Hi,

My front wipers have just started acting strangely. When I switch them on to intermittent, they now wipe more than once before stopping, and the arms tend to stop slightly high, as if they are just starting the next sweep. They do the same when I do a single 'flick' wipe. I am sure this is an electrical fault, possibly to do with the switch for the motor(?).

Has anyone else had the same problem? Does anyone know what component is going wrong, and what I would need to do to fix it? I am assuming it would be a replace rather than a repair.

Thanks

Paul

Paul

Did you ever resolve the windscreen wipe issue. I have exactly the same problem with my Octavia TDi. If you sorted it out please let me know.

Thanks

blackwood_man

Sorry, I never resolved the problem. 3 months later and the electrics are still hanging on, so I have not been forced to do anything about it. I expect I will have to at some point soon as I still notice that, intermittently, the wipers do not stop at the correct point, but carry on a centimetre or so for a 2nd sweep before stopping slightly high. My guess is that there's a switch that controls the movement, maybe somewhere around the motor...? Has yours failed completely?

Paul

My wipers do the same thing....it started when they began to really whack the scuttle hard on the downstroke - made a right old noise. My dealer said it was a known problem and replaced part of the linkage, but as in your cases they now lift slightly before they stop, or sometimes don't stop and complete another cycle or two. Also the drivers side wiper doesn't sweep the same area it used to, it stops about 2 cm short. I would seem that the linkage has a certain amount of adjustment in it if you know which bits to play with.

AndyC

My old Octy was doing the same thing when I part ex,d her in. When it did it, I could here the wiper relay clicking on again, so assumed it was the wiper relay but never bothered geting it fixed.

Relays seem to be a weakness of the Octavia. I have already had the fuel pump relay replaced as my TDi would cut out after a mile or two. Diesels aren't supposed to do that...

My wipers do the same thing....it started when they began to really whack the scuttle hard on the downstroke - made a right old noise. My dealer said it was a known problem and replaced part of the linkage' date=' but as in your cases they now lift slightly before they stop, or sometimes don't stop and complete another cycle or two. Also the drivers side wiper doesn't sweep the same area it used to, it stops about 2 cm short. I would seem that the linkage has a certain amount of adjustment in it if you know which bits to play with.

AndyC[/quote']

The wiper arms are "infinitely adjustable" i.e. they just sit on a taper and are held on by a nut (13mm) on the top. It's a simple matter to pop off the plastic cap, loosen the nut, reposition the blade and retighten - no need to go anywhere near the linkage.

Thanks for the info. Will try to adjust mine.

AndyC

Ok Guys, someone must know the answer to the not parking and multiple stroke windscreen wiper nightmare. Its beginning to hack me off.

Yes, I too can hear a clicking from the relay.

The not parking and multiple stroke issue seems to be a common problem in addition to the linkage issue, which I understand often requires lubrication and re-setting. Does anybody have a circuit diagram for the Octavia?

Finally has anybody found difficulties with the air conditioning not cutting in?

Finally finally, I had to replace the fuel relay a little while ago too.

Also replaced boot lock actuator. engine belly pan, passenger side seat belt. On reflection perhaps I should have bought the Octavia in kit form to save on all the dismantling time.

Ok Guys' date=' someone must know the answer to the not parking and multiple stroke windscreen wiper nightmare. Its beginning to hack me off.

[/quote']

Could be the park switch in the wiper motor. Used to have problems with old BL cars - the switch was only a couple of pieces of bend brass. Not sure what Skoda wiper motors are like - mines still going strong (holding onto edge of wooden desk)

Finally has anybody found difficulties with the air conditioning not cutting in?

When? The aircon does not operate below 6 degrees - just blows out ambient air. Annoying, but it's to stop frost damage to the evaporator matrix.

Finally finally' date=' I had to replace the fuel relay a little while ago too.

[/quote']

This is a common problem on VW tdi,s across the board. I have seen it on 5 veheicles and only one of those was a Skoda, but all VW lumps.

