Top end engine rattle after Emissions Recall

**Gazwould** · 07-08-2016,09:03 PM

It is not possible to return to factory map , they won't do it .

You tow , remap it .

**Motorway** · 16-08-2016,08:15 PM

Hi all.
an update on the problem... i have beenemailing various dealers over the last week to see if any are prepared to revert the ECU Mapping to the original factory map. the first couple i mailed said they would need the car for 2 days to investigate what has gone wrong then rectify. but this afternoon i have had a reply back from one dealer asking me to book the car in and they will revert the map back to the original settings. they have said it is only a 10 minute job so i can wait. so i will book in tomorrow for their soonest booking.

earlier this evening i have been talking to a friend who has taken his car to a dealer today for the map to be reverted... he waited for them to do the job. but there was a problem the ECU refused to accept the original map, so they attempted to re-apply the updated software on the basis... maybe something did not go well when the dealer serviced it. the ECU refused to accept that mapping too. the outcome was the dealer has got to call VW at head office Milton Keynes tomorrow for advice on the next step.. talking to the engineer my friend was told (off the record) that when the software was beeing trialed at Head office the first 4 cars it was applied to the new software fried the ECU, so a new one was needed.

this got me thinking has similar happened to my friends car and that is the reason that it will not accept any new updates, he also confirmed that there is a fuel shortage at the low end (1200-1500rpm) causing valve rattle. also he admitted that the CO2 level with the new Map was considerably higher than with the original factory map. so reducing the Nox emission has increased the CO2???. i would be interested to see what the new CO2 level is. the engineer said they have done quite a lot of cars applying the original factory map. his last comment was he would not really advise anyone to have the recall done..

so looks like it can be done and we have 2 dealers that are willing to do this, i will add more updates when i have had the work done, i am hoping that i dont have the ECU problem that my friend has because we are going on holiday and dont fancy 2000 plus miles knowing there is a problem.

**UMEL** · 17-08-2016,07:14 PM

Very interesting data. I emailed my supplier/dealer and asked if any updates had been done and the results...needless to say he replied but dodged the question. Just said my car had not yet been called.

**martin1810** · 18-08-2016,07:06 AM

If anyone remaps an engine ECU in an attempt to reduce NOx emissions, other parameters will change, CO2 may increase, particulates may increase, fuel consumption may increase. That is why they fiddled results in the first place. VAG feel they must recall the cars but owners don't have to have the work done. The engines currently confirm to British test standards so they are fine as they are.

**NOSNI** · 18-08-2016,12:45 PM

Had my 2.0 TDI updated a couple of weeks ago whilst it was in for service .No problems ,just as efficient as before.

**cruise control** · 20-08-2016,10:17 AM

I took my car to a dealer who i had been emailing regarding getting my ECU map put back to the factory settings. they assured me that it could be done and would only take 20 mins. at first a technician took the car on road test and came back and reported he could not hear any rattle from the engine nor did he notice a shortage of power. but he was only away 5 mins and watching the video from the in car CCTV he drove at the wrong speed to hear the noise and also had the air con and radio on too. also he would not know how the car drove power wise before the recall, i have driven the car 5 years and the change after recall is quite noticable.

they agreed to do the factory settings re-map and took it into the workshop and plugged it in, after an hour the manager came to me and told me there was problems getting the ECU to accept the map. so he said they had also tried to re run the new mapping just in case of problems when it was done with my last service, they said that the ECU would not let them do that either. so now they want to investigate!!. how ever long that will take i have no idea. but i told the manager i was not happy and that i would be contacting VW customer service with a full report. i have done this and now await a reply. i have also encouraged 6 other friends with similar faults to do the same.

i got an email from the dealer yesterday saying thet VW were looking for a fix and that they had spoken to tech services and they have told the dealer that putting the car back to factory MAP is not happening!!!. they will not allow it. so they now plan to correct the problems with tweaks to the mapping, now if the ECU is not allowing modifications how will they do that?. it looks to me that the map that was done to fix the "emissions" done damage to the ECU maybe?.

my neighbour is a solicitor and i spoke with him last night and he says as the law stands as i own the car i have control of it to an extent as long as what i do to it or get done to it does not contravein any road trafic laws then i will not have any legal issues. he also said i would have a case on these bounds to get the factory setting put back or get monitary compensation to cover costs in getting an independant mapper to cure the problems. but it would take time and cost money, but if i won then costs would be refunded to me. so that is always an option... i may just use this information in my next communication to the dealer and see if it helps. i dont think the dealer has spoken to tech services, i think the technician who road tested the car told the manager there is NO problem with the car and the rest is excuses.. time will tell i will update as things progress.

**Gazwould** · 20-08-2016,10:32 AM

Forget this lot at VW .

For £200 a generic remap will give you a better driving car than the stock map .

Remap and enjoy life .

**Motorway** · 23-08-2016,06:15 PM

Originally Posted by Gazwould

Forget this lot at VW .

For £200 a generic remap will give you a better driving car than the stock map .

Remap and enjoy life .

i took the car to the dealer on friday, they booked it in for the mapping to be reverted to the factory settings as agreed. after an hour waiting for the car one of the engineers came to me and told me they were having problems. he said the ECU is not letting them make any changes they had tried the original factory map, then tried to re-run the emissions fix to make sure no issues with what was already there. he said could i leave the car with him. i left the car and one of the sales team give me a lift home. they had the car over the weekend and all day yesterday, i got an email from the dealer 3pm yesterday saying they had not ben able to do either the factory map or even replace the emissions fix mapping. they have spoken to VW head office and they are looking for a fix. but if the ECU is the problem then sounds expensive £600 plus££££

reading technical pages over the weekend and i noticed a page that gave a reasonable write up on the mapping process in general not just for VW but all cars. the first step was to put the car battery on charge to maintain a stable voltage, the guy doing the write up said that the voltage could drop during the mapping and cause errors and even in some cases cause the ECU to lock and not complete the operation or even make the car undrivable. now whilst i was watching them at the dealer on friday from the MOT viewing area. they had my car in the workshop engine off and hazard flashers gong all the time they had it plugged in to the computer, surely the pulsating of the hazard flashers would be the same as a voltage drop?. if the dealer who did the emissions recall did the same thing then we may have found the problem. looks like my ecu and possibly many more could be locked and not able to accept any further updates. cruise control mentioned in his post that his ecu was not accepting codes.

Gazwould... you mention ditching the cartoon characters, and getting the generic map done, not had any dealings with re-mapping before who do you recomend. this sounds like a plan but if the dealers are telling the truth and they cannot get code into the ecu then is it not true to say that any mapping company will have the same issues?. or will they have some sofware to unlock it with?. i have emailed VW customer services 3 times since last week and as yet no reply, but if i have to spend money to fix their problem then i may make a case of it for some compensation.

**Gazwould** · 23-08-2016,06:57 PM

There's plenty remappers local to you , best get a personal recommendation from a member here .

If they can't remap it , you don't pay .

**cruise control** · 24-08-2016,10:03 PM

Voltage drop.... that is an interesting one Motorway... i read your post this morning and i dug out the video files from the dashcam for the day that the service and emissions recall was done, and from the footage the Hazzards were flashing the whole time the mapping was done. the battery for the dashcam was not charging at the time so the engine was not running and i could assume No battery charger was attached to the car. so maybe this is where it all went wrong?. is it also possible that getting the ecu locked in this way has made it impossible to reprogram by anyone.

i would be interested to talk to a re-mapping specialist, if anyone can recomend one in north staffordshire i would appreciate it and see what they say whilst i am waiting for VW customer service to answer my daily emails.