Hi. Our Octavia has been relegated to 3 miles trip to and from the bus stop for work (and the odd Ikea run), so it's quite hard on the battery and occasionally needs a top up.

About 4 weeks ago I went to start her and the engine turned over a couple of times then a lot of rapid clicking, so I put the charger on for 20 minutes (which is usually enough to start the engine and take it for a good long trip), put the key in and the dashboard did not light up at all, the engine started perfectly but then stopped immediately (which is likely the immobiliser not functioning). I figured it was a fuse, but they were all fine; the next day I turned my attention to the relays, took the dashboard cowl off and put the key in the so that I could see if anything came on - everything worked perfectly (except that the odometer and clock had reset) and the car started and ran.

2 weeks later we had a cold morning, the starter was sluggish but the engine fired up straight away, then I noticed that the dashboard was dead - I returned home, stopped the engine and restarted it, it stopped immediately (same as before). I put the car on charge, came back 30 minutes later and everything worked again (except, again, odo and clock reset).

Today same thing happened again, slightly sluggish starter but fired straight away, drove 100m before noticing the dashboard, returned home and it would re-start but stop immediately. This time I just left it for 30 minutes without adding any battery charge, put the key back in and all was good.

She probably wants a new battery, but in the 16 years of owning her we've had to jump start her a few times and never experienced this issue - so I'm worried there's more to this than a end-of-life battery and even if I did replace the battery then it could still happen again (next time when I'm not at home). Any advice/ideas would be much appreciated! Thank you.

Hello, welcome to the forum.

It sounds very like your battery is finished, possibly not even worth having it tested before replacing it.

Has that battery lasted 16 years - is there a date stamp on the top of the negative terminal?

Does your Mk2 have auto stop/start?

I agree a failing battery can cause loads of electrical glitches. The cars dont seem to like low voltage. If its 16 years old you have done very well. Sons fabia was similar then one day no start at all. Put battery on charge overnight and seemed to take charge. Next day no start again. New battery and no problems since. Had same in my Octavia. Older cars seemed to cope better but with modern ECU etc low voltage can cause loads of problems.

It could also be the connection to the cluster. If the ECU can't read cluster it may well put imobiliser on. I would start with a known good battery first.

Alasdair

If a new battery doesnt help then I reckon it may well be cluster/imobilser linked. If I remeber diesels start then stop imediately where as petrols just wont start. The fact that the dash was dead points to maybe a bad cluster connection or cluster failure which seems to be farely common or maybe a fuse? Check theres nothing blown but also check not loose and getting good contact.

Did the rev counter and speedo still work or any of the guages?

Might be worth getting it scanned with vcds or similar to see if theres any codes or info stored.

Hope its a simple fix

Thank you for all the replies - the battery was new in 2019, so could well be end-of-life. I'll try a new battery and see what happens.

None of the gauges work, immobiliser won't disengage, no dashboard back light, no clock/odo/temp etc. Everything else works (interior and exterior lights, entertainment system etc.) I'll plug my laptop into it later and take a look at any codes that are logged.

Thanks again!

Have a look at fuse 6. On mine it supplies cluster. It may be coroded or blown or loose. It might be a simple fix? On my old Octy I had random warning lights on dash and no fuel guage that made no sense. I removed cluster and cleaned contacts and reinstalled and it was fine. Reckon the connector had come slightly loose.

Alasdair