I am the happy owner of a Fabia 1.6 16V Sport, which I've owned since new. I took delivery of it on 31 December 2009, and it'll soon have done 122k trouble-free miles - with (almost) only consumables having been replaced. It's been marvelous, until very recently, when (at least to me) a very odd electrical problem started to occur. This electrical problem seems to have both me and my local Skoda dealer foxed. I will do my best to explain the problem below in a simple and concise manner.

 

Back in mid-May one day, I got into the car and attempted to start it. As is normal, I inserted the key into the ignition lock barrel, and turned it to the first position. All the normal lights appeared on the dashboard as expected, but just as I began to turn the key further to the final position to start the engine, all dashboard lights went out and the car became totally and utterly electrically dead. Not even the normal information that is always present was shown on the dashboard, eg time and mileage of the car, it was totally blank. The car would not start, despite a couple of additional attempts, and nothing that required electrical power, including the radio, door lock, would work. I left the car alone for 15 minutes, hoping to possibly get a clue from the instruction manual as to what the problem might be. As I could not get any idea as to what the problem might be, I got back into the car and managed to start it straight away. A couple of later, I had a similarly odd occasion when two brake warning lights came on, together with an audible alarm. I stopped the car at the next safest opportunity, turned off the engine, and read the relevant section of the manual. As I was only about a mile away from home, I thought I'd risk getting it back to base. When I restarted the car, all was back to normal, and checks carried out at home revealed nothing untoward. The car ran faultlessly until later that month. On the last May Bank Holiday, I got in the car, placed the key in the ignition and turned it to the first position. As reported above, all normal lights came on, until I turned the key further to start the engine - and pow! - all lights went out and the car became electrically dead, and not even the clock and mileometer LCD displays were showing anything. All exactly as happened a couple of weeks previously. The items I had placed in the boot, had to be removed by opening one of the passenger doors from inside, and then lowering the rear passenger seats to gain access from inside. 

What I should add to the above, is that over a period of at least half a year, the steering/ignition lock had become stiffer and harder to operate. At certain times, if my wheels/steering wheel were not facing close to absolutely straight on, it could be difficult to turn the key - often requiring a little wiggling of the steering wheel to help. Having done a little bit of research, I found posts on internet sites suggesting that some VAG cars suffer from this problem, and concluded that this might be the problem. So I booked my car in with my local main Skoda dealer, and made them aware that I might not actually be able to drive my car to them - explaining all of the above. I was advised that there was a very long lead-time for the ignition lock barrel, but that they'd let me know as soon as it was in and they could look at my car. 

 

Fast forward to late July, the day the car was due to go in for repair. I sat in the car. I put the key in the ignition barrel and turned it slightly - all the normal lights came on! I then turned the key further to start the engine, and everything dies! My heart sank, and I slowly started to realise that I'd have to call by the Skoda dealer a bit later and tell them the story and arrange to have it towed or whatever. I sat back in the driver's seat and sort-of prayed for a minute or so. My eyes moved to the main dashboard, and lo and behold in front of my very eyes, the LCD clock and mileometer display were "re-building" themselves pixel by pixel. Never seen anything like it. I pushed the ignition key into the barrel, turned it fully, and the engine sprang into life! I drove Ildi to work, ultra nervous that I might stall it, and then to the dealer.

 

I've had the car back from the dealer approaching one month - all without any problems whatsoever - until last Friday, when exactly the same problem as outlined above happens again! Thankfully, the car was only dead for several minutes, but I'm now worried that it'll happen again and leave me stranded somewhere. So it would seem that replacing the ignition lock barrel (although necessary because of its stiffness) was not the cause of my electrical problem.

 

Has anyone experienced anything like this, or have any ideas what it might be? I will make my local dealer aware that the problem is not solved, but naturally, I'd rather not have them spend hours and hours on it - and possibly not locate the problem or get it to replicate - which is exactly happened apparently when they last had it.

 

Many thanks in advance - apologies for such a long story!

It sounds like one of the battery connections is loose or corroded, or the earth cable where it attaches to the chassis.

 

Also check the engine bay fuse box where cables are bolted on, that they are secure & no corrosion.

Edited 23 August, 20205 yr by PipH

The lock issue has happened and my dealer knew not what to do but I found a little spray version of graphite that cured that straight off, soon as sprayed in. Occasionally it gets just a little stiffer and as I cannot find graphite spray, I found powder, you squeeze in a kind of puffer bottle. That too, works great an many locks as well as the ignition switch. Better then paying for a replacement.

