Instrument cluster going dead on the run?

[vigyaz]

Hi guys, just looking for a little advice here really, my had been driving her furby today (2012 1.4mpi Fabia mk2), and she apparantly had an issue where the instrument cluster just went totally blank while driving, she pulled over and turned ignition off/on again and it was ok again. now unfortunately she didnt notice whether the speedo / revs needles dropped before she did the beforementioned so a bit unsure.

 

i have a cable / laptop to interrogate the car, and will probably connect it up tomorrow to scan for any potential logged faults, but in the meantime, has anyone else ever come accross this issue before?

 

any help appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Paul.

[Tech1e]

Yeah, fairly common. IIRC it's a software glitch in the dash cluster.

[vigyaz]

Thanks for the rapid response there

 

so is this something i should be worrying about ? or just a spontaneous event?

[Tech1e]

Not sure what the end result is, if it will ever fail completely. I have changed a fair few under warranty in the past for the issue.

[vigyaz]

Not sure what the end result is, if it will ever fail completely. I have changed a fair few under warranty in the past for the issue.

 

Ill tell the wife to keep an eye on it for now then, if it happens again i might take it in to skoda, i take it instrument clusters have a longer than standard warranty?

[Tech1e]

It would be covered by the standard 60k/3 years and possibly any extension from Skoda.

[vigyaz]

It would be covered by the standard 60k/3 years and possibly any extension from Skoda.

 

thats a bugger since its a 12' plate and that makes it out of warranty :(

annoying thing is, its only done ~17k miles....

 

guess if it does decide to die on me i best get ready for a wad of cash to dissapear from my bank lol.

[mrgf]

Not sure if this is a red herring, but... Sometimes, the instrument cluster that is made of lcd can cut out if you have the ignition switched on and you go to polish the display with a non anti static cloth. I did this a few times and found out disconnecting the battery then re-connecting it reinstated the display. I obviously had to re-set the clock but the stereo re-sets its-self.

When the display is out, you can't see the time or any of the computer display, including fuel levels etc so it is best to do this in good time.

 

Hope this helps if not you, then someone else with similar issues. 

[Tech1e]

Which also may be a red herring as disconnecting the battery resets the software glitch anyhow.

[mrgf]

That was my point.... If you have the problem I had, it'll solve it until the next time. I have had the car 6 years, the issue two or perhaps three times but only when I have wiped the dash cluster with a cloth, ignition on. Never when its off. That is the lesson here!