VW Golf MK5 Engine Management Light

Discussion in 'Car and Van Talk' started by JAP3979, Aug 26, 2011.

  1. JAP3979

    JAP3979 New Member

    Hi, I have a 54 plate MK5 Golf, GT FSI. The engine management light came on 6 weeks ago so I took it to a local VW specialist mechanic (have used him for 5yrs) and each time he's not found a fault and cleared the light...which then appears again after 5 or so miles. The lambada was replaced a year ago (not sure which one as there are two) and the car has had the fuel cleaning product too.

    SO, I took it to VW (groan) and they too cannot clear the fault, they have happily charged £54 for this and suggest a full wiring inspection at £250. IF its then not the wiring then they'd look at the two faults which appear (note neither appear to be issues with the car or its current performance) 1) Exhaust gas valve, 2) Cam Position.

    Has anyone else had a similar issue, I'd begrudge paying £250 just for them to say its not the wiring, its a lot of money to be told something is working! Also as I said, everything on the car works as its should
     
  2. ***,

    I had much the same trouble with GT diesel model, the engine management light keep coming on an the car would slip into "limp home mode". The car was still under warranty, I got so fed up with the car that I told the local VW dealer to keep it for a few weeks and let their best technician drive it back and forth to work to experience my pain!

    The car was still in and out of the dealer and at one time I called VW UK and threatened to set fire to it outside their head quarters!

    Then I had an idea, in Watford, Hertfordshire there is a specialist engine tuning company called CKS performance. They had a guy there who was an ex VW trained mechanic, He plugged in his lap top and in about 20 minutes diagnosed a fault in the wiring near the exhaust down pipe.

    They charged me just £45 for this and gave me a written account of the problem, I then handed this to the dealer and got the car back the next day fixed once and for all!

    www.cksperformance.com

    Maybe if they are not that local to you; they may know another specialist in your neighbourhood who may be able to help you, good luck I know how you feel!
     
  3. madhatter1uk

    madhatter1uk Screwfix Select

    Main dealers are good at charging you for what you already know. I had the same with the main ford dealer at Hinckley. never bothered doing what we asked them to do, just told us that our connectors are corroded and they can't do anything else until they're replaced. Charged us for doing so. Had to take it a garage with proper mechanics to get it fixed., one that fixes things not just replaces perts that they think may be faulty and still charge even if they get it wrong.
     
  4. JAP3979

    JAP3979 New Member

    Thanks to both of you....I had posted this on so many forums that I forgot about this one. Well the story so far, I eventually paid VW (TL Darby in Burton) £250 for a full electrical wiring check, they found no fault with the electrics but advised of 3 faults which the VAG-Com was showing...these were the same 3 faults I knew about anyway. They also said they didnt think any of them were actually at fault on my car and the £1200 to do the works may be fruitless (fecking great), with that in mind I just paid the £250 (basically robbed) and left it there. I am now in a 5hit situation as I can't sell my car (which I don't need now as I've moved to London and use the tube) because it has the light on. I bought a CAG-Com cable off ebay and the damm thing only works upto MK4s and the Mk5 ones are a lot more expensive. I might give CKS a shout but its yet more outgoing. I too am thinking to write to VW HQ but I bet they don't give a 5hit, to be fair I am never buying a VAG car again.
     
  5. Tembo11

    Tembo11 Member

    I'm afraid in that same sort of circumstance all the Manuf / Dealers are the same
    It's nowadays down just to the computers finding a fault code that then tells the Techie what to do
     
  6. Strima

    Strima New Member

    Have the EGR valve and cam sensors been removed and checked?  Quite common for the EGR to coke up and not fully operate and at a rough guess the cam sensor could be sending false signals.
     
  7. JAP3979

    JAP3979 New Member

    Hi, no these have not been looked at.  I will ask my independant VW specialist garage to take a look at this - cheers.
     
  8. Strima

    Strima New Member

    Try googling (other search engines available) EGR cleaning, you'd be surprised how easy it is and will save you a few quid.  VW would just chuck an new one on and charge you heavily for the privilage.
     
  9. DrSparks

    DrSparks New Member

    Running wiring next to the (extremely hot) exhaust manifold and down pipe is a trick used by several manufacturers. It causes the copper wire to go brittle, increasing its resistance. The insulation may melt and cause current leakage problems. Another trick is to assemble male-female connectors without silicone grease on the pins (to protect them from corrosion) so the contacts get (sometimes invisible) corrosion and go high resistance. It takes time and patience to track down these faults. The usual computerised test equipment often won't show up any problem but the resistance is high enough to make the sensors intermittent, throwing up spurious "faults" from - usually - the cam position sensor, knock detector, mass airflow position sensor. Invariably it's a wiring fault and not a sensor fault.

    Locate these sensors and check every connection all the way back to the ECU. Spray inside all connections with WD-40 and pull-push them together a few times to clean the contact area. I've even seen a problem where a single drop of water had got inside the ECU and caused corrosion (caused by fitting a radio aerial and not sealing the hole properly).

    It may also be necessary to replace the section of wiring loom near the exhaust.
     
  10. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    You should ask yourself first, "Is WD40 electrically conductive, or insulative?"


    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  11. maintenance

    maintenance New Member

    its not conductive and is insulative given the connection is sound in the first place, it is designed ultimately to disperse moisture
     
  12. RickyRaj

    RickyRaj New Member

    I went to CKS Performance this morning for my VW Golf FSI 1.6 which has been displaying the engine management light since last Sunday am.

    The car drives fine so I didn't think the issue was mechanical. I bought one of those code scanners for £17 but that did not display any error codes. CKS charged me the standard £49.99 + VAT to troubleshoot the fault. They said the coils in cylinders 1,2 & 3 were not working properly. They've moved the coils around and cleared the light. They said if the light comes back then the coils will need to be replaced for all 4 cylinders (approx £50).

    I was impressed by the mechanics explanation of the problem and not recommending that I get the coils changed straight away. As Charrington Lawrence mentioned they are VW/Audi/Merc/BMW specialists. I may consider them for servicing as they appear to be cheaper than VW.
     
  13. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

    This thread is a year old Ricky!
     

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