Hi, I have only owned my manual Superb Mk3 for a few weeks and it is the first time that I have not had a conventional cable operated handbrake.

 

I could do with some advice concering the electronic parking brake & the Auto Hold Function's as mine seems to be playing up a bit.

 

I have been driving around with the Auto Hold function switched on that when I stop applies a green brake light on dash and on taking the vehicle out of gear would switch on the red parking brake symbol.

 

Then, when I select 1st gear & start to pull away the brakes release and all was well.

 

However, this last day or two the brakes seem to lock on and don't release as discribbed above.

 

I don't seem to be able to switch off the parking brake or Auto Hold function on the switches and have had to switch off the ignition and then back on to be able to use the switches.

 

I find that leaving the auto hold function off lets me manual apply & release the Parking brake but if I switch the Auto Hold function back on then I can't get them to release when next used?

 

Has anyone else experienced this issue?

 

Thanks in advance for any respnses 

Edited 9 April, 20188 yr by Wheelnut

I have (had?) the same issue and when it was happening a double press of the brake pedal (second firm press after coming to a stop) seemed to help and clear the sticking. It drastically reduced after racking up some miles and I haven’t had the issue at all in about 2 months… car is at nearly at 4k miles now.

More info:

 

Hi Alan, thanks for your reply - I recently bought the car second hand on a 17 plate so it's not a problem because it is too new.

 

I will try pressing the brake peddle hard a couple of times to see if that helps the release, although I think I tried all options on the drive and only the switching off & restarting cleared this issue temporarily.

It may be a separate issue then. Even when it was really bad I could just about drive off with a clutch killing (eventually) amount of power. It felt similar to where my previous cars auto-hold applied extra brake force if it started to roll a little on a hill. It’s as if the Superb wasn’t detecting the clutch/drive.

There is a software update available (not just Skoda) for the EPB, but I seem to remember it was to fix a problem where it would randomly release. Maybe get a dealer/indie to give the brakes a service… rear disks are notorious for premature corrosion.

Thanks Alan, I think a bit more experimentation on the drive tomorrow is called for to determine if a visit to the local Skoda dealer is required or not.

 

I really can't see what the advantage is for the change to electronic parking brakes apart from a bigger centre console box lol

Edited 9 April, 20188 yr by Wheelnut

 

Agreed, although my lazy side is now very used to the convenience of auto-hold

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/volkswagen-issue-alert-over-handbrakes-10787370

 

 

 

I don't think the manual mentions it but if the driver's seatbelt is not fastened the auto handbrake does not work.  Useful as long as you are aware of it.

 

The '12 Passat had the same system and the manual covered it.  Caught me out one day when I moved it further into a parking space one day without refastening my seat belt.  Came back to the car and leaned into the boot and it rolled away from me. 

On 4/9/2018 at 21:39, Wheelnut said:

Thanks Alan, I think a bit more experimentation on the drive tomorrow is called for to determine if a visit to the local Skoda dealer is required or not.

 

I really can't see what the advantage is for the change to electronic parking brakes apart from a bigger centre console box lol

 

Well, the car had been behaving itself for the last few weeks with regard to the auto-hold brake system, but today, (Sunday), it was terrible. 

 

We was visiting the Shuttleworth air show and had the last few miles sitting in a traffic jam all heading to the airfield.

 

The auto hold would come on as we came to a halt with the brake but wouldn't release, tried pressing the brake with no joy. I reverted to applying the handbrake on the switch & then releasing it on the switch this seemed to help most times but stopping every few yards for a few miles and brakes locking on when trying to pull away is a nightmare! 

 

Also found that I could sometimes release the auto-hold, (green brake light), by pressing the handbrake off switch without 1st applying it. 

 

If they call this progress, I for one, can certainly do without it! 

 

I feel a visit to the dealers is on the cards!

8 hours ago, Wheelnut said:

The auto hold would come on as we came to a halt with the brake but wouldn't release, tried pressing the brake with no joy.

 

I only use the auto hold brake occasionally (I prefer the stop/start to restart as I take my foot off the brake) but I have always lightly touched the accelerator to get it to stop holding. This is with DSG though, maybe different for you if yours is manual?

Well I visited my local Skoda dealership in Milton Keynes and explained the intermittent issues I was having with the brakes not releasing.

 

They checked on their computer & said that my car had an outstanding software update for the xenon lights but that there was no software update showing for the parking brake or auto hold system.

 

The car was booked in for the following week for them to do the update & check over the brakes.

 

They arrived promptly in the morning to collect my car and delivered it back around 14:00 hrs, nicely washed and hovered out :-)

 

They stated that there was now an update for the brake issue that Skoda provide for people who complain about this?

 

Anyway, I will have to see if this has resolved the issue or whether it will reappear in the future, (early impressions are that the brakes release a bit smoother but that may just be a placebo affect)

Very interesting. I felt it return for the first time in ages in a car park recently… a few double taps of the brake seemed to clear it. Do you have any info on the software update? Maybe a code or description on the invoice?

 

14 hours ago, Wheelnut said:

They stated that there was now an update for the brake issue that Skoda provide for people who complain about this?

 

A Skoda Main Dealership has a person on the service desk with a PC connected to the VW Group system,. a phone on the counter and behind them a door to the workshop, 

they know about TPI's, Software Updates etc or should do, just ask them, do not tell them their job until they fail to do it, then tell them to go get someone that does know the job.