 

I have had a similar thing with turning the engine over, where lights all light, engine will not do anything but then after holding a few seconds, it then springs into life. This makes me think its a power/contact/flow issue, which happens in colder weather and with a flatter battery so keep the battery well charged and just to be sure, Fabia's HATE a weak battery so if it is anywhere near half flat, charge it and/or change it!

Thanks very much to both, especially to PipH, as I think the engine bay fuse box is my next "favourite" place to investigate. I will check battery connections again (and earth to chassis), but I believe these to be OK.

 

My battery is full of life, and (when the car behaves) it fires into life without the slightest hesitation - so I know the problem is not in that area.

 

Thanks again. Let's hope...............

Get your hand up behind the trim or remove the trim and try and wiggle the wires when you start while hopefully you have the problem. Put rubber gloves on if you go in blind. If anything is loose 12V can tingle.

This is a classic symptom of  loose battery terminal. The connection is such that it will pass a small amount of current and light the ignition lights but will fail when you ask for starter current. If you wait a few minutes it may recover enough to light the ignition lights again but not the starter. Sometimes it will all work OK.  Check that battery terminals are tight and if so you will need to check that the other ends of the cables are clean and tight. I don't think that the starter feed will go through the fuses on top of the battery but it wouldn't hurt to check them.

I'd be very wary about adding talc into locks etc where there is already an oil/grease based lubricant - it is okay for dry "self lubricating" movements like bigger door locks if you must, but not for these car locks, graphite is okay but very messy when it ends up on your clothes.

Thanks grumpy1,

 

Yes, that's my favourite lead so far - and as PipH mentioned several posts back. I'll investigate as soon as I can and report any findings - may take me a week or so as I've got too much going on and the weather hasn't palyed along when I've had the time. Thankfully I have another car to use.

 

I no longer think that the ignition lock barrel is the problem. I'm convinced that it needed replacing anyway, and don't regret spending the £323.

 

Edited 28 August, 20205 yr by Dorf Depp

1 hour ago, Dorf Depp said:

 

 

I no longer think that the ignition lock barrel is the problem. I'm convinced that it needed replacing anyway, and don't regret spending the £323.

 

I nearly broke my jaw, when it opened so wide after reading that!

 

True, if it needed replacing then replacing is the only way to go but they are known to stick a little and I for one, would have tried that PRIOR to spending such a large amount on such a small thing. I suppose its mostly labour and coding of the immobiliser, etc that racks up a bill so quickly!

11 minutes ago, mrgf said:

 

I nearly broke my jaw, when it opened so wide after reading that!

 

True, if it needed replacing then replacing is the only way to go but they are known to stick a little and I for one, would have tried that PRIOR to spending such a large amount on such a small thing. I suppose its mostly labour and coding of the immobiliser, etc that racks up a bill so quickly!

 

It's a nasty job, the ignition lock is designed to be very difficult to defeat because it's an anti theft device, obviously.

2 hours ago, mrgf said:

 

I nearly broke my jaw, when it opened so wide after reading that!

 

True, if it needed replacing then replacing is the only way to go but they are known to stick a little and I for one, would have tried that PRIOR to spending such a large amount on such a small thing. I suppose its mostly labour and coding of the immobiliser, etc that racks up a bill so quickly!

 

I like to think that I don't just fork out unnecessarily on repairs for my Fabia, and give things a bit of consideration, but the ignition lock barrel was becoming extremely hard to operate. It had got to the point where I had to make sure that I parked with wheels (and therefore steering wheel) pointing straight ahead, otherwise it was near impossible to operate. The labour charge was the most expensive at approx. £166 + VAT, with parts coming in at approx. net £102.

 

I have really spent so little on my Fabia over its 122k miles - it has been a truly wonderful little car and very economical in all senses.

 

Of course, after all of this, I may feel a bit of an idiot if I find out that it's battery connections that are to blame for my recent problems. I shall still have enough to be thankful to the people that have posted on this thread - and I shall report back.

Well my Fabia has been in with my local main Skoda dealer to have a few things done on it, including of course, investigation to what might have caused my electrical problem as outlined in my first post.

 

In the hope that this thread is of help to anyone who might experience this problem, I'm quietly confident, based on previous input on this thread, that my dealer has located the offending area. Time will tell as I test the car over the coming weeks.

