• Yeti 2wd, 110bhp
• 2009/2010
• Owned from new

Have been advised by a dealer that the instrument panel is the likely cause of a fault, the fault is described below.   I am looking for suggestions that might help to reduce the cost of this repair, estimated by dealer around £1000.  

1. Can anyone suggest/recommend an independent repairer? I live in Cirencester.
2. Would it be worth talking to Skoda for any goodwill?  I would not expect the car to develop such an expensive fault, but that is a risk most car owners face.

THE FAULT:

The dashboard indication for the right side turn signal is dimly illuminated only if the headlights are on (dipped or main).  The fault is not visible when the lights are off or if the side lights are on.  Note that the actual external indicators always work correctly.

 

 If the car lights are turned on in the daytime (for conditions of poor visibility), the dimly lit dashboard indication is barely noticeable. At night, with the car lights on, the dimly lit right-turn indicator is obvious and a bit annoying.  Note that when using the right turn indicator at night, the right turn dashboard indication does flash brightly and is an obvious indication of an active right turn indication.

 

Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

'scuse my ignorance but I thought they dim when you put the lights on which would indicate the right one is faulty if it stays bright.

But as you can see, I have no way of checking.

I once got a call from my boss to assist a member of staff who had a lighting problem

on the dash. It was the first time I had seen one of these dashes so I checked what

the fuses and relays controlled and then reasonably sure I was not going to kill the cars

CPU or anything important, I took out a fuse at a time (photo taken) cleaned it and replaced

same with the relays (some of which were not as tight as they might have been)

The upshot was that the dash was restored to full life. If this was with the car hitched up

to a caravanI would have checked the plug and socket wiring as well.

Edited 25 November, 201510 yr by gumdrop

Hi Futurama. 

 

I imagine that the instrument panel warnings are all LEDs these days rather than filament bulbs.  Although it's possible that the indicator warning LED is getting a small feed of current via some sort of electrical leakage path within the panel, causing it to come on dimly, I think that is rather unlikely.  Electrical leakage outside the instrument panel is also unlikely to be the cause, as the warning LEDs are controlled indirectly (by the instrument panel electronics) rather than directly from the feed wires to the various vehicle lamps.

 

I wonder if your problem is actually light leakage, either from another nearby warning LED or the general white instrument panel illumination.  This will be more noticeable when the ambient light level is low. The instrument panel illumination is of course only on when the lights are on.  To confirm this, you could try varying the amount of panel illumination (with the control wheel provided), and see if the dim indicator warning changes in brightness.

 

I have never had one of these panels apart, but I imagine light from each warning LED is guided forwards by some sort of moulded plastic tube which is intended to block out all other sources of light.  If a piece of this has broken off or is ill fitting, this could cause light leakage.

 

Faced with a staggeringly high replacement cost, and the fact that everything else works, if it was my car I would be tempted to put a dot of black sticky tape over the offending warning !

 

Alternatively, look for an independent instrument repair shop, though you will still be faced with the faff and expense of removing and replacing the panel.

 

Sadly, the days when garages were prepared to do detailed troubleshooting and local repairs have long gone - all they can do is replace assemblies.

A year or so prior to selling, the dash on my VW Touran started to fail. The digital display in the centre was failing fast. VW wanted £700/800 from memory to fit a new unit.

I approached somebody I knew who worked for an Audi dealer and did private work. He used one of two repair companies, one Colchester area and the other southern Hampshire. For about £90 + carriage back + vat they would repair any fault for the set price with a 2 day turn around. You would of course have to get somebody to remove, send off and re-fit, but I seem to recall my total bill was about £220.

I cannot remember which company he used, but this is the sort of company  http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/repairlist

 

Colin

Have a chat with Mark(He lives/based in Ciren)I'm sure if he can't help you he'd point you in the right direction.

http://www.caralarmandradio.com/

In terms of 'good will' if your car has been serviced outside the dealer network, forget it. However if all servicing has been done by a Skoda dealer, I would certainly be asking the dealer to speak with Skoda. However you will still probably end up with a £500 bill - but better than nothing. At least the fix will be guaranteed.

Failing that, the above suggestions, and perhaps seeing if you can get a replacement from a breakers?

As you say, you don't expect a bill like that on a 5 year old car (assuming it hasn't driven to the moon and back in those 5 years).

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Cartronix  repair the Yeti instrument panel for £150 inc VAT

It does sound to me like an earth fault.

Do the simple things first

Hi Futurama. 