The aircon was found to be lacking pressure on both the low or high pressure side so it was filled back up again and a UV dye included. As the ambient temperature was only 3.5 degC the AC refused to fire up. Does any one know where the ambient air temp sensor is?

I have tried it again today with an indicated 8 degC on the dash but it didn't seem to be much colder than the option of dragging air in from outside. This makes me wonder whether the AC pump or pump clutch has gone.

Regarding the windscreen motor terminal strips, yes I recall the old units you mentioned. There are also stories about an adjustment screw on the ones fitted to old Skodas. The problem is that it is intermittent and sometimes the wipers will work just fine. Sometimes the relay will click as the wipers lift slightly from the park position, at other times there is no clicking and the wipers do several strokes before parking. Sometimes they will do several strokes and park in the middle of the screen. Without a circuit diagram it's rather difficult to know where to look and what to test. I don't really want to go diving under the scuttle without a good idea of what I'm looking for. If the intentional intermittent wiper function is generated by the relay then it suggests that the relay is staying on for too long allowing the multiple wipes. Goodness knows why it stops in the middle, as from memory the old wiper motors had a constant live supply rail and would keep going until reaching the end rail. If this was live then it would do another sweep. If it wasn't then the blades would park. If only life was this simple!!

I forgot to mention a burnt out passenger window motor in my list of things that have gone wrong. If I have to fit any more new parts then I'm thinking of applying to the DVLA for a more recent number plate.

Regards to all and please keep coming up with the suggestions.

blackwood man who exactly tested your air con i have seen millions of times and it's starting to p1ss me off cutomer says "gas is ok because they tested pressure or the topped it up" well they can't do either there is only one way of testing air con gas thats remove it and measure the quantity. on the wiper problem sounds very like a dodgy wiper motor to me hope this helps.

K, I hope you are ****ed off at the garage for telling little white lies and not the customer who gets told this....?

K, I hope you are ****ed off at the garage for telling little white lies and not the customer who gets told this....?

correct i would have thought in this day and age garages would know what they are talking about by now or just keep there mouths shut no offence intended at anyone btw

blackwood man who exactly tested your air con i have seen millions of times and it's starting to p1ss me off cutomer says "gas is ok because they tested pressure or the topped it up" well they can't do either there is only one way of testing air con gas thats remove it and measure the quantity. on the wiper problem sounds very like a dodgy wiper motor to me hope this helps.

Not strictly true K. If you know your refridgeration and have a decent set of gauges then you can fault find with a low and high gauge connected and a/c running. The low gauge would run low if short of gas or blocked system, or high if over charged , blocked or weak compressor.

But having seen the Skoda workshop maula on regassing, I know they do the remove and weigh trick. Shame really because you can tell more quickly, and rectify with decent gauges and a charging station.

hmmm unless you prove otherwise i beg to differ without getting into an argument.

Here are the grim details of the air con.

Initially tested pressure points for static pressure. No pressure indicated.

Pumped up with nitrogen and performed 15 bar static test. No visible drop in pressure and no leak indication from spray on leak detector.

Vacuum emptied the system to remove Nitrogen and any moisture.

Filled system with a weighed amount of refridgerant and added flourescent UV dye.

Started engine. Overall system pressure started to rise very slowly as refridgerant warmed up and expanded with general engine temperature.

No differential pressure created suggesting that the compresor was not operating. Therefore difficult to check with UV torch under normal operating conditions. I am aware that the aion is temperature limited by the ambient outside temperature (it says 5 degC in the hand book)

Big K, please tell me where we went wrong. Does anybody know here the outside air temperature transducer is situated?

On the windscreen wiper issue....

How many wires go into the windscreen wiper motor and what are they connected to? How can the wiper stop and more importantly re-start in the mid position if the wipers have a permanent live track. If the track was damaged, I would be surprised if the windscreen wipers would re-start again in the mid position!

