Can someone please help diagnose this problem!

I've got an 04/54 Fabia VRS that I've never had a problem with till now. For the last 4 months I've not been allowed to drive; to start with I was starting the car, leaving it running for a bit or just driving back & forth in a private parking area, 2 months ago it wouldn't start and about a month ago the central locking stopped working. I put all of this down to the battery but still not able to drive did nothing about it.

DVLA finally gave me my license back on Friday & I desperately need to get the car started! The "magic eye" on the battery is black & it won't jump start so I thought it needed charging. I can't get to the bolt to undo the clamp to get the battery out so disconnected the battery yesterday and took the charger out to the car with extension leads. When I connected the charger it said the battery had 50% power, went up to 75% after awhile then back down to 50%.

Reconnected the battery after several hours but still no joy, when I turn the ignition all I get is a ticking sound and the trip display flashes. The central locking does now work (very slugish) and that also says to me the main problem is the battery but on the dash I get the ABS & Traction Control lights on & the Brake system warning light flashes with 3 warning beeps which the book says check the brake fluid! I can't easily see the brake fluid reservoir or a min./max level indicator but I took the top off & there is plenty of fluid in there & it was last changed in Nov. 06. I also reset the service interval display a couple of months ago but that can't be causing the problem; can it??

Can someone PLEASE help!! Four months of not driving has killed me so I'm desperate to get on the road but more than that I've got an appointment on Tuesday that I CANNOT miss & have no other way of getting there if I don't get the car started!!

I can't get the battery out & I can't take the charger out to it today cause it keeps raining!!

still sounds like a dead battery to me... maybe get a new one?

still sounds like a dead battery to me... maybe get a new one?

Only problem is I can't get anywhere to get a battery, I haven't got time for one to be delivered & even if I do get one I can't get the old one out??

(Have Skoda gone "safety first" mad by making the bolt to the clamp so damn hard to get to??!!)

is there any chance you can bump start it to get it going?

I would think the Battery is going to be shagged.....They dont like being left in a discharged state for very long...

A Jump start might be the way to go and take it for a drive for a bit to try and charge it up. Dont know how you would reset all the lights or whether they will reset when the battery is charged but I am sure someone will be along soon who will know

Your battery is flat, and probably knackered too. Can you not get someone to pick one up for you?

Battery duff. Get yourself to B&Q to get a £60 socket set which will cover all your motoring needs for life (Magnusson brand) and enable you to get the retaining clamp off. Then take battery out and catch a taxi or whatever means of transport available to you to source a replacement. Best of Luck.

RAC will come out and can sell and fit a ready-charged battery there and then. Don't know what they charge for non-members, though...

They have done this for me before and, as a member, the the call out was free and the battery was actually pretty sensibly priced!

Sounds like a duff cell in your battery, this is usually the main reason for it not holding charge.

Had it happen to me twice in previous cars. one of them was a brand new battery purchased from Halfrauds, within t3 hrs of it being on car it had no charge left, they replaced ang this was fine.

After an hour of jumping it off another car managed to get it started and went for a half hour drive, everything was fine until I got back; parked up & turned the engine off... tried restarting and nothing! Battery is definetly knackered!

Now Im struggling to find what to replace it with?? It says:

AKUMA C2 UM5 12V 70ah 340A DIN 570A EN/SAE 1JO 915 105 AE

Do I just want a 12V 70ah battery? Lead acid? gel battery? or as the car is the VRS do I need a particular battery? and has anyone got any idea on price? Being quoted £97.43 from Skoda!

sure you can get one cheaper than £97....

batteries differ massively nowadays.... a normal lead acid battery should be fine, but I would think it would need to be rated much more that 70ah! just go to any cheap place (halfrauds/any tyre place ect) and they will be able to look up the spec you need......

personally, if I was you, I try a car parts place on the net, see if you can get one delivered to your house in a couple of days... less hassle then, usually cheaper too!

On Friday I noticed the charger fail / battery alarm came on a couple of times. Put it on charge, leapt in yesterday morning to meet a coach to do a rare day's guiding, the starter motor groaned and everything went black!

Mine is a "53" vRS and has not missed a beat since new. I've had it charging for 24 hours now, and the starter motor will still not even turn the engine!

A quick call around 3 dealers in this area revealled that no one stocks it, and it could take up to a week to obtain. As I cannot reset the radio and central locking, it could be several more days before a slot can be found to reset all the electronics. In the meantime it is stuck in my garage with a slope to push it up in order to get someone to give me a jump start. With the comments read so far, as soon as I switch off we will be back to square one again! Has anyone tried a battery booster, i.e. plug it into the mains and start it that way. At least I would be semi mobile as long as it wasn't switched off away from a mains outlet.

Mine did turn out to be a knackered battery!! New one cost £90 or so but as soon as it was connected everything fired back into life & I was off & running... & extremely happy!! Had to reset the electric windows as per the book but none of the other electrics were affected, alarm, radio, central locking all worked same as before & mine had been dead for awhile.

I've got an old battery charger, probably 15 - 20 years old, but have never had a known problem when charging car or m/c battery.

However, have now been charging this vRS battery for 36 hours, and it is getting worse! Not even the internal light will now come on. I know that it is impossible, but it seems as if the charger is actually draining what life I have left in the cells, and I desperately need to be able to fire it up when the garage get me a new battery in. Also, I've been paying into the CSMA rescue for years, never realising that you need the de-luxe version to get attention for a home breakdown. They won't even turn out to give me a jump start without charging me an hours labour + transport costs, guessing up to £100 + VAT.You learn by your mistakes though! I'm off to get the battery booster from Argos tomorrow, should be half that price and in the garage for "next time"! Hopefully that will at least start it up.

Something I learnt from my experience; because of the type of battery on the vRS it won't charge if even 1 of the cells are knackered & so its pointless trying! If your battery won't hold a charge after 36 hours save yourself the money of buying a booster & buy a new battery instead! If it is only the battery once you put the new one in the car will fire up, mines been fine ever since!

pop down your local tyre seller they usually sell batteries too and are of good quality if not better than the one in the car and certainly do you a better price on it.