Blinking light and loss of power

[ThomasHJ]

While driving yesterday the coil warning light / glow plug light started blinking in orange and there was a loss of power. I could drive at a max. speed of 100 km/h but no more.

Phoned the garage this morning but they are quite busy and I am waiting for them to return my phone call.

Hoping someone could give me an idea of what this could be.

I understand it could mean many things as it is basically a warning light saying that there is something wrong with the diesel engine and I need a garage to do a reading/scan.

 

[pchmlk]

Anyone near you with a Carista or similar OBD?

 

[ThomasHJ]

not that I know of. Im in NL ;-)

 

[ThomasHJ]

Well, heard back from the garage. Seems we need a new EGR-valve. Which wasn't the news I was hoping for.

 

[Herman]

I had the same problem before Christmas. The blinking light came on the morning after a long slowish drive. Went to my trusted local garage who diagnosed EGR problem. They drove the van and the light went out and the van went out of limp mode. They advised that a new valve would be over £1000 so worth waiting to see if this was a one-off occurrence. Since then it’s been ok, so here’s hoping.

 

[ThomasHJ]

I had the same problem before Christmas. The blinking light came on the morning after a long slowish drive. Went to my trusted local garage who diagnosed EGR problem. They drove the van and the light went out and the van went out of limp mode. They advised that a new valve would be over £1000 so worth waiting to see if this was a one-off occurrence. Since then it’s been ok, so here’s hoping.

I will be hoping for you . In my case the light kept coming back over teh cours eof a few days and after the few days the engine light also appreared. Thing with garages is, if you have no real knowledge of cars, you're just going to have to believe them I guess. Luckily we have a good dealer that customers seem happy with.

 

[Herman]

I will be hoping for you . In my case the light kept coming back over teh cours eof a few days and after the few days the engine light also appreared. Thing with garages is, if you have no real knowledge of cars, you're just going to have to believe them I guess. Luckily we have a good dealer that customers seem happy with.

Thanks Thomas.
I suspect that I will have more problems: my Cali is quite high mileage, is starting to use oil, has a Type A EGR valve and so is probably heading for a new engine. If I can get another year out of it before that it’s worth a try!

 

[ThomasHJ]

Thanks Thomas.
I suspect that I will have more problems: my Cali is quite high mileage, is starting to use oil, has a Type A EGR valve and so is probably heading for a new engine. If I can get another year out of it before that it’s worth a try!

Hope you will! Mine is a T5 SE 140 and is nearing 250.000 KM. So quite some mileage too. I was told once that the EGR-valve had been replaced when I bought it. But it was the only repair of which there was no paperwork because it supposedly had been done before import. Don't know how long EGR-valves are expected to last, but hope the new one will last us a while ;-)

 

[bvddobb]

Don't know how long EGR-valves are expected to last, but hope the new one will last us a while ;-)

Will depend very much on how you use your van, but VW has a rule of thumb of 200.000-250.000 km. Ours was replaced at 230.000 km. You can have it regenerated: there are several firms and several methods (some include cutting it open, some put it in an oven), but at some point the ceramic material inside starts to crumble, and then the only viable option is to have it replaced. Costly affair.