by my local Skoda dealer who told me that the battery was low (two days after a 250 mile drive from France). I told the service manager this but drove away and had no problem with the car until, at the end of November, again in France, I turned the key to find that the engine would turn over sluggishly but not start. It had been unused for aboput 5 days. My neighbour gave me a jump start and I was able to get back to the UK where I booked the car in for a check on the electrics - the garage found nothing wrong. In January, same thing happened here in the UK and I called Skoda Assist who diagnosed a fault in the alarm siren, started the car, booked it into Skoda and arranged a loan car - excellent service. The car spent 5 days with Listers Skoda in Coventry who fitted a new siren, checked the car over and charged the battery. No other faults were found and I was told that the car was A1 including the battery. Now, the same thing again, turned the key, engine turns over sluggishly but will not start. It had not been used for about a week.

I generally use the Yeti for medium to long journeys and leave it, up to a week at a time, in my garage, using my wife's Micra for short trips. Surely, the battery should retain its charge for a week or more when not in use. I am baffled by this problem but will again ask Listers to check it over, though my suspicion is that they will declare it fault free. Any ideas or suggestion welcome. The car is almost 3 years old and, therefore close to the end of its warranty. It has coverd just under 20k miles. I am reluctant to change it with such low mileage but can not tolerate up an unreliable car.

I have a distinct suspicion that you have a drain on a "permanent live" device. This is most likely to be the alarm or the stereo. Try turning the stereo off rather than relying on the ignition cutoff when leaving the car.

Check the the boot light is going out when you close the tailgate.

Poor earth may be another reason.....neg lead?

Although the dealer should have already done it (and perhaps Skoda Assist also did it at the road side) at three years old it might be worth getting the battery checked. I had all sorts of strange and intermittent problems with a previous car which ceased when I put a new battery in. 

 

But my main reason for posting is to suggest that if you haven't already done so you write a clear and comprehensive letter to the dealer setting out the history of the fault and the actions that have been taken to rectify it, so far without success. Send it recorded delivery; for less than £2 you will have a Track and Trace record that it was delivered. If the problem isn't sorted to your satisfaction by the time you reach the end of the warranty you then have your own evidence that it was fault reported but unresolved during warranty. This will put you in a stronger position if the fault recurs once the warranty has finished as you won't have to rely on the dealer's records (if you can get them and you won't know how comprehensive they are). My understanding of consumer law is that if a fault is identified and not rectified whilst under warranty/guarantee it still remains the responsibility of the retailer to put it right even once the warranty/guarantee has expired. Lots of advice on the internet and Citizens Advice Bureau if it should become necessary but hopefully the fault will be found next time it goes in - at least you have some things to ask the dealer to specifically check.

Do you get a "bong" sound when you unlock the car?

 

A car 3 years old, which is not used frequently, probably has dropped the battery voltage below a "safe" limit many times. This has potentially resulted in the battery being unable to accept a full charge over time. Therefore I suspect you need a new battery. The only way to check is it get the battery properly load tested.

 

Having been off sick for 3 months I am getting a low battery warning when I don't use my car for several days. I "solved the problem" by putting a small solar PV panel on the dash board, and trying to go out for a good run at least once a week.

I too have recently had surgery and was not allowed to drive so the Yeti was parked up for nearly 7 weeks without use.

 

It started first time with no battery issues at all when I was able to start driving again about 2 weeks ago.

 

 

My wifes car is also not used that much, 3 to 4k/year, yet the original battery lasted 9 years before I thought it was getting a little sluggish starting the car on a cold morning.

 

3 years for a battery life seems very pessimistic, isn't it more likely there is something always connected? I had a jetta some years ago with this problem, battery would go flat in 2 weeks whilst parked at an airport car park when we were on holiday, so something was draining it, which we never found. Battery would charge in use and pass all tests?

I had to change my battery on my 170yeti before the warranty had ended.I would get the bong while just having the radio on whilst washing the car.Rang Skoda and they wanted to charge and test it etc so in the end decided to get a Bosch s4 battery from ecp for £65(where Skoda wanted £100 plus fitting.SInce then I've had no problems with it draining.I've read a few posts about orginal battery's not lasting on vag models.

Are the 12v AUX live all the time? (I don't know as I don't have my YETI yet)  Is there something like Satnav, dashboard cam plugged in.

Are the 12v AUX live all the time? (I don't know as I don't have my YETI yet)  Is there something like Satnav, dashboard cam plugged in.

 

Yes they are, and it has caused a few problems when owners didn't realise this.

Has your car got a battery with the Electrolyte level indicator?

 

Mine has. Maybe the level is down, could this affect the charge?

 

Just that I thought that all cars now had sealed batteries, my last few cars had sealed batteries (not Skoda's)

I had to change my battery on my 170yeti...

