[Dopamine]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

What I fail to understand with all these car manufacturers, especially the Europeans, is what goes on when they train their service center engineers. You would think that anyone who lands a job at a Skoda or Fiat garage, has basic education and is a mechanical or electrical graduate, degree holder. This will be the minimal requirement for anyone who touches the car. With this knowledge in hand, a natural tendency should come from within to try and solve a problem. That does not seem to be the case though. Even when you have all the tools with you (Ecu scanner and what not), they still fail to do the right thing or diagnose. It is more a "Lets wash our hands off this issue and present the customer with a giant bill" and see what happens. Clearly; these chaps (If not all of em) are out to make money. When will this attitude ever change!

Atleast in my case, I don't think it was lack of education or experience or laziness in solving a problem. It was simply trying to get a customer to pay for an extremely expensive part replacement even though the service guy knows there is nothing wrong with it. He must've known, he couldn't be that dumb.

This blue and me system voltage issue with the blinking odometer thing seems to be quite common in fiats and for most normal owners(including me) it's such a sudden and strange electronic problem that it's hard to guess what has happened.

I'm pretty sure even if 2 or 3 out 10 people who show up with this problem buy a new system it's a very tidy profit for the dealership since it is actually a problem that can be fixed for free.

They probably just put the system they take out of one car into the next, for all we know

[motorguy]

Can you please PM me E_tuners contact details - do they do Hyundais also?

[sharad_kmc]

Just came across this thread as an article on rush lane!

[B103]

Gosh, down from three lac to nothing. What a swindle!!

If a company believes in defrauding customers with something as nefarious as a 'cheat' device, how on earth, any measures of torque, refinement and sophistication can indemnify such deceit?

Threads like this reeks with the same murky, foul smell of 'diesel-gate'.

[sanchit.j]

Recently I experienced something broadly on similar lines with our 2012 w212 Mercedes E200 petrol. This is what happened:

05.05.2019 - 5.45pm

• My usual drive is from home -> workplace -> home.
• On this day, left around noon in hot weather and went to 3 different places, with journeys of 30-45 mins. each. In total would have done about 60-70km.
• Was on way back around 6pm when I the car stopped moving.
• Reached a point en-route, where I had to stop and pickup something. The car was left with AC on, on idle for about 5-6 mins. This was after 45 mins of driving in very hot weather with part jam and part free roads.
• After coming back the car was put in R from idle, the engine stalled within 4-5 seconds. Before this it was idling perfectly with no warnings. Tried to crank again and it did, but went off even sooner and the orange 'tap' warning lamp for engine issues came up now.
• Tried another crank, went off even sooner. As if the battery ran out because it was difficult to distinguish whether the engine started or not since there was hardly any gap between it starting and then going off.
• In between the vehicle at best moved 15 metres in these 4 attempts.

05.05.2019 - 6.30pm

• A technician comes from Mercedes RSA from Silver Arrows. He cranks the engine and it comes on perfectly. Puts the car in D and it's moving perfectly now with no problems.
• Opens bonnet to check things and says everything looks in order. No leaks / no noises everything seems normal. Then takes on a test drive and drive is smooth and accelerates normally all the way.
• Then he refers to such an issue which another technician known to him had at a Toyota workshop with a last gen petrol innova -- the car used to stall around noon every now and then when it traveled significantly. By the time the RSA technician reached the spot, everything became normal and vehicle started moving. This happened 3-4 times with them. After a lot of diagnosis they realized it was an issue with the fuel pump which malfunctioned in peak heat in may / june and stopped fuel supply.
• So the MB RSA person said 99% my car had the same issue and asked if he can take it to workshop and check with the scanner.
• The RSA person drove to the workshop that was about 1 hr away and the scanner diagnosis also said no engine issue, but issue with the fuel supply (as per him).

06.05.2019

• The service advisor contacts in the morning and said they'll undertake more tests and give an estimate.
• By evening the estimate came to about Rs. 1.10 lacs approx + taxes. 80% of this was for 2 fuel pumps alone which he said have to be changed. 2 pumps being the one at tank and the one ahead in line.
• I asked him about the first checking the fuel pressure regulator/sensor if that has malfunctioned, and he said that there is nothing such in e-class. And that changing 1 pump will not solve the issue and they both have to be changed at once. Each pump is roughly 50k each.

07.05.2019

• Since the cost was significant and I was told it's not a common issue I thought of pursuing it with MB HO, but the SA was quite persistent that nothing will happen as the vehicle is long out of warranty so no scope of goodwill warranty and the company will get back to them only for collecting details.
• Recalling that the vehicle was actually moving well when the RSA took it the earlier day, I asked for the vehicle back without change of pumps.
• Engine mounts were changed, as that was a earlier problem causing vibrations and had a positive impact on the drive after the replacement.

08.05.2019 - till now

• The vehicle has been returned.
• Intermittently the orange 'tap' light for engine warning comes on and stays that way. Sometimes it's not there.
• In this while, I've done my usual rounds and also 200km intercity journey without any issues.

Summing up

• While the diagnosis or the faulting components may be different to the Skoda, I was anyway suggested to spend Rs. 1.10 lacs on repairs that were told to be critical in nature.
  
• Even without those repairs, things are fine as of now (hope it remains that way). The vehicle sometimes gives a warning, sometimes not. Either way it keeps moving without any new parts.
  
• In my case at least, not sure whether the service center can be pointed upon (for more testing maybe?) or it's just one of those things that happened and hopefully might not recur.

