Hi,

So i opened the engine bay to fill wssher fluid and found that a rat ate my battery insulation. Went to the garage and they said all wires seems intact and nothing to do, insulation not beed ina very hot xountry so i can just remove it, however i found this infront of the battery and i don't know if it is part of the car.

I also having gps issues but they claim car have no built in gps and it's inly from Android auto. Which is strange as my phone works fine the issue only occur when using navigation on the car itself, also it's ok sometimes

So what do you think? Is that red part of the car? Also how can i clean the pee and pop the rat left behind 🤦🏻‍♂️

'Thermo covers' are dual-purpose - they shield a car's starter-battery from high temperatures in the engine compartment and also provide (limited) protection against extreme cold weather.

This image is of the starter-battery fitted to a 2024 Israel-marketed Fabia Mk4 and shows the insulated cover surrounding the battery's sides.

My own 2024 UK-marketed Fabia Mk4's starter-battery does not this cover (though my 2009 Skoda Roomster's battery has a cover) but specifications can vary significantly from country to country.

(I don't know what the red thing in your photo is. It doesn't look like it is part of your car, but you might want to check whether the rat has also had a go at the sound-deadening pad fitted to the underside of the bonnet. You may need to have the engine compartment professionally valeted to get rid of the rat crap.)

My Fabia has integrated sat-nav (GPS) navigation operating through its Amundsen touchscreen infotainment display-unit, but (obviously) I don't know what your car has. Some vehicles have built-in sat-nav that uses GPS and some vehicles have traffic-sign navigation as well. Other vehicles may just have traffic-sign recognition but no GPS-based navigation, while others may have traffic-sign recognition coupled to a GPS database but no navigation. Your Skoda dealership SHOULD be able to advise you on the GPS issues you are having.

Hi,
Thanks for the detailed answer.
I went over to the garage, the importer one, and they had a quick look, it was the end of the day. they said that i can just remove the insulation and it should be fine.
the red stuff is rat poison, my best guess is that the rat picked it up somewhere and climbed into the engine bay as it was cozy for them.
Regarding the GPS, they guy at the garage said the car does NOT have a built in GPS, and it's just getting nav data from the phone when connected to android auto. i can't say if he is right or wrong about it since he wasn't the guy that actually handle that stuff he was just a "service consultant" and my experience is that they usally lack technical knowledge.

by the way, do you know how to remove that big plastic cover on the battery that cover the wires? i don't mean the plus cover

thanks again

22 hours ago, nimni said:

I also having gps issues but they claim car have no built in gps and it's inly from Android auto. Which is strange as my phone works fine the issue only occur when using navigation on the car itself, also it's ok sometimes

Have a look/search at the threads and posts in the 'Audio, Electronics and Security' forums for information on this (mainly with regard to UK?) I have no idea about the acronyms and numbers or systems or how and if they apply partly or fully to your car.

'Audio, Electronics and Security' forums. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/7-audio-electronics-and-security/

HTH.

5 hours ago, nimni said:

Hi,
Thanks for the detailed answer.

...by the way, do you know how to remove that big plastic cover on the battery that cover the wires? i don't mean the plus cover

thanks again

On the top of a Fabia Mk4's starter-battery the protective plastic cover over the terminal 'bus-bar' is clipped to a sub-frame beneath.

This photo of the cover shows two lever-type plastic clips (A and B)

and, if you look closely at the sides of the cover, you will see three small holes where I have arrowed. Short plastic stubs on the sub-frame fit into those holes when the cover is correctly attached to the battery.

After taking off the small plastic clip-on cover that protects the battery's positive terminal, the removal method I use is as follows:

Move Clip A sideways so that it frees up from the sub-frame (it will only move in one direction) and simultaneously pull the top-left corner of the cover firmly upwards. This should result in the two holes in the left side of the cover coming free from their stubs, leaving the cover loose. Now move Clip B sideways so that it frees up from the sub-frame and the cover is now completely off.

When replacing the cover, I begin by hooking the hole in the cover's right-hand side over its little stub. I then press the cover carefully downwards all around so that the two holes on the cover's left-hand side slide over their matching stubs on the sub-frame, and make sure that clips A and B lock properly in place.

(I've not attempted to remove the battery, so it's no good asking whether I know how to do that 🙂)

For the UK (and presumably everywhere else) there are three possible infotainment units that a Fabia Mk 4 may have. These are named "SWING", "BOLERO" or "AMUNDSEN", with Swing having the lowest specification, Bolero having a higher specification and Amundsen having the highest specification.

Swing and Bolero (photo below) both have a two genuine rotary knobs

whereas Amundsen (photo below) is a pure 'touchscreen' unit and has no knobs.

For a Fabia Mk4 to have an inbuilt sat-nav navigation capability, it must have the Amundsen unit and this feature is visually apparent from the Amundsen unit having a specific NAV 'button' on its right-hand side (above the CAR button).

Of course this does not prevent a Fabia Mk4 owner from employing Android Auto (or Apple CarPlay) to pair their smartphone with the car and then using a navigation app (GOOGLE Maps, Waze, etc) as your garage guy has explained.

