Mk7 Common issues and resolutions

PlaneCrazy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 3, 2000
Location
Province of Quebec, Canada
TDI
Gone...
Didn't you notice my official title? It is my job to make a federal case over it. :D
You should join our airfield breakfast group on Saturday mornings, we're all trying to out-curmudgeon each other!

We still can't figure out why the Prime Minister won't return our calls though... pity because we've got how to run the country figured out :p
 
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Rcbamm

Active member
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Location
South FL
TDI
05 Golf TDI BEW SOLD. 2015 Golf TDI VW boughtback. Own: 15 GSW TDI. 99.5 Jetta TDI
Anyone else have their headlight switch break?
Mine will not turn off of the "fog light" setting.
Fog lights are not on and full headlight system is always on
(when the car is running.)

If I leave the key in the ignition after I shut off the car the parking lights stay on.
Sorta afraid to take it in, in case they ding me a couple hun. for a new switch.

On my first Mk7 TDI I took apart the light switch and modified it so I could be able to turn on the fog lights in any position. It was over a year ago and can’t remember exactly what I modified in the switch assembly. With my new GSW I’m gonna do the same thing. But just gotta get some time and patience to sit down and tear it apart. You could probably take yours apart too and figure out what’s keeping it stuck.
 

codyayrton

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6M (sold to VW), 2015 Golf S Sportwagen TDI 6M
My 2015 GSW while driving straight has a slight bind to it. It is annoying at the most. I doubt bad enough to ever cause a collision. However, it will take a bit more effort to make small corrections left or right in order to stay between the lines. My 2011 JSW did not do this and also had the electro steering assist. The problem is intermittent. I bought the '15 at 99 miles and didn't notice it until about 5,000 miles ago. It's at 13,000 miles now. I was going to have the stealership look at it for the 10,000 mile service then opted to do that service myself. I still plan to take it in for the steering bind and a flaw in the paint where the right rear fender meets the rear bumper. But I am procrastinating due to the whole dealing with the stealership thing. Anyone else notice this bind?
 
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thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
Most likely your steering problem is the alignment. Mine was off and it caused the servo steering sensor to create a slight understeer, but quite annoying. Left was towed out .1 degree, right was toed in .1 degree. Do yourself a big favor and have it aligned. Set toe to zero! You won't believe how much better it will drive.
 

codyayrton

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6M (sold to VW), 2015 Golf S Sportwagen TDI 6M
Most likely your steering problem is the alignment. Mine was off and it caused the servo steering sensor to create a slight understeer, but quite annoying. Left was towed out .1 degree, right was toed in .1 degree. Do yourself a big favor and have it aligned. Set toe to zero! You won't believe how much better it will drive.
I've actually had it aligned twice after hitting a rock and blowing out both left tires and then later I drove over a curb during poor visibility. I know, you'd think I shouldn't be driving. In my defense, these are my first blowouts and curb strike in 25+ years of driving. Anyway, the bind did not start immediately after any one of these. Quite a bit after the rock and way before the curbs. The alignments seem to have zero affect on the bind.
 

Keli_OR

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2003
Location
West Linn, Oregon
TDI
'15 black Sportwagen SE, '01 silver Jetta GLS, '00 green Beetle
This happened to me too. Cut my hand pretty good, and the metal/plastic pulled away when I pulled my hand back. Dealer replaced under warranty. It just wasn't rolled over the edge far enough, I guess.
This just happened to me!
Cut a chunk out of my little finger and bled all over.
Contacting the dealer tomorrow...
 

nkgagne

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2010
Location
Kitchener, Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Sportwagen 6M, 2006 Golf GLS TDI (sold)
Apologies if this has been covered already, but I have a sure-fire way to know if a regen is occurring:

I have a Canadian car and usually use the Consumption screen (instantaneous). In standard Canadian (SI) units, that screen reads l/100 km in motion, and l/h (litres per hour) when stationary.

I noticed that, stationary at idle, the car pretty consistently shows 0.5 to 0.6 l/h unless it's doing a regen, then it shows 0.8 to 1.0l/h stationary. Bam, easy way to tell! Once it drops back to below 0.8 l/h, leave it run for 3-4 min to let the temps fall.

