Anyone else have a NOX sensor go bad?

Thanks

its the same as o2 sensor cleaning

AtlantaRene said:

Is the NOx sensor problem localized to the earlier model years?

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My car is a 2013. Is that an early car?

1gunther1 said:

My car is a 2013. Is that an early car?

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Possibly, the Passat was redesigned in 2012; however, most of these parts are used on other cars. I was just trying to figure out the problem occurred in certain years... it might indicate that it was fixed by a mid-production change.

I have a 2012 as well with twice as many miles and luckily it has had ZERO issues.

You're lucky. My NOX sensor has failed THREE times now!! First time at ~37,000 miles (conveniently 1000 miles after VW's standard factory warranty), second time at ~61,000 miles, and third time at ~73,500 miles. Luckily they were all covered under my extended warranty, but it makes me worry how costly this nuisance will be once my warranty expires. The last one only lasted a little over 10,000 miles.... I also asked my VW dealership this last time if it was a common issue for these NOX sensors to fail and he said "NO" (while not looking me in the eye), but clearly with the numerous responses to this thread, it's a common issue. Look forward to learning the cleaning method in another year when my warranty expires.

Zero issues here too, I wonder if short trips vs highway is causing them to fail? They are located well after all after treatments so they should stay clean no matter what

I am wondering about the cost of the repair. The part is $530 plus taxes, the total cost of the repair is about $1050 so there is about $475 of labor? I don't know the current labor rate of VW dealers but wondered if this was consistent with the amount of diagnostic work, testing, replacement, and then follow on testing required to the task.

@jrm I suspected my short commute may be a factor but then I see doug022984, a high mileage person, who is having the problem.

I had the P2201 / NOx Sensor / Bank 1 CEL come on after getting a mechanical car wash driving to Florida from MD. After getting the code read at an Auto Zone I figured (or hoped) the light came on because of the sensor getting wet. The light went out after arriving in Naples, FL the next evening.

I wonder what others would have come up with if they had run the car thru many "drive cycles" before they took it to the dealer?

I have a '12 Passat TDI 6M, over 90% of my driving is on the highway, 200 miles at a time. I have been getting NOx sensor errors starting at about 35K miles on the car... still getting them with 83K miles on the car. I haven't bothered to repair it... drive more worry less. Sensor/module is stupid expensive and some bottom heat shields need to be removed to remove wire. I still haven't located the module as wire disappears under heat shield and I haven't found where it comes out.

AtlantaRene said:

I am wondering about the cost of the repair. The part is $530 plus taxes,

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List price is $530, but 1stvwparts has it for $380, for the DIY'ers.

BPofMD said:

I had the P2201 / NOx Sensor / Bank 1 CEL come on after getting a mechanical car wash driving to Florida from MD. After getting the code read at an Auto Zone I figured (or hoped) the light came on because of the sensor getting wet. The light went out after arriving in Naples, FL the next evening.

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On the night the check engine light came on, I was on a road trip where I encountered 200 miles of rain. At one point, the rain was so heavy that water collected on the roadway and there was a risk of hydroplaning. At times, the interstate slowed down to 40 MPH. After the light came on, I drove the remaining 50 miles to home and full day with the check engine light on before bringing it to VW.

Perhaps water is a factor.

I kept going even with the CEL on as the light was NOT flashing. Everyone SHOULD know that if the CEL is NOT flashing there isn't much (if ANY) harm to continue driving. I also did not see a change in MPG so I just quit sweatin' it.

I wrote to VW America complaining about this known defect and the different treatment by the dealers and to my surprise they have tentatively agreed to repay me. I will keep you posted when and if I get a check.

I recommend everyone who gets one of these to complain to VW about their poor design.

Got mine replaced around 27k miles (warranty of course)

@jrm and AtlantaRene: I've also suspected it happens more from city driving, and possibly a manual transmission makes it worse too. To clarify my 3 occurances and the type of driving, the first 50,000 or so miles on my passat were all highway from a wonderful 850 miles/week commute I did to work for a year. The last 20,000 have been city driving with the sporadic long trip to a client site or vacation, so I do think the city driving might have something to do with the last one only lasting 10,000 miles since it was the first NOX sensor with mostly city miles on it. The reason for my manual transmission theory is my fiance has a 2012 jetta TDI with the DSG, similar mileage history to me except she has maybe 60,000 miles on hers at this point and hasn't had a single NOX sensor failure yet.

