Flashing glow plug light whilst driving

[studmuffin]

Hi Guys,

Just completed a 660 mile round trip to scotland and back {only just..} when i was on the m1 near jct22, the glowlamp light started flashing and there was a serious loss of power, {i was doing 75ish at the time} anyway i managed to nurse it to LFE services which luckily was only 5 mins away, at a reduced speed of about 50ish.

When i got to the services, i had a quick look under the bonnet, everything looked and smelt ok, left it 5 mins, started it up, glow light came on and went off, everything seemed ok. so i drove it the 15 miles along the m69 at 60mph. , it doesn’t feel like the same car powerwise, the power is there, it just seems a lot longer to get there. Does anybody have any idea of what the problem might be?

I have a pd170bhp vrs, done 68k, had a new turbo last july when car was on 61k

Thanks

Edited 7 January, 2011 by studmuffin

[Tech1e]

Was it not just doing the first part of an emergency regen?

[studmuffin]

Was it not just doing the first part of an emergency regen?

thought that was only to do with the DPF filter ???

[Tech1e]

thought that was only to do with the DPF filter ???

It is

[magic62]

Probably one of the sensors gone.

Mostly it is the pressure sensor that measures the difference in pressure before and after the DPF (to measure its load).

Another sensor that can break is the exhaust temp sensor.

Just let the car be checked by skoda, the OBD will tell the fault.

[studmuffin]

It is

The dpf light didn’t come on as well.

The dpf light did come on about 4 weeks and 2k ago, i took it for a 10 min blast down a deserted dual carriageway, at eyewatering speeds, and the dpf light went off and it’s not come back on since...

[Tech1e]

The coil light, DPF light and engine management light all come on in stages if DPF regen has been attempted but hasnt been carried out (its in the manual).

[studmuffin]

The coil light, DPF light and engine management light all come on in stages if DPF regen has been attempted but hasnt been carried out (its in the manual).

is it ok to drive to a garage { dont want to do any serious damage by driving it} or shall i call the aa out ?

Edited 7 January, 2011 by studmuffin

[Tech1e]

How far is the garage?

[studmuffin]

How far is the garage?

local garage 2 miles

skoda garage 15 miles

will it need vcds?? to find the fault ?

[Tech1e]

It will need to be regnerated also so yes.

[magic62]

The sensors are still a weak part of the PD engines. Had broken pressure sensors as well as a broken exhaust temp sensor.

The broken exhaust temp sensor made the coil blink and sent the car in limp mode.

Problem with the limp mode is, that the car will not regenerate.

I still had to do about 125 miles with the car. Did this and light throttle without much accelerating (producing soot) and got

the car to the workshop where they replaced the exhaust temp sensor.

In my experience (about 100tmls), you can still drive the car to skoda. Here they can hook it up to the computer.

[Tom707]

Just been through a similar thing with my car. The glow plug light was intermittantly coming on with car going into 'limp home mode'. It took the workshop several visits to find the problem. In the end they said they got a fault with a sensor on the accelerator pedal, which was changed.

Jury is still out regarding if its fixed or not, but no glow plug light for the last 3 weeks.

[studmuffin]

Car is booked in at the dealers next Monday, so they can check everything. i have had a fault code, P0299 - 'underboost' (i.e. not enough air pressure coming from the turbo), after Hauptmann kindly helped to find fault with vcds.

I have looked on the net, for info on the fault and it could be various things like, faulty Diverter Valve (DV) or n75, faulty EGR valve, air leaks from pipes, sticking vanes on the turbo.

The thing is now, the car is running fine so i am hoping that it was the n75 valve that was stuck and its 'cured' itself.

I don't know now, whether to take car in next Monday, as they won't give me a straight answer on how much it will cost to check etc, etc. I did take out a extended warranty out with warranty direct, but i need to tell them first that car is going in, it all just seems a lot of hassle when car is running fine.....

[cheezemonkhai]

I don't think the PD170 has a DV, but has a VNT turbo mechanism instead. As such I'd think you can rule that out.

