OCTAVIA III Owners discussion thread

[MJKooLio]

I was about to say, you are describing what you see with a dead battery. Surprised it died so early on though. You have had weird things with your KESSY and a few car makers have now said you really want those keys well away from the car at home as it wakes that module up.

What I believe could have cause the loss of power to battery is that the boot is electric and I constantly use it; in car radio too when engine is off.

When I drive I have a Belkin charger in the center console connected to my iPhone to charge my phone via the cigarette 12V port. Also my opening and closing windows with KESSY remote.

And I listen to radio when engine is off in between jobs I go to (I'm a photographer) so between a 9am and 10am job I might sit in my car for twenty mins...

[woofy]

Guess it all depends how far you drive, if you were stuck in city traffic and then use up battery with the engine off a lot it probably hits it hard. I wouldn't have thought that much though, but depends on the control modules being awake as well.

[Spinifex]

One thing I found with my previous car (Mazda with stop-start) was the batteries do not last long.
When I started having issues, the car was not quite 3 years old. I got it replaced under warranty after a bit of an argument, as I was told the start-stop type batteries only have a 1 year warranty, and they cost something ridiculous like $500 !

I said that if I'd been told that during the sales spiel when buying the car, I would have thought seriously about going for a model without stop-start.... or had it permanently turned off.

It's a bit of a kick in the guts to NOT be told that you're potentially up for $500/year in replacement batteries !

[Gerrycan]

That seems a little odd that the stop/start on the Mazda affected the battery life so much.
My understanding of how the 'skyactive' stop/start system worked was that it stopped the engine at a specific phase and the restart process was enabled by an injection/ignition of fuel rather than being turned over by the starter motor.
You would think that would impose less load otherwise why bother with such a complicated process?

[brad]

We have a Honda Odyssey with Stop/Start. Currently at ~34,000km. The start takes a lot longer than it should as the battery / spark plugs, etc get some age on them.

I think stop/start is going to be a bonanza for the dealers in a few years time.

My L-plate daughter and I turn it off as it makes the car a pain to drive and doesn't appear to save any fuel around town.

My wife is a lazy sod and would happily sit on a steaming turd rather than take time to move it, so she happily leaves it on all the time.

[brad]

What I believe could have cause the loss of power to battery is that the boot is electric and I constantly use it; in car radio too when engine is off.

When I drive I have a Belkin charger in the center console connected to my iPhone to charge my phone via the cigarette 12V port. Also my opening and closing windows with KESSY remote.

And I listen to radio when engine is off in between jobs I go to (I'm a photographer) so between a 9am and 10am job I might sit in my car for twenty mins...

Have you tried a solar trickle charger?

[Lucas_R]

We have stop-start in my wifes Mazda 3 SP25 and we both hate it so we disable it each time we use the car. Wish it had a permanent off feature but it doesnt.

Its all a scam anyway to mask emissions and fuel figures. In the real world any fuel savings are so minimal anyway. And the cost of replacement batteries will far outweigh any fuel savings.

I have disabled (via VCDS) the start-stop in my brothers Mk3 Octavia TDI and friends Mk7 R as they both hated it too.

[HPRS230]

I Haven't got Stop/start... yet, But this Tiff (5th gear) vid is interesting, But agree with you L_R with battery replacement.
Im thinking of getting a battery charger wired up for a weekend boost...
I think Stop start is a great idea, but great ideas sometimes don't work in the real world..

Has anyone do a week with it on and a week with it off?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BYkKa1Jo3U

[woofy]

I wouldn't stress, I have a manual RS as well and it barely ever comes on. I wondered if it was working at first. To get it to come on in a manual it has to meet certain conditions which are unknown to me, but programmed in. Then you have to have it in neutral and put the handbrake on and let the clutch out. I don't know about you, but in city driving that rarely happens unless I'm waiting for someone parked outside and I'd normally turn it off anyway. I didn't both disabling it after realising that. If you have the DSG its a whole different story.

[Mysticality]

Then you have to have it in neutral and put the handbrake on and let the clutch out.

In the few Golf TSI's and GTI's; Polo TSI's that I've driven, I've found that irrespective of the handbrake, the auto stop/start shuts the engine down with:
Foot brake = on
Gear stick = neutral
Clutch = out

Very interesting that the Octavia vRS is different...

[woofy]

Actually I might have put the handbrake in, but could swear it was in the manual. It could be a new thing though. But nonetheless at the lights noone with a manual is going to sit there with the clutch out and in neutral....well they could be the abuse wouldn't be worth it!

[Mysticality]

Actually I might have put the handbrake in, but could swear it was in the manual. It could be a new thing though. But nonetheless at the lights noone with a manual is going to sit there with the clutch out and in neutral....well they could be the abuse wouldn't be worth it!

I do that all the time! Also, there's no lag putting it in gear if the input shaft has already stopped.

[pjam73]

To get it to come on in a manual it has to meet certain conditions which are unknown to me, but programmed in. Then you have to have it in neutral and put the handbrake on and let the clutch out.

I test drove a manual RS Wagon at the weekend and it triggered stop/start multiple times, none of which involved the handbrake. I just came to a halt at the lights, keeping my foot on the brake, and then put it into neutral and then took my foot off the clutch. Exactly as it works in the manual 2013 Renault Clio that we have.

[woofy]

Yeah I tested it on the way home and that worked. I think it must have been an example in the manual. Having said that, never do I let the clutch out and put it in neutral at lights or you would have the car behind you on the horn before you were even halfway through.

[Jondalar]

Back when I drove manuals I was taught to put it in neutral, too much wear on the throw out bearing if you're sitting with the clutch in for minutes.

I find the stop start works well with DSG apart from not being psychic, as in there are often times when it stops just as the traffic is about to move. You can try to avoid this by only braking lightly but it doesn't always work. I find that with the engine stopped by the time my foot lifts off the brake and is halfway to the accelerator the engine is running every time. I think it definitely saves a significant amount of fuel in heavy traffic. What I do wish was that there was an override button on the steering wheel so that you can temporarily prevent it engaging by holding the button down. Our normal drives are 30+km so I don't think that's going to leave a battery charge issue.

Cheers,
Karl

Yeah I tested it on the way home and that worked. I think it must have been an example in the manual. Having said that, never do I let the clutch out and put it in neutral at lights or you would have the car behind you on the horn before you were even halfway through.