Following on from THIS THREAD I recently prodded my parents old Octavia and got it to an MOT test.

Having stuck some additives in it and revved the nuts off it on the way to the test, it miraculously passed the emissions test which was the greatest concern (and it’s previous fail on this the reason my parents hadn’t done anything with it for 4 years or so).

However, it failed on a suspension bushing (easily fixable) and an ABS light. The garage has quoted £300 to get the car sorted and through it’s test.

However, however, I do recall that many moons ago it had an electrical issue where the battery would drain over time. It’s hard to know how much of an issue it was as my parents used the car perhaps 3 times a month.

Anyway, has anyone experience of fixing mk1 Octavia electrical issues? Is it worth spending £300 on the car or could I be setting myself up for a nightmare with electrics?

thanks

Briskoda?

DrP

Coincidentally my ABS light is having a bit of a period of indecision at the moment, sometimes on, sometimes off, filling me with reassurance with every trip. Am about to call the garage to see if they can diagnose. A lot of threads on the web seem to suggest it’s likely to be a sensor but would rather not take chances on brakes!

Yeah I might have to start frequenting briskoda now but as I’ve only been driving 3 weeks I feel like I’m not worthy somehow!

Munkster – mine’s an ABS sensor which is about £70 but 2.5 hrs labour as I think it’s one of the rear ones which are a bit of a b!tch apparently.. it cost me £37 for the ABS diagnostics.

I have an Alfa Romeo and would recommend the Alfa main dealer approved electric repair options.

Option 1 – Buy some Offical Alfa Romeo electrical repair tape (visually identical to duct tape, but has magical properties) = tape over warning light.

Option 2 (for the more experience repairer) remove dash from vehicle and remove offending warning light bulb, replace dash.

Both of these options are sure fire ways of fixing most electrical problems I have encountered.

😀

What about a car sp*nking all of it’s electrons out of the battery overnight? Sticky tape on the battery terminals?

I had a Mk2 Escort that did that.

Went through several garages and auto-electricians who replaced various things but failed to fix it. In the end I went directly to Lucas, bringers of darkness, who diagnosed it conclusively in about 30 seconds.

Turned out to be a fault in the rectifier pack on the back of the alternator. As all car faults are identical, this is obviously what your problem is. (-:

thanks Cougar! 🙂

Any other pearls of wisdom from the STW massive?!

VAGCOM is your friend, about £8 from Ebay. In my experience the onboard diagnostics are pretty powerful (I’ve still no idea how it could diagnose intermittent problems with a relay!).

munkster – check your brake lights. The car’s computer will inhibit ABS etc if a faulty brake light switch is detected.

Flaperon, just went out in my jimjams to check the brake lights. All operational sadly, that sounded like a quick and cheap fix but wasn’t to be, cheers anyway!

ps – I’m being charged £40 for the diagnostic thing, in their own words “to plug it into the machine”.

I got a OBD2 diagnostics cable/unit for £16 from amazon… Comes with pretty basic software – Ideally after VAGCOM but can’t find it for £8…

Any links???

DrP

ha – i was searching vag DOT com….

DRP

munkster – worth a try. Different garages have vastly different prices a – code read from a VW dealer is £50, from the Seat dealer next door, £20.

Will VAG COM tell me what’s going on with the electrics even if there’s no warning lights?

It’s a spurious battery drain I’m trying to figure out. Also I’m a bit confused about what exactly it is I need to order . Has anyone a linky?

Ta

Incase you haven’t found it, an example:

Ebay Vagcom

Yes, there’s all sorts of errors that get recorded without warning lights, identifying a battery drain may be a step too far though. Its a no brainer for that price though (assuming you have a laptop!).

Thanks daveh!

I noticed that that one does say however that it doesn’t include a license for full functionality. Hopefully it’ll be enough without paying the extra £50 etc!

Ta

All batteries will discharge over time if only used for short runs 3 times in a month. I recall it takes about 15 to 20 mins of running over 2000rpm to put the charge back in the battery that it takes to start it. Diesels have a higher compression ratio and take a lot more current out of the battery. I would run it a bit and see how it goes although the battery is probably mullered by now. With the ABS the sensor works usually by picking up a signal from a ring on the outer CV joint. This is usually a ring of raised lugs. This can sometimes split sending an error code to the ABS unit. Also make sure it isn’t moving, the sensor that is. Good luck.

Version 311 or 409 still work fine, google knows all. 🙂