Hi all, I'm new here though I've lurked for a while... My partner's 2011 Octavia 1.4 TSI has a bunch of electrical faults, though everything except the alarm seems to work. Outwardly the only issue is battery drain, and that's only an issue if it's not used regularly.

 

Driver's door:

00120
00131
01336

01336

 

Gateway:

00470

01331

01334

00469

 

Central electrics:

01134

03156

01331

01334

00978

 

I've lost the descriptions of them somewhere, sorry.

 

I looked at the driver's door module and it was dry as a bone and clean - no sign of any physical or water damage. Also had a look at the wires in the door shut and they seemed good too.

 

I'm aware that the alarm siren battery needs to be replaced, or a whole new unit, but not so fussed about that right now.

 

Mainly looking to sort out the battery drain for now. I tried measuring for voltage drop across all the fuses, and found nothing at all. Probed every fuse in the dash and under the bonnet.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

This car confuses me. Just rescanned for faults so I could pick up the descriptions, and half the faults are gone! Previously they were persistent, and would come back after only a few miles. But now all the door faults are gone! I guess that's a win...?

 

Fault codes as it stands...

Central Electrics
    Trouble codes:
        01134 - Alarm horn No signal/communication
            static
                Priority:  4
                Frequency counter:  1
                Driving cycle: 12
                Mileage: 168382 km
        03156 - Anti-theft alarm system sensor No signal/communication
            Intermittent
                Priority:  4
                Frequency counter:  5
                Driving cycle: 72
                Mileage: 168535 km

 

Gateway
    Trouble codes:
        00469 - Infotainment data bus in single wire Open circuit
            Intermittent
                Priority:  3
                Frequency counter:  2
                Driving cycle: 70
                Mileage: 168413 km

 

Radio
    Trouble codes:
        00856 - Antenna, on radio Short circuit to ground
            Intermittent
                Priority:  5
                Frequency counter: 11
                Driving cycle: 71
                Mileage: 168402 km

 

All other modules saying 'no trouble codes found'

A low battery can cause no end of fault codes that then disappear when the Voltage is healthy again.

 

It might also be an intermittent fault in a loom wire that will come and go, until it becomes permanent fixture.

1 hour ago, Tambohamilton said:

half the faults are gone! Previously they were persistent, and would come back after only a few miles. But now all the door faults are gone!

Some faults clear themselves if they don't recur in a few hours of the first instance.

They were around for ages prior to this - the door module faults in particular - despite clearing every once in a while. I can only think that disconnecting and reconnecting the driver's door module has sorted something out. But I'll keep a closer eye over the next few days.

 

Still, the battery drain issue persists - anyone got any ideas how to narrow it down at least?

Appreciate we are doing remote diag, so take anything with a pinch of salt.  The one fault that could be causing trouble is the error between the gateway and the infotainment,

2 hours ago, Tambohamilton said:

Gateway
    Trouble codes:
        00469 - Infotainment data bus in single wire Open circuit
            Intermittent

 

This could be causing the gateway not to go to sleep correctly as it's not getting a response from the radio, or it's not able to send shutdown command to the radio.

 

 

Can you explain the battery drain in more detail, have you got Voltages of the battery that you are taking?

Has the battery been tested for health (age?)

Perhaps the alarm is being eaten by its leaking on-board battery and this is causing a short/drain, then again it could just be the car battery is dickered.

Battery is a Varta EFB, about a year old. It gets drawn down to about 12.3v after sitting for only a couple of days. If I charge it and leave it disconnected it's still at 12.7v after 2 days.

 

When we got the car 2 years ago it had a connector wired into the battery. I removed it and thought nothing more of it because everything seemed fine. I bet it was a quick connector for a trickle charger though.

 

I guess looking at the alarm would be the easiest next thing to check...

 

Any idea how I'd find the cause of the infotainment single wire issue? I have no idea where to start on that!

 

Thanks for the input so far!