[Dhruv29]

Originally Posted by sanchit.j

[*]Even without those repairs, things are fine as of now (hope it remains that way). The vehicle sometimes gives a warning, sometimes not. Either way it keeps moving without any new parts.
[*]In my case at least, not sure whether the service center can be pointed upon (for more testing maybe?) or it's just one of those things that happened and hopefully might not recur.

Most probably the fuel pump is at fault here. I've experienced this issue and the symptoms are exactly like the ones you stated, albeit in a different car.

A faulty fuel pump will pump petrol from the fuel tank at a certain pressure which can be enough for the engine to run at idle but once you'll slot it in reverse or drive, the engine will demand more fuel which the pump is not able to supply, and then engine will starve and stall due to mismatch air/fuel mixture.

It is difficult to diagnose because the fuel pump can behave erratically. It can work fine for months but can leave you stranded when it does conks off. And quite a lot of time it does not throw any codes in ECU.

[sanchit.j]

Originally Posted by Dhruv29

Most probably the fuel pump is at fault here. I've experienced this issue and the symptoms are exactly like the ones you stated, albeit in a different car.

Thanks for your inputs. I hope it doesn't go off again. Fortunately when it happened, I was near home in Gurgaon so it didn't cause too much trouble.

[manson]

Following a couple of feedback calls through last week, Zonal Customer Care Head from Skoda India and the GM from JMD Bhandup dropped by my workplace over the weekend for a detailed discussion of the entire episode. Putting the important stuff here for everyone's reference:

• JMD Skoda had a Varta battery in stock which I've been asked to use for a week and get back if there is any issue we face with the car. Since they are not certain this would resolve the starting issue they would only bill the battery after my confirmation, great gesture on JMD's part
  
  
• Skoda wants to have our car back at JMD for a detailed diagnosis by a technical expert from Skoda India to double check if there is anything wrong with the car, considering the car has been running alright for the past 2 weeks I've not yet taken them up on this offer.
  
  
• As per the above discussion JMD sent and replaced the Varta battery at my workplace earlier today. The car started without any hesitation, and as indicated by Pai Auto the boot actuator started working again as well. The technician who replaced the batter said the older Exide battery (recommended by Skoda) was taking load and the specs are not of the same power as the Varta, resident expert Jaggu confirmed the same too.
  
  
  
  
• Considering the glow plug system light does have its linkage to the electrical fittings to the car, I'm almost certain that this issue is behind us for now.
  
  
• They did not have an answer to why our car was updated with their Dieselgate fix without my approval or even knowledge, however they did accept that the manner in which the update process was carried out was wrong and unprofessional.
  
  
• Considering a lot of Skoda's customers did approve of the software updates I suggested them to pass on an extended 2 - 4 years of engine and gearbox warranty as a show of goodwill to people who have invested in their products and continued to support them in the dark days of Dieselgate. Considering Skoda continues to say that the updates would not affect the reliability or ownership experience for the cars that were updated, I would not see this as an expensive measure for a brand building exercise.

[sanchit.j]

Originally Posted by manson

• JMD Skoda had a Varta battery in stock which I've been asked to use for a week and get back if there is any issue we face with the car. Since they are not certain this would resolve the starting issue they would only bill the battery after my confirmation, great gesture on JMD's part

Since I just saw the image of the Varta battery you've posted, I'd also add further information on the case with my vehicle:

• Day before the battery went dead (MB also uses Varta in E200) and even remote locking didn't work in the morning. As a result got the car jump-started and was fine after that.
• I reported the matter to MB dealer as the battery was replaced by MB ASC in Jan 2019 only and as per SA it comes with 2 yrs. warranty
• SA offered to send a person to my place, once I'm back in Delhi, to thoroughly scan and assess if the battery went dead due to human error / alternator problem / faulty battery etc. before advising further.
• This morning, however, the battery again went dead and I told SA about it. He said these batteries as such doesn't go bad so soon and again suggested doing thorough diagnostics before further action and asked if on road assist can tow the vehicle to Delhi if I'm covered.
• The battery problem may seem off-topic in the context of this thread, but I'd like to ask if any expert can draw connections to the earlier incident of the car stalling when put into 'D' from idle and subsequent reporting of fuel pump problem by ASC; followed by now encountering this faulty battery?
• I understand both the components are separate and the fuel pump will pump would exhibit binary on/off behavior if the battery can't give it sufficient power to function. But is there any possibility of a faulty / low voltage battery causing consequential damage to an electronic fuel pump?

[Superleggera]

I have faced similar issue in my Maruti Esteem almost 10 years ago and fuel pump was the culprit. The issue used to surface only when the fuel level goes beyond a certain limit (less than half) and the car was running perfectly fine with fuel levels above half. The fuel pump was not able to pump the fuel when its low.

When it happens next time, please notice the fuel level in your car. If its on the lower side refuel and see if that happens again.

[BeigeDemon]

Originally Posted by manson

4. This is not the first time for me that JMD Skoda has goofed up in their diagnosis, the last time around the gearbox failed they replaced the mechatronics unit out of habit which was immediately followed up by a gear shifter mechanism replacement, albeit on partially paid basis thanks to the goodwill warranty.

Great post, very informative, thank you very much for sharing.

Curious, how often in your 7 years of ownership have you had DSG failures, how much did the replacements cost, did warranty cover them, and how long was the car in the workshop each time? Does your beauty come with the 7 speed petrol DSG?