[studmuffin]

I don't think the PD170 has a DV, but has a VNT turbo mechanism instead. As such I'd think you can rule that out.

should i get it checked out ? or should i keep driving it ? its running fine at the moment.

if it is the vnt turbo mechanism, would the problem be there all the time ? { it had a new turbo last july under warranty }

[Hauptmann]

It COULD be the VNT mechanism, but as I recall you said the fault arose during a constant-speed motorway cruise - so that makes it less likely to be VNT (they usually flag up a fault during acceleration, when the mechanism sticks).

The problem that you have, with the car running fine and no fault indication, what can the dealer do? They might do a code-read, find nothing, and charge you £80. I don't think WD will pay for that since its not a 'breakdown' as such (i.e. 'failure to proceed').

To be honest, I would carry on driving it and see what happens. You are not doing any damage.

Edited 12 January, 2011 by Hauptmann

[studmuffin]

It COULD be the VNT mechanism, but as I recall you said the fault arose during a constant-speed motorway cruise - so that makes it less likely to be VNT (they usually flag up a fault during acceleration, when the mechanism sticks).

The problem that you have, with the car running fine and no fault indication, what can the dealer do? They might do a code-read, find nothing, and charge you £80. I don't think WD will pay for that since its not a 'breakdown' as such (i.e. 'failure to proceed').

To be honest, I would carry on driving it and see what happens. You are not doing any damage.

yeah think i will go with that, thanks for your help.

[magic62]

If it runs normal, you should be able to drive it. If not in limp mode the car will do its normal regenerations, so driving shouldnt give any problems.

My guess still is the pressure sensor, it will come back. Maybe not for a while, but than ever more. (my own experience). You should notice a very unregular distance between regens. My car even started a regen in front of a stoplight, just about half a mile after I cold started the engine.....

If your car ran in limp mode, the dealer should be able to see the fault.

If you want to have this checked, try to find one of the members with VCDS to do a scan.

[Hauptmann]

I scanned his car. Its not a regen fault, its an underboost fault. Bit of a random one at that.

[magic62]

OK, makes sense. It will never be a totally problemfree engine. Had my 170PD for almost 100t miles and had all the little troubles. Sensors, almost all of them, PD injector short cut, ECU, changed wiring harnesses.

But I loved driving every mile in this car

[SteveVRS]

Had same problem with 170 & DPF, 74k miles - driven as required. (hard)

Dealer diagnosed total failure of DPF - new dpf required basic cost £1150 plus half day fitting. Skoda paid 75% as goodwill

Picked car up yesterday, but rubbish dealer forgot to fit underside engine cover correctly so needs to go back for what seems like the 50th time since new (3yrs 2mths)

Totally sick of this car far too many faults, sooner the lease is up the better !!

good luck, hope you have deep pockets - dpf is a nightmare and problematic since day one.

[magic62]

It is a known problem, that the 170PD engine doesnt cope well with the DPF.

The common rail engines are much more faultless and dont have the same problems the

PD engine has.

[KevC]

Had same problem with 170 & DPF, 74k miles - driven as required. (hard)

Dealer diagnosed total failure of DPF - new dpf required basic cost £1150 plus half day fitting. Skoda paid 75% as goodwill

Picked car up yesterday, but rubbish dealer forgot to fit underside engine cover correctly so needs to go back for what seems like the 50th time since new (3yrs 2mths)

Totally sick of this car far too many faults, sooner the lease is up the better !!

good luck, hope you have deep pockets - dpf is a nightmare and problematic since day one.

Why didn't you just get rid of it, I had all my DPF problems sorted for around £450 by getting rid of the DPF.

Edited 14 January, 2011 by KevC

[smiccles]

Why didn't you just get rid of it, I had all my DPF problems sorted for around £450 by getting rid of the DPF.

hi mate had same probs been back to dealers twice regen got dpf light started to open it up on m62 got loss power followed by glow plug light followed by ecu they tell me its motorway only car only use it for short journeys anyway turns out its faulty presssure sensor it goes like rocket feels totally diffrent car now fingers crossed