Big dripper

I am faced with a bill of over £600 for a replacement ECU in my wife's MKI 2004 Skoda Octavia VRS, as it failed due to water ingress. Is there some sort of design fault that has caused this? Surely an ECU should be sited and designed so the likelihood of this is minimal? Is this a known problem on this model?

Asked on 20 February 2010 by M.L., Huntingdon

Answered by Honest John
Terrible design and botched maintenence. The pollen filter lives in the vent well in the bulkhead, but is inaccessible. The vent well drains can get blocked, the pollen filter waterproof cover can get damaged, or the whole thing can get misfitted after the pollen filter is replaced when the garagehand finds he can't do it in the time he is allowed. Any of these allow rainwater into the car straight through the pollen filter. Same on Golfs, Leons and A3s, but the design was improved on Polos, Ibizas and Fabias where the filter can be removed and replaced from inside the passenger compartment.
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