VW Passat warning light

BluesWeeper

Have a warning light showing on my petrol 2007 Passat, its a yellow engine sign and is supposed to be an exhaust emission card fault (ECU).

I know I know, VW and exhaust emissions!

Now, Garage quotes about 600 euro or so to repair. it doesn't seem to affect performance but garage spins scare stories about damage to catalytic converters etc. Cost 7O euro just to reset light !!!

Wondering if anyone has similar experience and if so is only way to resolve it to replace card or just drive on regardless ?

muincav

BluesWeeper wrote: »

Have a warning light showing on my petrol 2007 Passat, its a yellow engine sign and is supposed to be an exhaust emission card fault (ECU).

I know I know, VW and exhaust emissions!

Now, Garage quotes about 600 euro or so to repair. it doesn't seem to affect performance but garage spins scare stories about damage to catalytic converters etc. Cost 7O euro just to reset light !!!

Wondering if anyone has similar experience and if so is only way to resolve it to replace card or just drive on regardless ?

I have had a very similar problem in the last 36 hours-first the "glow plug warning" light came on and the garage said it is the "exhaust gas recirculation" has to replaced at about 1000 in total but he is not a VW garage and cant update the software and now today the "check engine" lamp has come on too and Im assumong its all to do with the same issue....I dont know whether to drive the car to my nearest VW garage which is 25-30 miles away or get it towed.....can anyone advise me on this? But yes BluesWeeper that price seems to be about right for what you are talking about....near dropped when I was quoted a 1000 euro but the VW garage is actually cheaper at about 850 and thats the software update included...

BluesWeeper

Appreciate the reply muincav.. mine's petrol so not used to diesels, a "google" seems to indicate it occurs often in diesels, some seem to drive away for a while like me on the petrol engine but that's my choice atm and wouldn't recommend it

BluesWeeper

BluesWeeper wrote: »

Appreciate the reply muincav.. mine's petrol so not used to diesels, a "google" seems to indicate it occurs often in diesels, some seem to drive away for a while like me on the petrol engine but that's my choice atm and wouldn't recommend it

Its your catalytic converter that's gone most likely, in which case the car is fine to drive for as long as you want. Cat is about 250- 350

megafan

Yellow light warning of issue... Red serious problem & stop....

link may help! http://dashboardsymbols.com/the-symbols/

Markcheese

Riya Fluffy Suspicion wrote:

Its your catalytic converter that's gone most likely, in which case the car is fine to drive for as long as you want. Cat is about 250- 350

Had something similar happen on my old skoda... it was the oxygen (lambda ? ) sensor ,
Think there were 2 of them to change..
Try getting a few other quotes!!
Surprised a catalytic converter 'd be that cheap ...

greasepalm

why assume its fatal,these cars can put engine fault light on with faulty temp sensor common as muck,if lambda probe goes you notice engine performance and smell at rear exhaust at times.buy a cheap diagnostic scanner to scan it.

dont assume everything is ok computer to computer is the only way of telling what the fault is.

Markcheese

Markcheese wrote: »

Had something similar happen on my old skoda... it was the oxygen (lambda ? ) sensor ,
Think there were 2 of them to change..
Try getting a few other quotes!!
Surprised a catalytic converter 'd be that cheap ...

I have a 1.6 golf so potentially the same engine as op, there is 2 sections to the cat. think they are 250-350 each depending on how good a replacement you put in.
If both fail double the price.

sparkynash

why not just get vw to fix it.whats the problem this is the cost of keeping a car on the road and by the way your better off going to a vw garage not these untrained fools in falling down tin sheds who work from the back of council houses.if you cant afford to fix the car then you cant afford the car you may downsize to something more in your budget........

coolbeans

sparkynash wrote: »

why not just get vw to fix it.whats the problem this is the cost of keeping a car on the road and by the way your better off going to a vw garage not these untrained fools in falling down tin sheds who work from the back of council houses.if you cant afford to fix the car then you cant afford the car you may downsize to something more in your budget........

Bit of a weirdly aggressive post. The are lots of well equipped and competent indie VW specialists around. Main VW dealers don't have the monopoly on competence you know.

muincav

megafan wrote: »

Yellow light warning of issue... Red serious problem & stop....

link may help! http://dashboardsymbols.com/the-symbols/

Thanks, even though the lights are Yellow but Im still a bit worried about driving it 30 miles to my nearest VW garage...dont want to end up doing more damage.

greasepalm

local garage should be able to do a quick scan to tell you if safe to drive.they can erase codes if asked and get a copy of faults noted for coming up again.

George Dalton

BluesWeeper wrote: »

Garage quotes about 600 euro or so to repair. it doesn't seem to affect performance but garage spins scare stories about damage to catalytic converters etc. Cost 7O euro just to reset light !!!

