Unwell van!

SamSara · Sep 13, 2023

Managed to limp home with a loss of power followed by the engine management light flashing then the ‘flying brick’ light. Called VW assist and a non VW AA person can get to me later. my all in plan covers this. Service was booked for 29th

Mr T · Sep 13, 2023

SamSara said:
Managed to limp home with a loss of power followed by the engine management light flashing then the ‘flying brick’ light. Called VW assist and a non VW AA person can get to me later. my all in plan covers this. Service was booked for 29th

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Oh no! Hope it’s nothing to serious (or costly). Fingers crossed for you.

SamSara · Sep 13, 2023

Mr T said:
Oh no! Hope it’s nothing to serious (or costly). Fingers crossed for you.

AA chap says it showed faults around the turbo. I am making an optimistic assumption that whatever it is it is covered by the All In cover I have. Seb is beyond upset because its unlikely to be fixed for our camping weekend for Run the Ring!! Currently I am googling VWS camper hire companies

GeeVee · Sep 13, 2023

Hello. Our van recently went in to limp mode whilst we were away on the continent. We had a flashing glow plug light on the dash. Was told by roadside recovery that it was ok to drive as the engine was in limp mode and couldn’t do damage.
DO NOT DRIVE IT!
Once back in the UK I took it to our local VW garage who found the original fault to be on the turbo. That was fixed under warranty but they also found the DPF was blocked. This was probably due to driving the van whilst in limp mode because, when in limp mode, the DPF does not enter a regenerative process. Cost a lot of money as DPF is not covered by my warranty.

SamSara · Sep 14, 2023

GeeVee said:
Hello. Our van recently went in to limp mode whilst we were away on the continent. We had a flashing glow plug light on the dash. Was told by roadside recovery that it was ok to drive as the engine was in limp mode and couldn’t do damage.
DO NOT DRIVE IT!
Once back in the UK I took it to our local VW garage who found the original fault to be on the turbo. That was fixed under warranty but they also found the DPF was blocked. This was probably due to driving the van whilst in limp mode because, when in limp mode, the DPF does not enter a regenerative process. Cost a lot of money as DPF is not covered by my warranty.

I travelled about 5 miles home then 10 miles to Breeze. The AA guy told me about the DPF issue if I were to drive it.

Calimagg · Sep 14, 2023

SamSara said:
I travelled about 5 miles home then 10 miles to Breeze. The AA guy told me about the DPF issue if I were to drive it.

Hope it’s not an expensive fix!

SamSara · Oct 4, 2023

Update: van is still with Breeze and the warranty company are demanding more evidence for the replacement of the turbo. I had a very scary call from Breeze asking for permission to proceed. they need to take it out to gather evidence because repair/replacement is so very expensive and if the warranty company disagree i have to cover the cost of removal then take it from there. 99% of the time they accept it. I do hope I’m not in the 1%. I could barely sleep last night!

RoB5urf · Oct 4, 2023

We had a similar(ish) experience last month. On the M5 and the Coil light started flashing. Also noticed a lack of acceleration. Called VW assist. No obvious codes displayed but he eventually diagnosed an issue with "air flow intake". He checked for holes in various hoses but couldn't find any and said it would be OK to drive the vehicle without risk of engine damage.

We decided to drive home but it was still a ~200 mi journey to get there. Nothing changed on the drive home - just the flashing coil and lack of power (but not limp mode). Cali sat on drive for 10 days until we could take it to SMG. When engine was started the Emissions light was now also lit.

I was concerned the turbo was screwed (not in warranty) but the fault was diagnosed as split front EGR pipe. Once fixed, they said they would try running a regen to resolve the DPF soot level. They were hopeful this would work but warned me that if it didn't, a new DPF would be required at £1700 +VAT and labour. Thankfully the regen worked, Total bill was £545. I'm thankful it wasn't worse!

Disappointed that VW assist (the guy that turned-up was an independent) didn't mention anything about the automatic DPF regen being disabled and the possible implications of that.

SamSara · Oct 5, 2023

RoB5urf said:
We had a similar(ish) experience last month. On the M5 and the Coil light started flashing. Also noticed a lack of acceleration. Called VW assist. No obvious codes displayed but he eventually diagnosed an issue with "air flow intake". He checked for holes in various hoses but couldn't find any and said it would be OK to drive the vehicle without risk of engine damage.

We decided to drive home but it was still a ~200 mi journey to get there. Nothing changed on the drive home - just the flashing coil and lack of power (but not limp mode). Cali sat on drive for 10 days until we could take it to SMG. When engine was started the Emissions light was now also lit.

I was concerned the turbo was screwed (not in warranty) but the fault was diagnosed as split front EGR pipe. Once fixed, they said they would try running a regen to resolve the DPF soot level. They were hopeful this would work but warned me that if it didn't, a new DPF would be required at £1700 +VAT and labour. Thankfully the regen worked, Total bill was £545. I'm thankful it wasn't worse!

Disappointed that VW assist (the guy that turned-up was an independent) didn't mention anything about the automatic DPF regen being disabled and the possible implications of that.

You say turbo not in warranty?!!! AA man said it was showing as the turbo which the VW garage agreed with, I’m waiting until the call tomorrow

RoB5urf · Oct 5, 2023

SamSara said:
You say turbo not in warranty?!!! AA man said it was showing as the turbo which the VW garage agreed with, I’m waiting until the call tomorrow

I meant the vehicle (and therefore the turbo) is no longer under warranty.

SamSara · Oct 10, 2023

The warranty company have accepted the claim. The part is on back order so I will have to enjoy the white Jeep SUV for a few more weeks, maybe long enough to try out the ‘snow’ setting

Mr T · Oct 13, 2023

SamSara said:
The warranty company have accepted the claim. The part is on back order so I will have to enjoy the white Jeep SUV for a few more weeks, maybe long enough to try out the ‘snow’ setting

Goods new @SamSara very pleased and relieved for you.