Our car is a 1.0 TSI (110hp) Skoda Scala which has covered 5,500 miles and is now around 18 months old.

 

Until this evening it has been totally trouble free.

 

We now have the two above mentioned warning lights on the dash and the engine turns over in a very lumpy and hesitant manner.

 

Likewise the car is reluctant to rev such that I have no confidence in taking it off the driveway.

 

I have contacted the Dealership from where we purchased the car via Email but they are some 30 miles away hoping that they can suggest some meaningful remedy (Presuming such a fault is covered by the 3 Year standard warranty)

 

Just wondering whether anyone else within this community has experienced such a fault on what is such a relatively newish car.

 

Many thanks

 

 

7 hours ago, hogun pen llyn said:

We now have the two above mentioned warning lights on the dash

Which tells that you have a fault. Unless and until you can supply associated fault codes and the reader they were taken from that's as far as we can go.

Thank you for the reply.

 

We still await the garage to assist with a diagnostic check to determine the exact cause.

 

I have this morning noticed the following appear on the digital dash when the car is started - 'Error - Start/Stop system'.

 

With that in mind I now have the car battery on a charge.

 

 

Edited 3 March, 20251 yr by hogun pen llyn

If you have Skoda warrantee still in place I think you can call out their mobile service. 

 

This is not an uncommon fault on VAG cars. 

 

Start - Stop is turned off automatically when this sort of fault occurs. 

 

Things you could try:

Look under the bonnet to see if something has come loose or is chewed, rodent damage is often a culprit. 

Disconnect the car battery for 20 mins or so, (you can leave it on charge) and then re-connect. That sometimes clears the codes.

 

Do not connect a code reader on a car under warrantee unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Update

VW Group Roadside Assistance attended and were able to resolve the issue on the driveway and the car now runs fine with the Engine Management and EPC lights gone.

Now for the worrying news !!

From speaking with the Engineer, it appears the car needed a Software Update to the ECU and that these faults can randomly occur at any time and WITHOUT ANY PRIOR WARNING, leaving the car with a very rough idle and struggling to rev anything over 2000 rpm.

Our car was serviced as recently as 5 months ago by a Skoda Approved Garage with no suggestion of any software update required at that time.

In short you are in the lap of the gods as to when such problems might show themselves and hopefully not hundreds of miles from home if and when they do crop up.

I'm tempted to suggest we should go back to the 'Good Old Days' of Carburetors and Points and WITHOUT 'E.C.U.'s. where there was far less to go wrong and when it did, you didn't need a 'Code Reader' to put things right !!

Despite the modern ICE being much more complicated than the old carb and points system, consideration should be given to the fact that the modern engine is cleaner, more economical and more powerful than in the past. Not a lot of consolation, but many of the problems with the modern ICE will be from the myriad of sensors required for it to run correctly.

P.S. My wife's Fabia (1.0TSI 110PS) currently has a very similar problem - apart from the rough running - DTC code thrown is P003A.

A reliable OBD11 code reader is very affordable and perhaps should be considered to be an essential accessory nowadays.

Edited 5 March, 20251 yr by Warrior193
Add PS.

2 hours ago, hogun pen llyn said:

Update

VW Group Roadside Assistance attended and were able to resolve the issue on the driveway and the car now runs fine with the Engine Management and EPC lights gone.

Now for the worrying news !!

From speaking with the Engineer, it appears the car needed a Software Update to the ECU and that these faults can randomly occur at any time and WITHOUT ANY PRIOR WARNING, leaving the car with a very rough idle and struggling to rev anything over 2000 rpm.

Our car was serviced as recently as 5 months ago by a Skoda Approved Garage with no suggestion of any software update required at that time.

In short you are in the lap of the gods as to when such problems might show themselves and hopefully not hundreds of miles from home if and when they do crop up.

I'm tempted to suggest we should go back to the 'Good Old Days' of Carburetors and Points and WITHOUT 'E.C.U.'s. where there was far less to go wrong and when it did, you didn't need a 'Code Reader' to put things right !!

Ok, the fix is simple. You call the dealer, tell them the VAG mobile guy says it needs a software update and you want it done ASAP.

It is possible to do it yourself or, in fact, the mobile VAG guy could have done it.

Pretty sure it tells you in the handbook how to do a software update but it is essential that the car is registered to you via the MySkoda app. Else the garage is the only option and It's harder for them to do if the car is not registered with Skoda and a primary user set.

We get major updates on our Mk 8 Golf R software about annually and we are able to do them ourselves. It is a bit of a faff and you can't use the car while the update is being installed, but you would not be able to use the car if the garage has it.

Now that you know this is a random software error you could buy a cheap plug in device to enable you to clear codes, just for get you home peace of mind.

Edited 5 March, 20251 yr by Aldfort

Thanks fort the reply.

Any idea where you might be able to purchase such a plug in device to clear such error codes and equally importantly what such a device is actually called as a search term ??

Thanks again.

This will do the job for £22.00

MOTOPOWER MP69033 OBD2 Scanner Universal Car Engine Fault Code Reader, CAN Diagnostic Scan Tool for All OBD II Protocol Cars : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

This one is Haynes recommended.

If you want to go to your favorite car store you need a wired OBD II scanner that can read and clear fault codes. They range in price from ones like this to the professional models that mechanics use. A good shop will sell you what you need if you explain you want it for emergencies only.

The OBD port is a bit hard to find it's under the steering wheel generally and very often pink. I keep a little torch with my scanner in the car.

Edited 5 March, 20251 yr by Aldfort

With thanks to all who have to date added helpful advice and recommendations for diagnostic tools.

