I have a 21 reg 1.5 DSG that dies on me tonight and need some advice.

I satrted the car OK and drove 1/4 mile to trafficlights when the engine died.

The engine light came on yellow and red triangle but did not see any text to point to the failure. Tried to restart, turned ignition on and off but no starter and both engine and triangle remained lit and constant.

Phoned recovery (Skoda) who suggested I switched off the ingnition, locked the car and waited about 15 minutes. As time had passed (about 8 minutes) with the ignition off but car not locked, I thought I would try again ....... and it now runs OK. I then cancelled the call out and drove home (5 miles).

The breakdown person suggested it maybe a software "glitch"!!

I assume there are failure codes I should be able to see in the OBD or should I ask the dealer to do it as it is still under the extended warranty?

The suspicion I have is that the dealer will delete any fault codes and say they cannot find anything wrong!

I would not like this to happen again so I would like to know what caused the problem, was a S/W problem or other sensors nearing their working limits. I just want some reassurance It wont happen again on a moterway on when abroad.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks

there must be fault code writen in ecu. service will read it and find why it happened.

they can reflash complete ecu map again.

Edited 8 July, 20258 Jul by imart143

Given you have warrantee, take it to the dealer, yes they might delete the fault codes but ask them to make sure the issue is recorded in the car's service record. Also ask them why it happened.

It's important to get an official record of the fault and you reporting it in case you need to claim later.

Thanks for the info, I have booked the car in for a diag check but its not until 24th July and they will not guarantee I wint have to pay! They said if it happened again, to get roadside assistance to take it to them and they would treat it as urdent, but if it clears itself i doubt if they will do anything.

I have an OBD 2 scanner but cannot find it ATM to just see the fault codes stored.

Will have to just wait and hope which is a bit disconcerting.

I just found my old ODB2 elm scanner and run a "Torque" Android app.

No faults logged

Did an OBD sensor teat and all OK.

Assuming my basic scanner is working OK, I may cancel the Skoda booking.

There were quite a few sensors and it took about 2 minutes to un through them all!

Just to make sure it was working, is ther a simple way to put on a fault condition that would prove it was picking up a fault code!?

Really would go ahead with the dealer appointment. Their scanner will be way more thorough than anything you have unless it's pro-equipment and can emulate the workshop scanner completely which is doubtful.

The point is that you will report the fault and then insist that this is recorded in the cars electronic service history with the diagnostic results. If it happens again outside of the warrantee period you then have a record of the fact there was a problem reported but it was not resolved by the dealer. If it's something major and the symptoms are identical then you have a chance of a claim.

Thanks, I do agree its the best course of action. this seem to be a knowm problem in general with modern cars but maybe quite rare. The roadside assist did say (in effect) try rebooting the system by switching off the ignition and locking the car for 10-15 minutes, and when asked if this was common, was told no really but sometimes cures the fault and doesn'y seem to happen again.

The dealer (Mon Motors) would not commit to doing the diagnostic FOC if there was nothing found faulty or it was not covered under the Skoda Extended Warranty. So if there was NFF I would need to pay about £90 but at least could insist on it being registered.

I was told a year ago that S/W would not usually be updated unless there was a recall or there was a fault attribuated to it. I think this is short sighted and S/W should be updated at any service as it does not take much intervention by the mechanic..

I have to decide if I want peace of mind and pay the cost or live with the uncertainty of it happening again.

Out of interest is there a way to find out what the latest versions are for my model, and are the responses given by my dealer common?

Thanks

Dealers don't like to do work they can't bill.

A charge for a diagnostic is quite normal if it's NFF. But there should be a fault code in the ECU so it would be a fib if they said NFF. Modern ecu's keep a good record of faults even if the faults are historical and trivial.

Dealers attitudes to software updates can be flakey. Some are in the "ain't broke don't fix it camp". The factory will issue a list of updates that must be done so the correct question is "Is my software up to date as specified by the factory?" Some software updates ore only needed for specific configurations of the car, some are needed in response to the customer reporting a specific fault, others are more broad based and must be done if the factory advises it.

Some updates are sent out directly to the car, you will normally get a massage on the infotainment if you get one of these. This assumes you have connected the car and /or are using the app. also depends on the discoverability you (or the dealer) have set. Note: cars cannot be started during a software update once it starts the car is effectively immobilised.

Edited 10 July, 202510 Jul by Aldfort

2 hours ago, Aldfort said:

a massage on the infotainment

Ah 'ave a massage from Mladá Boleslav

Same thing happened to me within 200 Km of delivery from new, with me and the car stuck in the centre of an intersection in rush hour traffic. Was a tow way quick fix (not). Turned out to be a faulty err loose battery terminal connection that allowed the battery to deliver power but NOT accepot a charge. So flat battery!

Check yours.