666Markyboy

Hi Guys....Newbie here on the forum.... been luking a while reading up as much as i can... i'm not actually a Skoda owner...i have an Audi A3 but to my knowledge it is an indentical platform to one of the skoda models,(not sure which)... i've posted my question on another Audi forum but so far no joy so here's hoping you guys can help

i have joined the ranks of A3 ownership and bought a 1999 1.8T Quattro but i have a couple of issues the main one being the drivers information screen in the center of the instrument cluster it has the missing lines that seem to be a common problem reading the other threads, ive read loads on this subject on this site but all threads seem to end with no positive fix ... ive had the cluster out and tried packing the screen out a bit to improve electrical contacts but that didn't work so ive bought a BNIB replacement off ebay for the princely sum of £30 (Bargain) anyway iv'e plugged it in and it all seems to work ok lcd screen is perfect dials work etc... however obviously the car wont start as it is not coded to the car so the immobilizer kicks in... this is where things get a little grey for me i have a full registered copy of VAG-COM 409 at my disposal and the correct lead to use it with but reading the ROSS-TECH site i need the SKC a four digit code (for my year of car ) i have a tag with my keys which accord ing to some threads contains this code however mine only shows part of the VIN and a 7 digit code (that would be for newer cars so i dont think it's my SKC)

So to cut a long story short what i want to know is :-

what sort of luck have people had obtaining the SKC for their car ??
either via the dealer (price / time / booking in etc)
or have they used other methods ? i beleive there is another cable i can get and software called VAG TACHO available of ebay, but is it worth paying for just to use once ?

The next thing is , should i obtain this SKC does anyone have a detailed explanation of how to code my new instrument cluster to the car using VAG-COM

Last of all an apology to the admins as i'm going to post this in the A4 forum too as there seems to be a larger following in that forum and i'm thinking the procedure will be identical to both models of car

Many thanks and if i can get to the bottom of this problem i would be quite happy to do a full right up of the job with photo's etc as it does seem to be a common problem

P.S i did mention a couple of problems.... i'm doing mainly motorway miles and for a 1.8 (turbo or not) it does seem a little heavy on the juice considering i'm just cruising at 75 ish .... would cleaning the MAF sensor help this or am i looking at maybe a remap biased towards economy ??? again i'm new to this type of motor (turbo) so perhaps i'm expecting too much but i would have thought more than 30mpg on a 80 mile run on the motorway at 70/80 mph in fact if i drop it down to 60 it seems to get worse ....

Any thoughts appreciated and sorry for the long post

Cheers Mark

fordfan

Don't think that you can get SKCs from the dealer, when they program keys it is all done online through their diagnostic equipment and the techs don't see the code. The 7 digit code is a derivative of the 4 digit code and will expire after a short time. The problem is that you will need the SKC for the replacement dash and without vehicle details for it I shouldn't think that that would be possible from a dealer. Finding a dealer that will fit and code your second hand dash will be a problem, they would rather sell you new parts.

VAG Tacho 1.7 will get some codes but I have found it not 100% reliable, I have had success with Octavia and Felicia SKCs but it won't read a Fabia one (it puts a letter in instead of a digit in the code it gives me), the later one is meant to be better. There are SKC readers out there which try to pull it from the engine ECU rather than the dash, but this won't help you with your used dash. I should think that a dealer (if you can find one to do the job) will probably charge you an equal or larger ammount than the VAG Tacho would cost.

You should find the key coding procedure on the Ross Tech site, for an Octavia it is 17 (dash panel), 11 (login with the 4 digit SKC prefixed with a 0), 10 (adaptation), channel 21 and tell it the number of keys.

With regard to your fuel economy, do a proper brim to brim consumption check and find out what other people are getting.

VRStu

I agree with fordfan that all VW dealers now use the online facility to generate the codes and the tech doesn't have the opportunity to view it.

However if I found myself in your position I would be asking Audi to provide me with a code under the block exemption rules. AFAI understand it they are legally bound to make the details available to you for a reasonable fee. I think you'll need to phone Milton Keynes but it's certainly worth a shot.

I would cite that you have no intention of commiting any fraud as you will enter the current vehicle mileage into the dash when you install it.

__________________
Stu

Stu's Websites - http://www.fabia-vrs.com & http://www.octavia-vrs.com

Stu's Car - 2008 Audi S3 - Ibis White, Black Optics Pack, Privacy Glass, Auto Bi Xenon Headlights, Rain Sensing Wipers, Bose Sound System, Ipod Prep, GSM Phone Prep, Flat Bottom Multi Function Steering Wheel, Electric Folding Mirrors, Acoustic Parking, Cruise Control, Interior Light Pack, Non Smokers Pack.

SWMBO's Car - 2008 Seat LEON TDi Stylance, Black Magic, Sports Pack, Rear Parking Sensors.

Something for Weekend - A Patio

666Markyboy

Hi thanks for the replies guys ... starting to sound like it maybe easier to replace the actual LCD screen out of the new dash into my old one rather than replace the entire dash

cjb

That's what I was going to suggest.