There also seems to be some sort of VWŠkoda(? and/or others) arse and elbow situation about various map / GPS to Traffic Sign(s)? Recognition system details and workings but I might be wrong as I avoid such useful modern stuff as much as I can (after driving my neighbour's 2023 (Nissan) with its underdeveloped unreliable computer systems).

Edited 14 July, 202514 Jul by nta16
remove space

For quite a while after receiving my Fabia 4 mc I was peeved that I had been unable to order a car with built in sat nav. These days I'm thinking that was a blessing.

16 hours ago, nta16 said:

There also seems to be some sort of VWŠkoda(? and/or others) arse and elbow situation about various map / GPS to Traffic Sign(s)? Recognition system details and workings but I might be wrong ...

I think there are no VW Group cars with that type of system, but I understand current model Ford Transits and Fiat Ducato commercial vehicles have an ISLA (Intelligent Speed Limit Assist) feature where a windscreen-mounted camera identifies speed-limit traffic signs and, when no signs are available, uses GPS and an onboard mapping database to indicate the speed limit. But neither vehicle has 'navigation' as standard.

My 2021 Hyundai i20 had a camera-only ISLA, but no navigation. My 2024 Skoda Fabia has navigation, with (optional) acoustic speed warnings based on the navigation system's mapping data, but the car has no traffic sign recognition and no automatic ISLA as such.

The English-language Owner's Manual for the latest Fabia suggests that there are now just two infotainment-display options (called 8" or 9") with the 8" having two rotary knobs and no integrated navigation, and the 9" having no knobs and integrated navigation. The mandated ISLA 'rule' is that, when there's a conflict between a recognised traffic speed-limit sign and GPS mapping data, the former must take precedence, but I don't know how that translates to what is shown on the latest Fabia's infotainment display.

My Fabia also has 'Gesture Control' (!!) and 'Voice Control'. Unfortunately the latter does not respond to being sworn at.

14 minutes ago, DerekU said:

I think there are no VW Group cars with that type of system,

Perhaps I misread or misunderstood then but have a look in the forum I suggested as I thought VW was mentioned but perhaps it was with other systems or programs working in the VWŠkoda models. It's not something I need worry about at the moment, other than perhaps when it plays up in the vehicle(s) in front of me or coming the other way when I'm on a road. I'm sure if there are any faults there'd be from system parts or components and never the written programs, or of course user-errors, or "user error". 😄

22 hours ago, DerekU said:

On the top of a Fabia Mk4's starter-battery the protective plastic cover over the terminal 'bus-bar' is clipped to a sub-frame beneath.

This photo of the cover shows two lever-type plastic clips (A and B)

and, if you look closely at the sides of the cover, you will see three small holes where I have arrowed. Short plastic stubs on the sub-frame fit into those holes when the cover is correctly attached to the battery.

After taking off the small plastic clip-on cover that protects the battery's positive terminal, the removal method I use is as follows:

Move Clip A sideways so that it frees up from the sub-frame (it will only move in one direction) and simultaneously pull the top-left corner of the cover firmly upwards. This should result in the two holes in the left side of the cover coming free from their stubs, leaving the cover loose. Now move Clip B sideways so that it frees up from the sub-frame and the cover is now completely off.

When replacing the cover, I begin by hooking the hole in the cover's right-hand side over its little stub. I then press the cover carefully downwards all around so that the two holes on the cover's left-hand side slide over their matching stubs on the sub-frame, and make sure that clips A and B lock properly in place.

(I've not attempted to remove the battery, so it's no good asking whether I know how to do that 🙂)

For the UK (and presumably everywhere else) there are three possible infotainment units that a Fabia Mk 4 may have. These are named "SWING", "BOLERO" or "AMUNDSEN", with Swing having the lowest specification, Bolero having a higher specification and Amundsen having the highest specification.

Swing and Bolero (photo below) both have a two genuine rotary knobs

whereas Amundsen (photo below) is a pure 'touchscreen' unit and has no knobs.

For a Fabia Mk4 to have an inbuilt sat-nav navigation capability, it must have the Amundsen unit and this feature is visually apparent from the Amundsen unit having a specific NAV 'button' on its right-hand side (above the CAR button).

Of course this does not prevent a Fabia Mk4 owner from employing Android Auto (or Apple CarPlay) to pair their smartphone with the car and then using a navigation app (GOOGLE Maps, Waze, etc) as your garage guy has explained.

22 hours ago, DerekU said:

On the top of a Fabia Mk4's starter-battery the protective plastic cover over the terminal 'bus-bar' is clipped to a sub-frame beneath.

This photo of the cover shows two lever-type plastic clips (A and B)

and, if you look closely at the sides of the cover, you will see three small holes where I have arrowed. Short plastic stubs on the sub-frame fit into those holes when the cover is correctly attached to the battery.

After taking off the small plastic clip-on cover that protects the battery's positive terminal, the removal method I use is as follows:

Move Clip A sideways so that it frees up from the sub-frame (it will only move in one direction) and simultaneously pull the top-left corner of the cover firmly upwards. This should result in the two holes in the left side of the cover coming free from their stubs, leaving the cover loose. Now move Clip B sideways so that it frees up from the sub-frame and the cover is now completely off.

