Hello and help (sorry)

[richardk]

Hello all! Firstly want to introduce myself. We have recently bought a new to us 2008 T5 California 2.5 174. We came from a T2 but wanted something to go slightly further in with the 2 kids. So far we have done a lot of camping since purchasing around Feb so despite the below I am pleased we made the switch. I have signed up to the forum and I am very grateful for such an amazing resource!


We didn’t pay top top money for our van but I could be described as the worst purchaser in terms of understanding what needed doing before I bought. So far I have: had suspension fixed, new steering rack, replaced both leisure batteries, new tyres and alloys refurbished all in just over £2k.

The van came with a big bill from a repair in February which made me think we were ok, mileage is also relatively low at 87k. The repairs were, EGR cooler, head set, DPF, recon turbo, sensors, filters at a cost of nearly £7k!

Problems I still have: the main one is that the engine workshop sign appears and a flashing EML light is coming on when the van is at high revs or struggling up a hill, this doesn’t go into limp mode but it feels like there is a reduction in power. She doesn’t feel particularly quick anyway. Last night I changed the moo-ing n75 value but this hasn’t fixed the problem. I am going to take her to my new best buddies at the garage to see if they can figure out the issue but would love any advice. I am confused as all the usual culprits for this problem have been fixed (turbo, EGR, dpf, n75)

There is also a slightly diesel smell if vents are on when starting up or standing still in traffic, could be related?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks
Rich

 

[Perfectos]

Don't be "sorry"

Sounds like you've had a few age related repairs.

In general the 174 is a great engine, the mileage would not be a concern if it's been serviced regularly and correctly.

To help get the best advice can you provide some (as much ad possible) details

Engine work shop light ? Edit: Re reading I see you mention EML flashing

Can you post a picture of the work shop light (Google) & what colour is the light, when it come on presume orange/ yellow?
Does it flash briefly or come on and go off / stay on ?

Has the van been serviced ? Fuel & air filter etc ? All carried out at one garage ?

Smell of Diesel, fresh fuel or exhaust type gases ?

If Fresh fuel, check the high pressure fuel rail for leaks , then the return feed pipes back to the tank, fuel filter etc.

Have you had the van plugged in to read any fault codes ?

Previous 7k repairs recent ? under warranty? Local garage ? All carried out by one garage or multiple?

 

[Perfectos]

Have a read

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[richardk]

Don't be "sorry"

Sounds like you've had a few age related repairs.

In general the 174 is a great engine, the mileage would not be a concern if it's been serviced regularly and correctly.

To help get the best advice can you provide some (as much ad possible) details

Engine work shop light ? Edit: Re reading I see you mention EML flashing

Can you post a picture of the work shop light (Google) & what colour is the light, when it come on presume orange/ yellow?
Does it flash briefly or come on and go off / stay on ?

Has the van been serviced ? Fuel & air filter etc ? All carried out at one garage ?

Smell of Diesel, fresh fuel or exhaust type gases ?

If Fresh fuel, check the high pressure fuel rail for leaks , then the return feed pipes back to the tank, fuel filter etc.

Have you had the van plugged in to read any fault codes ?

Previous 7k repairs recent ? under warranty? Local garage ? All carried out by one garage or multiple?

Thanks so much for the reply. The light than flashes is a coil one (EML I believe) it stays flashing. The words engine workshop show on the display and there’s a beep when it first shows. When I turn the engine off and on it clears and there’s no error. The repairs and service were done local to sellers around 2 hours away. They changed all the filters as well. Looking in the engine bay there is a lot of new stuff in there! The smell of diesel smells fumey to me, I can smell it in the engine bay as well which I guess is where it’s being sucked through the vents. I have bought a Carista reader that should be here soon, she has MOT Friday so I will also ask the garage for advice then. Will update if they find anything.

