Glow plug warning light flashing

[BigBazza38]

Hey all,

 

I've got a 16 plate Octavia Estate (first registered late March 2016) with the 81kW 1.6 Diesel engine and 7 speed DSG box and 40000 miles on the clock, and it appears to have developed an aversion to supermarket car parks over the past year or so!

 

On four occasions, I've parked in a supermarket car park (different ones each time, so it's not like it's got a thing against a specific chain) and upon starting the engine again, the glow plug warning light has started flashing and the Start-Stop system has been disabled but there's been no noticeable loss of power. In each case, everything's been fine again after leaving it parked overnight, with no warning light and the Start-Stop system working normally.

 

Took it in to my usual dealership a couple of weeks ago, where they changed the fuel sensor, rain/light sensor (as the Light Assist wasn't working either) and water pump (as a recall) and thought that was the end of it, but I had a recurrence on Saturday afternoon.

 

Given the vehicle in question was built before there was a separate DPF warning light, could it be something as simple as the DPF needing a regen, rather than a sensor or fuel system issue?

 

Cheers,

 

Barry

[Gabbo]

A flashing glow plug light indicates an engine related error which is not (or not triggered enough times) emissions related.

Without reading the fault codes (which your garage should have already done) its impossible to know what is the cause.

 

Problems with Regen should give you a warning in the Maxidot & Entertainment unit VehicleMenu if I'm not wrong.

 

My first guess might be broken glow plug (as the error is intermittant at start) but again the best way to investigate is to read the error codes with an OBD reader.

[mulrainm]

I had the exact same issue with mine which has a very similar mileage and reg date to yours when I bought the car in early September.
My skoda garage basically had the car from then until late October. They couldn't pinpoint what exactly had gone wrong but changed that many parts under the hood that eventually the issue was solved.

 

I would walk straight back into the garage and give the car back to them and tell them to fix it properly. At that mileage its surely under warranty.

[BigBazza38]

Just to cover all the bases, I went for a run down the A12 earlier at a sustained 70. Spent about an hour there and back. I've also booked it back in to the dealer for Thursday, so hopefully that'll turn up something.

[BigBazza38]

For the sake of completeness, here's what VCDS found:

 

1 Fault Found:
28242 - Fuel Pump 
          P3043 00 [032] - Mechanical Malfunction
          Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Status: 00000001
                    Fault Priority: 2
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Mileage: 64355 km
                    Date: 2018.11.17
                    Time: 17:01:51

                    Engine speed: 1152.75 /min
                    Normed load value: 100.0 %
                    Vehicle speed: 9 km/h
                    Coolant temperature: 84 °C
                    Intake air temperature: 38 °C
                    Ambient air pressure: 1010 mbar
                    Voltage terminal 30: 14.953 V
                    Unlearning counter according OBD: 37
                    Air mass at air mass meter 1: 72.0 kg/h
                    Standardised airflow ratio: 1.062 counts
                    Exhaust recirc.valve 1 bank 1: posit.feedback - Act.value: 0.18 %
                    Throttl.valve adapt. 1 bank 1: posit feedback - Act.value: 0.00 %
                    Charge air pressure specified value: 1.540 bar
                    Absolute intake pressure: 120 kPa abs
                    Mean injection quantity: 23 mg/stroke
                    Index of current engine mode: 0
                    Index of next requested engine mode: 0
                    Index of engine target mode: 0

The one thing to note is that the "Fault Frequency" is 1 as the dealer presumably replaced the pump when it was in about a month ago. The car had been parked for about half an hour when it happened and I had the Driving Mode set to "Eco" as usual.

[Gabbo]

Has your flashing glowplug lamp occurred since the car was at the dealer?

[cheezemonkhai]

You ever had the fuel filter changed?

[BigBazza38]

1 hour ago, Gabbo said:

Has your flashing glowplug lamp occurred since the car was at the dealer?

 

Yup. Happened again earlier in the week, after they changed the fuel pump about a month ago. I've just dropped it off again for them to have another go.

[BigBazza38]

1 hour ago, cheezemonkhai said:

You ever had the fuel filter changed?

It's had two minor services and one major, so it certainly should have been changed as part of the major one. Current plan is to get the next major service done at the same time as it needs its first MOT.

[cheezemonkhai]

Not due as part of the minor service. Iirc not due until 60k miles