Glow Plug Symbol Flashing on Yeti 110

[K100RS]

Wife has just phoned up that her Yeti 110 has flashed up on the road some fifty miles away that the glow plug symbol has come on and the engine management had cut the power and speed down to a crawl and she has parked it up at work for the time being.

 

It has covered some 47,000 miles to date without any problems and now over the three year warranty that those nice Skoda people hand out. Has anybody got some thoughts on the matter as I cannot nip over there and do not have a laptop with a plug interface to see what the actual fault might be coming up with? We live near Norwich and the car is now near Woodbridge Suffolk.

Could she drive the fifty miles back home on the restricted speed that has been placed on the engine once the oil and other basics are checked first.

 

Thanks for any help as she is car wise (helped me strip down an engine)  

[Ryeman]

Could it be a battery problem?

[Llanigraham]

First option is to try "rebooting" it, ie leaving it for half an hour and then re-starting it. That might remove the "problem".

Other than that I presume you aren't a member of a breakdown/recovery system?

Personally I wouldn't drive it that distance in "fault mode"

[Urrell]

First option is to try "rebooting" it, ie leaving it for half an hour and then re-starting it. That might remove the "problem".

+1.

It may start and run OK after stopping and restarting, I've had that happen before.

[KenONeill]

This may sound completely off the wall (and even out of my tree) but ask her to get a colleague to help check the brake light function. I won't be at all surprised to find that none of them work, in which case the fault is with the brake light switch and not the engine.

[K100RS]

When it has cooled down I will get her to check oil, water,antifreeze, brake fluid etc. then start up the engine again later on to see what happens. Battery was checked last week and seemed to be in good condition as she does not do any short runs so it gets charged up ok with plus 14.0 volts from the alternator. Yeti SE TDI CR110 was bought back in May 2011 so I assume any warranty is now out as it is over three years old but with 47,000 miles on the clock?

[Ryeman]

Brake lights (may) reduce to idle power.

[Llanigraham]

Brake lights (may) reduce to idle power.

 

Can you explain that?

[whitep]

Bulb out? My octavias glow plug used to flash when I had a bulb out.

[Yety]

This happened to me as well. It turned out it was the turbo boost pressure sensor - replaced under warranty.

 

Any non life threatening fault displays this sign, as in the manual

 

I just drove around for a day or two until the sensor was replaced. It seems the ECU disables the function, and runs under reduced load until rectified.

It could be anything really.

[Ryeman]

Can you explain that?

Some/all cars have fuel reduced to idle flow when brakes are applied, I suspect the brake light circuit activates it.

Being a left foot braker, I thought I had a problem with my diesel Wrangler whilst doing a quick turn through traffic.....bit of a shock.....realised I still had a touch on the brake pedal sufficient to activate the lights.......there was no mechanical problem but all I had was idle fuel flow.

[Ryeman]

Expensive white goods.

[Llanigraham]

Bulb out? My octavias glow plug used to flash when I had a bulb out.

 

Yeti's have a "bulb warning" light on the dash that is separate from this light, plus a message comes up on the Maxidot

[Llanigraham]

Some/all cars have fuel reduced to idle flow when brakes are applied, I suspect the brake light circuit activates it.

Being a left foot braker, I thought I had a problem with my diesel Wrangler whilst doing a quick turn through traffic.....bit of a shock.....realised I still had a touch on the brake pedal sufficient to activate the lights.......there was no mechanical problem but all I had was idle fuel flow.

 

Whilst the Yeti does have a link between the brakes and the "power" system it does not illuminate the "engine warning light", as lit in this case.

[servicepoint]

Could be the egr valve, prone to blocking/failing on vag diesels around 40k.

It will reset once cooled but will kick into limp mode once back up to temp.

£900 or thereabouts parts,and labour.

Edited 3 March, 2015 by servicepoint

[K100RS]

Hi Servicepoint

 

Thanks for that as the wife has phoned me back early this evening and told me that she started up the engine and the glow plug symbol has gone out on standing stationery in a car park. But of course she has not driven down the road and started to really heat up the engine and exhaust on the Yeti. The tell tale will be trying to come home tonight. If it kicks into limp mode on the way home you could be spot on.

Out of interest where about is the egr valve screwed in ?