 

[Perfectos]

The coil is not the Full on EML


The coil is glow plug

Edit image added

Edit; thread added

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I suspect you will need to get a Diagnosis , if the light comes on during the MOT chances are they'll fail it


I wish you luck, report back on progress / Fix

 

[Perfectos]

Have seen any other lights come up ?

Possibly an oblong with dots in the middle ?

Edit image added

 

[richardk]

Have seen any other lights come up ?

Possibly an oblong with dots in the middle ?

Edit image added

View attachment 137797

No nothing like this just a flashing coil light and engine workshop text on the display (plus a beep)

 

[richardk]

Thanks for all the above advice everyone, wondering if could be exhaust temp sensor, will see if I can test with multimeter

 

[richardk]

hi all, small update the garage were too busy to properly check the van, there was no code they could see however she passed the MOT (yay).

I checked the big invoice from the previous garage and it included a temp sensor so thought it wouldnt be that.

My carista device turned up today so decided to boot it and find the code, turns out its P0299 Underboost. I guess i have a turbo leak somewhere, which explains a possible lack in power. Ill have a better look tomorrow, the garage did check for oil, exhaust and fuel leaks but found nothing. Unsure if they would have checked for turbo leaks.

2 questions if possible -
- has anyone here solved this code on a 2.5 174?
- i bought the van second hand, it had a recon turbo fitted in Feb (as part of the big bill), do i have any rights to ask the original garage to fix the issue?

thanks!

 

[WelshGas]

hi all, small update the garage were too busy to properly check the van, there was no code they could see however she passed the MOT (yay).

I checked the big invoice from the previous garage and it included a temp sensor so thought it wouldnt be that.

My carista device turned up today so decided to boot it and find the code, turns out its P0299 Underboost. I guess i have a turbo leak somewhere, which explains a possible lack in power. Ill have a better look tomorrow, the garage did check for oil, exhaust and fuel leaks but found nothing. Unsure if they would have checked for turbo leaks.

2 questions if possible -
- has anyone here solved this code on a 2.5 174?
- i bought the van second hand, it had a recon turbo fitted in Feb (as part of the big bill), do i have any rights to ask the original garage to fix the issue?

thanks!

View attachment 137869

Before focusing on the Turbo you should check the pipe work relating to the Intercooler and the intercooler itself for damage causing an air leak.

versa.

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/vw/RDW/CAMP/630/1/145/145075

 

[richardk]

Before focusing on the Turbo you should check the pipe work relating to the Intercooler and the intercooler itself for damage causing an air leak.

versa.

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/vw/RDW/CAMP/630/1/145/145075

thanks, thats really useful, can i inspect most of this under the bonnet or do i need to start removing things? Ill have a hunt around the engine bay this weekend

 

[WelshGas]

thanks, thats really useful, can i inspect most of this under the bonnet or do i need to start removing things? Ill have a hunt around the engine bay this weekend

I’m sorry I have no personal knowledge of your engine. But I would start at the Air box and just work my way round the pipe work. The connections to the turbo have obviously been disconnected/connected with the turbo replacement and the Intercooler is prone to damage.
It is positioned in front of the lower part of the radiator.

 

[Perfectos]

I know you said you replaced the moo valve , look at the part the moo valve is directly connected to . It's turbo related
Sorry I've had a bit of Wine so can't be more specific

 

[richardk]

I know you said you replaced the moo valve , look at the part the moo valve is directly connected to . It's turbo related
Sorry I've had a bit of Wine do can't be more specific

thanks, ill check that out!

 

[sticky1]

Everything you describe sounds to me like you have a leak in the pipework.
If you have a local turbo specialist or good mechanic they should be able to find it.
Air intake and exhaust for the turbo are common culprits in my experience especially after the turbo has been replaced.