When replacing the cover, I begin by hooking the hole in the cover's right-hand side over its little stub. I then press the cover carefully downwards all around so that the two holes on the cover's left-hand side slide over their matching stubs on the sub-frame, and make sure that clips A and B lock properly in place.

(I've not attempted to remove the battery, so it's no good asking whether I know how to do that 🙂)

For the UK (and presumably everywhere else) there are three possible infotainment units that a Fabia Mk 4 may have. These are named "SWING", "BOLERO" or "AMUNDSEN", with Swing having the lowest specification, Bolero having a higher specification and Amundsen having the highest specification.

Swing and Bolero (photo below) both have a two genuine rotary knobs

whereas Amundsen (photo below) is a pure 'touchscreen' unit and has no knobs.

For a Fabia Mk4 to have an inbuilt sat-nav navigation capability, it must have the Amundsen unit and this feature is visually apparent from the Amundsen unit having a specific NAV 'button' on its right-hand side (above the CAR button).

Of course this does not prevent a Fabia Mk4 owner from employing Android Auto (or Apple CarPlay) to pair their smartphone with the car and then using a navigation app (GOOGLE Maps, Waze, etc) as your garage guy has explained.

Thank you, i have the one qith the knobs 9"

3 hours ago, DerekU said:

I think there are no VW Group cars with that type of system, but I understand current model Ford Transits and Fiat Ducato commercial vehicles have an ISLA (Intelligent Speed Limit Assist) feature where a windscreen-mounted camera identifies speed-limit traffic signs and, when no signs are available, uses GPS and an onboard mapping database to indicate the speed limit. But neither vehicle has 'navigation' as standard.

My 2021 Hyundai i20 had a camera-only ISLA, but no navigation. My 2024 Skoda Fabia has navigation, with (optional) acoustic speed warnings based on the navigation system's mapping data, but the car has no traffic sign recognition and no automatic ISLA as such.

The English-language Owner's Manual for the latest Fabia suggests that there are now just two infotainment-display options (called 8" or 9") with the 8" having two rotary knobs and no integrated navigation, and the 9" having no knobs and integrated navigation. The mandated ISLA 'rule' is that, when there's a conflict between a recognised traffic speed-limit sign and GPS mapping data, the former must take precedence, but I don't know how that translates to what is shown on the latest Fabia's infotainment display.

My Fabia also has 'Gesture Control' (!!) and 'Voice Control'. Unfortunately the latter does not respond to being sworn at.

Thank you, i have the 9" one, also i think it use the buolt in maps with android auto gps to identify speed limit where it can't read signs, i get errors when I'm on a new road and there are no signs, maybe that's why

The infotainment unit's size depends on how you measure it.

You could post a photo, but, as your car's infotainment unit has knobs, then it is either a SWING or a BOLERO and neither of those has an inbuilt navigation capability.

When you connect your phone to the car and use Android Auto, the maps/ routes/speed limits that display on the infotainment unit's screen will come from your phone and depend on whatever navigation app you have chosen to run on your phone.

There are navigation apps (eg SYGIC) that have a traffic-sign recognition feature, but I've no idea how these react if the road being driven on does not appear in the app's mapping data and has no speed-limit signs.

On 13/07/2025 at 14:21, nimni said:

I also having gps issues but they claim car have no built in gps and it's inly from Android auto. Which is strange as my phone works fine the issue only occur when using navigation on the car itself, also it's ok sometimes

@pab567 probably knows all about this and may be able to help you.

Edited 15 July, 202515 Jul by nta16
typo

18 hours ago, DerekU said:

The infotainment unit's size depends on how you measure it.

You could post a photo, but, as your car's infotainment unit has knobs, then it is either a SWING or a BOLERO and neither of those has an inbuilt navigation capability.

When you connect your phone to the car and use Android Auto, the maps/ routes/speed limits that display on the infotainment unit's screen will come from your phone and depend on whatever navigation app you have chosen to run on your phone.

There are navigation apps (eg SYGIC) that have a traffic-sign recognition feature, but I've no idea how these react if the road being driven on does not appear in the app's mapping data and has no speed-limit signs.

18 hours ago, DerekU said:

The infotainment unit's size depends on how you measure it.

You could post a photo, but, as your car's infotainment unit has knobs, then it is either a SWING or a BOLERO and neither of those has an inbuilt navigation capability.

When you connect your phone to the car and use Android Auto, the maps/ routes/speed limits that display on the infotainment unit's screen will come from your phone and depend on whatever navigation app you have chosen to run on your phone.

There are navigation apps (eg SYGIC) that have a traffic-sign recognition feature, but I've no idea how these react if the road being driven on does not appear in the app's mapping data and has no speed-limit signs.

when i baught the car there were 3 options of car finish to buy, lower range, mid range and top range. i wanted to mid range but they couldn't supply it so i had to buy the top range. they say on their sale that the mid range come with a 8" infotainment and the top is with 9" i didn't measure it
in anycase i guess there is no nav in it, since there is no button for nav on it