@BPofMD: the last one I had, I erased the code the night it came on. I was able to drive another 150 miles or so (not continuous, that was several trips with restart cycles) before the same code came back on, but since it came back on I decided to bring it in.

doug022984 said:

@BPofMD: the last one I had, I erased the code the night it came on. I was able to drive another 150 miles or so (not continuous, that was several trips with restart cycles) before the same code came back on, but since it came back on I decided to bring it in.

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BTW, the distance drove was OVER 500 miles...... had a number of stops and starts in there too.

1gunther1 said:

I wrote to VW America complaining about this known defect and the different treatment by the dealers and to my surprise they have tentatively agreed to repay me. I will keep you posted when and if I get a check.

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That's great news. I am curious on what's VW's actual emissions policy on this. I would be disappointed to pay $1K for replacement of the NOx sensor to repair the car to emit up to 40x the proper NOx emissions (as per EPA complaints).

AtlantaRene said:

That's great news. I am curious on what's VW's actual emissions policy on this. I would be disappointed to pay $1K for replacement of the NOx sensor to repair the car to emit up to 40x the proper NOx emissions (as per EPA complaints).

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Thanks. I do see that since my NOx was replaced that VW has now started to use an updated part with a new part number. I hope this is not a set up for another failure due to the old part being a bad design? Time will tell.

I've searched everywhere online and can't find a NOx sensor to purchase for this car. Where are they?

Justinw303 said:

I've searched everywhere online and can't find a NOx sensor to purchase for this car. Where are they?

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They don't go by the name NOx sensor. Use the part number listed in this thread, I believe it was post 54.

2012 Passat TDI, 73000 miles
Ohio. Will call dealer to check if this is coverage under emissions warranty.
VW charges $120 for diagnosis. Went to autozone for now and got these codes.

Replace Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Sensor Control Module
P2209 Nox Heater Sense Circuit Range/Performance bank 1
P2200 Nox Heater Sensor bank 1

Will try to clean the NOx sensor myself. Found some details on page 4 post #60
Let me know if you guys have any other advise for cleaning it.
It has been a pain owning a VW TDI. Wish i could get rid of this car. need to change name TSX 2 TDI 2 TSX

Was at the Kamloops dealer before noon today discussing another matter and raising hell about fuel mileage, left to go and fuel up, 300 yds from the pumps c.e.l light comes on, fueled up and did a quick check of mpg, down to 38 mpg so back to dealer, knox sensor bank 1 done, 2 hrs later new parts and an ole upgrade and back to square one and running like a new car, mileage 33342k or a little over 20,000 miles, all fix undr warranty, exhaust flap done last yr @ about 24k. Thanks Kamloops, 125k from home with a carload of groceries.

From my post 47 on 1/11/16:

MB2VW said:

Since my purchase of my 2012 Passat TDI, used at 22,293 miles in May 2015, I too have had issues with the NOx sensor. Below is my history of flags I cleared vs time and date:
Date Milage Code No.
5/23/2015 22660 15733 - SCR NOx Catalyst Bank 1 - P20EE 00 [236] - Efficiency too Low
8/26/2015 25483 18627 - NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] - Electrical Malfunction18627 **&** NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] P20EE 00 [172] - Efficiency too Low
9/5/2015 25920 15733 - SCR NOx Catalyst Bank 1 - P20EE 00 [236] - Efficiency too Low
9/9/2015 26222 18627 - NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] - Electrical Malfunction18627 **&** NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] P20EE 00 [172] - Efficiency too Low
9/21/2015 26687 18627 - NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] - Electrical Malfunction18627 **&** NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] P20EE 00 [172] - Efficiency too Low
1/2/2016 29653 18627 - NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] - Electrical Malfunction18627 **&** NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1 - P2200 00 [096] P20EE 00 [172] - Efficiency too Low

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It went bat-sh*t on 2/18/16 at 32046 miles with the following codes:
18627 - NOx Sensor 1 Bank 1
P2200 00 [100] - Electrical Malfunction
15733 - SCR NOx Catalyst Bank 1
P20EE 00 [236] - Efficiency too Low

I dutifully cleared the code, and as of today 3/20/2016 at 32974 miles it hasn't returned.

