I purchased an Octavia 1.5 TSI SE Technology 5dr Estate, which the dealer described as a 2017+ model. The date of first registration was 29 October 2020.

 

The controls include the stop / start mechanism, which works well, most of the time.  When I come to a halt and place the gearshift into neutral, the engine cuts out.  Then, it re-starts as soon as I depress the clutch.

 

However, the re-start mechanism also seems to be linked to the front motion sensors.  So if I am waiting in a queue at traffic lights, the engine will re-start, as soon as the driver of the car in front moves forward, even by a few inches.  This happens very frequently and means my engine restarts unnecessarily.

 

Is there any way to disable the link between the front sensors and the stop start system?

I think that a lot of folk on 2017-2020 Octavia's tend to just disable stop/start especially in traffic.  I personally haven't noticed this feature (even on my previous 2017 VRS with front sensors). 

It makes sense if that is a thing, but I suspect it is a fluke this is happening.

 

@langers2k might be able to throw some light on this one and in theory, it might be possible to code that feature out......(but I don't know what module you would look at - whether it was front sensors or the A5 camera).

Can't say it's something I've noticed on my Octavia either.

 

At a guess, it might be linked to the ACC/front assist radar unit (assuming it's fitted) which is something I haven't got...

In the infotainment system, one of the screens in the 'Car' selection (Vehicle Status I think it is), has a button with the stop/start symbol and the word 'Info' - pressing this will tell you what caused the engine to restart.

 

It can be quite interesting to see the sorts of things that cause the car to decide to restart the engine, such as interior humidity.

On 19/09/2021 at 17:54, varaderoguy said:

I think that a lot of folk on 2017-2020 Octavia's tend to just disable stop/start especially in traffic.  I personally haven't noticed this feature (even on my previous 2017 VRS with front sensors). 

It makes sense if that is a thing, but I suspect it is a fluke this is happening.

 

@langers2k might be able to throw some light on this one and in theory, it might be possible to code that feature out......(but I don't know what module you would look at - whether it was front sensors or the A5 camera).

 

On 19/09/2021 at 23:13, Kenai said:

In the infotainment system, one of the screens in the 'Car' selection (Vehicle Status I think it is), has a button with the stop/start symbol and the word 'Info' - pressing this will tell you what caused the engine to restart.

 

It can be quite interesting to see the sorts of things that cause the car to decide to restart the engine, such as interior humidity.

Thank you Kenai.  I was not aware of that feature.  But yes - when I selected the info button, the infotainment display confirmed the reason for the restart was "car in front moved away".  So this definitely is not a fluke.  But unless someone knows better, there seems to be no way for the driver to disable this annoying and unnecessary feature.

I find it an annoying "feature".  I first had it happen to me when I was at a roundabout. A van went round the roundabout in front of me and the car decided to start itself up again.  

 

I've only noticed it happening when the car in front is pretty close, i.e. within range of the parking sensors.   Maybe need to do some experimenting with how big/small a gap I need to leave for it to not happen.

I'm in London, so when I drive near home I get used to this "feature" a lot! I haven't found a way to disable individual responses, e.g. "car in front moved away" - as @varaderoguy says, maybe this could be hacked coded in custom firmware.

It would be better, if Skoda hadn't added this feature to the stop start system  I have a manual gearbox, so i would be perfectly happy to delay the re-start until I depress the clutch.

There might be an adaption channel or part of the ACC lcode that changes this...

 

As I mentioned above, I haven't got ACC so I can't check on my car I'm afraid 😕

 

Folk. If you can get a full scan of the ACC module and send it to @langers2k
that would be helpful. We might be able to assist from there.

1 minute ago, varaderoguy said:

Folk. If you can get a full scan of the ACC module and send it to @langers2k
that would be helpful. We might be able to assist from there.

 

I think you give me too much credit

 

If it's in the lcode, then it'll be pretty hard to find without seeing the byte descriptions which I won't have access to.

If it's an adaption channel, it might be guessable depending how obvious VAG have made it.

 

It's not a module I'm particularly familiar with so I'm not even sure if such a thing exists yet

1 minute ago, langers2k said:

I think you give me too much credit

 

Trying to big you up my friend....bigging you up!

9 hours ago, varaderoguy said:

Folk. If you can get a full scan of the ACC module and send it to @langers2k
that would be helpful. We might be able to assist from there.

Sorry, but I am merely the car owner seeking advice.  I don't have access to any diagnostic equipment and I would even know how to scan the ACC module, whatever that might be.

12 hours ago, varaderoguy said:

Folk. If you can get a full scan of the ACC module and send it to @langers2k
that would be helpful. We might be able to assist from there.

Imagine I'm an almost-total n00b, because I am... I'm happy to help, but how do I go about doing that?

I'm not averse to buying an OBDEleven dongle if needed but the pricing structure seems a little opaque to someone with no experience.

@BobTroll - this is all fine.  Modern Skodas from about 2005 onwards are all controlled, logged and maintained via information sent along the electronic wires in a faux network called CANBUS.  This is the situation for all modern cars.

 

To try and help the situation, we need a scan of your car to see the way it is configured (and how we can proffer assistance).  To do that, there are two main tools on the market: ODBEleven and VCDS .  ODBEleven can be purchased from £59.99 upwards.  VCDS is more expense, PC based and dongle based, but better to use.  Its usual to have an ODBEleven in your glovebox to find out what the car is REALLY saying when it throws up an error.  I would personally recommend ALL Skoda/VW/Audi/Seat drivers have one.