Good morning all,

 

Searched the forums but nothing pops up for this issue, so here goes. Engine (2010, 105PS CAYC, 100k miles) will crank as normal (battery seems healthy) but will not start. Extended cranking just results in a dashboard chime (telling me to stop?). The glow plug symbol is flashing indicating a fault but my OBD2 reader says no codes found. Car was running fine when I parked it up last night. Google search says it could be anything however there is a Youtube vid which points to the low pressure fuel pump in the tank being duff. The only symptom which may be linked was a massive flat spot once when pulling away from some lights, but only occurred once, a couple of weeks ago.

 

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers.

Certainly looks like your code reader is missing something. The warning to stop is just an incorrect oil pressure warning so ignore it.

7 hours ago, MilesFab said:

(battery seems healthy)

Hi, Welcome.  If you've got a starting or electrical issue you want to be sure your battery is reasonable health and in a good state of charge as a battery in a low state of charge could hinder diagnostics, progress and even resolution whereas a fully charged battery might help.  A fully charged battery will show around 12.7V after a rest.

 

What OBD2 reader are you using, is it a cheap generic code reader (only) or a higher level scan tool with VW facility?

 

What's the service history of the car and recent servicing or work done on the car?

 

Any new parts fitted?

 

There is a listing of VCDS - Audi/seat/Skoda/VW specific code readers - owners/users on here. There may be someone local to you who can visit and scan you car, or find  local garage with a scan tool that is compatible with your Skoda. Without identifying codes you will struggle to identify the issue, or just keep spending money on replacement components that are not required.

There is obviously nothing wrong with the battery if you are able to "extended crank", and even a low battery would allow retrieval of error codes as these are written to a memory until manually deleted so you may even see something from the massive flat spot as issues generally get tagged with a mileage.

 

Thanks for all the replies. The Code reader is not VW specific. It's one I have for Porsche codes and service light reset. Should display any ODB2 codes I would have thought? Live voltage shows an ignition off of 12.2, ignition on of 11.8v but a drop to 6v when cranking which seems too low, although cranking speed is quite good. What's the normal battery voltage during cranking? Will try a full battery charge and see if that makes a difference. 

 

I'll take a look at the VCDS map to see if there's anyone local (Burnley).

2 minutes ago, MilesFab said:

Will try a full battery charge and see if that makes a difference

I think this will solve your problem.  

 

But if the voltage during cranking continues to drop that low, I would say that it may well be time to consider replacement.

Edited 18 March, 20233 yr by Breezy_Pete

Thanks for all the replies. The Code reader is not VW specific. It's one I have for Porsche codes and service light reset. Should display any ODB2 codes I would have thought? Live voltage shows an ignition off of 12.2, ignition on of 11.8v but a drop to 6v when cranking which seems too low, although cranking speed is quite good. What's the normal battery voltage during cranking? Will try a full battery charge and see if that makes a difference. 

 

I'll take a look at the VCDS map to see if there's anyone local (Burnley).

Googling (always risky) indicates that the voltage should stay up at a minimum of 9v during cranking. I'll look to solve that as a next step.

The battery is no good, you need a new one.

If the 6V reading is accurate then you may need the appropriate battery charger and a lot of time and patience and even then you may not fully recovery the battery for a reasonable service life if you've been having the battery too low for too long.

 

I personally would have a go at recharging as I have a bit of experience with such but others might not bother and replace it with a new battery.  Check your Owner's Manual for what's involved with charging the battery, or disconnecting/reconnecting the battery or replacing the battery with a new one.

 

When the car battery gets too low, even if the car starts and the lights seem bright enough and warning messages and lights are yet to appear the battery can still be too low for the computers and they can throw up all sorts of unexpected issues - then of course the car can be difficult to start when the battery is low.

 

Once you have a battery in reasonable health and good state of charge you can delete any codes and see what returns and what other issues you might have other than too low state of charge battery, if you're lucky you might not have other than the battery.

 

Good luck.

 

ETA: I remember helping to push one of those 911 models because the owner was too tight to pay Porsche to replace the over-priced battery, when his wife found out the car had needed pushing again he was instructed to cough up and shut up, a suggestion he'd declined from those of us pushing the car - at Gaydon, British Motor Museum. :shakehead:

 

Edited 18 March, 20233 yr by nta16

As soon as I have starting issues I replace the battery. You can drive a car with dodgy brakes or steering (not that I am advocating either) but a car that won't start is only good for keeping chickens in.

Put the battery through a "recovery" cycle and full charge. No change though. As soon as the ignition is switched on, before any cranking, the glow plug warning light starts flashing with the CEL. Cranking from that point drops the voltage to around 7v again. Looks like a trip to the motor factors is required. If that doesn't work I may need to call on a forum member with VCDS. I've checked the list and there may be a couple of fairly local guys. Is it a case of direct messaging them or is there a corner of the forum for placing calls for assistance? Thanks again for your replies.

Just replace the battery, that one's done and life is too short and too brutal for dithering.

53 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

Just replace the battery, that one's done and life is too short and too brutal for dithering.

