Had my Mk2 now a few years but the 1st year was a nightmare seems I had warning lights and all sorts going wrong with it, I mean literally every warning light & warning code you could think of, Thank god I had RAC cover as broke down nearly every time I went out in it.

 

the last year I have had no break downs no warning lights nothing wrong what so every all the problems just went away.

 

why you might ask?

 

So many problems are caused by the battery being low or not using the car daily it was unreal,

 

All I done was bought a good quality solar windscreen panel around 10-20w stuck it to the left side windscreen and plugged it into the ECU Port to keep a charge going into the battery and since doing this not 1 warning light no breakdowns nothing, it's like a whole new car and runs sweet.

 

It's unreal what it can do if you dont drive much like me, even in summer... keep that battery topped up and fully charged or the Octavia MK2 can play up something rotten 

If your battery is in good condition and unless you were not driving the car for moths at a time then all your solar charger is doing is masking the actual problem that remains, namely battery discharge probably because the Can Gateway Controller is not going into sleep mode or is being woken up, does your vehicle have the original radio?

 

What were the actual breakdowns that you suffered?

The battery was brand new back then and I done a lot of short trips like 10 miles at a time every week or so sometimes twice plus the odd 40 mile trips, I dont know why it worked but it did and not had any problems since, I was paying out a fortune in hourly rates getting people to look at it and all I got was a large bill and still had the problems happening,

 

I know you have helped me out with advice before J.R and for that I thank you, you may be right I really dont know nor did the people charging me £80 an hour

 

yes its has the original radio CD player

Edited 22 June, 20223 yr by sealover1

3 hours ago, sealover1 said:

The battery was brand new back then and I done a lot of short trips like 10 miles at a time every week or so sometimes twice plus the odd 40 mile trips

 

The battery on my car failed in April only a few days after the 4 year warranty expired.

The new well known German make of battery now fitted has a 5 year warranty but interestingly there is a clause in the warranty that says the car must be driven a minimum of 2000 miles per year and pro rata. It says this is to avoid sulfation (their spelling!).

 

Due to Covid etc I had not done the minimum miles pro rata as my driving was in very short journeys most weeks with the occasional long journey that totalled around 2k miles per year. So that is probably what killed off the battery. [Incidentally, when mine failed it dropped down to zero volts in just two days. Putting another battery in parallel allowed the car to be re-started but when this was disconnected the engine immediately stopped. The battery was effectively open circuit and not taking any charge.]

 

On the original factory fitted battery, I had had spurious dashboard lights like yours and was the reason I changed the battery four years ago. 

Any links to this solar charger, cars not getting used much. At least one of them needs one of these i reckon ?

6 hours ago, pikpilot said:

It says this is to avoid sulfation (their spelling!).

This is "sort of" correct, since Chemistry has adapted the (incorrect) USian misspelling. 

15 hours ago, gav_is_con said:

Any links to this solar charger, cars not getting used much. At least one of them needs one of these i reckon ?

This is the one I bought for my skoda scout it does say to unplug it when driving, not sure if you can leave it in or not I have forgot to unplug it a few times and been ok,

 

I used the ecu port as I dont think the fag lighter is live with the keys out

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233409015194

1 hour ago, sealover1 said:

This is the one I bought for my skoda scout it does say to unplug it when driving, not sure if you can leave it in or not I have forgot to unplug it a few times and been ok,

 

I used the ecu port as I dont think the fag lighter is live with the keys out

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233409015194

Thanks ordered one. Not so bad in summer. But can keep the Superb topped up anyway. 

I just leave mine plugged in both winter and summer and I know the battery is always full cuz I have checked it with my battery tester so they do keep the battery in good nick