Two stalls and flashing GPL

thenewguy · Feb 16, 2015

2012 TDI sportwagen, 59,337 miles, in Baltimore. We've had record cold the past few days and I had not driven the sportwagen in two days. It was 9 degrees according to the car when I started it this morning. It stalled twice, and the GPL was flashing. After the third start, the car stayed running and I let it run for about 10 minutes. The GPL flashed the entire time and the car felt like it was in limp mode. The funny thing is that I was already taking it to the dealer for 60k mile service, and a few other complaints (rear outside passenger seatbelt stuck, rear defrost not working well) so I guess it was meant to happen this way.

I did get the glow plug harness recall notice back in October and the dealership replaced the harness in October or November.

Due to the cold weather I'm not sure whether to worry about frozen intercooler or a hpfp issue.

Any ideas? I had never seen the GPL lit or flash in this new car, I was used to cycling the GP in cold weather with my '00 Jetta.

Samcar222 · Feb 16, 2015

Take it to the dealer, tell them to drain the intercooler of ice/water, and install the cold weather intercooler tsb kit. Do it quickly before you pass 60k miles.

Any other info about the gp harness recall? I received no such notice.

thenewguy · Feb 16, 2015

Recall was from October 2014

Subject: Emissions Service Action 28G8 - Glow Plug Control Module 2012-2013 Model Year Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI Clean Diesel Engine Vehicles.

If the engine is started during the initial glow plug phase, the engine control module may receive an incorrect reading from the glow plug control module which may cause the vehicle's malfunction indicator light to come on. If this happens, your vehicle may not pass an IM (emissions) inspection.

The dealership said that they replaced the glow plug control module, so I am wondering if that could be part of the problem, maybe it is the wiring harness or something.

The dealership did not get my car into the shop today, even though I had an appointment this morning, so no news.

jason_ · Feb 16, 2015

You're lucky! I'd be on that faster then stink on ****. And **** stinks fast

thenewguy · Feb 16, 2015

I am hoping that I am lucky...got that recall notice as well as just squeaking in under the 60k warranty. I wouldn't have driven it at all today if I hadn't already had service scheduled. I have had all of the service done at the dealership, so hopefully they won't try to shaft me. I just wish that they would have at least scanned it and given me some info today.

thenewguy · Feb 17, 2015

Just heard from the dealership, looks like the hpfp is shot and metal flakes were mentioned. They are working with VWoA via the tech line, no other details so far. The dealership is taking care of me with a vehicle later on today although they are still investigating the hpfp, etc.

Have there been any instances of the hpfp failure being linked to extremely cold weather?

Samcar222 · Feb 17, 2015

Interesting, good to hear they're apparently taking care of you. Time to bring in coffee and doughnuts when you pick up your car..

I haven't heard hpfps expiring due to cold weather, after all they're cooled by the fuel. Perhaps the cold weather additive package in the winterized fuel didn't sit well with your pump.

Have you ever run a fuel additive of any sort?

thenewguy · Feb 17, 2015

Hopefully yes, the dealer rep did not want to say yet that it would be covered under warranty yet although I can't see how that could be avoided. Fingers crossed.

I have not used any additives in this car, I used to use Power Service in my old Jetta and I never had any problems with stalling or hard starts in the winter.

VeeDubTDI · Feb 17, 2015

Samcar222 said:
Take it to the dealer, tell them to drain the intercooler of ice/water, and install the cold weather intercooler tsb kit. Do it quickly before you pass 60k miles.

Any other info about the gp harness recall? I received no such notice.

Rather than asking them to do things that might not be the problem, you should ask them to scan the car and find out why the GPL is flashing, and then ask them to fix that problem.

It could be a frozen intercooler starving the engine of air, but it could also be something else. Best to diagnose before throwing parts at it.

+1 for coffee and doughnuts for taking care of you!

thenewguy · Feb 18, 2015

Still waiting to hear the verdict from the dealer. I also spoke with VWoA yesterday and they will get back in touch with me today. In the meantime, the dealer has covered a rental car for me, which is extremely helpful.

I know that there are TDI club members who have engineered parts for various TDIs, has anyone come up with an engineering fix or better design for the hpfp? I want to try to mitigate any future potential hpfp problems in the future...are there any options aside from additional 2micron filtration and using additives?

Got Haggis? · Feb 18, 2015

Interesting. I also live in Baltimore and didn't drive my car over the weekend. Monday morning it didn't want to turn over and the GPL starting flashing - it finally started. I shut the car off and turned it back on, started up fine and the light was no longer flashing.

was a bit hesitant to start this morning but did.

same thing happened a year or two ago when we had 0 degree weather

thenewguy · Feb 18, 2015

Please let me know how it goes, hopefully you will not have any issues. I will update later when I hear back with more information about what is going on with my car.

