Mk6 Golf and EGR valve issues

teggs

argh

just had mine diagnosed at VW. EGR cooler requires replacing at £1043.28p inc parts/labour/vat no goodwill contribution.

car has done 80k and is about 5 years 1 month since registered.
I just spent £350 on cambelt replacement about 4 weeks ago and now this :-(

nervousnovice

Yesterday (18 Dec) heard Radio 4's 'You and Yours' with several tales of an Audi model circa 50k miles using copious amounts of oil and needing an engine rebuild to resolve. Worth a listen, especially the bit about Audi covering the costs for such cars in USA where there was a Class Action, but not so in the UK.

Anyone know how the EGR valve is doing outside of the UK?

Also, there was a mention in the Independent 'Questions of Cash' 6/12/14.

Jlglondon

Hello. I thought I would add my EGR issue to the list. I have a 2010 1.6 TDI golf, with approximately 33,000 miles and no previous issues. A couple of weeks ago I started having the glow plug light coined on, flashing intermittently sometimes with a noticeable loss of power (which I guess is "limp mode" that people have been referring to), and then sometimes the catalytic converter light coming on but not flashing. I took it to an independent garage for diagnostic as they were much cheaper than VW but other than that I have only ever taken it to VW, for its annual service. The independent garage told me the EGR valve needed replacing and quoted me just under £1000. I was about to bite the bullet and go ahead when I rang up VW to check their price and was out through to one of the guys in the workshop so they could check the cost of the part. The guys I spoke to happened to mention he has been replacing a lot of these - several of these a week recently I think and I asked him if it was an acknowledged fault and he said it wasn't as such but it does seem to be a recurring problem. I then googled it and found this thread what I found out about the possibility of "goodwill" payment. After speaking with the VW dealership where I bought the car from who told me that given my full service history with VW and only 33k miles I would "more than likely" get some goodwill offer but I had to take it to a VW garage for them to do their own diagnostic I did so and eventually got a call back that the EGR cooler needed replacing and a quote of just over £1100 (£300 and something's for the part and rest labour). I then got a "goodwill" offer of 100% on the part and zero on the labour which I wasn't happy with so spoke with VW customer care myself, who interestingly only had record of my services up to 2012 and presumed thy I had taken it externally after that. I corrected this information and am waiting to hear back from them. They asked me what my "expectations" were and I told them that really I think they should do the thing for free but that having seen I forums people with more than 80k mikes get an offer of 100%parts and 70% labour then I really think I should be being offered this. I will post back when I hear back. I think I will also tell them I will write to the BBC "you and yours" about this. That independent article mentioned above (I can't post the link as am a new user but it is easily found by googling "The independent Questions for cash VW")also seems to suggest that VW consider 100%parts and 50% labour appropriate for someone without full service history so this may also be a useful reference point for myself and others' cases.

On a related note, the link to the EGR removal that someone above posted (google "quantum tuning EGR removal") seems interesting. Has anyone had this done. Can anyone advise how much it alters emission rates and whether if it does become a legal requirement to have the EGR in Place whether this can be reversed at a later date (ie the EGR replaced and reactivated)?