 

Come back simple old engines in the Vauxhall Combo all is forgiven with so many sensors that can and do go wrong. My old 1985 BMW engine runs without all the software and no dpf junk to cost an arm and a leg after just a few years.

[Frenchtone]

had this several times, the fault seemed to clear itself on cooling, and only occurred on start up when the engine was hot, once cleared the car was fine, think it may be a sticking egr valve - my soln was to give it a bit of 'weelie'

[Merlinman]

If she hopefully gets home safely without further incident, I'd still be inclined to check the brake lights are working - I had this on several previous cars (Golf Gti's and GTD's) and it was always the brake light switch! Bit cheaper fix than EGR valve, hopefully!

 

HTH

[servicepoint]

Not sure the exact location to be honest other than at the back of the engine bay, hence the 7.5 hrs for labour. Our 1.6tdi golf has recently had this carried out at 40k miles, car was out of warranty but had full vw service history and vw offered to cover the parts, decent but not enough considering how common the fault is, google it, the dealer then offered 50% of the labour so outcome it cost me £280.

If this is your fault demand some goodwill gesture from skoda.

The valve was more accessible on the previous engines and it could also be cleaned with only the gaskets requiring replacement, not now, replacement valve and gaskets required iirc.

There was also a warning on the maxidot, take to workshop or workshop required.

Edited 3 March, 2015 by servicepoint

[K100RS]

Cheers Servicepoint

 

Wife travelled some 60 miles back home in the evening and nothing showed up on the screen. Checked fuses all in position and sensor lead connections under the bonnet. Oil, water, brake fluid, antifreeze all ok. All lights working no problem found yet.

Took the Yeti out for a ten mile thrash to get it really hot and nothing has re appeared so far? Will leave it for a few days to see if the fault rears its ugly head again. Will then take it in to see if any faults have logged up on the engine management system. Always annoying when one can't replicate the fault.

 

It has done over 47,000 miles to date with the original rear tyres but the front ones have been replaced at 37,000 miles with the same Dunlop's it came with from new and now returns 54-55 mpg from filling up the tank to the top not the Maxidot figures. Wife must be gentle on the brakes as I have yet to replace the pads after 47,000 miles of use. Mind you every spring I take the brakes apart and clean them plus a careful greasing of the sliders so they don't bind.

 

Will await the dreaded glow plug symbol to re appear.

[snig71]

Flashing glow plug symbol on my octavia 2.0 140ps diesel only this week was due to an EGR valve problem and means a 700 bill :-(

I had exactly the same symptoms when I was driving home.

As service point says they at back of engine, not accessible like the good old vw PD 1.9 TDI engine and they have apparently got the cooler integrated as well.

Edited 4 March, 2015 by snig71

[servicepoint]

Hope it was a one off and the fault doesn't reappear K100RS. I'm sure the repair costs could be put to better use elsewhere.

[Ryeman]

Apparently a 'catch can' is worth fitting to filter out the blow by oily fumes and keeps the induction side clean.

Provent 200 (not the cheap Chinese copy) it seems is the ant's pants.

For those long term owners particularly.

[K100RS]

Fingers crossed gents it stays out for another year, wow at £700 plus I would expect a brand new exhaust system. So much for EEC rules as my 2003 Combo van cost £57 for a ordinary rear box silencer and has not had a fault yet since I put it on and changed the oil. Thanks for all your input on the problem and will be checking the brake pads on the Yeti with the wheels off this weekend as the weather starts to warm up. Must have a chat with a technician on what is actually involved in replacing a sensor. Always like a challenge when it says see your local dealer.

[silver1011]

The flashing glow plug light represents a whole host of potential faults. Add into the mix the EML (Engine Management Light) and you then enjoy a raft of even more potential culprits.

 

The concern here for me is the limp-home mode. This is to protect the car from potential damage due to the fault.

 

If as you say it is the wife's car, and by all account she travels some distance, I wouldn't be happy leaving it until it happens again.

 

A flashing glow plug and limp-home mode has 100% logged a fault. The least I would want to know is what the fault code represents.

 

A local member with VCDS will happily scan the car for you...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/224376-vcds-owners-map/

 

A dealer will most likely charge 30 minutes labour to plug the car in, is it due a service soon? If so they scan the car as part of the service.

 

The most common fault codes can be referenced here...

 

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Fault_Codes&pagefrom=01273