Problem on Seat ibizas Ecomotive

[mikros1988]

Hi all,

I own a Seat Ibiza 1.2 TSI Ecomotive equipped with start&stop system, registered in my country (Greece) on 06/2011.
After making complains for headlights not being bright enough the following malfunction has been identified:
Headlights and position lights are running in low voltage while the engine is idle or running.

The local dealer is unable to repair my car while claiming that she has not input from Seat central operations and no repair method has been recommended by Seat.

Technical Info
Dipped beam and position lights (both front and rear) run in low voltage when the engine is running. When activation key is at on position or the car is in stop mode (waiting for a traffic light) both position lights and dipped beam are running in normal voltage.

Please find below a grid describing the voltage values during several states of my seat ibiza:

State              Battery Voltage                Dipped Beam Voltage
running                 14.2                               9,5
stop/on mode             12,5                             11,1

Below you can find the same experiments for the main beam working as supposed to.

State              Battery Voltage               Main Beam Voltage
running           14.2                                12,8
stop/on mode      12,5                             11,5

Please consider that the grounding of the headlights have been tested and no issue has been identified. Furthermore, the same issue occurs both on the front AND the rear position lights on both sides.

Repair attempts
In order to repair the issue i have visited three times the local dealer and the following actions were performed:
1. The problem was identified. Common source problems were excluded
2. The comfort unit was replaced with no result
3. The comfort control module was reprogrammed in order to fix the issue. Once again there was no result.

Car details:
The car has never been involved in a car accident and no modifications have ever taken place on the car.

Finally, I was told that the same issue has been identified in other Seat ibiza's ecomotive models too and also on VW with start&stop system while it does not occur on seat ibizas without start&stop system.

Has anyone identified the same issue? Can someone verify that the same issue occurs on his 1.2tsi ecomotive ibiza? Any hint how to handle this situation as my warranty expires in a few days?

 

[NetworkMan]

I'm pretty sure that mine does not have this problem. When I have time I'll try to guess what might be wrong. If you have reported the fault within the warranty period and teh dealers have not been able to fix it then surely they cannot refuse to continue even when the warranty runs out. I should write to the Greek SEAT agent making it clear that you are still waiting for a satisfactory repair.

 

[mikros1988]

I'm pretty sure that mine does not have this problem. When I have time I'll try to guess what might be wrong. If you have reported the fault within the warranty period and teh dealers have not been able to fix it then surely they cannot refuse to continue even when the warranty runs out. I should write to the Greek SEAT agent making it clear that you are still waiting for a satisfactory repair.

Could you please provide more information about your car? (1.2 tsi? Start&stop? RHD or LHD? manufacture year?)

Even better can you try measuring the voltage of the dipped beam while the engine is running?

thank in advance for your time.

 

[medview]

Low volts

Hi All
I confirm the same surprising finding!

I have a 09/2011 1.2TSI SE Economotive 5 door manual.
Engine idling, battery voltage 14.5V with dipped headlights running. Fluke 77 DVM.
The voltage measurement was with respect to chassis (although battery negative <0.1V).
I exposed the terminals of the passengers side dipped beam and measured 9.6V DC.
The headlight negative connection was at 0.1V.

I then switched off the engine but left the ignition on so the dipped beams stayed on and remeasured 11.1V. Something interesting is going on... I wonder if there's AC present?

I am less troubled by this effect as I have Osram nightbreaker plus 55W lamps which are inherently brighter/whiter.

The car is due it's first service in a few months and I will mention the issue then.

Joe

 

[NetworkMan]

Mikros,

Sorry about the delay in replying but I have been away for a while.

Mine is a 1.2 TSI 5 door manual SE Ecomotive with start-stop, right hand drive. It was delivered to the UK in Feb. 2011 and built in either Jan. or Feb. I can't say that I've observed the lights being particularly dim and yes, with the engine running, it is highly likely that there is an AC component superimposed on the the DC level. Not many meters will give a correct RMS or even average reading under these conditions.

This must be related to the energy recuperation system. The best description I've yet found on the Web is SSP477 for the Audi A1 which will be much the same as the Ibiza - the voltage stabiliser under the seat looks the same, for example.

I wonder if the dip lights are run off the voltage stabiliser (DC - DC converter) even though the SSP477 doesn't say so. This might explain a difference between dip beam and main beam.

Round here there are many hills. If I have the heater fan set to speed 2 I can hear the fan speed up when I go down a hill and the engine is on the overun. When I step on the gas again to climb the hill the other side I can hear the fan speed slow. This shows that the alternator is charging the battery on the overun (perhaps 15 volts) but probably not when the car is under drive (perhaps about 12 volts), all as expected. Is yours like that I wonder?

 

[NetworkMan]

I just did a visual check on mine, sitting in the car in daylight with the dipped lights on, shining on the garage door.

I can see no difference in brightness between engine running and engine stopped. Having seen that I won't bother trying to measure the voltage across the lights.