 

Me too. This may have been secondary to a faulty starter motor which was replaced under warranty - my only warranty issue. The faulty motor windings were allegedly taking too much current and apparently draining the battery on a couple of occasions.But when the same fault recurred but not until many months later, Skoda Assistance reckoned that maybe the original issue had damaged the battery which therefore needed replacing. Local dealer was skeptical but I got them to change the battery anyway (at my expense - it's apparently a non-warranty item, at least in the 3rd year) and have had no further problems. Must say that Skoda Assistance seem more clued up at resolving starting issues than the dealership - perhaps SA inevitably have a lot more experience on this front.

The batteries fitted to modern cars don't have the capacity of their elders. Alternators are much more efficient that the previously fitted dynamos and are very capable at charging the battery. As a result the manufactures fit smaller (physically and capacity wise) batteries. If there is any continuous discharge, even low amperage, the battery will go flat quite quickly.

I had a rearview camera fitted to my Roomster that was wired through the ignition circuit so that it switched off with the ignition. What I didn't realise was that the 12v socket is live all the time and I had the screen for the camera plugged into it. It ran the battery down in ONE day!

 

Fred

Was thinking about my situation and realised that I keep my phone charger plugged in all the time. That converts 12v down to 5v, so is taking a small amount of power all the time. I now unplug it!

 

I must check the "out" voltage of the sat nav plug, as that is another thing I leave connected. I suspect that is also 5v. I might also look at moving the piggyback connector I run it from in the fuse box to an ignition controlled one instead.

Over the winter months I tend to have little use for my motorbike and the battery is prone to lose its charge.

To counteract this I use an Accumate that keeps it fully charged. This type of charger also has the ability to bring to life deeply discharged batteries.

Whilst the Accumate may not resolve the underlying cause of your problem it would still keep you motoring until the problem is sorted out.

Unfortunately, in my case, not possible as the car has to be kept in the road outside or in a garage down the street.

Unfortunately, in my case, not possible as the car has to be kept in the road outside or in a garage down the street.

Plug it in to the street light!

 

Fred

Sorry Fred, but what is one of those?  

How about one of these?

http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/Ring_RSP600_Solar_Battery_Maintainer.html

Especially if you have a panoramic sunroof and plug it in to the 12v socket in the boot

How about one of these?

http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/Ring_RSP600_Solar_Battery_Maintainer.html

Especially if you have a panoramic sunroof and plug it in to the 12v socket in the boot

Already using one. See #8.

 

Going to have a nice run tomorrow up to Portmadog to go to the Ffestiniog Rlwy shop and perhaps a trip on the train.

SWMBO is off with the "Wild Indians" so think I'm entitled to a me day! 

Already using one. See #8.

 

Going to have a nice run tomorrow up to Portmadog to go to the Ffestiniog Rlwy shop and perhaps a trip on the train.

SWMBO is off with the "Wild Indians" so think I'm entitled to a me day! 

Save the trip till next week and I can buy you a coffee there - we'll be staying just outside Porthmadog from Sunday.

 

On the battery drain issue I've not had any problems yet, but I know the battery isn't a particularly high output one. ChrisRS had problems last winter with the one in his TDI Octy vRS, and that was the same 61Ah as the TDI 170 Yeti has.

 

I have a dashcam in mine but that goes on/off with the ignition, so that shouldn't be an issue - I remember Rockhopper having battery issues with his when running in park/motion sensing mode.

 

Satnav duties are done by a Tesco Hudl 7" tablet running the Waze app, and that gets charged up from the 12v socket in the console, It doesn't take long to charge fully, though is taking up to 2 amps whilst doing so. I plan on wiring it in semi-permanently, so I'll have to keep an eye on the battery condition.

Have a nice time up there. 

Can't put the trip off for a week, since SWMBO is only out tomorrow, and next week it looks like we are taking the caravan down to St Ives for a few days. (Dependent on hospital appt on Monday)

Car manufacturers are always looking for cost saving options. And by careful power management most companies have been able to downsize their batteries which a) saves them money and means the car is slightly lighter therefore it helps for fuel efficiency.

But it means they have very little spare capacity for extended park-ups, people listening to the radio or running the fan when the engine isn't running, leaving things plugged into a socket or any other battery drain.

Whenever I replace a battery these days I always fit the biggest one that will physically fit in the tray. I did this only last smax - managed to upgrade the standard 54aH battery to a 95aH one instead. And I never again had low battery warnings or flat batteries that had plagued the car with the standard fit unit.

:wall: All very reminiscent of a BMW316 years ago, left it on parking lights(one side only) and the battery was flat the following morning, not happy, complained to my local dealership to be told at that time (about 30 yrs ago) most drivers had off street parking, needless to say come renewal the beamer was replaced by a Corrado   :sun:

Many thanks for all the suggestions and information. I'll book the car into my local dealer again but, in the meantime am checking the voltage daily whilst it is in the garage to see if there is a voltage drop. At the moment it is showing 13.9 volts on my tester (bouhgt from Aldi for under a tenner) after a 25 mile drive. Thanks again everyone who responded.