VW sudden power loss issues

[VEEEUU]

Has anyone experienced the power loss issues as reported in the media recently?

It seems overheating in some engines can activate the "limp home" mode. If my 6r Polo had a temperature guage, then I would have half a chance in preventing such scenario.

VEEEUU

[nomadx38]

No - overheating will not put the car into limp mode (which shows engine and EPC lights)

What overheating will do is limit power output (by either shifting up gears or cutting fuel) to keep the engine running. This feels different to limp mode which has no power or throttle response. If the car is overheating it will let you know by the red temp light under the tachometer.

What you would have to do to get the temperature up that high I have no idea. Mine is always fixed at 90 degrees C regardless of 0 or 50 temps outside

[noone]

There were a lot of new threads in the last few days on those articles. The articles glossed over a few issues, sort of amalgamating them into one piece.

Are you hitting limp mode? If your car was overheating, what would you do? Drive with less acceleration? Modern cars should be designed to drive hard all day and not explode.

[VEEEUU]

Thank you for a very informative reply. Just a couple of questions if I may.

What relative temperature does an engine need to attain for the red warning light to come on. Does "red" mean it's got so hot it's too late?

It seems you have a temperature guage in your VW? No such luxury in a 6r Polo 1.2 TSI.

Also, the temperature guage in may previous Series IV Golf sat on exactly "12 o'clock" for 7 years. Like your car this was regardless of outside ambient temperatures. That is untill the water pump impellor started disintegrating. I was able to nurse the car to a VW workshop by watching the guage and pulling over when it indicated about 20% above normal. No such luxury without a temperature guage.

Kind regards
VEEEUU

[Rubbadub]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the water temperature gauge (and this was for cars in general, not necessarily a VW) will say 90 degrees even when the real temperature is a few degrees either way of 90, so people won't panic when the temperature fluctuates a little. This is why the temperature seems to go up so quickly when the car is genuinely over-heating.

[Barracuda]

The oil temperature gauge isn't much of a necessity these days. Like what nomadx38 said, you'd have to be thrashing the car and for a pretty long time to get the 77TSI to overheat. If the car was getting into a high temperature range, a message would appear on the MFD warning you. Again, overheating really isn't a concern on the 77TSI's. I had a 118TSI golf as a loan one day... I swear, five minutes of driving it from a cold start and the engine was hot enough to fry an egg. I drove for ten minutes and when I turned the car off, it kept its radiator fan on for about 1 minute to further cool the engine. Those things have a serious overheating issue. Don't stress about overheating and the 77TSI.

[alexaescht]

The TDI runs fairly cool as well, except when it's cleaning its DPF. The exhaust tip becomes hot enough to boil water on it (not actually joking) and the DPF itself glows red. I'm amazed that the foam on the engine cover hasn't melted yet – it sits right above the turbo and DPF.

[Barracuda]

The TDI runs fairly cool as well, except when it's cleaning its DPF. The exhaust tip becomes hot enough to boil water on it (not actually joking) and the DPF itself glows red. I'm amazed that the foam on the engine cover hasn't melted yet – it sits right above the turbo and DPF.

Wow! How often does it clean the DPF? Does it affect the engine performance at all?

[alexaescht]

Wow! How often does it clean the DPF? Does it affect the engine performance at all?

Depends on how you drive it, but I'd say roughly every 1,500 to 2,000 kms.

Engine performance – you can definitely notice. Turbo boost is increased to counteract the leaner mixture used during the cleaning process which results in a hell of a lot of turbo lag. Engine noise increases dramatically and overall the car runs like crap.
Sometimes the ECU starts the cleaning process when the engine is cold which results in stalling, erratic idling and unburnt diesel coming out the exhaust because the engine's not up to operating temp and there's not enough fuel being fed into it, which can be interesting because coming up to intersections it either will stall or you have to rev the engine in neutral while braking. Once the engine is up to temperature it tends not to stall.

[wai]

What relative temperature does an engine need to attain for the red warning light to come on. Does "red" mean it's got so hot it's too late?

In days gone by, when cars did not have fuel or temperature gauges, these lights were known as "idiot lights". I am not sure the term "idiot" was aimed at the designers or the owners. In all probability it was the designers for being so stupid as to not providing a simple gauge.

Basically, when the light comes on, the engine has overheated. If there was a gauge, it would be in the red zone. The gauge would tell you how far into the red zone, and if it was continuing to climb.

If you are driving and the light comes on, pull over, stop where safe, and check under the hood.

By the way, the temperature gauge and simple warning light are of no use unless they can sense heat. If something like a coolant hose comes off, you may not get an indication of high temperature.

A friend of mine bought a MY11 Subaru Forester, and it does not have a temperature gauge. It has a coloured LED that changes from blue through orange and finally red. Not much use to him as he is red/green colour blind. To him, it is all the same brownish (his description) smudge.