Could Low Battery Cause This Glow Plug Fault?

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

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Joined
28 Apr 2011
Posts
15,297
Location
Barnet, London
My car is a Skoda Superb Mk3 1.6l Diesel.

On Saturday I left the interior light on.
I drove it Tuesday... didn't notice.
I next drove it Friday and noticed before starting. Turned it off. It turned over for longer than usual, but started. (Usually is pretty instant)

I'm not sure when I noticed, maybe driving home, but the check engine light was on.
I checked a couple of days later when I found my ODBII dongle and it told me -

P0684 [0x0684]
Glow plug control module to ECM/PCM communication error - range/performance problem

04976 [0x001370]
P068400: Glow Plug Control Module to PCM Comm.Circuit Range/Performance

I reset the warning but noticed initially it wouldn't start, turning over and over. I Turned off, turned on and then it started instantly but the check engine light was on again (If not instantly, shortly after or maybe the drive home) and the dash gave me a warning about battery being low. The drive home it started instantly.

This morning I put the battery on charge, then called a local garage and booked it in for Thursday.
I've just taken it off charge and reset the warning again. It has just started three times instantly with no warning light coming on.

Tomorrow I will use it for the gym as usual and Wednesday I will drive 1.5 hours to work and a similar length home.

I guess I will see how it is over the next two days, but I was curious... all that back story to then ask, could the error be related to a low battery? I'm hoping I can get away with not needing the garage, or is it best to let them have a look over it?

Thanks.
 
I think I replaced the battery in March 2023.

Having said that, I found an email from the service saying I needed one (at £270ish) and I thought I'd found one myself at closer to £90. I thought I'd ordered it and fit it myself, but I can't find a receipt email, so maybe I never got round to ordering it...
 
Wow, interesting. Did you get any errors due to this 'coding'? I guess not if you replaced official with official...

This morning's gym trip has shown the engine light come back on, so I'll leave my booking with the garage tomorrow. Maybe it's more than just the battery.
 
Diddums said:
If you can swap it over without coding, then you're wasting money on the garage.
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I guess my concern is, we don't know it's the battery 100%. I charged it for 8+ hours yesterday, plus nothing else has really indicated the battery has struggled other than one warning after I turned it over for about 10 seconds without it starting (even then, it turned over quickly the whole time). I released, tried again and it started instantly and I never saw the warning again. I think I'd be happier with them checking everything over. On a Skoda forum, someone had these errors and it was a little comms box in the engine.
 
Hey all, bump/update of an old thread. Around the time of this thread, I went to a recommended local garage and they did the glow plugs. In the last month it was clear the battery needed doing, it ran low, I charged it, it ran low again etc...

Now, based on this thread, I knew I was looking at £250ish for the battery. The garage has fitted a Yuasa YBX9096 70Ah 760A AGM Stop Start battery today, the battery costing £260 inc VAT. Trying to google that, there aren't many results for that exact battery, but one is at £140. One that looks almost the same is at Halfords for £230. As I skim through the thread though, three times Yuasa has been mentioned as a brand to go for, so... am I probably okay, or have I been ripped off?
 
Armageus said:
In my experience Tayna are normally the cheapest supplier of batteries
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Are they quite well-known and trusted? I'm very aware, for example, that there are things I could buy on AliExpress that are much cheaper than perhaps more trusted sellers. I don't mind paying more to know everything is genuine and above board.

**EDIT** I did wonder about calling the garage to ask about it, but I'm not sure there's anything to gain. It's annoying as they are very convenient for me, as in I can walk to them in my lunch break, or on my walk back from the gym.
 
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I guess I'm not too concerned, given it's a good brand. I came here to check if it was one that you guys had said to stay away from.

I'll see if there are other garages near me, but tbh that had the best google reviews, with many commenting on their honesty and trustworthiness. That's why I'm considering asking them about it.
 
I was thinking about this again and it reminded me of a chat with my bike mechanic, who I've known quite a while and trust. (He works in a shop, not just some guy) and I commented to him when he said he could get Product X for £Y and I commented I could get it online for cheaper, he had a moan about this was why shops are going out of business. My question then is, why do they pay more? Do shops/garages get locked into buying from one supplier?
 
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