 

I imagine that the instrument panel warnings are all LEDs these days rather than filament bulbs.  Although it's possible that the indicator warning LED is getting a small feed of current via some sort of electrical leakage path within the panel, causing it to come on dimly, I think that is rather unlikely.  Electrical leakage outside the instrument panel is also unlikely to be the cause, as the warning LEDs are controlled indirectly (by the instrument panel electronics) rather than directly from the feed wires to the various vehicle lamps.

 

I wonder if your problem is actually light leakage, either from another nearby warning LED or the general white instrument panel illumination.  This will be more noticeable when the ambient light level is low. The instrument panel illumination is of course only on when the lights are on.  To confirm this, you could try varying the amount of panel illumination (with the control wheel provided), and see if the dim indicator warning changes in brightness.

 

I have never had one of these panels apart, but I imagine light from each warning LED is guided forwards by some sort of moulded plastic tube which is intended to block out all other sources of light.  If a piece of this has broken off or is ill fitting, this could cause light leakage.

 

Faced with a staggeringly high replacement cost, and the fact that everything else works, if it was my car I would be tempted to put a dot of black sticky tape over the offending warning !

 

Alternatively, look for an independent instrument repair shop, though you will still be faced with the faff and expense of removing and replacing the panel.

 

Sadly, the days when garages were prepared to do detailed troubleshooting and local repairs have long gone - all they can do is replace assemblies.

 

 

Cartronix  repair the Yeti instrument panel for £150 inc VAT

 

 

Just wanted to update this issue for anyone interested and to thank you for the very useful suggestions.

The fault symptoms for the dashboard instrument panel are described in my first post, though I can now add the following result of the test suggested by 'Austin 7'.

When adjusting the dashboard illumination, the dimly lit right turn indicator in unaffected.  It appears that the the illumination is not caused by light leakage from another light source on the panel.  This appears to be an electrical fault.

I did not realise it was possible to get these instrument panels repaired and it does seem to be the way to go financially.  Compare the cost of repair, approximately £100 plus the cost of removal and refit, versus the dealer quote of approximately £1000 all in.  I am sure that the panel could be removed and refitted for far less than £900.  Note also the dealer was asked about Skoda 'goodwill', the car has a full dealer service history and has done 50k in 5.5 years; unfortunately there is no 'goodwill' to be had in this case.

The car did get though an MOT with the fault described, as I thought it would (but was not sure).  After downloading the MOT testers guide, the indication for the driver of an active indication signal is referred to as 'tell tail signs'.  In my case, even with the fault, it is obvious to the driver that the indication is active since the dashboard indication flashes brightly when the indicator is active.

The pressure is off for now, but the panel will be repaired early next year.  Again, thanks to the useful suggestions.

Just wanted to update this issue for anyone interested and to thank you for the very useful suggestions.

The fault symptoms for the dashboard instrument panel are described in my first post, though I can now add the following result of the test suggested by 'Austin 7'.

When adjusting the dashboard illumination, the dimly lit right turn indicator in unaffected.  It appears that the the illumination is not caused by light leakage from another light source on the panel.  This appears to be an electrical fault.

I did not realise it was possible to get these instrument panels repaired and it does seem to be the way to go financially.  Compare the cost of repair, approximately £100 plus the cost of removal and refit, versus the dealer quote of approximately £1000 all in.  I am sure that the panel could be removed and refitted for far less than £900.  Note also the dealer was asked about Skoda 'goodwill', the car has a full dealer service history and has done 50k in 5.5 years; unfortunately there is no 'goodwill' to be had in this case.

The car did get though an MOT with the fault described, as I thought it would (but was not sure).  After downloading the MOT testers guide, the indication for the driver of an active indication signal is referred to as 'tell tail signs'.  In my case, even with the fault, it is obvious to the driver that the indication is active since the dashboard indication flashes brightly when the indicator is active.

The pressure is off for now, but the panel will be repaired early next year.  Again, thanks to the useful suggestions.

not sure about the Yeti specifically, but the cluster in my Fabia 2 is actually really easy to remove. The surround unclips, undo 3 torx screws, pull out and unplug. 

 

The bit that would worry me.. is if its going to lose any coding when they're working on it? i guess they've got that covered?

Just wanted to update this issue for anyone interested and to thank you for the very useful suggestions.

The fault symptoms for the dashboard instrument panel are described in my first post

My first Yeti had exactly the same issue. Thankfully the problem was fixed under warranty, but it was as you suggested a full replacement rather than a repair.

I have a more extreme version of this ….

EVERYTHING works as it should but ….

hand brake on and I get the rear fog light warning as well

lights off and with right turn I get cruise control and a brake warning red light under it as well flashing with the indicator 

lifhts on and the yellow steering wheel light and red brake warning are permanently on

front and/or fog lights make the right indicator warning stay on solid not it does flash bright/dimmer with left turn 

🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

Dash warning lights issue