Flickering headlights

[chris c]

My headlights flicker at idle and when I'm driving. Any idea what might cause this?

I was thinking perhaps a bad earth somewhere but how to find it?. The car is 4.5 years old, is the battery coming to the end of it's life?.

[ric04vrs]

battery or alternator i'd say , get the charging system checked out , especially as its coming up to winter when more electrical equipment will be on putting extra strain on that system

[chris c]

My headlights flicker at idle and when I'm driving. Any ideas what might cause this, I'm thinking perhaps a bad earth but how to find it ?.

The car is 4.5 years old, is the battery nearing the end of it's life perhaps?.

[GlacierNR]

I am not 100% sure, but that sounds like a fautly voltage regulator to me. I have no idea how to check that or where its found in the Fabia.

[mr barearse]

my headlights dim when turning the steering dont know what causes it but its not the 1st time ive heard of the lights dimming or flickering i think it might just be something that fabia's do!

[ScoobyChris]

my headlights dim when turning the steering dont know what causes it but its not the 1st time ive heard of the lights dimming or flickering i think it might just be something that fabia's do!

It's because the power steering pump is electro-hydraulic so is quite a drain on the battery (especially with the lights on too). Perfectly normal

FWIW, at 4.5 years, it could well be the battery is on its last legs - mine lasted about that long and died in the colder weather..... best to check the voltage across it with and without the engine running.

Chris

[Fabia156]

ya i think this is common on fabias.. mine does the same.. most users here say that this is because the power Steering sensor.. try a quick search for Power Steering in the fabia section...

[PoloGaz]

Mine dim a bit when the steering is used at low engine speeds due to the power steering not being entirely mechanical. Could it be that?

[delroy]

SWMBO's did that. Think the angle sensor got changed under warranty and it was fine. It was a 1.4 16v

[fabtdi]

Mine dim a bit when the steering is used at low engine speeds due to the power steering not being entirely mechanical. Could it be that?

Mine did that also a couple of year's ago. Goto a dealer and tell them the problem's you are having, they will pop it on the diagnostic machine and daresay it will be the angle sensor.

Roughly speaking will set you back

[cjb]

I am not 100% sure, but that sounds like a fautly voltage regulator to me. I have no idea how to check that or where its found in the Fabia.

Get a multimeter on a 20V DC range, connect it accross the battery terminals. It sould read about 12V. Turn the ignition and headlights on, it will drop a bit- say 11.5ish.

Turn the lights back off, and start the engine- it should now read 13.5-14.5 Volts.

If all those readings are of that sort of order, the battery, alternator, and regulator (inside the alternator) are all OK.

[TeflonTom]

yeah mine does it too sometimes... usually when you come to a stop at the traffic lights, quite often i hear a faint click too

[LouisTsui]

Had this problem, and replaced the PAS sensor recently. The problem seems gone, but my driving mostly under day light. can't say it is 100% cured yet.

[chris c]

I put a new Bosch battery in it this afternoon and so far it 'seems' to have cured the problem.

[devonpaul]

if the flickering light problem combines with a steering problem as mine did, then i would suggest the steering sensor needs replacing

[PoloGaz]

Hmmm, I've had it plugged into vag com to diagnose an air conditioning fault not long after I bought it. Checked the other systems while I was there and it didn't find anything wrong. Having said that I don't think it let me "interrogate" that part of the cars diagnostic system. I'll recheck it when I've got some time off next week.

[Fabia8v]

mine does EXACTLY this......had the steering warning light on and off several times also.....although the steering does seem fine then goes light and heavy a lot....

This is rapid-ly ( older skoda pun intended there ) turing into the most difficult car i've ever had...

[PoloGaz]

I've checked mine again in the last few days and I get no errors on the assisted steering system on vag com (section 44 iirc) I was looking in the wrong section last time (section 16, steering)

[Fabia8v]

I was going to ask, what error codes would it throw out if it was the sensor/pas etc...??

[euphoria205]

I have the same problem but only when I have my stereo turned up and that is only because of the power drain when the monoblock pushes the sub hard, it def sounds liek a power drain of some type, do you have everything turned on? Heated seats, air con, etc, etc?

[oscar]

my lights also flicker when at low revs and turning the steering wheel,my dealer replaced the steering angle sensor and the alternator under warranty, thank god.

and they still flicker slightly.i think its because the power steering draws power its inevitable.i would not advise anyone to pay

[OldFlo]

my headlights dim when turning the steering dont know what causes it but its not the 1st time ive heard of the lights dimming or flickering i think it might just be something that fabia's do!

This happens at low speed because of speed-sensitive power steering. As the car is moving slower, the power steering pump works harder and so uses extra current, making the headlights dim a bit.

[P-A]

This doesn't actually sounds like a fault to me. It simply sounds like the headlamps dim a bit when there is a high currant draw on the battery. I really wouldn't worry about it. When the battery dies just replace it with a heavy duty version.

[PoloGaz]

I agree, and I found no faults on mine apart from my battery is on it's way out. I'm off to costco tomorrow to get a nice new bosch silver for it.

[PoloGaz]

Costco seem to have stopped selling car batteries?! :confused: They were by far the cheapest supplier of them too. :( I ended up getting one from GSF in the end, which cost me