Very true, I'm just trying to avoid throwing parts at it and hoping for the best. Consensus says it's the battery so I'll do that. Fingers crossed it's a 90 quid fix.

1 minute ago, MilesFab said:

Very true, I'm just trying to avoid throwing parts at it and hoping for the best. Consensus says it's the battery so I'll do that. Fingers crossed it's a 90 quid fix.

 

Seriously, when did you last replace the battery? Even a decent quality battery is broadly done after five years use so unless you have a receipt proving that it's been changed in the last three years and given that a new one isn't much more than a tankful of fuel then I hardly think that you're firing up the parts cannon!

On 19/03/2023 at 13:19, MilesFab said:

I'm just trying to avoid throwing parts at it and hoping for the best.

Well you gave it a go, it does take take patience and a lot of time on occasions but you can't always revive a battery that's been too heavily done down.  Unless you have another known good battery to try then time for a new battery and perhaps when required charge that up sooner rather than later.

 

 

On 19/03/2023 at 11:43, MilesFab said:

Looks like a trip to the motor factors is required. If that doesn't work I may need to call on a forum member with VCDS. I've checked the list and there may be a couple of fairly local guys. Is it a case of direct messaging them or is there a corner of the forum for placing calls for assistance?

Up to you if you prefer to go local and they might do or know someone to 'code' the new battery or lots get their batteries from Tayna - https://www.tayna.co.uk/ ring before 6.45pm and it's normally there the next day.  And you can direct message the local guys that may be able to 'code' for you.  They can also scan for other codes and delete all that are there and you can then see which or if any return after being deleted and the car driven.

 

You stand more chance of starting a car, or often sorting electrical and computer issues with a good battery fitted.

 

Good luck.

 

Edited 20 March, 20233 yr by nta16
spelling

What does coding a battery mean? All I have ever done is taken a battery off and fitted a new one. Can someone please explain for an old Luddite?

9 minutes ago, Jocko said:

What does coding a battery mean? All I have ever done is taken a battery off and fitted a new one. Can someone please explain for an old Luddite?

EDIT: It's for stop/start technology cars, if applicable then read on.

Means this...

 

Edited 20 March, 20233 yr by varooom
Additional Information

Remind me never to buy a car with Stop/Start technology.

Dug out an old cheapo code reader just on the off chance it might pull something from the car. No codes but I noticed there was no flashing glow plug light. Tried it on the key and it started. This is on the old battery. Stopped and restarted several times as normal. Bought a new battery today as per the consensus of advice. Before I fitted it, had a quick try. Flashing glow plug light, no codes and no start. New battery in, glow plug light flashing, no codes and  no start. Brilliant. "Clearing" the non existent codes using the reader clears the glow plug light but just reappears with next attempted start. Any ideas? 

32 minutes ago, Jocko said:

Remind me never to buy a car with Stop/Start technology.

The tl;dr is that if you drop in a same technology battery of a very similar Ah rating, then forget about adapting the battery.

So you can still buy a SS car if needed.

Your best bet might be to get the use of a higher level scan tool suited to VWs to help with diagnostics whilst at the same time or before look for poor connections or wiring for the electrics and computer.

 

The drop to 7V on cranking didn't sound good for the battery or perhaps main connections or perhaps thin wires to parts, earths.

 

When exactly was the glow plug symbol flashing in the sequence of key in ignition and trying to start?

 

Glow plug light starts flashing at ignition on, during instrument warning lights check, before cranking. It's realising something is up pretty much straight away. There's so many relays and sensors I'm stuffed without a code.

 

Was wondering if RAC have high enough level diagnostics? If I upgraded to home start I could call them out.

2 hours ago, MilesFab said:

 Tried it on the key and it started. This is on the old battery. Bought a new battery today as per the consensus of advice. Before I fitted it, had a quick try. Flashing glow plug light, no codes and no start. New battery in, glow plug light flashing, no codes and  no start. Brilliant. "Clearing" the non existent codes using the reader clears the glow plug light but just reappears with next attempted start. Any ideas? 

 Not really surprised as your initial post mentioned extended cranking which a battery that dropped from 12V to 6v would probably not support.

 When you charged the old battery, did you disconnect the terminals. If you did and re-connected at which point it started multiple times then disconnected to re-connected to fit the new battery and it would not start, that "may" be a starting point to review. 

 Before paying whatever extra RAC costs, and there is no guarantee that their code reader will identify what a VAG specific VCDS will see, try contacting someone in the forum in the list.

15 hours ago, MilesFab said:

Glow plug light starts flashing at ignition on, during instrument warning lights check, before cranking.

Just to be sure, (amber) glow plug light?

 

 

15 hours ago, MilesFab said:

Was wondering if RAC have high enough level diagnostics? If I upgraded to home start I could call them out.

You would hope they have high enough level diagnostics but that doesn't mean that will pinpoint the issue(s) and they don't do repairs as such.  You have to look at the home start contract to see what it covers and provides but as has already been put someone plugging in a suitable scan tool.  And/or perhaps further information from you to here might get you some more diagnosis but bear in mind the limitations of dealing with such over posts on a thread.