Potential warranty problem - flashing headlights

[MarksVRS]

My wife jumped in the car today to drive the kids the 400 metres to the bus stop and when she turned the ignition on, the dash lights and headlights apparently started flashing on and off intermittedly. She freaked out and turned the ignition off and came to see me.

As usual I asked her to try it with me watching and nothing wrong happened (although my daughter confirms the headlights were flashing in time with the dash lights, she was standing outside the garage at the time).

My theory is the auto-lights sensor is/was playing up. Since buying the car we have always kept the light switch on auto as it has always done an excellent job. The car was reversed into the garage so when she went to start it, the front of the car was facing out of the garage in a North-Easterly direction (i.e. toward the sun) so maybe it couldn't decide whether to turn the lights on or not?

My car was delivered late Sept 2009 so it is nearing the end of its warranty period. I just hate the idea of a fault that I cannot easily replicate.

[daft1014]

Geeze intermittent problems are annoying.

When I had my acc control panel fail I had a number of intermittent bugs appear. I couldn't replicate many of the issues. The dealer initially could not find any problems but they made a note on my file such that if it failed outside of warranty there would be a record and it would be fixed as goodwill.

In the end it failed and was replaced well before the end of warranty, but perhaps a call/email to the dealer is in order? At least they will have a record of it?

Was it just the headlights and dashlights and was your car dirty at the time? I don't want to downplay what happened but my auto lights seem to have a mind of their own if it hasn't been washed for a few weeks. Of course if it was other warning lights then the auto lights probably have nothing to do with it.

[Ryan_R]

Borrow a VCDS cable and scan for any logged faults. Or get the dealer to do it.

[meremale]

We've had it where the wipers have gone for no apparent reason and the lights staying on for an extended time during the day, and after reporting it upon the first service they couldn't find a fault and put it down to the censer on the screen possibly having dirt on it.

[MarksVRS]

Thanks for the responses.
Yep a call to a dealer is in order as a minimum. Trying to get the time at the moment is hard due to a project at work taking all my time.
Can anyone tell me if this cable will work:
VAG-COM KKL 409.1 OBD2 USB Cable Auto Scanner Scan Tool Audi VW SEAT Volkswagen | eBay
I have been wanting to buy a cable for a while now but in some ads they point out the Octavia as needing a different cable.

Yes it was only the dash lights that come on with the headlights. The car was washed 2 weeks ago but still cleaner than normal...! I was tossing up whether to wash the car but did the bike today instead.

[K1W1]

Yep a call to a dealer is in order as a minimum. Trying to get the time at the moment is hard due to a project at work taking all my time

Don't call them send an email. There can be no record of a call and then it becomes your word verses the recollection of a service advisor who probably didn't even work there when you rang. If you have time to post here you have time to email because you don't have to do that during the working day.

[Mysticality]

The auto lights come on when its dark, but have a sort of timer for turning off when its bright again.

I.E. You go into a tunnel, they'll go on. You come out again, they'll stay on for a bit to make sure its bright, then turn off.

Could it be the battery?

[MarksVRS]

The auto lights come on when its dark, but have a sort of timer for turning off when its bright again.

I.E. You go into a tunnel, they'll go on. You come out again, they'll stay on for a bit to make sure its bright, then turn off.

Could it be the battery?

Yes this was my understanding also, to prevent the lights turning on and off in quick succession, exactly what my car did! It has not happened again since although that does not make it right. The battery is strong, no issue with cranking and headlights when locking/unlocking the car.

As KIWI correctly says, I need to call and follow up with an email rather than complain about it, so doing that now..

[gldgti]

does the car have a factory alarm system?

sounds like something was going off rather than a fault to me.

perhaps it was unlocked using the key in the door?

[MarksVRS]

does the car have a factory alarm system?

sounds like something was going off rather than a fault to me.

perhaps it was unlocked using the key in the door?

All good guesses but unfortunately no alarm (that I know of?) and neither my wife or I would even be aware of a key hole in the door!!


I arranged to have it checked today and my wife has just reported the results.
Firstly I rang Skoda Parramatta on Monday to book it in and they fit us in today. After calling them I sent a follow up email and I received a call asking if everything was OK. I told them I just wanted to confirm the fault so they could diagnose it easily.

So my wife waited the 2hrs while they plugged the analyser in and checked for faults. They came back to her to say there were no faults logged that they could find, although they said the previous Dealer (Steve Jarvin) had programmed the reverse sensor incorrectly which was why the sensors were not cutting out with a trailer attached (I need to check them on the weekend to make sure they are finally working after almost 3 years!).

So no luck with the flashing lights but it is in their system. As always, my wife received no paperwork or record to suggest the warranty issue ever exisited.

[MarksVRS]

Hooray! Happy to say the reverse sensors have now been programmed to cut out when the trailer is connected and the display show the trailer image. Finally...

[VRS-Vic]

This has actually happened to me once before. I had stopped at a Petrol station to grab a drink and left my wife in the car. After maybe 30 seconds or so the headlights started flashing really quickly. Never found out why, but i figured it was something like a silent alarm to say the cars unlocked, but someone inside it?