Hey! 

 

Fan speed 1 doesnt seem to work on my 2013 fabia SE. 2,3 and 4 are all working fine. 

 

It seemed an intermittent fault at first but is getting worse. 

 

Could this be the resistor or the switch? 

 

It has been plugged into VCDS and no fault codes are logged

 

cheers! 

Sounds very much like the resistor.  It will fail completely shortly, I should think.   Don't forget to check/replace your pollen filter before or at the same time as replacing the resistor pack, as reduced airflow will contribute to the failure. Has the pollen filter ever been changed?

26 minutes ago, Wino said:

Sounds very much like the resistor.  It will fail completely shortly, I should think.   Don't forget to check/replace your pollen filter before or at the same time as replacing the resistor pack, as reduced airflow will contribute to the failure. Has the pollen filter ever been changed?

Cheers!

 

i was steering towards that but after searching it seems that alot of them just work on speed 4 if its the resistor? i think that must bypass the resistor? Looks like mine might progress to that in time? 

 

Yeah the pollen filter has been changed every year, or atleast i've been billed for one every year  . 

 

Abit disappointing on a car thats a year out of warranty and only done 40k, nevermind. Time to youtube the 'how to's' then i guess. 

There are 3 series windings that make up the resistor pack. Any of these resistive windings can fail individually, leaving you with only fan speeds above the one that's failed, speed 4 doesn't need any of them to be intact so the fan still soldiers on.

Shouldn't have failed yet, pretty sure mine's 14 years old.  Wouldn't be a bit surprised if you find that your pollen filter has a date-code consistent with it being factory fitted.

39 minutes ago, Wino said:

There are 3 series windings that make up the resistor pack. Any of these resistive windings can fail individually, leaving you with only fan speeds above the one that's failed, speed 4 doesn't need any of them to be intact so the fan still soldiers on.

Shouldn't have failed yet, pretty sure mine's 14 years old.  Wouldn't be a bit surprised if you find that your pollen filter has a date-code consistent with it being factory fitted.

 

ah that makes sense then. its usually in one tbf so makes sense how thats buggered first. 

 

Might be worth trying for a good will gesture then? Wondering how to go about it. It is a march 2013 car with 40k on so like you say, shouldn't of failed yet. It has a full service history, first with the main dealer then with a Skoda Independent Specialist. 

Eyeball the pollen filter first, looking for a manufactured date on it (on one edge I think).  If that really hasn't been changed as claimed by the main dealer, you'd have a good case I should think.

Cant see  a date on it tbh, looks like it probably has done the 5k from the last service though? Doesn't look like its been in there too long? 

Yeah that looks recent. 

Cheers for your help Wino  

Ebay resistors are around a tenner, compared with Skoda's £40 or so... Some will have 2 year warranty, I think.

I've ordered resistor and pollen filter from euro car parts which are £42 total price. £30 cheaper than the quote from Skoda dealer. 

Can anyone tell me if I have to remove battery negative terminal or will switching the airbag switch off be enough to remove airbag for access to resistor. 

I haven't got the radio security code. 

Edited 2 August, 20178 yr by Dtt
Typo

probably best to disconnect the battery. 

 

The radio code is kept in the radio and in the speedo cluster so as long as they match up (which they will as its working now) they should match up again when the battery is reconnected. 

 

I'm currently in discussion with Skoda UK about this so nothin much has moved on yet

Thanks fabiamk2SE for quick reply. I didn't know that. 

An update on this. 

 

I had some contact with Skoda UK about it.. who remained impartial whether it should or shouldnt fail at 4 years and 40k. They said they could perhaps consider good-will but i would have to get it diagnosed by a main dealer. 

 

So onto the main dealer, who told me its £85 diagnostics and after more digging, they first quoted £300 to replace the resistor if it is that.. after some conversation that came down to £150 (discounted labour charges.. hmm). 

 

Anyway.. to the Skoda Independent Specialist. £100 job done. So it was a no brainer and they've done it today. 

 

The mechanic told me thats the second 13 plate in 2 days that he'd had with the same problem. Odd. Maybe a bad batch or something. 

 

Anyway. Thanks for all the help. All sorted! :). 

Glad you are sorted.

My car is a 63 plate car so perhaps from the same batch then!

Just now, Wonky said:

Glad you are sorted.

My car is a 63 plate car so perhaps from the same batch then!

 

You never know till it happens mate. 

 

The momentum of the car at higher speeds pushes air through the vents even when the fans arent working. I think i only noticed because the AC wouldnt kick in unless it was on speed 2. Got me investigating.  

1 hour ago, fabiamk2SE said:

 

You never know till it happens mate. 

 

The momentum of the car at higher speeds pushes air through the vents even when the fans arent working. I think i only noticed because the AC wouldnt kick in unless it was on speed 2. Got me investigating.  

Yup that's what I found too, the resistor pack is fairly easy to replace fortunately, think I managed my last replacement in around 5-6 minutes.

38 minutes ago, Wonky said:

Yup that's what I found too, the resistor pack is fairly easy to replace fortunately, think I managed my last replacement in around 5-6 minutes.

 

i looked into it myself, but its behind the passenger airbag and for the sake of 50 quid, its not something id tackle tbh  

I went to fit pollen filter today but found the new one is to big for the frame. I read on a previous thread that Skoda did away with the frame around 2010. My model is 2010 and wondered if I just fit the new bigger filter without the frame or do I have to change it for one that fits the frame. 

Any help appreciated. 

Measure the dimensions of the new filter and the outside dimensions of the frame with the old filter in it. If they are the same, fit it without the frame.

Edited 13 August, 20178 yr by Wino

Thanks Wino, you've been a great help. Filter fits without the frame. The blower resistor I bought from euro car parts doesn't fit. It's been mentioned on previous posts that the fixing lugs can be slightly different. The old OE one fits no problem. I suppose I'll take it back and grudgingly pay the extra for the Skoda part. 

Can you post a picture of the ECP one for comparison? Is there no chance of modifying the lugs to make it fit?

I'm guessing that the original pollen filter design with a re-usable frame and throw away filter element was just a handy bit of over design as that worked very well and meant that the filter would be fitted in the correct way, as well as providing a tab to pull it out.

The later cars just get a filter element which does not seem to even have an air flow direction indicated on it, though maybe even the carbon impregnated ones are now manufactured to allow for fitting either way round, if I remember correctly, the original carbon impregnated ones had a "white" side and a "darkish" side, so fitting the wrong way round was not the best plan as some of the carbon would get blown out into the cabin.

Thanks once again Wino. I took your advice and modified the ECP resistor. Job done! 

Thanks rum4mo. I've had the filter in and out that often I think it's in the right way (direction arrow pointing to drivers seat). 

I've fit the pollen filter without the charcoal. 

Ive still got the mould smell. I've sprayed anti bac spray. Run the heater hot for a while then cold. Still smells.