Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone here might recognise this issue because it’s been ongoing since December and neither Skoda nor multiple independent mechanics/electricians have been able to diagnose it.

Car:

• Skoda Scala

• 2021

• 1.5 TSI

• Automatic

I’ve had intermittent starting problems for over six months. The car usually starts eventually after several attempts, but occasionally it refuses completely. The longest failure was recently it took over an hour before it finally started. It also once failed to start when leaving a ferry, which was a pretty unsafe situation.

Timeline & what’s been done so far:

• December – first non‑start. Recovery advised replacing the battery → replaced same day → no improvement.

• Alternator tested → all fine.

• First auto electrician → scanned the car → several faults appeared (photos attached) → he suggested Skoda software updates.

• Skoda visit #1 → they said it wasn’t software but my dashcam draining the battery → stopped using dashcam → no improvement.

• Skoda visit #2 → they performed software updates and scanned the engine for faults → still no improvement.

• Mechanic attempted cable start during a non‑start episode → didn’t help.

• Mechanic suggested relay replacement → booked electrician.

• Second auto electrician:

– Said not the relay

– Scanned again → only fault was P0850 (Park/Neutral Position Switch)

– Cleared the code

– Checked wiring around the gear selector → said it looked clean and intact

– Asked me to change gears while he sprayed WD‑40 around the sensor

– After this, the issue disappeared for ~2 weeks (25 June → yesterday)

• Yesterday and today → starting issue returned several times.

The car never shows the fault at the garage, so no one can reproduce it, only just happened once when I was leaving one of the garages, electrician had a look and said looks like it wants to start but something prevents it from doing so

It almost always starts eventually, but the inconsistency makes it impossible to trust.

Most of the time, when it struggles to start, 'move hear selector to P/N' appears as well as 'error start/stop' although the latter not always

The only pattern I can see is that it happens after short journeys but then again sometimes first thing in the morning...

Error code:

• P0850 – Park/Neutral Position Switch Input

This is the only code that has ever appeared (twice, months apart).

Has anyone had similar intermittent starting issues on the Scala? Is there anything else worth checking that garages might be overlooking?

I’m honestly willing to try anything at this point it’s been months of frustration and uncertainty. Any advice or shared experiences would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum.

I'd strongly suggest having the park/neutral position switch properly tested and/or replaced.

Edited 14 July14 Jul by Warrior193
correction

To clarify, when you experience this starting issue, does the starter motor simply fail to crank the engine?

Thank you for your response. I’ll try to book the car in for that, but from my experience most garages don’t really follow suggestions they just scan the engine, and if the issue doesn’t happen while the car is with them, they charge for the scan and say they can’t act on someone else’s ideas...

Just to answer your follow‑up question: most of the time the engine turns over but doesn’t start. Occasionally (less often) there’s no crank at all, just a choking sound, I've got many videos of it happening, I hope I'm explaining it correctly I'm not very knowledgeable with these things unfortunately

Right, it sounds like you may have at least two, possibly three separate faults.

I'd suggest that you need to find a good independent who will at least consider suggestions.

1 - probable faulty park/neutral switch: This will prevent starter motor from cranking the engine if the switch is falsely sensing the transmission isn't in park or neutral.

2 - Possible faulty crank or camshaft position sensor: This fault will allow the engine to crank normally - but typically results in failure of engine to start - or only after an extended cranking period. This fault is often reported be worse when the engine is up to temperature (start is often normal when engine is cold)

3 - Have all cable connections to starter motor checked, especially the chassis ground cable.

Check the battery voltage as well. If its low/failed cell it can cause slow crank and problems with electronic systems etc. Should be 12.6-12.8v with engine off. Check when cranking as well to see what the voltage drops to.

Alasdair