On a recent road trip through the U.S., I flipped the units in the CAR > Settings screen to MPG US, and when idling, saw that the consumption is always indicated as -- mpg when stopped (no switch to fuel flow like in metric). Well heck, no wonder you guys can't tell!

So, if you only see -- when stopped, try switching your consumption units to l/100 km and you'll get the l/h readout when stationary. Make a habit to check the Consumption screen right before shutting down, and then you won't interrupt a regen!

You'll get a pretty good sense of the conversion from l/100 km to mpg before long, and you can easily switch back and forth easily in the CAR>Settings menu if you're curious...
 

Mike in Anchorage

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Location
Anchorage, AK
TDI
2016 Touareg Lux, 2015 Golf Sportwagen SE, new 4 Sept 2017;2009 VW Jetta TDI Sportwagen (Ruby) sold to VW on 22 SEP 2017
Gawd, I wish we'd go metric and be done with it.
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
There's obviously no resolution available for this, but just a gripe: the high beam indicator on our instrument display is too small and poorly located.

I have forgotten I had my high beams on too many times in both my Mk7s. I've never had this issue in another car before, because I usually have a prominent blue icon, usually high and center in the speedometer. Ours is small, down and to the left in the tach next to the temperature gauge, and no more prominent than any other icon.

Conversely: I added a euroswitch and euro LED Golf R tails and wired the rear fog on my GTI and the icon for the rear fog is very prominent, orange, large and top dead center of the speedometer panel. They should have put the high beam indicator there instead.

 
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Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
I don't believe that is an issue.

High beam indicator is the only blue light on the dash, wherever it is located I find it very easy to see.
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
I don't believe that is an issue.

High beam indicator is the only blue light on the dash, wherever it is located I find it very easy to see.
I don’t and it’s certainly an issue. I feel bad for the drivers I inadvertently blind. Poor design. Numerous folks on the much busier GolfMk7 forum have said the same.
 

Growler

Got Soot Vendor
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Location
Millersport, Ohio
TDI
Schmutz, 2015 Golf Sportwagen DSG & Schnurren, 2001 Golf GL 2 door 5M
FYI the cabin filter is located above the glovebox, you have to push up on the two catches inside the glovebox to allow it to drop down and expose the door to remove to replace the filter.

it is not under the removeable panel UNDER the dashboard like it was on the mk5-6...(first place I checked)

and it is NOT under the cowling, or under the water/air deflector snap in piece, it can be seen under the plastic grille that is held on by 3 10mm nuts on studs under the deflector... but you CANNOT replace it through the cowling...

a little you tube foo later and I learned that it is behind the glovebox, and easy to get at once the glovebox is emptied and the catches get released... UGH.
 

Growler

Got Soot Vendor
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Location
Millersport, Ohio
TDI
Schmutz, 2015 Golf Sportwagen DSG & Schnurren, 2001 Golf GL 2 door 5M
yep. I just hit 20k since my purchase in April 2017 from new. fun times.

of course the real fun one is going to be doing all of the previous PLUS adding a DSG service likely Fall of 2018 when I hit 40k miles...

makes the 30k oil change, DEF fill and tire rotation that will be due late spring seem tame... lol.
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
FYI the cabin filter is located above the glovebox, you have to push up on the two catches inside the glovebox to allow it to drop down and expose the door to remove to replace the filter.
it is not under the removeable panel UNDER the dashboard like it was on the mk5-6...(first place I checked)
and it is NOT under the cowling, or under the water/air deflector snap in piece, it can be seen under the plastic grille that is held on by 3 10mm nuts on studs under the deflector... but you CANNOT replace it through the cowling...
a little you tube foo later and I learned that it is behind the glovebox, and easy to get at once the glovebox is emptied and the catches get released... UGH.
I just did mine for the second time (I have two Mk7’s).

Those tabs can be a bit tricky if you don’t understand how they work. Each tab has a top and bottom half. Perhaps you were able to pull up on the top half of the tab, but it was much easier for me to pull down on the bottom half. I found that the top half was fixed while the bottom half was the flexible part, if that makes sense.

