Hi all, 
I am hoping for some insight from anyone that can assist please😬 it will be a bit long winded to give all the info for the best feedback so please bear with me!! 
We took my (new to me) 67 plate 2.0 tdi 190 DSG on holiday with our caravan. It has a factory fit tow pack so all geared up correctly- we towed last Friday with no issues at all. Apart from starting the car to move it once on Sunday it has stood still. Randomly, yesterday afternoon the cooling fans were going crazy for no reason. Over and over with @ 15 seconds between each episode. I know it is not a dpf regen as the car had not been driven since the Friday before. I decided to start the engine but it was showing low battery on the dash. Decided then to take it for a run as we were heading on somewhere else this morning and I didn’t want to risk a flat battery. I did @ 36 miles with a motorway cruise once the temp was up. Got back and all good, stop start functioning ok and fans seemed ok. Now we started the car this morning, noticed the check engine light was on. We manoeuvred for hitching the caravan up and set off as the light wouldn’t go off and we had to leave site! Less than half a mile from starting off the temp went up to 130 and red lights all over the dash. We pulled over and I lifted the bonnet. The header tank was barely warm. We continued to drive and the gauge went up and down for @ 30 mins. I found only when in lower gears and in manual mode would the gauge drop. 
Engine light is still on but the temp gauge stabilised. 

Do you have any thoughts? Is it an electo mechanical water pump do you know? I wonder if it was a sticking thermostat but can’t get my head around the fans starting for no reason yesterday. 

Any experience, help or advice would be greatly received. 

Thanks all.

You did write a lot, but probably still missing some information.

 

Need to know car (this detail doesn't show on mobile/tablets)

 

The low battery light on the dash is actually telling you that there's a charging issue.  This will drop the Voltage available, and control modules don't like low Voltage, so no doubt rest of dash lit up, or you have many fault codes stored now.

 

Ideally you need to find someone with VCDS / VCP if you don't have it yourself for a scan.

Car type would be useful so it can migrate the correct place.

 

Fans running on a TDI sounds like a DPF regen. Just because the car has not run, doesn't mean it's not decided it's time for a regen.

 

That being said, some engines had issues with the coolant pump and I can't remember if the alternator is on the same belt. If it is I'd stop driving it and get it recovered to a garage.

 

As said above, low voltages cause electronics to do weird things and I've had some errors that were crazy and unrelated, but a new battery and they never appeared again

Edited 4 August, 20223 yr by cheezemonkhai

Apologies, I thought I had put the model in my essay!

it is a Superb Sportline 2nd DSG 190. 

If a MY2017, it may be time to change the battery as a first simple action.m, before looking for any other failure cause.

I'm having a vague memory of a (engine ECU?) relay in the engine bay fuse/relay box that's been responsible for odd fan behaviour from time to time, replacement fixing it.  Anyone got a good enough memory to track down such a thread?

I  remember expressing doubt that it could possibly be involved, and emerging with egg on my face.

2.0tdi with overheating issue when not been running for long? Sounds just like a water pump issue. How many miles has it done? Most pumps seem to fail about 40-60k miles so usually have the cambelt changed at the same time.

Fans running unpredictably on a TDI? Sounds just a dpf regen that either needs finishing or the car has done too many miles and the filter is needing attention. Again, how many miles? 100k+ combined with a couple of COVID years could mean a borked dpf.

Battery light on dash? See above for charging issues. Again could be related to sitting still during COVID.

 

None of this could be your fault. Just that you had a slightly compromised car to start with and you've inherited the issues.

I'd also suspect one or more of weak battery, weak water pump and DPF regen. Start by getting an honest supplier to do a deep load test on the battery; this should be free unless you actually need a new battery, and even then the cost is more to do with the battery than the test.

The regen will probably go away by itself given an hour's fast cruise.

A lot of people missing a clear cut case of water pump shroud seizing, id put money on it being that. 

How would explain fan running when engine off?

56 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

How would explain fan running when engine off?

Because for whatever reason it's not completing a regen. If the temperature control is out and the sensors are having a funny time due to the duff battery it'll be having a hard time knowing its arse from its elbow.

 

The way I read the OP, it happened a long time after the engine last ran?

1 hour ago, ApertureS said:

missing a clear cut case of water pump shroud seizing

You did read the bit where the battery check is free unless the battery needs replaced?

Not sure if this will help, but this is how I read your timeline of events @De-coded22

I did mention myself in 2nd post that maybe despite your essay, some more information might be required to fill some gaps.

 

I have made what I think is your series of events in order, I hope that this is correct?

 

 

 

Friday - Tows caravan, no issues/warning lights

 

Saturday - Parked

 

Sunday - Started car to move it

 

Monday - Parked

 

Tuesday - In the afternoon his cooling fans started on their own accord

(Was the car locked at this time?)

 

The fans however were going on AND off in 15 second intervals

Is that correct, off AND on?
(never known a DPF regen like that!)

