Diesel Engine Pre Glow - error flashing

[Sp0_0k]

When starting a Cali yesterday in the mountains got this flashing sign.

It was gone when I restarted an engine.
Should I go to service for diagnostics?
Manual says a malfunction in diesel engine.
http://www.newcenturyvw.com/blog/vo...gine-pre-glow-before-engine-start-up-150x147/

 

[California Dreamin]

We had this on a 1k miles Beach T6. Best thing is to get plugged in to VW diagnostic so they can see what triggered it before the code gets cleared (the light can go out but the codes are stored or something like up to 6 ignition cycles I was told but don't know if that is accurate)

You could also call VW assistance as apparently they have the same diagnostics and there is no cost to calling them out on an in warranty T6.

Hope that helps. PS - we never knew what caused the problem on ours as our normally very good dealer had to do an update on their diagnostics software and the code got lost in the process. 5k miles later no problem so hoping it was a one off.

 

[sidepod]

Isn't that just the normal glow plug icon when starting?

 

[California Dreamin]

sorry - has assumed that this was persistent rather than just the normal operation of the glow plug on start up.

 

[Sp0_0k]

Isn't that just the normal glow plug icon when starting?

It is. Though when it is flashing, a different story.

 

[Jabberwocky]

It is. Though when it is flashing, a different story.

Your right! Flashing means engine management problem. If your Cali is still in Warranty (T6 Beach - you must be) get VW to check it out. Not worth the risk not doing this.

 

[zisdorf]

Ours flashed for a 20 minute drive 3 months ago. it went away the next time we restarted. Just got it again today. Only similarities are driving uphill in the mountains (alps); no lose of power or other symptoms either time.

We'll take it to a local (non-VW) mechanic tomorrow. But, is that a waste of time? Should we find a real VW authorized mechanic. Note, we are out of warranty, so no roadside help.

Thanks for the tip not to restart it too many times - don't want to lose the code!

UPDATE: mechanic said that there were zero codes. since the flashing coil light came on, I restarted maybe 3 or 4 times (definitely less than 6). the mechanic said that a VW shop would have better computers in order to do a "deeper" check, but that all other mechanics were not able to buy that machinery and that he had the best machine money could buy.
So....blah....he said not to stress too much about it until the engine light turned on, but a flashing light on your dash with a manual that says to seek help as soon as you can is stressful!

 

[Thepiper]

Driving home from a trip in our T6 last week the coil indicator light started flashing amber whilst driving. I pulled over and stopped. When started again the light no longer flashing. Drove home and checked the manual which suggests drive to nearest dealer to have checked out. I did this and left the Cali with the dealer. They have told me it is a faulty ECU and it needs replaced. The van is only 5 months old and we have only done 5000 miles. I was a bit shocked that this was the issue. Anyone else experienced similar? I know it will be covered by warranty, but does anyone know if you get a replacement part is it also covered by the extended warranty (I bought the 5 year plan), or will it just come with the replacement part warranty? By the way it did come on similar circumstances to yours, i.e. we had just driven over a high pass in Scotland.

 

[awayinmevan]

Isn't that just the normal glow plug icon when starting?

 

[awayinmevan]

Light wil flash 1st stage asking to help regen on dpf

 

[samdb]

We had this light flash after I filled up with AdBlue. We looked in the manual and it said something about possible AdBlue pre-heat fault (there was a funny smell too). In addition to this, it also reported a start/stop failure.

I drove to a safe place, switched off and restarted. No flashing coil light or start/stop fail this time, but the engine management light went on and stayed on. We were on the way to France so I took the risk and carried on (nervously)! 1k miles later the engine management was still on but everything was working fine.

It's in the dealer being looked at now, but I've not heard anything after a week, so will report back next week. They suspected it was coincidence that the issue occurred after filling AdBlue. These new EU6 engines are complex!