 

[dazcleveland]

Hey there

We had the same issue with our 2007 174 a few years ago on a trip over to France. Same coil light would come on and van would go into limp mode. Usually occurred when engine was revving high under load eg. Climbing up steep hills! Van was recovered to French garage (not VW franchise) and they believed it was a problem with turbo and wanted to replace it. I refused because we’d had a new turbo fitted 11 months earlier so we managed to limp home and did some research on our return. Here is a list of the possible causes I found for the P0299 fault code (not very helpful that it can be so many different possibilities!):-

1. Split or hole in intercooler.
2. Leak in pipes.
3. Faulty N75 sensor.
4. Waste gate vanes sticking.
5. Blocked DPF or parts from it blocking or partially blocking exhaust.
6. Vacuum powered actuator rod sticking or not adjusted properly.
7. Blocked fuel filter.

We had a new intercooler and new N75 sensor fitted, both with no joy and after a smoke test were all set to have another new turbo fitted! At the last minute, whilst our local garage was stripping it down, they checked inside the DPF filter and found that the contents had completely disintegrated. They said what was probably happening was every time we went up an incline, the loose debris inside the DPF was sliding back and blocking an exhaust sensor thus triggering the fault code and limp mode. Two options to remedy:-
1. Install new DPF.
2. Completely break-up and remove the contents of the DPF and then get ECU reprogrammed so van will run without it!

Hope the above is some help to you. It was a nightmare for us at the time because you end up throwing money at different parts / solutions in the hope of finding the right one!

 

[richardk]

Hey there

We had the same issue with our 2007 174 a few years ago on a trip over to France. Same coil light would come on and van would go into limp mode. Usually occurred when engine was revving high under load eg. Climbing up steep hills! Van was recovered to French garage (not VW franchise) and they believed it was a problem with turbo and wanted to replace it. I refused because we’d had a new turbo fitted 11 months earlier so we managed to limp home and did some research on our return. Here is a list of the possible causes I found for the P0299 fault code (not very helpful that it can be so many different possibilities!):-

1. Split or hole in intercooler.
2. Leak in pipes.
3. Faulty N75 sensor.
4. Waste gate vanes sticking.
5. Blocked DPF or parts from it blocking or partially blocking exhaust.
6. Vacuum powered actuator rod sticking or not adjusted properly.
7. Blocked fuel filter.

We had a new intercooler and new N75 sensor fitted, both with no joy and after a smoke test were all set to have another new turbo fitted! At the last minute, whilst our local garage was stripping it down, they checked inside the DPF filter and found that the contents had completely disintegrated. They said what was probably happening was every time we went up an incline, the loose debris inside the DPF was sliding back and blocking an exhaust sensor thus triggering the fault code and limp mode. Two options to remedy:-
1. Install new DPF.
2. Completely break-up and remove the contents of the DPF and then get ECU reprogrammed so van will run without it!

Hope the above is some help to you. It was a nightmare for us at the time because you end up throwing money at different parts / solutions in the hope of finding the right one!

Thanks so much. I spoke to a different garage today to have a look Wednesday, their instant was new turbo but mentioned advice on this forum + recently had a recon turbo, they are going to smoke test but I am going to create a list from these suggestions to print out and leave in the van! The bill from Feb has DPF listed at just over £1k, other garage I spoke to said that must have been a clean out or potentially a recon DPF but new would be £4kish

 

[richardk]

Thanks again for everyone’s help. Garage is still struggling with this one, they know what the exhaust smell is, it’s a seal on the EGR but it’s a bit of a pain to replace. They say the van drives fine, no leaks in turbo (pressure tested) and everything else is pretty much new. I mentioned that crud in the catalytic converter could be a cause but apart from that we are stumped! Will update if any further info.

 

[richardk]

Hello again everyone, quick update here if of any interest. The garage got their expert in, he said the waste gate is not opening until the higher RPM and even then its not opening enough to produce the power. Basically they think the turbo is a dud.

I contacted the previous garage and they said GSF will warrant the part if I can get it to them (via the old garage) to test. Its a high risk game though, they said they had never seen a new/recon turbo fail straight away, I am worried I will spend a load of money on replacing the thing for GSF to say the part is fine. As well as this it might not fix the issue. I will have to do some thinking on this one, open to any suggestions, thanks!