Your post contains very little useful detail but the fact that:
1. You drive a 2007 Passat with a petrol engine means it is probably a 1.6FSI and 2. The repair figure of €600 quoted by the garage

Would suggest that the problem is with the NOx sensor. This sensor monitors the NOx levels in the exhaust gases and is prone to failure on the 1.6FSI.

If this is the problem then the short answer is yes you can ignore it and keep driving the car without any serious consequences.

megafan

muincav wrote: »

Thanks, even though the lights are Yellow but Im still a bit worried about driving it 30 miles to my nearest VW garage...dont want to end up doing more damage.

In trying to diagnose problem here we're only guessing.... but if problem a sensor as George says should be ok to drive.. Car driving ok, no problem with cooling, oil level ok & no strange noises? me I would drive 30 miles to the garage & maybe a bit more if needed car... If an intermittent issue maybe get warning lights cancelled & see how long they take to return (by cancelling with a scan tool or disconnecting battery for a few mins might do it...but have radio code ready to hand!) But it's your car & driving around with warning lights on is not going to improve issue... hope helps....

megafan

Cheap scan tool worth keeping something like this in your glove box if not for now maybe in the future?...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/U281-Diagnostic-Scan-Tool-for-Audi-Volkswagen-Skoda-VAG-Fault-Scanner-/171430557347?hash=item27ea0eb6a3:g:jZ0AAOSwxH1T913v

George Dalton

muincav wrote: »

Thanks, even though the lights are Yellow but Im still a bit worried about driving it 30 miles to my nearest VW garage...dont want to end up doing more damage.

If it's the EGR then it is safe to drive in the short term.

Sounds like your local garage gave you the €1000 quote because they didn't particularly want the job. €650 would be more like it using an independent garage fitting a genuine part. The software update isn't relevant to the problem so is not necessary IMO.

megafan

IF link above doesn't work... search... VW scan tool on ebay! you'll get something for less than 20quid

Waterson

Most independent shops will have the software required to plug into your car to pull the fault codes that have caused this engine light to illuminate. I would be extremely wary of a garage quoting €1000 for an egr valve replacement. My recommendation would be to get a local garage equipped with VCDS or similar to do a global scan of your car. Then ask for a copy of the fault codes they find. Then post that info up here. We can advise you further from there.

George Dalton

Waterson wrote: »

My recommendation would be to get a local garage equipped with VCDS or similar to do a global scan of your car. Then ask for a copy of the fault codes they find. Then post that info up here. We can advise you further from there.

Sounds like the poster already has the diagnosis.

muincav

megafan wrote: »

In trying to diagnose problem here we're only guessing.... but if problem a sensor as George says should be ok to drive.. Car driving ok, no problem with cooling, oil level ok & no strange noises? me I would drive 30 miles to the garage & maybe a bit more if needed car... If an intermittent issue maybe get warning lights cancelled & see how long they take to return (by cancelling with a scan tool or disconnecting battery for a few mins might do it...but have radio code ready to hand!) But it's your car & driving around with warning lights on is not going to improve issue... hope helps....

I took the safe option and had it transported by a friend with a trailer. Nothing will be done until monday but at least its by a VW garage. Thanks to all replies and I hope BluesWeeper gets sorted out too...will be back when I know more...cheers everyone..:)

muincav

Job cost me 700 euro in the end but that was lower than the 850 first quoted by the VW garage so Im happy-cheers all

greasepalm

what job was done as it might help others?cheers

muincav

Thought we discussed this in earlier post? It was the Exhaust gas recirculation and software update.

greasepalm

i also had a 11d jetta in today with flashing glow plug light and fault is egr fault.new cooler,pipes and gaskets are e650 + vat and systems update done also.main vw dealer is doing 3 a week and have 5 kits on shelf at one time.
this is going to damage vw badly if charging customers for their screwups in false emission testing.
will it happen again is the question?

muincav

greasepalm wrote: »

i also had a 11d jetta in today with flashing glow plug light and fault is egr fault.new cooler,pipes and gaskets are e650 + vat and systems update done also.main vw dealer is doing 3 a week and have 5 kits on shelf at one time.
this is going to damage vw badly if charging customers for their screwups in false emission testing.
will it happen again is the question?

My garage will stand bt it for 2 years and I hope to change by then...I think VW should have to pay for this fiasco too.

ItsLikeThis

greasepalm wrote: »

i also had a 11d jetta in today with flashing glow plug light and fault is egr fault.new cooler,pipes and gaskets are e650 + vat and systems update done also.main vw dealer is doing 3 a week and have 5 kits on shelf at one time.
this is going to damage vw badly if charging customers for their screwups in false emission testing.
will it happen again is the question?

Just had this myself in my 140 passat (2011), bought of Independant dealer over a year ago, in fairness to him he just charged for the part (outside his warranty), cost me just under 500 euro. Tried getting goodwill of VW to no avail unsurprisingly, but worth a try as "regaining your trust is of utmost concern to us." as per their recent emissions letter:rolleyes: Apparently its more common on the 1.6 versions.