Warning lights and now won't start

poppydoodlesdad

Active Member
Feb 6, 2012
27
0
Hello,

Hoping for a bit of insight but this quite involved so bear with me.

Driving home this evening suddenly got a bunch of warning lights and beeping.

The warning lights are ESP, Power steering (amber initially) and airbag.

My wife was driving and after pulling over we restarted the car, the lights remained but as they were amber and we were only about ten miles from home we drove cautiously onward. While driving on the motorway the car drove fine though the wife, who was driving, reported the steering felt a little different than usual but we did have a canoe on the roof which may explain slight change in driving characteristics.

Once off the motorway there were a couple of occasions where there appeared to be a slight loss of power, all the dial seemed to die, though the engine did not stop, but we also got oil, brake and red steering lights. It would then pick up and we would go back to the three amber lights mentioned above.

Once we got home and emptied the car out tried restarting the car and it wouldn't start. Now has a red power-steering light and the two others as mentioned.

It is a 1.6 Altea, '57 plate, it hasn't been used much over the summer but has always started and run fine. Today we drove about 15 miles no problem but on the way home we got all teh warning lights.

I've got AA home start so I am going to call them out tomorrow and see if they can get it started and / or do some kind of diagnostic and then see where we go from there but just wondered if anyone had any ideas in the meantime?

Many thanks

NICK
 

AlteaXLDriver

Active Member
Sep 13, 2017
4
0
Hi. I'm certainly no expert but those symptoms and warning lamps sound very similar to the problem I've just had. Does the car start fine then stop after 1 second?
 

poppydoodlesdad

Active Member
Feb 6, 2012
27
0
The AA man couldn't fix it or tell exactly what the problem was so he towed in to the SEAT main dealer. 200 quid later they decided it was the ABS control unit (though they apparently discovered this by unplugging it and the car then started! So much for advanced diagnostics!), which was going to cost £900 to replace!)

Before the they dealer had it, it would turn over and just about start then die immediately. If you tried to start it again straight away it would tun over but no hint of it catching. Leave it for bit and try again and the pattern would repeat.

Now the ABS unit is disconnected it starts and runs fine.

What does anyone make of this?
 

Russell Jupp

Active Member
Dec 5, 2017
9
0
The AA man couldn't fix it or tell exactly what the problem was so he towed in to the SEAT main dealer. 200 quid later they decided it was the ABS control unit (though they apparently discovered this by unplugging it and the car then started! So much for advanced diagnostics!), which was going to cost £900 to replace!)

Before the they dealer had it, it would turn over and just about start then die immediately. If you tried to start it again straight away it would tun over but no hint of it catching. Leave it for bit and try again and the pattern would repeat.

Now the ABS unit is disconnected it starts and runs fine.

What does anyone make of this?

I'd love to know the outcome of this?
 

poppydoodlesdad

Active Member
Feb 6, 2012
27
0
The outcome is that it is sitting on the drive while I decide what to do / can afford!

The replacement part is 600 quid FFS! If / when I have some money I might try and get a refurbed unit and see if I can get that fitted. I really like the car and it is fine in all other ways (and I'd just had new tyres fitted!). I'm currently using my father-in-law's Jeep which is nice but 3.7 litre V6 does 16mpg!!! Double FFS!!!!
 

poppydoodlesdad

Active Member
Feb 6, 2012
27
0
It's been a long while but there is now an end to this story.

Having sat on the drive for a year, there came a point where something really had to be done.

In a last ditch attempt at getting it repaired, I took it to a local garage recommended for their service and because they do a lot of VAG ECU stuff and I hoped they might have been able to do something along the lines of a refurb or similar.

Well needn't have bothered. Just charged me another hundred quid to tell me what I already knew. But I did at least come away with relevant error codes and part numbers etc.

It was the wife who then managed to find a specialist ABS pump repairer almost literally on our doorstep!

Took the car along and they said it would take about a week and cost 360 quid. Result!

Well, of course it's never quite that simple is it!

First of all the particular ABS module on my SEAT just happened to be one that they couldn't deal with but they had a reciprocal arrangement with another company that could do it, so they sent it off.

Came back a week later, they fitted it. Didn't work! So they ordered one off e-bay to check if it was a problem with the unit or the car. E-bay one worked so they sent the original back for further work.

By now I'm wondering just how much I'm going to be in for and whether it was all worth the effort!

Well after about a month they had the original back and fitted, all working fine!

How much?

£365! No additional charges etc. Couldn't fault them, they kept at it till they got it sorted and stuck to the original quote.

Got the car MoTed the other day, apart from a split gator that needed replacing no other problems at all. Had a full service and car has been driving nicely since, so a happy ending! Eventually!

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk
 
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