Your next steps depend on your abilities to repair your car, don't open a can of worms that are hard to put back in (referring to pulling the car trims apart)

So if you are good/happy with that sort of work involved, then you should consider making an account on erWin Skoda to get all your wiring diagrams and repair documents in PDF format.

 

You will really have to let us know realistically what you are comfortable in doing 🤝

20 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Some faults clear themselves if they don't recur in a few hours of the first instance.

Incorrect, it is a predefined number of driving cycles (journeys) that have to be completed without a recurrence of the fault, an example would be a blown bulb, the owner may have replaced the bulb, in which case the stored fault code will be erased after X driving cycles.

 

They certainly will not erase after a few hours.

19 minutes ago, varooom said:

Your next steps depend on your abilities to repair your car, don't open a can of worms that are hard to put back in (referring to pulling the car trims apart)

So if you are good/happy with that sort of work involved, then you should consider making an account on erWin Skoda to get all your wiring diagrams and repair documents in PDF format.

 

You will really have to let us know realistically what you are comfortable in doing 🤝

The work isn't the problem, but I'm pretty limited on time and a slightly limited on funds... So I can't just throw parts at it, or spend ages faffing and poking, sadly. Would be nice if I had the time to tinker and take my time over it!

 

Also mechanical stuff is super simple for me, but electrics are not my forte at all... Being a bit colourblind compounds the issue, haha

Edited 28 January, 20233 yr by Tambohamilton

It's all within relatively close proximity in theory, so once you take off some panels you might be good to go.  Without funds you cannot send it off to have someone else do the work, so prehaps it's best to wait a little.

3 hours ago, Tambohamilton said:

Any idea how I'd find the cause of the infotainment single wire issue? I have no idea where to start on that!

 

This fault was on my car when I bought it at 3 years old. I was told by an expert in canbus that if the radio works then there is nothing to worry about. Further searches suggested that is true as long as the two ends on the canbus are working without electrical noise being introduced into the wiring. The fault code disappeared many years later after the wiring was disturbed so I assume it was just a poor connection.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

On 27/01/2023 at 13:13, varooom said:

A low battery can cause no end of fault codes that then disappear when the Voltage is healthy again.

It's as varooom has put.

 

 

4 hours ago, Tambohamilton said:

Battery is a Varta EFB, about a year old. It gets drawn down to about 12.3v after sitting for only a couple of days. If I charge it and leave it disconnected it's still at 12.7v after 2 days.

As it's not working as it should anyway for no cost and fast to do what about pulling the fuse(s) for the alarm system to see if that makes any odds to your drain if you still have one.

 

Was the previous battery an EFB and the same Ah as the present Varta and have you checked the 'coding' to see all is correct, type, Ah, serial number changed from previous battery (varooom will have the link for why)?

 

Edited 28 January, 20233 yr by nta16
ETA: Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

6 hours ago, nta16 said:

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

It's as varooom has put.

 

 

As it's not working as it should anyway for no cost and fast to do what about pulling the fuse(s) for the alarm system to see if that makes any odds to your drain if you still have one.

 

Was the previous battery an EFB and the same Ah as the present Varta and have you checked the 'coding' to see all is correct, type, Ah, serial number changed from previous battery (varooom will have the link for why)?

 

Good shout on pulling a fuse...didn't think of that one! I wonder if the alarm system is wired that simply though... I'll have a look at the book tomorrow and see if there's a fuse I can whip out.

 

Good point on the battery coding. I'm pretty sure I matched the specs of the old battery though, except that it wasn't an EFB. And I did register the replacement. So it should be fine? I need to have more of a dig in the software. I have obdeleven, and don't really like it...but it's better than a friend's foxwell that I borrowed previously.

From May 2011 build, this is fuse assignment for RHD.  Fuse 35, a 5 Amp for interior monitor and Alarm horn.

 

Take a picture before you pull!

