Mk6 Golf and EGR valve issues

megan0_03

Yes. I called RAC they hooked up computer and throws up air mass flow sensor. Disconnected it cleaned connections reset and I'm away again. No lights on dash. Happy days. Feels like im living in fear for the EGR!! Thanks again

phillp

Had Coil light flashing + reduced power, was very intermittent and local VW specialist (not main dealer) could not find a problem in the errors (no errors in log).
Went on holiday from Kent to Cornwall and you guessed it...

Main dealer resolved (EGR Valve replacement) for £495 labour, with VW paing 100% of parts (over £300). came with a two year guarentee from VW.

2010 1.6TDi with 32k on the clock. I got it with 18k on the clock a year and a bit back (from indi dealer, and it had no main dealer service history).

Phill

Pluto788

I too have experienced the flashing coil light and car resorting to limp mode. My vehicle is a Golf Plus 1.6 TDI , 2011, with 57K on the clock.

My local VW garage has diagnosed that the EGR needs replacing and immediately said VW will pay the cost of the part and 50 % of the labour costs resulting in a bill of £277.00. Car 6 months out of warranty.

Obviously from this thread it appears to be a common problem . A quick call to VW Hq is needed and another report to watchdog.

Hyperxr

Pluto788 wrote: »

I too have experienced the flashing coil light and car resorting to limp mode. My vehicle is a Golf Plus 1.6 TDI , 2011, with 57K on the clock.

My local VW garage has diagnosed that the EGR needs replacing and immediately said VW will pay the cost of the part and 50 % of the labour costs resulting in a bill of £277.00. Car 6 months out of warranty.

Obviously from this thread it appears to be a common problem . A quick call to VW Hq is needed and another report to watchdog.

Why does the EGR need replacing? Can it not just be cleaned out or is it broken?

muirio

Hi all,

Just adding my story to this thread of woe...

I have a 2010 Golf Mk6 TDI 2.0, 39,000 miles on the clock, with the flashing coil / cat converter lights and "Fault: Workshop" OSD message, same as many of you.

I've had this fault three times over the last 6 months, every time driving on the motorway oddly enough. The first two times a quick switch off / on at the hard shoulder cleared the fault and error lights. Indy garage couldn't find a problem so told me to come back when the lights were on so they could diagnose.

Last weekend I had my third breakdown and the fault would not clear after off/ons, called breakdown recovery, the man plugged his computer in and diagnosed a P0403 code which a quick google from me revealed as the EGR valve playing up.

I got towed back home and mysteriously the car started working again, no faults (apparently)!

Have e-mailed VW today, asking for this to be replaced for free (parts & labour) as this should be a part which lasts the lifetime of the engine. The fact that the replacement EGR valve is a modified version of the original (allegedly) plus the fact they're willing to cover the part / 50% labour kind of indicates to me that they know they engineered it badly in the first place!

I'm absolutely not expecting them to agree to doing it for free in which case I'll lodge a complaint with Watchdog as you all have, but I live in hope!

I'm curious how much VW would be able to wriggle out of initiating a recall on this part for affected vehicles. It's not really a safety issue, so I suppose they'll never end up doing it. Does anyone have any experience on this? In my mind the original is surely not fit-for-purpose if it's failing in so many vehicles at this early stage in the vehicle's lifetime.

I'll let you know how I get on shortly!

Also for anyone who has had this problem intermittently like me, have you experienced quite noticeable economy / performance drops since the problems started? This time last year I was averaging 45mpg every month or so when I checked the dash. The last month has been 38mpg (although I might put a bit of it down to the colder autumn temps).

muirio

Hyperxr wrote: »

Why does the EGR need replacing? Can it not just be cleaned out or is it broken?

I've read anecdotal comments on the internet that the valve in the Mk6 can't be cleaned out like it can in the Mk5 and before - not entirely sure why though.

nervousnovice

Well sort of... VW did call me to apologise for the problems I have had with the Golf, but they were not to be shifted from the now standard 50% offer. They don't accept that the part is faulty and said that a lack of service history with VW was a contributory factor to their decision. (Earlier they had said the lack of a software upgrade was a contributory factor)

When I said that I was not alone in having this part failure, VW said not everyone on the internet would be telling the truth. I did ask how many times had the valve failed on Mark VI Golfs, but VW said that they could not tell me as they did not know. This was a bit of a surprise as I would have thought that VW would have some from of stock control, and know how many they had sold, but apparently not!

I have also done a bit of research into the Sale of Goods Act and the fit for purpose angle. But to take this forward would need me to prove (with expert evidence) that the valve should have lasted longer and to take VW to the small claims court. Whilst I think all the evidence points to the valve being not fit for purpose, proving it in court could be difficult.

Maybe I should just be grateful that one month on from having the valve replaced, it still going and no warning lights!

Bookworm17

Here's another one to add to the list. My 2010 Golf 1.6 stalled a couple of times on start up recently. Had it into local independent garage for 50k service and they couldn't find anything.

Two days later it stalled when parking after a 30+ mile journey at least half of which was at 70mph. Got home fine. Took it back into garage next morning as I was due to be going over to Cambridgeshire that day and didn't fancy getting stuck on the M25/M11 if it failed. Garage has it on diagnostic machine but couldn't find anything wrong. Went to Cambridgeshire and back (150 miles) mainly motorway driving at 2500 revs, mostly in 4th gear going over. All fine and great for the rest of the week.

Then on Friday afternoon, coming down the driveway from my daughters school the car just lost all acceleration without any warning. No warning lights, no going into limp home mode. Nothing. Stuck for 3 hours until RAC came and towed it to local garage. They looked at it Saturday morning but said it had to go to VW dealer for better diagnostics on their computer. I thought we were past being tied to dealers these days!!! £250 for the diagnostic. Ouch.

Anyway it turned out to be the EGR valve. Only offer on the table was free part. No reduction on labour. Just under £1000 in the end. Only up side is that the local garage did the chasing, ferried it to and fro and it was fixed in a couple of days. Now we wait and see how long it will last.

reddwarf2002

For the EGR valve to cause such running issues seems to be either a major design issue or software issue. A blocked EGR should not mean that the car has to stall. I mean it would be normal for the car to recognise that the valve is clogged and therefore the EML light coming on.

But why does it need to stall? VW need to get this issue sorted out by having a better EGR diagnostic in place so that when it is blocked/gummed up it is correctly identified and therefore the ECU is not trying to carry out steps that would cause running problems.

muirio

I ended up with an offer for 100% off the part and 40% off labour in the end...£450 total with the mandatory diagnostic at the VW dealer.

I raised a case with VW Customer Care and after their 'investigations' they've now told me that they will not be making any further contributions to these costs.

I'm going to do the British thing and write a letter to them now and if no joy from that I imagine I'll be pursuing legal action!