Seat Leon MK4 infotainment malfunction - Help needed

[Lelloo]

Hi everyone,

I have a Seat Leon MK4 from 2020 and I'm experiencing an issue with the infotainment system.
The screen shows flickering lines and is split into two, although the touchscreen functionality still works.

I went to the Seat dealership, but since the car is no longer under warranty, they only speculated it's a hardware issue and suggested replacing the entire unit, which would cost around €1000. Their assumption didn’t seem very reliable, so I’m wondering:
- Has anyone else encountered this issue?
- Did you find any alternative solution other than replacing the whole module?

Thanks in advance!

 

[East Yorkshire Retrofits]

What’s your current infotainment software version?

2020 will have been manufactured with terrible software, if it hasn’t been updated then most of the car will have outstanding updates. (Updates that all need to be performed together to ensure the correct software baseline)

 

[Lelloo]

What’s your current infotainment software version?

2020 will have been manufactured with terrible software, if it hasn’t been updated then most of the car will have outstanding updates. (Updates that all need to be performed together to ensure the correct software baseline)

Current software version is 1969. The dealer told me it's the latest.
Perhaps it's a coincidence, but also the gps started working eratically (as in it localises me 200 km away from where I am at) and sometimes it doesn't "read" the road signs. All those malfunctions started at once

Thank you for your help!

 

[East Yorkshire Retrofits]

In that case the display issues are unlikely to be software

 

[Tell]

Electronic. Probably something coming off a circuit board . Costs start to escalate. Could be some bit of corrupted memory so it's not seeing what's suppose to be in the memory but something else.

 

[Lelloo]

Electronic. Probably something coming off a circuit board . Costs start to escalate. Could be some bit of corrupted memory so it's not seeing what's suppose to be in the memory but something else.

Thank you for your answer.
I resigned myself to the idea that I have to replace the whole module... ‍

I initially presumed that I could only change a part of the hardware (like a fault sensor or something), but now the infotainment only shows the vertical lines, no more split screen, so it's getting worse day by day.

It works slightly better when I shift on reverse (it does show a shaking view of the camera), so you can imagine my confusion with regard to what the issue might be

 

[monikagreyy]

Hi everyone,

I have a Seat Leon MK4 from 2020 and I'm experiencing an issue with the infotainment system.
The screen shows flickering lines and is split into two, although the touchscreen functionality still works.

I went to the Seat dealership, but since the car is no longer under warranty, they only speculated it's a hardware issue and suggested replacing the entire unit, which would cost around €1000. Their assumption didn’t seem very reliable, so I’m wondering:
- Has anyone else encountered this issue?
- Did you find any alternative solution other than replacing the whole module?

Thanks in advance!


View attachment 49703

View attachment 49702

Yeah, I’ve seen a few people with similar issues on the MK4 Leon and other VW Group cars from the same period. It’s not always the whole unit that’s gone bad — sometimes it’s just the display panel or a loose ribbon cable between the screen and the main board.
If the touchscreen is still responding normally, that’s usually a good sign the main brain of the infotainment is fine. You could try taking it to a specialist who repairs car electronics instead of the dealership — they can often swap just the LCD or fix the connection for a fraction of what SEAT wants to charge.

 

[Tell]

Similar on mib2 someone replaced the front panel but didnt buy the one with the nav button. Luckily you can work around that by pressing another button then selecting navigation. Mib2 the front screens and buttons on units with and without navigation are interchangeable although the infotainment unit in the glove box is different. The data harness and signal sending is the same.

It depends how much cash you want to splash without knowing it will fix it or leave it to a professional. You could buy the screen and try it and sell on if it wasn't the solution. Make sure all the button are the same though . Think it was a wreckers screen the person had bought (I identified the guys mistake on the screen bought). Obviously need the Leon 4 mib3 version. Ebay might turn up the screen, then the tools to release it and a swap out (might be a YouTube video you never know). SSPs on a Leon 4 would show what was fitted as options. Those illusive parts catalogues. Other board members might have a link. My book marking isnt good on parts catalogues. Workshop manuals etc. That's if you want to do it as DIY and its the front screen failing.

 

[Lelloo]

Guys, thank you for all the info and ideas provided, I appreciate it a lot!
After reading your today's messages, I made a few calls to find a specialist.

Meanwhile, guess what happened: I was notified that there is a new software release - version 1988, I downloaded it (a big file around 1,9 GB), installed it and, amazingly, now the infotainment works! I am astonished.

It seems that only 2 things remained "unsolved":
1. It does show some very very fine vertical red and green lines (see picture attached) but it doesn't "tremble" anymore, so I can totally live with that.
2. I still get the error of not "reading" road signs and it localises the car at around 15 km from where I am at.

So, for anyone facing a similar issue - there is hope in a software update

 

[Tell]

Well I reckon its one of those early buggy MQB Evo cars like the Formentor. I didnt follow early Leon 4 faults, it was enough following the Formentor ones. You probably still got outstanding systems that need updating. Only the infotainment system is updated over the air, the others aren't. The car is a distributed computer system so only one part of the system is getting updated over the air. The car if fitted with a TSR camera should be working. Lane assist uses the same high definition camera. The V shape in the top windscreen.

Its possible if its a second hand car a previous owner might have hacked the coding of the car. A dealer would refresh the appropriate system back to how it should be. Failing that, it's a fault or operator error.

 

[Lelloo]

Oh wow, I'm learning a lot by reading your replies.
Indeed, lane assist works perfectly and I had no idea it's the same TSR camera used for this feature.

Also, I am the second owner but I don't think that the first one hacked the coding.

I believe the dealer had no idea/didn't care about the other systems that needed updating - they kept telling me that the infotainment has the latest version and they cannot do anything else about it. I had a feeling there may be other updates that are not done over the air and when I raised this issue they said there aren't.

Now that you confirmed my guessing, would you be so kind to tell me what exactly to ask the dealer? You said "to refresh the appropriate system back to how it should be" and while I do understand the basic principle, it seems that I have to be very explicit with the dealer.

Thank you so much!

 

[Tell]

Oh wow, I'm learning a lot by reading your replies.
Indeed, lane assist works perfectly and I had no idea it's the same TSR camera used for this feature.

Also, I am the second owner but I don't think that the first one hacked the coding.

I believe the dealer had no idea/didn't care about the other systems that needed updating - they kept telling me that the infotainment has the latest version and they cannot do anything else about it. I had a feeling there may be other updates that are not done over the air and when I raised this issue they said there aren't.

Now that you confirmed my guessing, would you be so kind to tell me what exactly to ask the dealer? You said "to refresh the appropriate system back to how it should be" and while I do understand the basic principle, it seems that I have to be very explicit with the dealer.

Thank you so much!

Its on the cars VIN number so they look that up on their system and check you have all the relevant updates. There are lane assist cameras that do just lane assist but if you got TSR it doubles up. You can just change the dealer if unhappy with them.

People who have access to the Vag system can lookup your VIN and tell you whether you have anything missing. A good dealer updates the assorted parts of the system when they get the note to do it. You could always have a corrupted or dysfunctional system. Hence where previous owners fiddling with the coding can leave a following owner with a problem.

 

[Lelloo]

Thank you so much, Tell! You’ve been really helpful and made this girl very happy.

I got stuck on the fact that I have only one dealer in my city but I'm considering the option of going to another dealer in a different city.