On another note, my dealer also apparently had 3 TDIs towed in on Monday as well, the cars wouldn't start. The techs were saying that the fuel filters were clogged and that VW was not going to be liable for anything, as it was due to local fuel stations not properly adding additives to their diesel.

ATR · Feb 18, 2015

Got Haggis? said:
Interesting. I also live in Baltimore and didn't drive my car over the weekend. Monday morning it didn't want to turn over and the GPL starting flashing - it finally started. I shut the car off and turned it back on, started up fine and the light was no longer flashing.

was a bit hesitant to start this morning but did.

same thing happened a year or two ago when we had 0 degree weather

Bmore native here as well. I didn't drive since getting home Friday. When Monday morning came around I let the glow plugs cycle one time and the engine, while it did turn over a bit slower, did start with only a little protest (ran slightly rough for 5-10 seconds).

I have a feeling many batteries are on their last legs or the replacement batteries may not be strong enough to start diesels in the super cold weather.

thenewguy · Feb 18, 2015

Car still with dealer, and while I don't have a full diagnosis, tech line has told them to replace fuel pump and other parts and they are still looking.

mikec944 · Feb 18, 2015

This must be the Baltimore no start thread. My car wouldn't start Sunday morning. Engine light and flashing glow plug were on after I got it started with a jump box. Code was just a low voltage code. Erased the code, charged the battery, and it's been fine ever since.

thenewguy · Feb 19, 2015

Should be fun tomorrow, huh? I'm in a rental/loaner still.

Glad that you just needed to charge your battery.

Got Haggis? · Feb 20, 2015

yeah my car started fine this morning (I was somewhat surprised) It's supposed to warm up a bit this weekend (snow then rain) - I'll probably just make sure to drive my car at least once rather than letting it sit the entire weekend.

ATR · Feb 20, 2015

Let the glow plugs cycle once, when it went out I turned the key and it fired right up

It was 3-5°F. I'm running the car with both bottom and top grill covers from ID Parts. They seem to help as well when temps dip below 20F.

thenewguy · Feb 20, 2015

Still no TDI.

Golden Dub · Feb 22, 2015

My car shut off once as I was creeping down the highway letting it warm up. Temp was -42F glow plug light was flashing. Shut it off and started it back up no problem. Never happened again. That was last year.

Got Haggis? · Feb 23, 2015

thenewguy said:
Still no TDI.

which dealer did you take it to? i've been using heritage vw in owings mills and generally they seem to be decent. I did find that I have to specifically spell out to them the work I want done (instead of saying "60k mile service please") because if I don't they will try to do all sorts of unnecessary stuff to bump up the price)

thenewguy · Feb 23, 2015

I have gone to Heritage in Parkville for all of my service and I have not had anything negative to say so far. I have not heard from the service department since last week, VWoA has been giving me updates. Due to the weekend weather things are backed up there. According to VWoA the tech line told the dealer to replace certain parts, including hpfp, and there was a comment about rust around the fuel tank. At this point, VWoA is saying that it SEEMS like everything should be under warranty, but that they were wanting to rule out any "external factors." I asked for clarification about what possible external factors could contribute to that fuel tank rust issue and the answer was "bad fuel." I wanted to know how I would be responsible for a batch of bad fuel when I only fuel up at a very limited number of stations, namely Shell, BP, and Sunoco, and especially when VW prohibits the use of any additives that would help improve fuel quality/lubricity. I should have more information tomorrow.

It also sounded like the techs may have already started replacing parts on the car. I was never given an estimate for any work that I could be liable for and I was not asked if it was ok to start working on the car....is that typical?

VeeDubTDI · Feb 23, 2015

thenewguy said:
I have gone to Heritage in Parkville for all of my service and I have not had anything negative to say so far. I have not heard from the service department since last week, VWoA has been giving me updates. Due to the weekend weather things are backed up there. According to VWoA the tech line told the dealer to replace certain parts, including hpfp, and there was a comment about rust around the fuel tank. At this point, VWoA is saying that it SEEMS like everything should be under warranty, but that they were wanting to rule out any "external factors." I asked for clarification about what possible external factors could contribute to that fuel tank rust issue and the answer was "bad fuel." I wanted to know how I would be responsible for a batch of bad fuel when I only fuel up at a very limited number of stations, namely Shell, BP, and Sunoco, and especially when VW prohibits the use of any additives that would help improve fuel quality/lubricity. I should have more information tomorrow.
It also sounded like the techs may have already started replacing parts on the car. I was never given an estimate for any work that I could be liable for and I was not asked if it was ok to start working on the car....is that typical?

In all likelihood, they have proceeded with repairs at VW's expense. Volkswagen has been covering HPFP failures for a while now, even on cars that are out of warranty.

Two stalls and flashing GPL

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