devonshireboy

Hi All,
I got a 2010 VW GOLF 1.6 TDI SE 105 PS.In October,with 58000 miles on the clock, was going up the M5 from Devon.Got to Bristol when glow plug light came on and car went into limp mode.RAC brought me back to Devon.Took car to my local garage not VW main dealer as fed up with them always trying it on.Diagnostic check gave fault codes of P0601 00 and P0403 00,ECU and EGR problems.Was told by garage that ECU had to be replaced,wiring to ECU found permanent earth from EGR coolant temperature valve.EGR was supposedly working at the time?ECU cost £938 plus VAT,total bill £1677.
Wrote to the MD at VWUk with copies of all previous services and repairs since we bought the car from our lease company April last year,since when lambda sensor and fuel injectors packed up,so have spent nearly £2700 on repairs since we bought it last April(2013).Got goodwill for the lambda sensor and the fuel injectors but VW don't want to know about the ECU as was not repaired by VW dealer albeit diagnostic check VAG/VAS compliant.
Since repair,the glow plug light has come on again a few times.Have taken the car back to garage,could find no fault codes.Took it this week to Vw specialist in Exeter for diagnostic check-£30. Have come up with same EGR fault code as before -P0403 00. Their advice-replace the EGR VALVE and Cooler-£617 quote!!
Garage that fixed the ECU having car back in tomorrow.Suggest as an option to blank off the EGR VALVE.
Would appreciate any thoughts on that?
Totally unimpressed with this Golf since I bought it from Lease Company.We had it from new so knew the history.
Has turned out to be a BAD buy.
Despite having a copy of the diagnostic check which clearly showed a fault code for a duff ECU,VW are not interested.
So much for German reliability!!!

drbob

I too have experienced this issue with my 2010 golf. Around 60k on the clock. Intermittently the coil light would flash with loss of power and acceleration. Sometimes the cat error light would also switch on.

It's always been main dealer serviced, so I took it back to VW garage I bought the car from and simultaneously raised the issue with VW customer care. They diagnosed the fault as EGR cooler (the valve and cooler are one unit).

Thanks to goodwill with contribution from both VW customer care and the garage, part was free and I only paid 33% on labour. Total cost about £200.

It's early days yet but I think the EGR fault may have been the cause of the car sometimes hesitating when trying to pull away from a stop quickly (e.g merging with busy traffic out of my driveway) seems to pull away from a stop much more smoothly now.

7661jon

Just to add my story to the ever growing list! Bought a second hand Mk6 Golf 1.TDI S 105PS, registered June 2011 ('11 Plate) 62k miles at the beginning of Nov. Coil light started flashing and went in to limp mode after about 3 weeks. Cleared after turning the ignition on and off. Happened again after about another week. Again cleared by turning ignition on and off. 3rd time I decided to take it to VW for diagnostics. £50 later told it was the EGR cooler, £900 repair, but goodwill gesture free part, 50% off labour. I've decided to get them to liase with Car Giant (where I purchased the car) to try to get Car Giant to pay for the repair as I believe it was an existing fault when purchsed - the diagnostics report it to have happened 5 times.
Will post again once I know what the outcome is!
Happy Christmas everyone!:j

randomguy82

Hi all


Thank you to you all who are continuing to update and feedback on your findings. It does help in understanding just how big this issue is and clearly we are all not alone.
If you can all do you bit to raise the issue with VW UK/Which/Watchdog, it will keep the momentum on this. I do strongly believe that with enough of us doing this, someone will listen and investigate further.


Seasons Greetings to you all.

moodeyj

I have the same problem as nearly everyone else on this thread. I have a MkVI Golf TDI (09). Engine keeps going dead, black smoke from the exhaust and the local VW dealer say the EGR pipes are full of black gunge and it is the EGR cooler and valve, £1,200 to replace! But they are not offering any 'goodwill' gesture as I did not buy the car from them and its last service was with an indy dealer. Any thoughts on how I can reduce my bill? The car can't be driven to an indy garage in its current state, so I am stuck with VW.

randomguy82

@moodeyj
I would recommend you call VW UK and explain to them that you have seen several reports of others having exactly the same issue and they have had '100% parts and 50% labour contribution'.
My earlier posts will explain the initial offers I was given, but with a hard stance, I got them to the 100%/50% offer.
I hope it works for you and gets you back on the road soon.

moodeyj

Thanks @randomguy82, and I will call VW UK, but does the absence of a service history with this particular VW dealer not make a difference? They are saying they only offer 'goodwill' to regular customers. That said, I did have a service plan with them on my previous car (Passat) and I have expressed a willingness to take out a service plan on the new car (which I probably would have taken out anyway) as proof of my loyalty.