This video from DAP isn’t bad: https://youtu.be/csGNkZSj_JU
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
If you have the stock halogen lights, it's a testament to how poor the high beams are on them, that you can't tell if the high beams are on or not!
Not at all. I have the same problem on my GTI with HIDs. If the high beam icon was more prominent and closer to the driver’s line of sight, like on every other vehicle I’ve ever owned in my 30 years with a driver license, instead of tiny and buried down to the left of the instrument panel like on this car, there wouldn’t be an issue.
 

elcid86

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Location
VA/DC, USA
TDI
2015 Golf TDI SEL
I just did mine for the second time (I have two Mk7’s).

Those tabs can be a bit tricky if you don’t understand how they work. Each tab has a top and bottom half. Perhaps you were able to pull up on the top half of the tab, but it was much easier for me to pull down on the bottom half. I found that the top half was fixed while the bottom half was the flexible part, if that makes sense.

This video from DAP isn’t bad: https://youtu.be/csGNkZSj_JU
Thanks! I have a "new" '15 TDI and was wondering where that little bugger was ( I was looking in the footwell... :-/ )
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Since I'm finding more and more drivers use their high beams all the time, I don't think the indicator light is doing a lot of good, no matter where it's located.
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
Since I'm finding more and more drivers use their high beams all the time, I don't think the indicator light is doing a lot of good, no matter where it's located.
That’s become a problem here as well, primarily when city slickers get out from under all their lighted roadways. They freak out and think it’s OK to leave them on all the time.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
My rule of thumb is that if I can see the lights, front or rear, of the other car, the brights are off. If you can't tell the brights are on from the driver's seat then your lights aren't doing a very good job. One problem that we used to have is that the dash lights were always on in our CR-V. More than once we got flashed by the cops for not having lights on at night.
 

PlaneCrazy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 3, 2000
Location
Province of Quebec, Canada
TDI
Gone...
My rule of thumb is that if I can see the lights, front or rear, of the other car, the brights are off. If you can't tell the brights are on from the driver's seat then your lights aren't doing a very good job. One problem that we used to have is that the dash lights were always on in our CR-V. More than once we got flashed by the cops for not having lights on at night.
That's a common problem with Asian cars and I don't know why they don't fix that!

On the VW the dash lights dim out as it gets darker out, so it reminds you to turn your lights on. My new Sportwagen has automatic lights with coming/leaving home. Come on automatically at a preset darkness, and when the rain-sensing wipers come on. Still have to turn them on sometimes in fog. You can also, with VCDS, program the DRLs as Scandinavian, which also illuminates the other lights.
 

codyayrton

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6M (sold to VW), 2015 Golf S Sportwagen TDI 6M
My 2015 GSW while driving straight has a slight bind to it. It is annoying at the most. I doubt bad enough to ever cause a collision. However, it will take a bit more effort to make small corrections left or right in order to stay between the lines. My 2011 JSW did not do this and also had the electro steering assist. The problem is intermittent. I bought the '15 at 99 miles and didn't notice it until about 5,000 miles ago. It's at 13,000 miles now. I was going to have the stealership look at it for the 10,000 mile service then opted to do that service myself. I still plan to take it in for the steering bind and a flaw in the paint where the right rear fender meets the rear bumper. But I am procrastinating due to the whole dealing with the stealership thing. Anyone else notice this bind?
I've figured it out with help from Audi and other VW model forums. Turned off the Driver Steering Recommendation (DSR) and no more 12 o'clock bind.

Use VCDS. Select control module > 44-Steering Assist > Security Access-16 > enter 19249 > Do it! > Close > Coding-07 > Long Coding Helper > uncheck Bit 0-Driver Steering Recommendation (DSR) active > close > Do it!
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
My rule of thumb is that if I can see the lights, front or rear, of the other car, the brights are off. If you can't tell the brights are on from the driver's seat then your lights aren't doing a very good job. One problem that we used to have is that the dash lights were always on in our CR-V. More than once we got flashed by the cops for not having lights on at night.

if I could have enough digits to count the number of Subarus/Toyotas I've seen with no head lights (and no rear parking lights!!!!!) on at 10PM i'd have like a million digits.

Soooo annoying,
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
I've figured it out with help from Audi and other VW model forums. Turned off the Driver Steering Recommendation (DSR) and no more 12 o'clock bind.
Use VCDS. Select control module > 44-Steering Assist > Security Access-16 > enter 19249 > Do it! > Close > Coding-07 > Long Coding Helper > uncheck Bit 0-Driver Steering Recommendation (DSR) active > close > Do it!
Great find, Thanks!
 
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