 

He THEN tries to start the car as he didn't want to risk flattening his battery, and he also had a run to do

(so again ignition was off and the DPF was trying to regen!?!)

 

He also states his "battery" light was on, but we know this to the car telling him about a charging issue

 

He states he was able to drive 36 miles, and during this time, the stop-start worked fine, and the fans settled down, and no temperature issues at this time

 

 

Wednesday - He starts the car, and check engine was on.  He hitches up and leaves the site, engine light is on all this time.

Only makes it half a mile and temperature shoots up to 130C and stays there, he checks header tank and it's not hot at all

 

After 30 mins of driving, the temperature gauge goes up and down.  He finds the only way to stabilise this is to manually select lower gears in manual mode.  Engine light remains on to this day, and throughout his journey.

 

 

If @De-coded22 you are able to come back and confirm the series of events is as stated, and possible answer the questions that might be useful, plus any new developments that have occured since.

There has been a  lot of suggested things to try, and some nice free checks you can do also.

Found one of the threads where relay faults have been found to cause fan issues:

Radiator fan coming on randomly... - Skoda Superb Mk III - BRISKODA

 

Don't think it's the exact thread I was thinking of, but it looks like it could be relevant to at least part of the OP's troubles.  

18 hours ago, varooom said:

Not sure if this will help, but this is how I read your timeline of events @De-coded22

I did mention myself in 2nd post that maybe despite your essay, some more information might be required to fill some gaps.

 

I have made what I think is your series of events in order, I hope that this is correct?

 

 

 

Friday - Tows caravan, no issues/warning lights

 

Saturday - Parked

 

Sunday - Started car to move it

 

Monday - Parked

 

Tuesday - In the afternoon his cooling fans started on their own accord

(Was the car locked at this time?)

 

The fans however were going on AND off in 15 second intervals

Is that correct, off AND on?
(never known a DPF regen like that!)

 

He THEN tries to start the car as he didn't want to risk flattening his battery, and he also had a run to do

(so again ignition was off and the DPF was trying to regen!?!)

 

He also states his "battery" light was on, but we know this to the car telling him about a charging issue

 

He states he was able to drive 36 miles, and during this time, the stop-start worked fine, and the fans settled down, and no temperature issues at this time

 

 

Wednesday - He starts the car, and check engine was on.  He hitches up and leaves the site, engine light is on all this time.

Only makes it half a mile and temperature shoots up to 130C and stays there, he checks header tank and it's not hot at all

 

After 30 mins of driving, the temperature gauge goes up and down.  He finds the only way to stabilise this is to manually select lower gears in manual mode.  Engine light remains on to this day, and throughout his journey.

 

 

If @De-coded22 you are able to come back and confirm the series of events is as stated, and possible answer the questions that might be useful, plus any new developments that have occured since.

There has been a  lot of suggested things to try, and some nice free checks you can do also.

Hi. Thanks for taking the time to do this. 
min answer to the questions- the car was both locked and unlocked. I thought I may be because I had unlocked it and awakened the systems and they were priming. Locked it and its tail carried on for quite some times. 
yes, it came off and on in a fairly even pattern and nothing like I know of a DPF regen. 
 

We have used the car again (not towing) last night to do a 50 mile - country road journey lasting almost 1.5 hours and a motorway run for the same sort of time/distance and it seemed fine. The check engine light has also gone out on the last journey. This has perplexed me more as there is clearly something not right and whilst it is booked in to be investigated next week I am keen to understand the possibilities. The last thing I want after a few weeks of ownership and this happening is a ‘no fault found sir’ conversation!

 

Thanks again

 

Mark 

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

So the car was stone cold when it decided to do the fan malarky then, and was essentially locked up also at the time, so does suggest for sure it was no DPF regen (still advice given was good as fans running is often posted on here)

 

Fault lights can go out, as they have set "unlearn" counters depending on what VAG program in, I guess having the car now booked in at main dealer/independant will at least shed some light on the subject.

I do wonder if you have someone local with say VCDS that could scan the car for free/beer token money in the meantime if you was looking for answers before then?

Thanks everyone for your input. The car has only done 47k and I bought it from a Skoda Dealer only just over three weeks ago. There have been a few ‘trust’ issues with them unfortunately and a few issues it is booked in on Monday to have dealt with after catching/calling them out!
I guess deep down I wanted to get an idea of peoples thoughts and experiences as I have doubts that they will be straight with me. 
I am going to order a Carista for when I return home on Sunday to at least see for myself what codes may be stored. 
 

I will update the thread when sorted just so you know. 
magazine, thank you all for taking the time to assist. Very much appreciated. 
 Mark. 

A 5 year old TDI on 47k is extremely low miles. Unless you know for certain how the car has been used I'd be thinking about a dpf clean with the garage as a start. Quite likely to have been bought as an economic tool then got rid of as a dpf was due to need attention.