Hi all, some strange developments have happened over the last 2 weeks on my newly  acquired Mark 3 Fabie1.2 TSI SE L estate. Firstly I came out to go shopping and when I pushed the start button strange things happened. All the dash displays went mad and the car seemed as if it had a flat battery and would not turn over the engine. Suddenly it fired up with no more trouble that day. Later on in the week the same thing happened and as before it eventually cleared.

Today however its got worse. When I push the start button the display goes mad with no sign of any battery power what so ever and a new warning FAIL POWER SUPPLY  WORKSHOP.  Has anyone experienced this? I hope I have,nt  bought a bad one because I do love this little car Looking forward to your replies

Many thanks 

K

 

So there is a flat or dying battery or a poor connection / loose terminal. 

I always warn about battery state of charge, regardless of if the car starts and the lights seem bright enough as the VW computer programs are over-complicated, over-intrusive and intertwined so can throw up all sorts of problems if the battery gets low in charge - or any electrical contacts are poor or faulty.

 

Checking the battery charge and connects are all clean, secure and protected is always a good idea - BUT - with this I'd also go with getting the use of a good scan tool (cheap code readers tell you little) and see what error codes come up, unless before this you find the battery is low in charge or a loose connection(s), particularly if you bought the car from a garage or car dealer.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Just seen your other thread - Auto start system - which gives even more idea to the battery or connections.  The car's computers will switch the start/stop off if power is too low but a bad/poor electrical connection could cause problems.

 

Do consider there can be more than one problem or cause, the battery could be low in charge and there be a bad/poor connection(s).

 

If you have any warranty on the car you could take it back to the seller to get it checked and perhaps battery changed (depending on the cause(s) of the fault(s).

 

Edited 7 March, 20224 yr by nta16

Thanks for the replies guys,

At the start of the problems I had the Battery checked at Halfords and everything checked out OK. I have now booked it in to my local Skoda dealers but they can't do anything until the !7th March. I have then to contact the AA for transportation to the garage. K

 

 

@Kobycat  The AA responder can check fault codes, check the battery and get the car going.

 

They have all the gear just as the Halfords employee, but have more than ideas and actual training and qualifications.  

A good person using a good level scan tool, often not a lower priced code reader or a lower priced scan tool or app, should be able to get some idea of where to start the diagnosis, however as in another thread the scan tool used didn't find an error code and even if it does brain power, training, skill and experience need to be applied to find and resolve the problem.   By the sound of what you have put there should be plenty of historical codes to go on from the correct level scan tool and perhaps even a simple cheap code reader.

 

Intermittent problems can be a lot more awkward to deal with and sometimes need the necessary conditions for the fault replicated.

 

Good luck let us know how you get on.

 

Hi Guys,

Well it looks like you've all got your fingers on the pulse. The AA man came today and immediately said "Battery's had it" which is what you all suggested. I will not be taking any notice of Halfords any more. Little car started right up with no nasty warnings. 

Thanks again for your help K

9 minutes ago, Kobycat said:

I will not be taking any notice of Halfords any more.

There is a reason why they are commonly known as "halfrauds" in these parts.

To be fair to Halfords staff personally, this is a car with VW's over-complicated, over-intrusive, intertwined stop/start and gawd knows how many other programs, if they are not trained properly and aren't using the correct tools to check these batteries they've had it with modern VAG and probably Beemers, Mercs.

 

I bet you are now nearer to being a convert to keeping the battery away from getting too low as it causes all sorts of hassle.

 

If you're not going to lots of short journey and very longer journeys and like to have all the car's driver comforts going then you might want to consider a suitable battery charger/maintainer (not quick boost).

 

Edited 9 March, 20224 yr by nta16