Life is a mystery

hmmm unless you prove otherwise i beg to differ without getting into an argument.

Sorry m8, but domestic refrigeration work tells me otherwise...and I proved it to my local dealership when the Octy aircon packed up a few years ago and I was the first they had seen with an aircon fault.

Blackwood_man..

A nitrogen pressure test may be OK on some leaks, but as R143A is so small molecularly that the leak my be too small even for a pressured system with nitrogen.

More than likely is that your system weeped thru the compressor seals if they dried out through a lack of use.

Personally I would have let the nitrogen go, then vac down both high and low sides for at least 30-40 mins each side. Then I would have recharged the system but left the gauges on to check.

The UV die would have been put in just incase it lost charge again and would then show up. Years ago we would have used an electronic sniffer to pin point the leak, but 134a is a git so they arent very reliable any more.

Hi Andy,

Yes this is what we did. We vacuum expelled the nitrogen, left the gauges on and then refilled with refridgerant. The die is an ultra violet flourescing die which shows up when a UV torch is shone on it. Its quite effective an small leaks. Because the AC pump wouldn't kick in, we weren't able to pressurise the system to the normal operating pressure, which I understand is about 2bar and 10 bar.

What I really need to do is encourage the pump to start operating. I don't have a circuit diagram, can't find the air temperature sender and don't know what connections run to the pump. This make identification of the problem rather difficult. Any suggestions are welcome.

Regards

Adam

The outside temp sensor I always thought was behind the front bumper (but I may be wrong). You could try putting the car in a garage and put a heater of some kind in there to warm tha ambient air temp...might help.

(Just to inform...you pull a vacuum in a fridge system so as to boil off any gas debris, oil residue not that there should be any, water molecues, or any other foreign objects in the system that might cause a blockage.It is never a good idea to start the vac process with to much of a positive pressure present in the system.)

Wiper problem. Mine did the same and sometimes stopped mid screen. Dealer replaced wiper motor under warranty and problem went away. If I had had to pay it would perhaps still be doing it now. A year ago I think the quote was about

Paul

Did you ever resolve the windscreen wipe issue. I have exactly the same problem with my Octavia TDi. If you sorted it out please let me know.

Thanks

I have seen several posts regarding wiper problems. I had the same, they kept stopping!! I trickled some oil down the wiper arm stub,just where it goes through bonnet.....PROBLEM SOLVED..maybe worth trying before taing the car to bits or replacing the wiper motor.

Yes this is what we did. We vacuum expelled the nitrogen' date=' left the gauges on and then refilled with refridgerant. The die is an ultra violet flourescing die which shows up when a UV torch is shone on it. Its quite effective an small leaks. Because the AC pump wouldn't kick in, we weren't able to pressurise the system to the normal operating pressure, which I understand is about 2bar and 10 bar.

What I really need to do is encourage the pump to start operating. I don't have a circuit diagram, can't find the air temperature sender and don't know what connections run to the pump. This make identification of the problem rather difficult. Any suggestions are welcome.[/quote']

I have this currently on my Fabia TDi! I had the system drained, vacced and refilled and they said while there wasn't much gas in there, this was normal for a 3 year old car. Refilled and no leaks, but compressor wouldn't kick in and they diagnosed it as a sticky compressor clutch. Being a tight git, I didn't bother getting the compressor replaced, but instead plugged in my VAG-COM diagnostic tool which gave the following:

Address 8 One fault found 00818 sensor for evaporater outlet temp (G263)

Talking with Mr ETKA (thanks Denis ) and my local dealer, we decided this points to the Temperature Sensor Evaporator, also known as the Temperature Sender Unit (part no: 6Q0907543A) which is about 16 quid. I'm still investigating getting this replaced, but the current symptoms are that if ambient air temp is below 20 deg C, air con works just fine. Anything above that and it doesn't and my fuel economy improves

Chris