electrical faults skoda fabia 03

[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!