Cruise Control Hiccup

Faults and Technical chat for the Skoda Kamiq
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Chiguy
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:31 pm

Post by Chiguy »

Had a strange "incident" when trying to engage cruise control whilst driving on a long dual carriageway. Having reached the permitted 70 mph, tried to engage the CC but to no avail despite switching it off then on again then trying to re-select several times . An icon lit up on the dash that, according to the manual, required a trip to the main dealer for further investigation !
Having parked up and being ushered around a few "retail outlets" for a while ! we then made the return journey and, surprise surprise, the CC worked normally on selection as it always had until this incident, and no icon appeared on the dash. Have not had the opportunity to check it out on another trip yet to see if was just a "glitch" but has anyone else experienced this type of hiccup with the CC ?

Lofty
Posts: 256
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2020 5:05 pm
Location: Bristol

Post by Lofty »

No, not had the problem but as is so often the case with these “little glitches” just switch off the engine/ignition, wait a minute or so the restart the engine often eliminates the problem. It’s almost like a ‘soft reboot’
DTEG
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:31 pm

Post by DTEG »

Yes, I've had this, and diagnosed a pattern, which I have fed back to my dealer for what it's worth. Odds are you left the physical switch in the "on" position permanently. The manual advises against this, but only for safety, not technical, reasons – and it was never a problem doing so with our Yeti. The cruise control runs diagnostics when first turned on. If you leave the switch on, those diagnostics are carried out during ignition, when there is a drop in the battery voltage. Especially in colder weather or if doing short journeys that can be enough to trip the diagnostics, disable CC and trigger the icon. If you keep the switch off until you plan to use the CC, the diagnostics are done once the engine is running and there's plenty of volts from the alternator, and it all runs fine. Just remember to switch it off again afterwards. I didn't the other day, and lo and behold, the dreaded speedo/exclamation icon appeared – but for the first time in a year, since realising what the problem was, and it only happening intermittently anyway.

Easy firmware fix if Skoda can be bothered, but it's just one of a few things that seem a little battery voltage sensitive so just the tip of the iceberg and some might require hardware revision.
Kamiq 1.0 110 SE manual, new since January 2021
Chiguy
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:31 pm

Post by Chiguy »

Thanks for the response and detailed info. It seems a bit of a "faf" to have to remember to disable the CC to each time after use, but so be it if it prevents the problem, although I would have thought a simple Skoda software tweak could be devised as a permanent "fix" - if they can be bothered ! I never experienced the problem with my previous VW Golf CC in 5 years of use, and given the assumed VAG heritage with Skoda, its strange the "glitch" has somehow now been introduced - the wonder of car electronics eh !
Lofty
Posts: 256
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2020 5:05 pm
Location: Bristol

Post by Lofty »

DTEG
excellent feedback, so useful for forum members.
DTEG
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:31 pm

Post by DTEG »

You're welcome. As I said, it was never a problem with our Yeti, with identical switchgear. I guess each new revision they can't help but "enhance" the electronics (even with our current global chip shortage) but don't always think through the implications. Whether CC is handled at the engine block level might rather determine whether a fix is likely, manufacturers (and dealers) being rather reluctant to mess with the fundamentals if they're basically working. If the timing of the diagnostics is more on the dashboard/infotainment side (the two being rather tightly integrated from what I gather), we might be more likely to be in luck.
Kamiq 1.0 110 SE manual, new since January 2021
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