And please double check your manual for the car to verify.

Removed fuse 35 as the owners manual agrees that it's for the alarm. Let's see if that helps!

 

Thought I'd check all the other fuses while I was in there. Fuse 39 the manual said not assigned, but had a 5a in it. Pulled the fuse and the cluster switched off - no power to ignition etc even. Weird!

 

I think a couple of other fuses might be missing - one for the power socket in the boot, for example. Will have a closer look and think about that when I've got some spare fuses in my hand.

2 minutes ago, Tambohamilton said:

Removed fuse 35 as the owners manual agrees that it's for the alarm. Let's see if that helps!

 

Thought I'd check all the other fuses while I was in there. Fuse 39 the manual said not assigned, but had a 5a in it. Pulled the fuse and the cluster switched off - no power to ignition etc even. Weird!

 

I think a couple of other fuses might be missing - one for the power socket in the boot, for example. Will have a closer look and think about that when I've got some spare fuses in my hand.

There's a chance of manual being wrong, or someone has been and pulled one out and put back in the wrong hole, happens a lot.

 

Did you take a picture of the existing layout?  And can you take a picture of what's printed in your manual.

Taken from factory manual, for May 2011+ build, seems to match up with what's really in your car fuse board.

 

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

ETA: This was all one-finger typed before varooom posted.

 

As you've found as with other models the Owner's Manual hasn't been clear about the fuse locations and with the possibility of more than one fuse and/or location for the particular system but don't think, but don't know, that there's more than one fuse for the alarm (horn).  ETA: This was one-finger typed before varooom posted.

 

Below is when a local site member helped me by 'coding' the battery on my wife's car with OBDEleven, the start of my fuller understanding of the 'joys' of VW's computer programing.  So far there doesn't seem to be any effects of the word 'BOSCH' instead of the VW three letter code for the battery manufacturer but who knows if it's VW programing requirements or VW statistics requirement.

 

 

Edited 29 January, 20233 yr by nta16
ETA:

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

5 minutes ago, nta16 said:

So far there doesn't seem to be any effects of the word 'BOSCH' instead of the VW three letter code for the battery manufacturer but who knows if it's VW programing requirements or VW statistics requirement.

 

@varooom do you think 'BOSCH' instead of something like JCB would prevent the computer program from knowing a new battery of different type has been fitted?

 

10 minutes ago, nta16 said:

@varooom do you think 'BOSCH' instead of something like JCB would prevent the computer program from knowing a new battery of different type has been fitted?

I don't think for one moment myself the brand makes any difference, key to swap is new serial number so it relearns.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

53 minutes ago, varooom said:

I don't think for one moment myself the brand makes any difference, key to swap is new serial number so it relearns.

Thanks for your reply, sorry I didn't make myself clear as usual, I wasn't thinking of the brand but if the number of characters, 5 instead of 3, made any odds to the adaption(?)/program/field(?) space(?) and it working correctly after?

 

I've not seen anything about computer programming since a bit of Babbage history in the 1980s - all of which I've forgot and some of which wouldn't be too relevant now.

 

13 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Thanks for your reply, sorry I didn't make myself clear as usual, I wasn't thinking of the brand but if the number of characters, 5 instead of 3, made any odds to the adaption(?)/program/field(?) space(?) and it working correctly after?

 

I've not seen anything about computer programming since a bit of Babbage history in the 1980s - all of which I've forgot and some of which wouldn't be too relevant now.

 

If it's out of "range" it will soon moan at you.  If it saves then it's accepted, and not going to break anything.  It certainly has no bearing on the functionality, it's about tracking mostly.

7 hours ago, varooom said:

Taken from factory manual, for May 2011+ build, seems to match up with what's really in your car fuse board.

 

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Seems so crazy for me that the manual supplied doesn't match the car, never mind having only the information pertaining to that model (all the duplicate/diesel/auto info which is irrelevant). Thanks for the printout