Engine warning light!

Baldytyke88

My works vehicle, a VW Crafter has had a glow plug warning light on for a few days.

It's now also displaying the engine management light. If I turn the engine off and then restart, lights off and there isn't a problem.

When the glow plug light comes on, a swirly symbol, it won't drive over 40mph. My runs are mostly local, so the van going slow hardly affects us. We don't have freely available spare vans, so is it ok to carry on driving?

It's been on for 2 days, on and off, so will it be ok for another 2 days/weeks?

I understand it goes slow to protect itself, but what is it protecting? If it's ok when I restart it, it cannot be so bad. My transport manager seemed ok with me continuing to use the van, his mechanical knowledge is minimal.

I am hoping to get a replacement van tomorrow, but I was just wondering about the principle of continued driving.

ElefantEd

If it were my own car, I wouldn't drive it until it had been looked at and fixed. But a works van, where you have been specifically told to keep driving it by the person in charge? Just keep going, it is therir problem if it develops a more serious fault as a result!

Baldytyke88

ElefantEd said:

If it were my own car, I wouldn't drive it until it had been looked at and fixed. But a works van, where you have been specifically told to keep driving it by the person in charge? Just keep going, it is therir problem if it develops a more serious fault as a result!

I am just wondering why it's going into limp mode, if it's really safe to drive. I do believe some over-react to amber warning lights.

It must be a real money spinner for garages, it's almost like it's designed with that in mind.

Alanp

Just a safety feature built in, usually called limp mode, maybe to stop any over revving on fast runs, 

WellKnownSid

Baldytyke88 said:

It must be a real money spinner for garages, it's almost like it's designed with that in mind.

I'm curious to know how that would work.  There is literally nothing stopping you from hooking the van up to a laptop, diagnosing the one of a thousand different reasons the light is on and fixing it.

facade

WellKnownSid said:

Baldytyke88 said:

It must be a real money spinner for garages, it's almost like it's designed with that in mind.

I'm curious to know how that would work.  There is literally nothing stopping you from hooking the van up to a laptop, diagnosing the one of a thousand different reasons the light is on and fixing it.

A lot of people- I'd go so far as to suggest the majority, won't do that. They either run to a garage, or believe that they can do another 20,000 miles with the warning light on, and wonder why they now need a new engine rather than just a sparkplug....

MattMattMattUK

WellKnownSid said:

Baldytyke88 said:

It must be a real money spinner for garages, it's almost like it's designed with that in mind.

I'm curious to know how that would work.  There is literally nothing stopping you from hooking the van up to a laptop, diagnosing the one of a thousand different reasons the light is on and fixing it.

There are lots of things that one can do that to, but people do not because they may lack skills, confidence or the capacity to do so. I would plug in my own OBDII connector and check, some things I could fix, others I could not, but I could go to a garage armed with the correct info. I also build my own computers, but many cannot, I could wonder why people buy substandard pre-made bread rather than make it themselves, why people buy ready meals, why they do not do their own decorating etc. but the reality is that different people have different skillsets. Some of us might be lucky and have wider skillsets and a greater capacity and ability to learn than others so we can do more for ourselves, however we still have gaps. Personally if I needed surgery I would not learn how to do it and the conduct it on myself. 

The OP also says that this is a works vehicle, in which case I would not be touching anything, because it is not my responsibility and doing so could make me liable, or at the very least be a breach of company rules, leases etc. 

WellKnownSid

facade said:

WellKnownSid said:

Baldytyke88 said:

It must be a real money spinner for garages, it's almost like it's designed with that in mind.

I'm curious to know how that would work.  There is literally nothing stopping you from hooking the van up to a laptop, diagnosing the one of a thousand different reasons the light is on and fixing it.

A lot of people- I'd go so far as to suggest the majority, won't do that. They either run to a garage, or believe that they can do another 20,000 miles with the warning light on, and wonder why they now need a new engine rather than just a sparkplug....

Yep that was the point of my irony.

It's like saying bricks are a real money spinner for builders, flour is a real money spinners for bakers...

Herzlos

The correct answer is to book it into a garage and arrange a rental/courtesy van, especially since a main dealer may easily have 4+ weeks wait.  Vehicles don't usually go into limp mode unless they are trying to prevent further damage.

The more practical answer is that if your boss wants you to keep driving the van as-is, get that in writing and drive it until it either gets repaired or won't start. You may be able to get away with it for months, or it may refuse completely tomorrow.

You can always try a cheap ODB diagnostic tool to get a better idea of what the problem is, but if the van decides it's unsafe it's not going anywhere.

Baldytyke88

Herzlos said:

The correct answer is to book it into a garage and arrange a rental/courtesy van, especially since a main dealer may easily have 4+ weeks wait.  Vehicles don't usually go into limp mode unless they are trying to prevent further damage.

The more practical answer is that if your boss wants you to keep driving the van as-is, get that in writing and drive it until it either gets repaired or won't start. You may be able to get away with it for months, or it may refuse completely tomorrow.

Although this is not my regular van, I do know that it had the same fault a couple of months ago

Baldytyke88

facade said:

A lot of people- I'd go so far as to suggest the majority, won't do that. They either run to a garage, or believe that they can do another 20,000 miles with the warning light on, and wonder why they now need a new engine rather than just a sparkplug....

A decade ago they didn't have all these warning lights, just an oil warning light.