If that reply was for me, I can’t decipher it
 

1. I should contact a Skoda main dealer and shouldn’t be asking Wheelnut for info?
2. Asking Wheelnut for info is telling Skoda how to do their job?
3. You were giving me the typical layout of a service desk?
3. Reply wasn’t for me and I should mind my own business

You have a very different experience with dealerships if you feel the are up to date and forthcoming with software update info

 

28 minutes ago, Offski said:

A Skoda Main Dealership has a person on the service desk with a PC connected to the VW Group system,. a phone on the counter and behind them a door to the workshop, 

they know about TPI's, Software Updates etc or should do, just ask them, do not tell them their job until they fail to do it, then tell them to go get someone that does know the job.

 

Edited 20 May, 20188 yr by Alan_P

Just for anyone with an Issue similar. 

Report it to the Main Dealers and the information is all here so you see what they say, then if they act daft you know the standard of the people you put you and others trust & safety in.

 

I know exactly the standard of Main Dealerships Employees in many cases these days.

Luckily not all are mumpties, but too many are and Skoda UK needs to get a grip. 

Rod McLeod has been  long enough with the VW Group, the buck needs to start stopping with him.

Edited 20 May, 20188 yr by Offski

11 hours ago, Alan_P said:

Very interesting. I felt it return for the first time in ages in a car park recently… a few double taps of the brake seemed to clear it. Do you have any info on the software update? Maybe a code or description on the invoice?

 

 

 

Hi Alan, no, sorry, I have no other info I'm afraid.  They delivered my car back but didn't leave me with any £0 invoice or paperwork of what they had carried out.

 

Seemed strange that the initial guy on the service desk couldn't find any software update regarding the parking brake/auto hold issue when he interrogated his pc but the chap delivering the car back to me said that they had carried out a software update on this issue.

 

Let us know how you get on if you decide to check this at your local dealership.

On 21/05/2018 at 01:38, Wheelnut said:

Hi Alan, no, sorry, I have no other info I'm afraid.  They delivered my car back but didn't leave me with any £0 invoice or paperwork of what they had carried out.

 

Seemed strange that the initial guy on the service desk couldn't find any software update regarding the parking brake/auto hold issue when he interrogated his pc but the chap delivering the car back to me said that they had carried out a software update on this issue.

 

Let us know how you get on if you decide to check this at your local dealership.

Well, the software update didn't resolve the problem for long as autohold was not releasing again this morning. Took car into dealership and their tech guy got in and promptly stalled it as brakes held on. It's booked in for next week for them  to sort it out and to carry out some brake peddle mod.

It sounds like you have a much more serious issue as it’s never made me stall the car. I also don’t seem to have an issue switching the system off/on. When it was happening with me regularly, I switched auto-hold off several times and manually used the EPB at lights etc… same problem.

Does anyone know if auto-hold just keeps hydraulic pressure applied or if it switches to the EPB motors?

Skoda tech guy has told me to leave the autohold switched off and just use the handbrake switch.

 

Have to see if just using this gives me any probs.

 

They want the car in for two days this time!

 

I did ask if there was any records on file if this issue had been raised by previous owner, they checked and said it hadn't. 

 

18 hours ago, Alan_P said:

Does anyone know if auto-hold just keeps hydraulic pressure applied or if it switches to the EPB motors?

Auto-hold maintains the hydraulic brake pressure, shown by the green park brake warning lamp.  After 10 minutes of holding, or if you open the door or switch the ignition off, it applies the EPB instead and the warning lamp turns red.

On 5/22/2018 at 18:20, Wheelnut said:

Skoda tech guy has told me to leave the autohold switched off and just use the handbrake switch.

 

Have to see if just using this gives me any probs.

 

They want the car in for two days this time!

 

I did ask if there was any records on file if this issue had been raised by previous owner, they checked and said it hadn't. 

 

The Skoda Dealership had my car for two days this week to try to sort out the auto-hold problems and delivered my car back nice & clean.   As I was not at home, they left my car on the drive & posted keys through my letterbox with no paperwork as to what they had found or what remedial work they had undertaken.  I have emailed asking for some feedback on this.

On 6/2/2018 at 09:13, Wheelnut said:

The Skoda Dealership had my car for two days this week to try to sort out the auto-hold problems and delivered my car back nice & clean.   As I was not at home, they left my car on the drive & posted keys through my letterbox with no paperwork as to what they had found or what remedial work they had undertaken.  I have emailed asking for some feedback on this.

Had a call back today from the dealership today and was told that my car had a number of software updates and the clutch re-calibrated?

This seems a bit odd as they had the car previously and carried out software updates to lights & brakes and then a week or two later I'm told a number of software updates were needed???

Also told that this issue is more common on cars with manual gear boxes.

Anyway, the car has been behaving itself for now, time will tell if they have sorted out these issues :-)

Manual box on mine… will ask at the next service. Thanks for all the info

Just had mine back from its first service.  Prior to it going in, I reported a couple of issues, one of which was an occasionally-sticky auto-hold and EPB.  Dealer said they couldn't find anything, but since I had the car back, last week, it's been a lot harder to to get them to disengage.  

 

Pre-service, slight pressure on clutch and accelerator would get them off, but post-service, I've had to get up to 2k revs (diesel!) and have the car straining to move before they'll come off.

 

There'll be a trip back to the dealer shortly.

 

Other issue, if anyone has similar, was failure of drivers' door mirror to retain its position as stored in user profiles.  Required new mirror and mirror motor, and total reset of stored user seat settings 

So after many months without an issue the sticky auto hold/EPB came back recently. Booked it in at Henrys (Kyle St, Glasgow) and they have sorted the problem... touch wood.

They “reactuated” the clutch pedal sensor... the release point hadn’t been calibrated properly at the factory. There is no TPI, but specific advice from Skoda for any owner who mentions the issue. It might just have been the Fabia courtesy car I had been using, but the clutch now feels heavier

Great service from Henrys... they also installed Infotainment software updates that sorted unrelated issues.

 

Edited 3 October, 20187 yr by Alan_P