1+ year long battle - 2011 Golf 90TSI - EPC & Engine light still on after engine swap

[TheNightmareContinues]

The car went in with a suspected cracked piston, mechanics did the engine swap as it was cheaper than reconditioning. Got the car back and the EPC & Engine lights continued to pop up and send the car into limp mode, took it back to the mechanics and they determined it must be a faulty engine after doing some testing on it. They forced the engine dealer to give them a new one which was compression tested etc... before it was put back into the car. I got the car back and the lights came back on again within five minutes of leaving the mechanics.

They then sent it to an auto electric specialist who examined all of the wiring from the engine to the ECU and said there was no problem with the electrics and concluded it was either the engine (which surely it couldn't be after two different engines) or the ECU but it wasn't presenting any fault codes.

I'm at a complete loss now, the car is currently sat at the Newstead Austral VW dealership having the faulty Takata airbag swapped out. I'm looking at $880 to do an ECU kit swap but even then it may not be the issue. I've always used premium fuel.

Does anyone know of any other potential causes of this?

I am currently in a terrible financial position due to changes at work, so I just need to get this sorted but no one can give me a definitive answer and I can't afford to spend more money on parts etc... if it's still not going to resolve the issue.


Current issues:
Rough idling (Engine seems to flutter but revs remain stable)
Engine light comes on followed by EPC
Poor power delivery and juddering

Parts that have been replaced:
Coil packs
sparkplugs
Engine x2
Various sensors (which the original mechanics still haven't given me the list for but replaced for free)

[Lucas_R]

VW reliability at its finest i see. Sorry to hear.

With 2x replaced engines, i simply don't see how it could be anything other than a sensor(s) playing up, an electrical issue or the ECU.

I had a friend with a Mk5 GTI's who's ECU died when his car was at my house and it did all sorts of weird things with lights on the dash, but the car drove fine literally 2 mins before as we were both in the car.

[Ozsko]

I am presuming that the VW dealer did not do the engine swap? I would put it on the mechanic that while it is at the dealer they pay to have some diagnostic work done to resolve the issue. Dealer workshops see a lot of this type of thing due to the lack of diagnostic equipment or expertise they have access too.

[TheNightmareContinues]

I am presuming that the VW dealer did not do the engine swap? I would put it on the mechanic that while it is at the dealer they pay to have some diagnostic work done to resolve the issue. Dealer workshops see a lot of this type of thing due to the lack of diagnostic equipment or expertise they have access too.

Yeah that's a fair point I'll look into that.

[TheNightmareContinues]

VW reliability at its finest i see. Sorry to hear.

With 2x replaced engines, i simply don't see how it could be anything other than a sensor(s) playing up, an electrical issue or the ECU.

I had a friend with a Mk5 GTI's who's ECU died when his car was at my house and it did all sorts of weird things with lights on the dash, but the car drove fine literally 2 mins before as we were both in the car.

Yeah the car drives as smooth as silk but if it sits over 2k revs for two long while driving the lights start to fire up and it kicks it into limp mode.

[h100vw]

Yeah the car drives as smooth as silk but if it sits over 2k revs for two long while driving the lights start to fire up and it kicks it into limp mode.

If there's lights there's fault codes. See if you can get them and post them up.

Gavin

[TheNightmareContinues]

If there's lights there's fault codes. See if you can get them and post them up.

Gavin

Still waiting to hear back from the garage at the moment but will do as soon as I can get hold of them.

[Ranger]

Hey mate, guess what - got the exact same issue as of last night!


Got a goodwill replacement short engine 6 months ago atKeystar VW. Was the usual cracked piston garbage. It's done 6,000km. Has been alittle jerky for a few weeks but on the weekend had a huge misfire driving at70km/h, then it’s been a bit worse. Last night the check engine light came onand something is definitely wrong.



Called up and got booked in for next week.


I pursued it hard last time but I’m going to be ruthlessnow. I don’t care if it’s just a sensor, but I’m not paying a cent and Iencourage you to get onto every bit of social media you can, plaster yourproblems all over them, even get in touch (ie tag) Jason Bradshaw, and quotehis passion for customer service. I’ll never buy another VW and will make surethey know that.



Out of curiosity which dealer?

[VSA87]

Hi There,

Hope you managed to resolve your issues. I was also keen to get some advice.

I have a 2013 VW Gold 90TSI Comfortline, I bought it brand new 6 years ago. Apart from burning through oil (which I top up regularly between services) the car has given me no issues. I have done 113,000km mostly FWY to work, it has been very fuel efficient and drives very smooth.

A couple of weeks ago my engine light and EPC started coming on intermittently. Sometimes both come on sometimes only one, some days nothing. It is very strange as the car drives perfectly no loss of power, no noise when idling it is normal. The start stop function which 99% of the time I turn off, also started coming up with an error. Again no issue with the cars drivability. I have taken it to a couple of mechanics and none of them seem to know what the issue is. They kept saying it could be several different things and we'd need to replace them etc on by one to find the issue. I have been told horror stories about taking it back to VW workshops so I am really worried and just don't know what to do.

I am also a woman and constantly feel like workshops try to put one over me and thinking I would have no idea because I am female. Some workshops charge $150 just to run the diagnostics program at the first place the error code I received was "P00AF Turbocharger/Supercharger Boost Control 'A' module performance"

Open to advice, help or any ideas on what this could be.

Regretting my VW purchase!

Many thanks,
V

[grtuned]

The problem with the OP is that they were advised to put in a second hand motor by the drop kick mechanic. This is the first big mistake! you can never guarantee that the second hand motor is free from the piston issue or any other issues not associated with the original motor. Secondly it should of been taken to a Volkswagen dealership as a good will request is often permitted by Volkswagen once submitted and all pistons would have been replaced. My point is take it to a Volkswagen dealer apply for assistance and if full or part goodwill is approved you still win. rebuild may cost a little more but you will have new parts and a guarantee on the work. Second hand leads to other issues and once the cost exceeds a certain point the original mechanic wipes his hands clean and the owner is left with the problems.


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