Christmas lights on

[notyeti]

The festive spirit came to my yeti - veritable blackpool illumination of warning lights. EPC, Engine Check, Traction Control, and even the washer fluid (well that was me, but it added to the fun). Judder judder judder, gasp gasp limp limp limp. Well I managed to limp the forty miles home across the south downs, creeping up the hills at 5000 rpm in first gear, and juddering along the flat.  Behaved rather better the following morning on the way to the car doctor.  Tried turning the traction control off,  but it rebelled and turned itself on again.  Stressy experience to say the least.  Nice if there was a way to set the electronics to an emergency mode. My impression was all the clever softeware was having a punch up and the result was the car behaved erratically.  Interesting outcome -  the average MPG went up to 64!

 

Keep you posted what the doctor and bank manager say.  4 year old 1.2 TSI DSG 35000 miles.

[Brijo]

Fingers crossed for you :S

[notyeti]

Initial diagnostics show ignition coil, ht leads, plugs. That sounds familiar! Garage fitting new non-vag parts. Fingers crossed indeed. Sounds less expensive than I feared.

[Ryeman]

Initial diagnostics show ignition coil, ht leads, plugs. That sounds familiar! Garage fitting new non-vag parts. Fingers crossed indeed. Sounds less expensive than I feared.

That was a common problem and know fault (nr 3 plug lead failure) along with the stretching cam chain, I seem to recall.

Wasn't there a factory recall,for it?.

[notyeti]

Car tests clean now.  The mechanic traced the problem to the plugs, which in turn had overloaded the HT leads. The coil was fine.  Suggested that the plugs should have been changed in the last service and presumably weren't. The car is on the variable service interval, perhaps that is why?  Whenever I book a service the Skoda garages seem clueless about variable service intervals.  Going to work out at about £140 I think.

[Phil-E]

You say that it would be nice to set the electronics to an emergency mode but it sounds like the car had gone into limp mode which is the emergency mode.

 

No emergency mode would mean the car would just shut off and refuse to run at all.

 

It obviously wasn't running right so went into limp mode which helps to prevent damage to the engine etc and allow you to drive a little further to the nearest garage etc.

[Urrell]

Car tests clean now.  The mechanic traced the problem to the plugs, which in turn had overloaded the HT leads..

Are you sure it was not the other way round?

Overheating/melting plug leads are a known Yeti problem and now have extra insulation from heat round them.

[notyeti]

Final bill £330.

 

Mechanic said he thought it was the plugs. I think my yeti might post-date the ht leads mod. 

 

Limp mode?  I have heard this term, but  I would not describe my driving experience as having been a definite mode. The cars behavior varied so much. The car did not manage to get up steep hills in one go. On hills speed would fall to less than 10mph, then it would change down to first and speed up to 5000 rpm, and then the revs would fall until the car stopped on full throttle with no revs.  I would engage P, stop, start again and creep up a bit more. Starting from stop was pretty scary on roundabouts as it accelerated like a slug.

 

At speed(40mph) it misfired, and generally seemed to be behaving as if petrol was being fed to only some of the cylinders, and sometime fed to ones that weren't timing the firing right.   The high mpg seems  to suggest the computer was turning off the petrol flow.

 

Is this the behaviour what people cal limp mode?

[Austin 7]

"Overloaded the HT leads"  Rather a vague description.

 

The only thing I can think of is that the plug gaps increased so much due to wear over high mileage that the firing voltage rose high enough to stress the HT leads and coil.  This could conceiveably result in flashover (especially in damp conditions) - resulting in a both a misfire and much increased levels of electrical interference which in turn could upset other electronic systems.

 

If flashover happens over a prolonged long time it can cause permanent damage by carbonising the insulation, but I doubt if a brief occurence would cause future problems.

 

What was the gap of the old plugs like and how many miles had they done ?

 

I think I would be more inclined to believe that this was another instance of the well-known HT lead failure due to excessive heat / poor design.

 

Coincidentally, I happened to talk to a friend with a 1.2 TSi yesterday, and he described a recent breakdown with lots of warning lights coming on and having to limp home.  It turned out to be due to failure of one plug lead. He then admitted that he had been carrying a spare set of HT leads in the boot for a couple of years (on my suggestion) but had forgotten all about them !

[Ryeman]

Is it the case that you don't know if it has the uprated leads?.

Has yours had the cam chain update to fix the 'stretching' problem.

When was the last time it was 'dealer' serviced to check for recalls/updates?.

[notyeti]

All good questions. The car was bought new in oct 11, done 35,000. New or old lead.  Don't know. The spark plugs haven't been changed. It has had two variable services by the main dealer where I bought it, last at 29,000 sept last year.  No recalls or free updates. Am I naive? I expect a main skoda dealer to do their job properly and do all that Skoda recommend.