Still struggling to comprehend how random and sudden these problems can occur, even on a fairly new car and although VW Roadside Assistance is a 'Godsend' it can nevertheless leave the individual stranded waiting for recovery or a roadside fix, potentially miles from home.

I have made contact with Skoda UK via Email concerning this issue and below is the reply I received the contents of which seem to imply the issue is something they were previously aware of.

Thank you for contacting Škoda UK.

We are truly sorry to hear about the inconvenience you experienced with your vehicle last Sunday. We understand that the appearance of the Engine Management Light and (EPC) warning on the dashboard, along with the engine's rough idling and hesitation, must have been incredibly frustrating, especially given your plans for the day.

I appreciate your prompt action in contacting VW Roadside Assistance, and we are relieved to hear that the engineer was able to resolve the issue and clear the warning lights. However, we fully acknowledge your concerns regarding the random nature of this problem.

Should you have any issue with your vehicle you are covered with Roadside assistance which would be able to recover your vehicle to a safe destination as well as having it recovered to your nearest Škoda retailer you live to.

If you are outside of Europe your vehicle is also covered with its Roadside assistance cover which you are able to confirm this by visiting our website which covers our Roadside assistance policy at : https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/roadside-assistance

I hope this information is helpful. If you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to us using the contact details provided below.

Following the case closure, you may receive a survey which is based on my performance only. I would greatly appreciate it if you could complete this. 

Kind regards

Edited 6 March, 20251 yr by ColinD
removing pii

@hogun pen llyn

The key bit of info you got was that the dealer seems to have missed doing a software update.

I would concentrate on getting this done as a matter of some urgency.

I had the engine light problem a couple of times on my old Fabia - a 2005 model, so I am not sure the info will be completely relevant, but it might help.

When that control turned on, the car went into the emergency mode, which meant that it run on 2 cylinders and was not able to go over 2000 rpm - very dangerous, I think. The car was shaing like crazy and it had no power at all. Luckily it always happend close to my home and on a good road, but the car would be impossible to ride uphill or on a frozen surface .

The very first time it helped to turn the car off and on again. The light disappeared and there was no problem for a year or two.

The secont time I had to take it to a service. The diagnostic said sporadic ignition on the second cylinder. All they did was that they deleted the error from the control unit and the car worked perfectly for a couple of years again.

The third time the the diagnostic said the same. They changed the ignition coil on that cylinder, which solved the problem.

A year later it occured again and it was a problem with those other two ignition coils. They changed those and the car rides again with no problem.

So - in my case it was probably always an ignition coil - a rather simple fix, but very unpleasant experience when it happened.

It was actually the only problem I've ever had with that Fabia during 19 years - unbelievable. Now I bought a new Scala and I appreciate the old Fabia even more...sad.

Edited 9 March, 20251 yr by Happy24

21 minutes ago, Happy24 said:

the car went into the emergency mode, which meant that it run on 2 cylinders and was not able to go over 2000 rpm - very dangerous, I think. The car was shaing like crazy and it had no power at all.

Limp mode AKA Limited Operating Strategy does not make a 4 cylinder engine run on two cylinders, the misfire that you experienced will have been the ignition fault causing the MIL indicator to light up.

Many things can cause the check engine light to come on, sometimes when there is no real need. If you can feel a misfire then that is why the light is on.

I've not yet experienced Skoda limp mode but if it's anything like Audi limp mode then (if you are sure it's not a "real" fault) you just have to keep the revs up a little bit.

The light almost always comes on with at least one other in modern cars. Sometimes the "reset" is no more that turning off and turning on again after a pause.

Fault codes sort of "build up" to a warning light in some cases. Some need one instance of a fault to throw a warning but others might need to see the same thing 5 or 6 times in the course of a day or two before a light comes on. This explains why the lights sometimes go off by themselves.

32 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Limp mode AKA Limited Operating Strategy does not make a 4 cylinder engine run on two cylinders, the misfire that you experienced will have been the ignition fault causing the MIL indicator to light up.

My old Fabia engine is also 3 cylinder, just like the 1.0 tsi in Scala. The engines are completely different, of course, but both are 3 cylinder engines.

I'm with @Aldfort on this.

The car is still under warranty, contact the dealer for an appointment to update all relevant software, almost bound to be more.

Roadside Assist have identified a particular software problem that can repeat without notice so make it the dealer's problem. If you can find out when the update was issued and it was not done during the last service, then I would politely be insistent on a very good explanation. Especially since you have now been inconvenienced twice by their incompetence.

I'd only get an OBD2 reader after the warranty expires.

A little bit surprise that warranties are still only 3 years in the UK. In Australia they were 3 years when I bought my Octavia in 2014 but increased to 5 years about 2016 and 7 years about 2021. Dates are guesstimates 🙂

Edited 9 March, 20251 yr by Gerrycan

5 hours ago, Happy24 said:

My old Fabia engine is also 3 cylinder, just like the 1.0 tsi in Scala. The engines are completely different, of course, but both are 3 cylinder engines.

My mistake but the point I was making is still valid, L.O.S. does not make the engine run on two cylinders

If a fault with potential impact on emissions is detected, that the engine ECU can ascribe to one of the three cylinders, it does indeed shut down that cylinder @J.R.. It's quite dramatic and unwelcome on a 3-potter.

What would have been an excellent idea, with 6/6 hindsight (metric for 20/20) is to have asked the roadside attender which fault codes had resulted in the warning lights.

There will have been at least one, and they would have seen it, before clearing and blaming the need for a software update.

Thanks, I stand corrected, as you say on a 3 cylinder it would be appalling.

Do the 4 cylinder petrol and diesel engines do the same?