Hi all,

 

Just this past week I have started to get an error with the start stop system on my Octavia. I don't mean the "couldn't do start stop because air-conditioning needs to be on", but an actual "Error:start stop" coming on the MFD of the dashboard.

 

It's random as to what point in a journey this happens and it is normally fine again the next day.

 

Anyone have any ideas what might be the cause before I take it into a dealers?

 

Here's a picture of a Golf from Google showing the same error: 

 

Thanks!

Edited 13 June, 20179 yr by wedge69

Hi Wedge, take a look on the main infotainment screen, scroll through the section for the stop-start and it might show you some more detail on the issue. What Info system do you have?

No, that is a fault. I had this on my first O3 and they replaced loads of modules to make it go away ...

2 minutes ago, andyvee said:

No, that is a fault. I had this on my first O3 and they replaced loads of modules to make it go away ...

 

That sounds depressingly expensive.

Thats what warranty is for

Actually, check your battery is fully charged (read the manual on how to charge it) and make sure you don't have anything putting a permanent drain on the battery like an always on dashcam. If it still keeps coming back then get someone with VCDS to scan the car and see what the error is. From memory I was getting errors on the CAN Gateway all relating to the battery management module.

7 minutes ago, andyvee said:

Thats what warranty is for

 

3 months out of warranty 

 

5 minutes ago, andyvee said:

Actually, check your battery is fully charged (read the manual on how to charge it) and make sure you don't have anything putting a permanent drain on the battery like an always on dashcam. If it still keeps coming back then get someone with VCDS to scan the car and see what the error is. From memory I was getting errors on the CAN Gateway all relating to the battery management module.

 

Interesting point about the battery. I have been on holiday for a week so the car hasn't been used, and the error does come towards the end of the journey after a lot of air-conditioning use.

Unless your journeys are very short, the battey should be able to charge whilst driving so you shouldn't get an error because of low battery at the end of a journey especially in summer.

Winter is worst case for battery use with heated this & that plus air-conditioning so summer use is not that heavy on the system.

 

It could be that your battery is actuall dead but that would be quite rare with modern batteries & clever charging these days.

Hopefully it is something simple like the gear selector switch or seat-belt sensor.

The only way to know is to read the error codes with an OBD scanner or similar.

 

If you need to take it to a dealer, depending on what they find as the cause, you can try to use the fact that it is "just out of warrenty" to ask for a contribution to the costs from Skoda (perhaps, they pay the part you pay the labour).

14 hours ago, wedge69 said:

 

3 months out of warranty 

 

 

Interesting point about the battery. I have been on holiday for a week so the car hasn't been used, and the error does come towards the end of the journey after a lot of air-conditioning use.

 

Switch it off completely via VCDS if it turns to be an expensive repair. Anyway worth to investigate as it can pinpoint another upcoming failure (battery, alternator, starter, sensors...).

Was fine on all journeys today 

Will keep an eye on it and see if anyone at work has a reader.

Please let us know what the fault ends up to be, I'll then try desperately to get my car to do the same.

 

My stop/start 'off' button is getting shiny from over use 

My money would be on a battery on its way out if it's voltage related after a week at rest. Certainly if it's an original.

Edited 14 June, 20179 yr by Mallettsmallett

I'm more stuck awaiting a recovery truck. Car was fine, dropped my lad at school, went to start the car and nothing. No power, no dash, nothing.

2 hours ago, wedge69 said:

I'm more stuck awaiting a recovery truck. Car was fine, dropped my lad at school, went to start the car and nothing. No power, no dash, nothing.

Dead battery then.

Recovery guy jumped the car, battery was totally empty, but appeared fine, as did the alternator. Dropped the car in with Skoda and left it with them, they need to fully charge the battery in order to diagnose apparently.

 

Will keep you informed!

The battery has been on charge for five hours but will not hold any charge. Dealer is putting a new battery in but won't have time to do checks or diagnose today so they are keeping it until Monday.

So the battery has only had slightly over three years of use before dying?

4 hours ago, jonathan.tong said:

So the battery has only had slightly over three years of use before dying?

Yes, three years and three months!

Edited 16 June, 20179 yr by wedge69
Misread

Do you have a dashcam or anything that is running off of a permanent live (like leaving a phone charger plugged in)?

 

These batteries absolutely hate a slow current drain when the engine is off, it kills them basically.

2 minutes ago, andyvee said:

Do you have a dashcam or anything that is running off of a permanent live (like leaving a phone charger plugged in)?

 

These batteries absolutely hate a slow current drain when the engine is off, it kills them basically.

No, nothing plugged in. I guess that is what the dealer will be looking for on Monday, some kind of slow drain.

 

I'm hoping it is nothing serious and just a poor battery.

Just a quick one, but if there are problems with a battery or alternator would the car not have produced a more specific error before all this happened?

This is usually a symptom manifestation of a battery on its way out. The car constantly monitors the battery voltage at rest and charging and then will disable start stop if the voltage is too low to typically crank the engine, leaving you stuck. 

 

It's not definite, as you may have had your car laid up unused for a few weeks and that's not unusual, but totally discharging a battery is bad for it in most cases and will limit capacity from then on.

Well I have the car back. Diagnostics showed no problems so it was just a duff battery. I don't think 150 from a dealer was to bad but I haven't checked what make the new battery is!

How old is the car?

 

I would be pushing for warranty or contribution from Skoda - a new AGM battery should have a 3yr warranty on it as a minimum

11 minutes ago, andyvee said:

How old is the car?

 

I would be pushing for warranty or contribution from Skoda - a new AGM battery should have a 3yr warranty on it as a minimum

Three years and three months!