With $500.00 dealer credit card burning a hole in my pocket, I decided it might be time get a new sensor, to have in stock for the next time the code pops up. I got a quote from my local dealer for a crazy amount of $586.08 (with FL 6% Tax?, can't remember). Not wanting to spend a dime of my real cash, I decided to find a internet ecommerce site that was actually a VW dealership that would honor the dealer credit card.

Poking around I found https://volkswagenoempartsonline.com which is Speedcraft's VW of Wakefield RI site.
They honored the card, and I got PN 03L907807AD delivered for $424.83. (I wonder if I got the latest and greatest part?)

I still have $75.17 to spend towards my upcoming 40k service parts needs. I need to use it up by 11/16, or I'll loose the card's value.
For those who own a VW who don't own a Ross Tech VCDS rig, and if you are hesitant to buy one, as I was, look at it this way. Will you ever get a refund on the $120 diagnostic scan? I bought the HEX-USB+CAN for $349, but I realize now I should have saved the $100 on the Micro-CAN unit for $249. After I'm done owning a VW, I'll most likely get most of the purchase back. The ability to know right away on what is going on with my car, with out driving across town to pay a $120 ransom just to see my diagnostic data.

As for removal and replacement of this sensor, It's not a big deal, (if you have jack stands etc). The passenger side underside panel needs to be removed. I've done it twice, in attempts to clean the sensor. Figure it's an hour, and that's being generous. It's very doable as a DIY owner, and it's an easy way to save the big bucks on the labor to replace it.

I'm encouraged by 1gunther1's experience and I will write VW America, because I agree it's a crap part, that is over priced and my love for VW lately has waned.

MB2VW said:

I'm encouraged by 1gunther1's experience and I will write VW America, because I agree it's a crap part, that is over priced and my love for VW lately has waned.

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Get after them! My refund check should arrive this week. When I have it in my hands I will reply in this thread.

VW should be covering everything Emissions up to 150k mi,especially with the scandle going on. They will be doing something on the whole fleet at some point,so don't put your own cash.

This past week I got a check engine light (the car is at 46K). I pulled the engine code (using a OBI reader) it was P2201 – NOX sensor. I called the VW dealership and asked them if they have any Technical Bulletins against this issue. They told me to bring the car in to be looked at since the code could be something else…… anyway, thinking that this is an emission problem (and will be covered by warranty) I brought the car in for “diagnostics” and was willingly to risk paying the 100$ diagnostic fee.. After their “investigation” - SURPRISE it is the P2201 code =The NOX sensor. Part = 530$ + 100$ labor – THIS IS ON TOP OF THE 100$ diagnostic fee. And NO, they do not cover it under the warranty. On top of it, they pulled an additional engine code P06C500 that tells me that one of the Glow Plugs is gone bad…. Part = 130$ and 70$ for labor.
I refused their SERVICE, paid them the diagnostic fee 100$ (109$ after tax) and left the STEALership with my heart broken.
I will try to call the VW of North America and argue that the NOX sensor should be covered under the emission warranty. will keep you updated on how this goes.
My Car had the ECM software updated a year ago. apparently the updated SW had the updated NOX limits.... at least this is what the Dealership claims.

I deposited the check! I'm happy the VW refunded me the full amount of the NOx repair. Just so everyone knows I wrote VW on the VW North America web site. This is page: http://www.vw.com/contact/ They asked for a copy of the repair order, proof of payment, and how long I have owned the car. Best of luck to everyone who gets this failure.

Do you know of any shops that will diagnose a VW for free, or do you just like saying stealership?

Does anyone have any information about the alleged TSB related to the NOx sensor? Something about flashing the ECU to adjust the range in which the sensor operates, or something like that? A reference number, pdf, anything that proves its existence?

And has anyone shown whether not replacing this sensor causes any real problems with the vehicle?

Justinw303 said:

Do you know of any shops that will diagnose a VW for free, or do you just like saying stealership?

Does anyone have any information about the alleged TSB related to the NOx sensor? Something about flashing the ECU to adjust the range in which the sensor operates, or something like that? A reference number, pdf, anything that proves its existence?

And has anyone shown whether not replacing this sensor causes any real problems with the vehicle?

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Any Autozone will do the diagnostics for free. Not sure about any TSB. The only problem i was told would occur is a reduction in fuel economy. If you do replace the part make sure you get the updated part!!