Loss of power & intermittant glow plug warning light

[PeterW]

A3 2.0 l tdi quattro 3.5 years old. Glow plug warning light now comes on intermittantly when driving and it has lost power. I find my foot now has to go to the floor almost continuously to make reasonable progress. I am taking it to a audi specialist in Northampton later and would appreciate any feedback to help in the discussion with them. Its also developed an engine oil leak. Why do these things happen when its just out of warranty?

[PeterW]

Took it to Northampton elite motor tune. On the way the dpf warning light came on in addition to flashing glow plug warning. Garage service was excellent, apart from dpf only one fault listed - a sort circuit in No1 exhaust temperature probe. Looks like it will cost £105 + labour + vat plus the oil leak looked major. Appears to be coming from cam cover gasket area, so total bill if i'm luckey of about £350-400.
Ouch! What has happened to the Audi's that never went wrong ? My pre 2000 ones were faultless. This one has had sensor near the dpf replaced after 6months, a new prop shaft after 2 years and now an exhaust probe failure and a major oil leak after 3.5 years and 30,000 miles. Seems to me the quality is heading downwards seriously.

[alankru]

You do have seem to have had a very bad experience! I would say that I think you have been very unfortunate though. As you say, the major failures you mention would not be expected for a new car like yours so I would complain to Audi to get your costs covered.

[PeterW]

It gets worse. On the way home from the garage the dpf warning light came on and following the instructions in the manual had no effect. I emailed Audi uk & their customer service replied very quickly but unfortunately I was out. I hope to talk to them tomorrow. Will keep the thread updated on their response.

[Sean_Dacey]

Hi, Ive got the same problem on my 2007 2.0TDI. Initially the emmision light came on after 38,000 miles. Looked online and found some posts about clering the light with a 'Sporty' drive home. I tried this and the glow plug light came on and lost power. I have left the car for a while and tried starting again to see if time helped but it hasn't. Does anyone know what else i can try to fix this any help/advice would be appriecated.

Sean

[alankru]

Hi, Ive got the same problem on my 2007 2.0TDI. Initially the emmision light came on after 38,000 miles. Looked online and found some posts about clering the light with a 'Sporty' drive home. I tried this and the glow plug light came on and lost power. I have left the car for a while and tried starting again to see if time helped but it hasn't. Does anyone know what else i can try to fix this any help/advice would be appriecated.

Sean

You would need to get the car scanned (ie. a computer hooked up to it to check for faults) as this will be able to highlight where the problem lies. The diesel particular filter (which is the common cause for the glow plug light) may be clogged and require regenerating, or a sensor may be faulty. You can take it to the dealer/independent specialist for this to be looked at, or you can ask someone from the forums to help scan the car for you: https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/f...sers-Locations

[Sean_Dacey]

Thanks alankru ill look too get that done asap. Ill keep you posted on results.

[PeterW]

Update following moaning at Audi uk. As I said earlier I emailed Audi UK complaining about the poor quality of my car. It has had 11 faults in the 3 years since new including sensor failures, rear door permanently locked, coolant loss, faulty propshaft and now sensor failure, pdf warning & major oil leak. Their response was " I would be happy to discuss a repair cost contribution for your vehicle should it be diagnosed and repaired at an Approved Audi Centre, however we are unable to offer any level of financial assistance for any work completed outside of the Audi Network." The main dealer rates are in excess of £100 + vat which is more than double the specialist I,m using so even with an Audi contribution its likely to be considerably more expensive at the main dealer. This is especially the cases as investigating the oil leak is an open job & not a fixed priced one. So far I've had no comment from Audi UK concerning the quality of the car.

I also talked to a diesel engineer who said the regeneration drive is aimed at elevated ehaust temperatures whilst keeping soot production from the engine low. So a sporty drive with hard acceleration is not the way to go as hard acceleration/ wot produces a lot of soot. He suggests medium rpm with low engine load hence the Audi reccommendation of about 2000 rpm in 4th or 5th gear.

[alankru]

I also talked to a diesel engineer who said the regeneration drive is aimed at elevated ehaust temperatures whilst keeping soot production from the engine low. So a sporty drive with hard acceleration is not the way to go as hard acceleration/ wot produces a lot of soot. He suggests medium rpm with low engine load hence the Audi reccommendation of about 2000 rpm in 4th or 5th gear.

Thanks for that info Peter. I have been wondering this...so it's good to have a second opinion.

You're right - the labour prices are so expensive at the dealer. I have the same predicament with my independent warranty - the warranty only covers half the costs of the dealer's labour! Perhaps you could get it diagnosed at the dealer and see what they say about contribution costs - perhaps you could push for the whole cost to be covered given the amount of problems you have had. What about some legal advice on this - from the point of view that the car has been faulty since you had it new?
You would think that it's somewhat contradictory that the EU ruling has allowed cars under warranties to be serviced by independent specialists, rather than the main dealers, but the manufacturer's won't entertain any claims for compensation unless it's with their dealers (somewhat understandable though).

[PeterW]

Car now fixed. Managed to get DPF warning light to go out after about 30mins driving at 2000-2500 rpm in 4th gear. New EGT sensor fitted and engine oil leak fixed. Massive oil leak as the cam cover was not bolted down properly at one end and the gasket had squeezed out. To my knpwledge nothing has been done to the car which would need the cam cover removed so its likely been like this from new.
So £380 lighter but car seems ok.