Engine condition warning light

[Moresk]

Driving yesterday the yellow engine condition light came on and stayed on. Handbook said it was a catalytic converter issue. Advice was drive to dealer. Close to home so drove there and called out roadside assistance. They arrived and hooked the van up to a computer and it showed a fault on the DPF sensor. Booked in to have it fixed on next Tuesday. Interesting thing was the technician said that this issue was being addressed by VW by what they call a Campaign notice. Apparently it's all part of product development/improvement. The interesting thing is that there are two other issues on the same Campaign notice. One is an issue with the second battery sometimes not being recharged by the on board charger and the other is for the replacement of a fuel line, A big one I was told. I was cleared to drive to the dealer for the work to be done but advised that in the event of a DPF blockage for real the van would activate Limp Mode and post a yellow Warning, the Heater Coil one. Hope this is useful to some of you. The roadside assistance guy was brilliant. My van is a T6 Beach Mar 16 plate.

 

[DM]

So what exactly is a campaign notice - is it a step down from a recall? Are VW proactive or do they only respond when a customer reports an issue?

I have asked my dealer about several 'recalls' reported here and they seem clueless.

 

[calimera]

Driving yesterday the yellow engine condition light came on and stayed on. Handbook said it was a catalytic converter issue. Advice was drive to dealer. Close to home so drove there and called out roadside assistance. They arrived and hooked the van up to a computer and it showed a fault on the DPF sensor. Booked in to have it fixed on next Tuesday. Interesting thing was the technician said that this issue was being addressed by VW by what they call a Campaign notice. Apparently it's all part of product development/improvement. The interesting thing is that there are two other issues on the same Campaign notice. One is an issue with the second battery sometimes not being recharged by the on board charger and the other is for the replacement of a fuel line, A big one I was told. I was cleared to drive to the dealer for the work to be done but advised that in the event of a DPF blockage for real the van would activate Limp Mode and post a yellow Warning, the Heater Coil one. Hope this is useful to some of you. The roadside assistance guy was brilliant. My van is a T6 Beach Mar 16 plate.

Just had this done on T6 Ocean, started a thread under service & recalls heading on Monday.
There is 3 parts to the recall. Recall is the term used by the technician .
We were informed it needed doing when took the cali to have new sliding table fitted. Appears been in place since January . Now three parts. They had to order a fuel line.
They collected/ returned the cali today to complete recall.

 

[Stoneybroke]

Technically I believe the term 'Recall' is used where the manufacturers need to notify owners to arrange repairs that are required for safety reasons, other issues are dealt with by extra remedial work at routine service of when the problem raises its head.
There is a T6 recall for passenger airbag
http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/search.asp

 

[Alan]

All this clever technology does get a bit mind blowing
Soon we'll have to phone in to get permission on a daily basis to make a journey!

On my recent journey to my dealers for a routine service my vehicle (Cali) took three attempts to pull off my drive,each time dash board illuminations were lighting up like Piccadilly Circus, then engine dying on me!
When I was allowed to pull away she drove as sweet as nut 60 miles to my destination
Dealer couldn't find anything wrong on the diagnostics thingy

Alan

 

[Strong]

I've also had this 'campaign' work done yesterday. The technician called it a recall!

 

[2haw]

Driving yesterday the yellow engine condition light came on and stayed on. Handbook said it was a catalytic converter issue. Advice was drive to dealer. Close to home so drove there and called out roadside assistance. They arrived and hooked the van up to a computer and it showed a fault on the DPF sensor. Booked in to have it fixed on next Tuesday. Interesting thing was the technician said that this issue was being addressed by VW by what they call a Campaign notice. Apparently it's all part of product development/improvement. The interesting thing is that there are two other issues on the same Campaign notice. One is an issue with the second battery sometimes not being recharged by the on board charger and the other is for the replacement of a fuel line, A big one I was told. I was cleared to drive to the dealer for the work to be done but advised that in the event of a DPF blockage for real the van would activate Limp Mode and post a yellow Warning, the Heater Coil one. Hope this is useful to some of you. The roadside assistance guy was brilliant. My van is a T6 Beach Mar 16 plate.

My light came on on Friday morning, so I called VW assistance and they came out to take a look Friday afternoon. They told me that I needed to get it booked in at the dealer to have the sensor changed first thing Tuesday morning and I wasn't to use the van.

Once I'd explained that I needed the van for the bank holiday weekend and that I maybe going camping in it, he kindly arranged for another technician to replace the sensor on the drive on Saturday morning.

It still needs to go in for the fuel line replacement and a software update but at least I got to use the van for the weekend.

Mine is also a T6 Beach, March 16 registered.

 

[Tigger]

This is interesting. I've had a range of engine fault lights on my T6 204 DSG which appear to be being hard to fix. It is currently having it's fourth stay at the garage.... which is an hour away.

Nov 30th - got the yellow coil light and also lost power whilst on the M4 - I expect this is limp mode as it wouldn't go over 2000 revs. Rang Cardiff VW as that's where I was who were unhelpful and advised VWassist and abandoning my 1 night escape. But by the time I had finished talking to them and restarted the van, the light had gone so I hoped for the best and carried on with my overnight trip to the Brecon Beacons. During this trip when idling in Park the engine kept on over revving.