 

[samdb]

We had this light flash after I filled up with AdBlue. We looked in the manual and it said something about possible AdBlue pre-heat fault (there was a funny smell too). In addition to this, it also reported a start/stop failure.

I drove to a safe place, switched off and restarted. No flashing coil light or start/stop fail this time, but the engine management light went on and stayed on. We were on the way to France so I took the risk and carried on (nervously)! 1k miles later the engine management was still on but everything was working fine.

It's in the dealer being looked at now, but I've not heard anything after a week, so will report back next week. They suspected it was coincidence that the issue occurred after filling AdBlue. These new EU6 engines are complex!

The van is back from the dealers and there was a long list of fixes... Firstly, the service team think the AdBlue being replenished and the errors occuring were coincidence. They ended up replacing the EGR valve (exhaust gas recirculation) and the air intake butterfly valve - both of which were faulty. They also did the ton of recall work that all T6s need (plenty of other posts about these). Everything was done under warranty.

I need to drive a long journey to give me the confidence to take us all to France again later this month, but all seems fine at the moment. I'm glad I invested in the extra warranty now, because something tells me this won't be the last time it goes in for issues like this.

 

[zisdorf]

On our side, we did not use AdBlue or anything like that. No additives of any type.

A few months later, this is our current status:
About 10% of the time we drive for a long distance, our glow lamp will flash. It starts only after driving for a while (1 hour?) and then will continue to flash until we turn the engine off. When restarting the car, sometimes it will immediately start flashing again, other times it will wait a bit before it flashes, and other times it will not flash at all.

We have taken the car to two mechanics, and they both checked the computer codes and found nothing. They both said not to worry about it.

It is difficult not to worry about it, because it is a flashing orange light while driving! Every instinct says to worry...but the mechanic repeatedly said it is okay....so.....we never want to VW because we are out of warranty but the last mechanic we used specializes in vans/trucks and deals with very many Calis (if anyone is in Munich, this is your guy! http://www.hilger.bayern/)

If anyone else finds something similar, please let us know!

 

[Jay20cali]

On our side, we did not use AdBlue or anything like that. No additives of any type.

A few months later, this is our current status:
About 10% of the time we drive for a long distance, our glow lamp will flash. It starts only after driving for a while (1 hour?) and then will continue to flash until we turn the engine off. When restarting the car, sometimes it will immediately start flashing again, other times it will wait a bit before it flashes, and other times it will not flash at all.

We have taken the car to two mechanics, and they both checked the computer codes and found nothing. They both said not to worry about it.

It is difficult not to worry about it, because it is a flashing orange light while driving! Every instinct says to worry...but the mechanic repeatedly said it is okay....so.....we never want to VW because we are out of warranty but the last mechanic we used specializes in vans/trucks and deals with very many Calis (if anyone is in Munich, this is your guy! http://www.hilger.bayern/)

If anyone else finds something similar, please let us know!

Sounds like you need a dpf re'gen?
also cheap fuel can cause this issue too...
I'd advise a re gen then a full tank of quality fuel and see how it goes from there.we have a crafter at work that also does this it's been into vw 3 times for a re gen due to short journeys.my last t5.5 did this for most of our 2 weeks in France a few years back due to fuelling up at Tesco before we got on the ferry ,
Took a while to realise this had caused it..I never used supermarkets for fuel after this and it was fine..

 

[zisdorf]

I guess I should have asked for the earlier post too....what's a dpf regen?

 

[Jay20cali]

I guess I should have asked for the earlier post too....what's a dpf regen?

