CEL on with blinking Glow Plug Light - vehicle dies

loco_unoTDI · October 17th, 2012, 09:32

Well, it finally happened. My CEL light came on and my glow plug light started blinking. This happened a week ago on my short regular drive to work. I have lost no power but the engine has hiccuped a few times when at low RPM and then shut off. The glow plug light will come on almost instantly upon startup and never stop blinking.

All of my brake lights are working perfectly.

The CEL light and glow plug light have gone off for days on end and then come back on just the same. I have not lost any acceleration/power other than the 2 times it shut off on me.

Engine codes:

P0128 - Coolant temp sensor (this code was in the system before this issue) I have a new sensor but have not installed yet

P0102 - Low input on airflow

P0251 - Injector pump A rotor camshaft position sensor malfunction

In the past 3 days crank time to start in the morning as been getting longer. In the afternoon leaving from work crank time is very short.

I am a bit worried as this is a new injection pump. I don't want to destroy anything. I have a new OEM fuel filter to install this week.

Any ideas GURUS?

loco_unoTDI · October 17th, 2012, 09:58

I have run one can of diesel purge through the engine but this had no affect.

KLXD · October 17th, 2012, 10:09

I'm no Guru but are you using VCDS or an OBD reader?

There's no injector pump rotor camshaft position sensor. Maybe it's referring to the QA position.

I'd start with checking the pump connector and grounds for corrosion. Also for damaged wires.

loco_unoTDI · October 17th, 2012, 10:15

I just had it scanned at Autozone. That was what the screen read on the scanner. I will check these items when I get home.

JB05 · October 17th, 2012, 11:03

Regarding #3, I did a google search. This code was not on the ross-tech wiki sight.
http://engine-codes.com/p0251_volkswagen.html

loco_unoTDI · October 30th, 2012, 08:44

Well the blinking glow plug light has not come back on in almost 600 miles. The check engine light comes and goes. The vehicle has been running smooth once started but crank time has been steady around 3-4 seconds long to start with a puff of white smoke. It has been getting colder here in North Florida over the past week and morning starts have been rough.

I changed the fuel filter and thermostatic tee 2 days ago. All I can say is, WOW! The starts the last two days have been right away (almost no white smoke puff) and just regular driving seems so much smoother. Power feels even more linear than it was. I am thinking I solved the problem but time will tell.