[Ryeman]

I'd be clarifying the exact situation with the Skoda service manager, just for my own peace of mind.

[Llanigraham]

All good questions. The car was bought new in oct 11, done 35,000. New or old lead.  Don't know. The spark plugs haven't been changed. It has had two variable services by the main dealer where I bought it, last at 29,000 sept last year.  No recalls or free updates. Am I naive? I expect a main skoda dealer to do their job properly and do all that Skoda recommend.

 

That sounds like the Service Recall for the plug leads hasn't been done. I would ask the dealer to check the system, also if it has been done there should be a note in your Service Book.

 

People call it a "recall" but it wasn't as such.

[notyeti]

The dealer says they replace the leads and plugs at 40,000 or 4 years, whichever is earlier.  Had I serviced the car at 4 years (sept this year) it wouldn't have failed. However, since I am on the variable plan, and still a long time still a service is due, it seems inevitable  that the plugs/leads would have failed before the service when they would be replaced.   Incidently, the dealer says there has been no change in the leads/plugs they use, so I can't square that with the comments in the forum about newer leads being better quality. Any comments?

[Llanigraham]

If I understand the above correctly they haven't undertaken the Service Bulletin to replace the plug lead (No3 I think) with the updated lead and heat proof cover, which probably should have been done at the last service. That was nothing to do with which service regime you were on.

 

The replacement age/mileage sounds correct and quite common nowadays. Some cars have even longer gaps than that!

 

I suggest you ring Skoda Technical and get them to check the details for your car, and whether the update has been done, and tell them what your dealer has said. I presume you have checked your Service Book hasn't been annotated with the update?

 

Might also be worthwhile going to a different dealer!

[Ryeman]

I'd be getting Skoda UK Technical your VIN and ask what post production modifications, if any, were recommended to be done?

Armed with that info you need a 'second opinion' from another authorised dealer.

Don't forget the cam chain stretching problem that can lunch your engine either.

[VAGCF]

Just remind me what the benefits of buying from and getting your car serviced at a main dealer are!

[Ryeman]

Just remind me what the benefits of buying from and getting your car serviced at a main dealer are!

Only for the people who regards cars as a necessary appliance and have no idea about their specific cars issues (if any) and never want , or know of, software updates.

99% aren't enthusiasts.

[Carlodiesel]

VAGCF  "Just remind me what the benefits of buying from and getting your car serviced at a main dealer are!"

 

Errr........  Ummm......

 

Does this answer your question?

 

Volkswagen Group UK is committed to supporting its customers and its retailers through the coming weeks.

[Ryeman]

Remember it's not a Toyota/Honda.

[notyeti]

So, Skoda are looking into it.  They confirmed what the garage said, that there was no ht lead issue on this vehicle.  They then confirmed the garage had acted correctly by not performing a plug change at 30,000 miles despite the fact that the next service will be after four years and after the 40,000 miles when the plug change is due.  

 

So I then asked how is it that if the plug change is on a fixed interval, and I am on a variable service plan and plug change is not being done before it is expected to fail.  "Isn't", I asked, "the variable service plan inadequate to keep the car on the road unless it is supplemented by fixed services to replace the plugs?"  "Are Skoda at fault in advising me through the dealer to take a service plan that will not, in all likelihood,  keep the car on the road?"   They are going to get back to me on that one!

[notyeti]

The response from skoda today was to reiterate that all the servicing has been done correctly.  So I repeated my query how were the plugs going to be replaced at the correct time, to avoid a high probability of a breakdown. A half-hearted response was to suggest I had the second variable service done too soon.  If it had been later it would have coincided with the 4 yr/40000 fixed service. The agent was clearly a little embarrassed by the idiocy of this suggestion!   She volunteered she would open a case on my behalf. I said that in the case she should say I was looking for advice on when I should get the car serviced - should I revert to the fixed interval service - and Skoda should split the repair bill with me, me paying for the new plugs, and they for the consequential costs which would have been avoided by correct servicing.

[speedsport]

Ignoring the plug lead replacement for a moment (which I believe should have been done) perhaps I'm being a little naive here. Isn't it the responsibility of the vehicle owner to have the car serviced at the intervals quoted in the service document, whether it's on a fixed or a variable interval schedule? The service schedule in the booklet tells you which items require attention in addition to the main service. It's up to you to keep an eye on your mileage and have the work done as & when required.

 

If it means asking for the additional service items to be done early, or having to take the car back to the garage to have extra work done between services, then that's what you have to do, surely.

Edited 16 December, 2015 by speedsport

[Carlodiesel]

I would have thought the servicing dealer should guide the customer in the right direction.

 

If the OP was a woman, she would not understand any of this. (no disrespect intended)

[Ryeman]

Dealerships can't survive out here without great attention to detail; there's just so much Asian competition.

I get an email reminding me when service is due....not that I need it.