They plug it in to a re gen machine at vw
It basically heats up the dpf (cat ) beyond normal driving temperatures to clean out the soot
Yours will be blocked up and won't be able to re gen itself anymore it can re gen but after constantly using it with the light flashing it gets more and more blocked.
When it first comes on you are supposed to drive it above 2000 revs for around 20 mins or until the dpf lights go out.. the pigtail light is the second stage light meaning you can no longer re gen it yourself and you have to take it to Vw

 

[Sp0_0k]

Had that glow plug blinking last winter. Was almost always flashing after a cold start way below 0'c.
This year same deal after the start in mountains, but it didn't go away like before after restarting a motor.
So I just ignored it and went on.
In like 20minutes (check engine) yellow light appeared. And this one is more serious and says to get to a losest service, which I did.
The scan showed an error with probably EGR as far as I understood their description. (Some flap that manages recirculating gasses) Getting stuck half open or something.

Gave cali to my local dealer giving them all the details. They've changed DSG oil, changed the belt that was whistling bad. And said that all the other errors just required a software update.
Started it today in the cold. Same flashing glowplug and well... belt squeaking still there.

Most importantly it had so low power that I've hardly made it from the garage up the hill.
After a short drive and 3 hours stop it started without errors and drove fine.

Any suggestions how to make the dealer resolve this flashing errors once and for all? They've ignored them 3rd time I gave the cali to service.

 

[alter]

kick the dealer ...... it works

 

[S1andS2]

I have also suffered from the intermittent Yellow Coil blinking issue on 2017 Cali Diesel. Usually fixed by stop, turn off and re-start. If I carry on then I have had the power loss symptoms a couple of times. VW in Switzerland changed a detector a couple of weeks ago after I also got the "check engine" light which stayed on. They said that should resolve it but it is back again this week - noting it is extremely cold at this time (-13 degrees). This time they tell me they have received new information from Germany that it is a software issue in the EMS and I have to wait for an update - no ETA. Anyone else heard that same story or should I ask them to look at DPF regen as per above?

 

[Sp0_0k]

Had exact same issue and reported it to dealer 3 times. Each time they mentioned some software update and that it was fixed. Starting in a cold weather resulted in same issues.
They have changed some sensor or something on the 4th time and I didn'T get errors so far.

 

[Tim Hook]

Here's my solution to warning signs - blutac over the offending light!

 

[jts46]

Here's my solution to warning signs - blutac over the offending light!
View attachment 30474

Like it

 

[kave]

I sometimes get this error in cold weather too. Dealer had 5 weeks wait time before thye could look at it so I ordered a Carista so I can read the error code myself and decide if it is a serious issue or not.

 

[Borris]

I too had the flashing amber pig tail symbol on the dash this morning when I first started up. It persisted for about ten minutes until I stopped and restarted the engine a couple of times. It then disappeared. The temperature last night was extremely cold, cold enough in fact to worry a brass monkey.

I rang the dealer and they advised calling VW assist. However since it has now gone out I was reluctant to do that. I will if it does it again and will also ask the dealer to check for faults when it goes in for a service shortly.

Two things occurred to me:
1. When you get into a modern VW I believe that glow plug circuit is activated by the initial opening of the drivers door" Am I correct? Anyway, having climbed aboard I didn't start the vehicle straight away. I can't remember if I put the keys into the ignition after getting in or immediately before trying to start the engine but working on the assumption that it was the latter, could this issue be caused by my trying to start the engine without allowing the glow plugs time to heat up to starting temperature?
2. I also remembered reading somewhere about this symbol being an indication of dpf issues. So I did what I frequently do. That is, wait until the engine has reached normal running temperature then drive at 3000 rpm for about 20 minutes to burn off the excess soot within. I always use super diesel, usually BP Ultimate and carry out this high rev regeneration process about every two weeks on average.

It will be interesting to see what faults it has and what upgrades it requires come service time. It's coming up to two years old with 16500 miles and is due its first Long Life service shortly.

 

[Sp0_0k]

I think it should preheat when ignition is on. Even that sign is glowing showing that and then turns off. Even if you try to start there will be a delay untill it properly preheats.
Funny that so many people aren't even aware they have this issue until decent cold hit Europe.
I had it a lot due to lots of travels to the mountains.