 

The dealer found that fuse SB20 (whatever that does) in fuse box B was "hanging out and burnt-looking". This has been replaced.

 

Thanks again for the previous input.

@Dorf Depp that fuse appears to be a permanent 12V feed to the engine ECU, so could be expected to cause major trouble if it wasn't conducting well.  

Check that the new fuse doesn't feel loose in the sockets, or you could soon be seeing the same thing happen again. (Loose/bad/dirty/resistive contacts can generate excessive heat). 

23 hours ago, Wino said:

@Dorf Depp that fuse appears to be a permanent 12V feed to the engine ECU, so could be expected to cause major trouble if it wasn't conducting well.  

Check that the new fuse doesn't feel loose in the sockets, or you could soon be seeing the same thing happen again. (Loose/bad/dirty/resistive contacts can generate excessive heat). 

 

Thanks, Wino. Any constructive feedback is welcome. Apologies if I come across a little dim, but what does "ECU" stand for?

Electronic Control Unit

In your first post you said that power was lost to both the radio & dash when the problem occurred, as well as the whole car being electrically dead.

 

I very much doubt this fuse, SB20, supplies power to both those units.

 

So i'm rather sceptical the dealer has uncovered the whole problem.

 

I'd be prepared for this problem to rear its head again.

On 13/09/2020 at 12:03, PipH said:

In your first post you said that power was lost to both the radio & dash when the problem occurred, as well as the whole car being electrically dead.

 

I very much doubt this fuse, SB20, supplies power to both those units.

 

So i'm rather sceptical the dealer has uncovered the whole problem.

 

I'd be prepared for this problem to rear its head again.

 

Thanks, PipH,

 

Oh dear...........................

 

Yes, you're absolutely correct about what I mentioned. Absolutely everything was electrically dead. I have hung on to the loan car (from family) that I've had for so long, and am monitoring closely my Fabia.

 

Naturally, I hope that the problem doesn't rear its head again, but should it, I'll give an update on this thread.

I've just thought of one other thing, and I've asked myself if possibly part of the problems I experienced were actually connected to the ignition lock barrel, and others connected to the SB20 fuse. Just a thought.

Have you found the fault was it the SB20 fuse? I am having almost the same issue..... 

Did you solve this one. Mine has done the exact same thing (2008 1.2 HTP). 
 

Ignition turned on ok, but then everything went completely dead. Went to get the volt meter, as I put it on the Positive terminal I heard a click and it all powered back up. 

Edited 22 May, 20233 yr by LCYCowboy

On 22/05/2023 at 11:14, LCYCowboy said:

Did you solve this one. Mine has done the exact same thing (2008 1.2 HTP). 
 

Ignition turned on ok, but then everything went completely dead. Went to get the volt meter, as I put it on the Positive terminal I heard a click and it all powered back up. 

 I have exact same car and exact same problem, will be looking into this this week as this became dangerous (car left me stranded on 6 lane highway with no electrical power even for hazards). So if I will find any plausible reasons, I’ll post them here.

On 22/05/2023 at 09:14, LCYCowboy said:

Did you solve this one. Mine has done the exact same thing (2008 1.2 HTP). 
 

Ignition turned on ok, but then everything went completely dead. Went to get the volt meter, as I put it on the Positive terminal I heard a click and it all powered back up. 

Wow.......I don't often log on here, as I can't say I've had much luck in finding useful help when I've needed it. To answer your question, though, yes.......my problem disappeared and I've been happily using my Fabia until a few days ago, when the coolant pump failed. That's a completely different story, and the car has done almost 150k miles mainly trouble-free.

18 minutes ago, Dorf Depp said:

Wow.......I don't often log on here, as I can't say I've had much luck in finding useful help when I've needed it. To answer your question, though, yes.......my problem disappeared and I've been happily using my Fabia until a few days ago, when the coolant pump failed. That's a completely different story, and the car has done almost 150k miles mainly trouble-free.

I don’t login here often too, but eventually I’ve found reason - negative battery terminal design. My issue was - it seemed tight, but under vibration - it would slip breaking connection momentarily which led to power disconnecting and causing car to look electrically dead. When car stopped starting - it appears to me it was just dirty on the inside, so proper cleaning resolved the issue.

P.S. as for waterpump - my timing chain started to rattle a bit on cold starts so I changed it last week alongside with oil pump chain and water pump as precautionary measure. My car clocked 240k km or around 149k miles.

P.P.S. Previous owner assured me that timing chain was already serviced after I took the car.