9th - 15th Dec It then went to the garage twice. The throttle was said to be faulty and replaced and we got it back. 20 miles later the same issue recurred, yellow coil light and back it went. This time something to do with the pins of the throttle cable being an incorrect distance apart....

Late March after not using the van much over the rest of the winter, got the yellow coil light again and limp mode. Again we were recommended to abandon our trip and call vwassist. Back it went to the garage, who couldn't find anything wrong. I insisted that they kept it and drove it about to get the issue to recur. They eventually found something that was "out of range" which was the air intake flap, but that would take a few weeks to get the part in. We were also told that we could carry on driving it & ignore the light.

We have since had a couple of trips in which we have experienced what is now a range of warning lights - the coil, engine management, front assist and ESP. I can't say I have much confidence in it which is hugely disappointing for such an expensive vehicle.

It is currently back at the garage who are also dealing with at least one recall item too. After the various fixes they have noticed that it continues to idle with the revs too high and are now investigating that too. I have very little confidence they have a clue what the underlying problem is... and wonder if this saga will ever end. It's miserable being told on about 50% of your trips in your new van that you should abandon.

Any thoughts?

 

[dougal]

Also had engine warning light issues with my 150 4motion. Just back out of the garage last Wed after 1 week of investigations, new sensor and resolutions and today, the amber engine management / catalyst light is back on.

 

[lostontheshore]

after 1 week of investigations,

I find this a worry not all of us can do without our van for a week !!
OK in for a week but how many hours is it sat at the dealers with no action on the fault

 

[Old Sid]

Similar fault experienced. Dealt with very quickly by VW Assist and nearest Van Centre. I never found out what the actual remedy was but was told it was a scheduled recall that would automatically be done at the next service. As the warning light cam on, mine had to be fixed immediately. I understand that the 'fix' involved a replacement hose and a software update. (I dare say it was not that straightforward.)
I was very impressed by both VW Assist and the Van Centre. 5000 miles later, no further problems.

 

[YoungChevalier]

Catalyst fault light came on. Dealer advised me to call out VW Assist. Have to say superb service. Diagnosed faulty sensor which measures soot build-up. Part ordered and returned next day to fit it and do a further 2 campaign issues, one being software updates (2) and the fitting of a replacement 80amp fuse on the leisure battery circuit. Apparently some of the fuses have been blowing and on examination they found that they were blowing at too low a rating, hence a new batch of fuses.

 

[LongBay Beach]

Just had the same problem. Returning from southern France last weekend in my March 2016 T6, after an overnight stay in Reims I started the engine on Sunday morning for our drive to Calais to find the orange catalytic convertor problem warning light came on.
Obviously I went to the best source of information (this forum!) and made the decision to risk it being a sensor issue rather than an actual fault on the catalytic convertor - it was 9am on a Sunday morning and if i'd called VW assistance i'm guessing i'd never have got back to Yorkshire that day (and I needed to be at work the following day). So, I decided to start our journey and see if anything felt any different.
I drove the 180 miles to Calais at 65mph all the way, never went above 2000rpm. Then drove the 220 miles back home from Folkestone in the same way.
We made it home fine, but I needed some new pants when I finally pulled onto the drive, it was without doubt my most stressful journey ever.
It's booked in with the dealers this week, fingers crossed all's ok. If they query why I drove it so far with the warning light on, i'll just quote the handbook where it says "drive to your dealer"..
Funnily enough, I had the same thing a few years ago when in the Alps in our Volvo XC90, a dpf sensor that put it into limp mode. Couldn't get home for almost a week so got an extra long ski holiday courtesy of Volvo Assist !!

 

[samdb]

I've got a similar story on my T6 150 DSG registered in March 2016. On a recent trip to France the coil light came on, so pulled over and restarted engine. Coil light went out and engine management light came on. I carried on to France and back with that light on after reading about possible causes - seemed worth taking the risk.

Back in UK it went to the dealers for diagnosis. They did all the required recall work, replaced the EGR valve and air intake butterfly valve, and so far so good. Heading to France again at end of the month so will give it a good run this weekend to be sure!

I wonder if there is a trend, as my van doesn't get driven a lot and stands idle for a lot of winter...

 

[dougal]

150 4 Motion with just under 20k now booked in for the 3rd time to resolve the engine management issues - all new recalls were completed in late July but still not resolved. Spent 2 weeks in France since and all good until yesterday.

So far its spent 2 weeks in the garage since the start of July and about to go in for a 3rd. Not great during the holiday period when I expect to use it the most.

Really enjoy it when it works but I'm seriously considering replacing. I've had 2 LR Discovery 4's covering 150k miles between them without issue (and without rattle).

 

[dougal]

Quick update on this one - issue was apparently caused by a split pipe exiting the DPF. Worried it took 3 visits to find. The Cali also came back with an added bonus of a dent in the rear door, the bonnet was left unlatched and opened as I drove off and to top it I asked the garage to replace a tyre which had a split. True I didn't spec the tyre but when quoted £126 I assumed it would be OEM equivalent. When I picked it up it had a budget "Nankang" tyre that can be bought for £75.

Ever feel you're not quite getting the service you expect for a £55k vehicle?