Update on my ECU error

[shane_saintsfc]

Over a year ago now my car showed the Engine Warning Light and EPC light on the dash. According to the dealer I had the Checksum Error in the ECU and I need a new ECU at £1610. My car has also had the 24K5 update. I confirmed this with the dealer today, The work was done in May 2009

I purchased a fault code scanner/clearer yesterday and ran it on my car last night with No faults found. I presume the dealer cleared this when they had a look. I deleted the errors anyway and it removed the Engine warning light but the EPC light has stayed on.

I have spoken to Ben @ Shark who was very helpful and is pretty sure he can fix this. I am trying a local company in Portsmouth first called JKM in Portsmouth who will run a reflash of the ECU for £36 next week. If that does not fix it I will take the trip to Shark.

I not too bothered with this light as it does not affect the performance of the vehicle but I am now looking at buying a new VRS. With these lights on it will be impossible to sell the car.

Any other Ideas I have not tried?

[shane_saintsfc]

All now fixed!

Took the car to JKM in pompey today who re flashed the ECU for £36. According to them my car has never had a software update despite the dealers telling me I have had the 24k5 update. I am now warning light free!

Thanks to members in other threads on their help on this and also thanks to Ben who gave some decent advice.

[woodyallen]

That's ridiculous, name and shame the dealer who tried to con you out of £1610. JKM are great, had them fit my cruise control and will be returning the car to them for any work required I think.

[m0bov]

Send the bill to the dealer!

[shark_90]

Great news!

[RainbowFire]

Do you still have the paperwork from the alledged update in 2009? And from the other day when the dealer 'confirmed' the update had been applied? And from JKM confirming it hadn't?

Being new to the Octy, I don't know anything about the update. Was it a 'recall' type thing or did y'all have to pay for it? If you had to pay for the work and it wasn't done, you're well within your rights to reclaim the original cost (I believe the time-limit is 6 years). If it was claimed to have been done under recall or standard servicing, then I'd drop a line to Skoda UK detailing what happened. Either way, I'd be wanting a letter of explanation detailing why the work wasn't done and for them to foot the bill for having the corrective measure taken.

I suspect for £1600 they would have left the original unit in place and ran the update themselves....easy money!!

Edit:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/217032-2006-vrs-recall-notices-just-announced-ecu-and-ignition-coils/

.....shows the ECU update as a full-on recall.

Methinks the dealer was aiming for the flash and cash solution

I think I'd name the dealer, see if anyone else on here has been there so they can check if they've just been stamped as well. Might be a bit more in this......

Edited 27 October, 2011 by RainbowFore

[shane_saintsfc]

It was Winchester Motor Company. I have emailed a complaint in to Skoda customer services just now.

[muckipup]

Quite right - that is a disgrace!

[shane_saintsfc]

For those interested, This is the email I sent to Skoda this morning. I thought it's better I put this public in case others have the same problem as many have in the past.

Good Morning Skoda.

I am afraid I am writing this email as a complaint. I have had for a long time the Engine Warning Light and EPC light on my dash. This was taken to the dealer (Winchester Motor Company) who ran a scan as the problem was an Internal Checksum error in the ECU. The fix according to the dealer was £1600. According to the Skoda community on Briskoda.net this seems to be a common problem experienced by a number of Skoda customers. Link here.. http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/132857-help-my-epc-emissions-or-cel-check-engine-lamp-is-on/

From members who have had this problem before, the 24K5 campaign update fixed the issue as this was a software update in the ECU. According to the dealer my car had this done in May 2009 and I have the sticker in the boot saying this software update was done. I have spoken to a number of Independent V.A.G ECU specialists who tell me they have seen this problem before and a lot of the time it is because the dealer has claimed the 24K5 update went ahead but in fact hadn't.

Before I decided to get an independent company to look at my problem I double checked with Winchester Motor Company that my car definitely had the update which they confirmed on the 19th October this year.

Yesterday my car went to JKM Performance in Portsmouth who specialize in V.A.G & Skoda cars. They simple re-flashed my ECU with stock software which has fixed the issue. They also mentioned to me that my car had never had a software update done before. The version on my car had stayed the same since it came out the factory.

As you can imagine I am pleased that my problem has now been resolved but not impressed with the lies from Winchester Motor Company and the quote for a new ECU at £1600 when a new one is simply not needed. I feel sorry for owners who have fell for this before. I remember asking Winchester Motor Company if they could overwrite my ECU data with the latest version but they said this could not be done as I had already had it done. I am quite annoyed that I have had to spend quite a bit of money on Engine Scans at Skoda, Fault Readers and getting the work done elsewhere when if the update was done properly in 2009 when my car was still under warranty, this would not have cost me anything!

I have wanted the problem fixed for a while now so I could sell my car and purchase a brand new vRS as they a great cars. Unfortunately I am now having second thoughts if the aftercare is like this.

I look forward to your response.

Regards

Name

[RainbowFire]

Maybe one of our more enlightened members could throw some light on if and how it is possible to check the software version. (Even if it means talking to your local friendly VCDS user )

I work in IT and have never come across a system that wouldn't re-flash to the same version of firmware already on-board. Sounds more and more iffy to me.

[m0bov]

Why are you mailing Skoda?? Surely it was the dealers mistake?? If I pay for a fridge to be repaired and they messed upm I would'nt contact Hotpoint.

[shark_90]

There is a simple check with VCDS for this update.

The old version of software relates to a VAG Part number of : 1Z0 907 115 - 0010

The new version of the software relates to VAG Part number of: 1Z0 907 115 A - 0040

The service campaign that this relates to is 24K5

This is the definitive way to check whether your ECU actually has the 24K5 update regardless of whether it's been claimed for.

HTH

[shane_saintsfc]

Why are you mailing Skoda?? Surely it was the dealers mistake?? If I pay for a fridge to be repaired and they messed upm I would'nt contact Hotpoint.

Because this has happened at multiple dealers across the country as mentioned on other threads on this forum.

[woodyallen]

To think that they get grumpy when people refer to them as 'stealers'...this post is justification imo of the downright fraudulent activity that some in the network seem to attempt.

Disclaimer: Of course there are some good dealers out there....yadda yadda yadda