200 Mile AD Blue Countdown to Death

So, about a month ago I was driving along fat, dumb, and happy when I got the 200 mile AD Blue Countdown to no restart. Holy Crap! ..... I service my car myself and add DEF with every Oil change. This has worked perfectly for 70000+ miles. Now I had only put about 3000 miles on the car since filling the DEF Blue tank an so I knew this was some "NEW" B.S. light. Unfortunately for me I was on a road trip about half way between Houston and San Antonio. So I pull over do some searches and find out this is ANOTHER common issue with these cars and I'm not the first one to see this. Some have gotten it scanned to find out it was a bad Nox sensor. Well I called the closest VW dealer to go get it scanned and it was behind me back in Katy, Tx. I turn around and drive an hour back the wrong way, just before getting to the dealer the warning light goes out!!! I continue to the dealer and ask them about the scan an I'm told it will cost 156 bucks!! Now I'm pissed, I spent all of my goodwill money getting my DEF tank heater fixed because I was tired of looking at that CEL on my dash back in December. VW was no help with that, now they want to gouge me again to just scan it and tell me why I'm getting this light.

Long story short, the light has been on and off 3 times now in the past month and I really have no desire to put another nickel into this car before giving it back. Anyone deal with this issue? If so what was the fix? I have already bought the replacement car and can drive it and just let the Passat sit until I turn it in, but hate paying for insurance to just let it set around for the next several months. Any help from those who have been through this would be much appreciated.

Stakeman, we can scan that, check your PM.

Stakeman- I had the exact same problem, 200 mile warning would come and go. I scanned it and error code was "intermittent communication" to NOx sensor. This went on for about 10K miles, now I my error code is "no communication" with NOx sensor and I can't reset the 200 mile warning. With all the other issues with this car, buyback can't happen soon enough for me.

Sent you a PM C Wagon! Thanks

IXLR8 said:

Stakeman- I had the exact same problem, 200 mile warning would come and go. I scanned it and error code was "intermittent communication" to NOx sensor. This went on for about 10K miles, now I my error code is "no communication" with NOx sensor and I can't reset the 200 mile warning. With all the other issues with this car, buyback can't happen soon enough for me.

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100% Agreed!!
I may try to pull the sensor and clean it, or shop around if it's cheap just throw one in.

stakeman said:

100% Agreed!!
I may try to pull the sensor and clean it, or shop around if it's cheap just throw one in.

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Try cleaning sensor, but if car can't communicate with the module, then you may be SOL.
Here is the cheapest I have found a new one so far, I believe it is the correct part for our cars.
http://www.1stvwparts.com/item.php?...870&ic_id=77701&item_id=56477&act=item_detail
They are so expensive due to the fact that sensor and it's controller are a matched pair so you have to buy the 'set'.

IXLR8 said:

Try cleaning sensor, but if car can't communicate with the module, then you may be SOL.
Here is the cheapest I have found a new one so far, I believe it is the correct part for our cars.
http://www.1stvwparts.com/item.php?...870&ic_id=77701&item_id=56477&act=item_detail
They are so expensive due to the fact that sensor and it's controller are a matched pair so you have to buy the 'set'.

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Thanks for the heads up! I'm going to scan it on a fellow forum members VAG Com. After that I'll try to clean it if that's the problem. If it doesn't work then I'm keeping it parked and dropping it off with the countdown still there at the buy back. I don't think that should be a problem given I will still drive it to the buy back under its own power as stated on the website. Anyone think I'll get hassled when I drop it off?

anyway the sensor can be jumped out?

Much thanks to C-Wagen! We found several codes P2047,P2048,P2049!



Reductant Injector Bank 1

P2047 00 [032] - Open Circuit

Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear

Freeze Frame:

Fault Status: 00000001

Fault Priority: 2

Fault Frequency: 1

Mileage: 123266 km

Date: 2016.07.30

Time: 17:20:19

All 3 Codes involve Reductant Injector Bank 1. Ground fault, Posative Fault and Open Circuit.

Any Ideas about where to go from here? And don't say the dealer LOL!! My countdown came back on after the scan and shows 90 miles to shutdown. I'm tempted to just leave it parked at this point.

The first step is to clear them, and see if you get the same thing back . . .

tadawson said:

The first step is to clear them, and see if you get the same thing back . . .

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So our fellow member C-Wagen went above and beyond tonight and actually came by my house and we did the reset! I will post the results next time we drive it. I don't want to eat into the 90 mile countdown if it's still on there. It's strange, when I drove to his house last night I didn't get the countdown warning, but on the drive back it gave me the 90 miles to shutdown so it was still keeping track.

Thank you C Wagon for the help!

If you're getting an open circuit code for the injector, check all of the wiring to the injector from the wiring bundle on the top of the DEF tank. It could be something as simple as a loose connector or a broken wire.

Maybe my naivety, but shouldn't these repairs be covered under the mandatory emissions warranty? https://www3.epa.gov/obd/pubs/420f15035.pdf says 8y/80K miles on "major emissions components". They should cover this one. I'd contact the VAG regional office if the dealership won't pay to fix it, and if not maybe a local news channel's "consumer action" segment would like to hear about VW "still giving the finger to the environment." I imagine the prospect of more bad press would make them a little more co-operative.

You would think so, but VW's stance has been that the emissions system warranty does NOT cover the DEF system for whatever reason. I'd like to know why not, especially considering that this whole Dieselgate mess is related to NOx and the DEF system (on gen 2 and 3 cars).

According to the EPA, they'd love to hear about this (from the PDF):
In Summary
If an emission control or emission related part, or a specified major emission control component
is defective, or if your vehicle fails an I/M test, and your vehicle is within the time and mileage
limitations for emissions warranty coverage:
• Present a warranty claim to an authorized warranty representative.
• If your warranty claim is denied:
Ask for the reason for denial, in writing.
Follow the appeal procedures in your owner’s manual.
• If you are not satisfied with the manufacturer’s decision:
Contact the EPA, which will investigate the denial of a valid emissions
warranty complaint.
• Keep This With Your Vehicle for Future Reference.

It may be a PITA, but I'd think VW would want to keep it from going this far. That's why I contact the regional office (dealers have been helpful in showing me how to do this). It REALLY should be covered since "catalytic converters" are covered and the DEF system has "catalytic" in it's official method of operation (i.e., Selective CATALYTIC Reduction). Either way get the warranty DoS in writing with an explanation and then s#!+ just might get real enough for them help out. As an aside, I got the regional office to approve replacing my headliner 2 YEARS out of warranty!

As another aside: I got GM to pay for a repair to the glow plugs in my 2001 Duramax as part of the EMISSIONS warranty after THREATENING to take my appeal to the EPA. You just got to prepared to follow through, make some noise and use "external influences" to "pump the gas" as it were.

Well, VW of America told me to pound sand when I approached them with the P202A code. This is regarding the reductant tank heater. This was back in October. Because I live in South Texas and it rarely freezes here I wasn't in a big hurry to get the repair. After starring at the CEL for 2 months combined with the goodwill package I bought the part and fixed the reductant tank heater myself. I've been nothing but Unimpressed by the support received from VW regarding their handling of these EMISSION related items. But honestly, I have no more time to spend eating that dead horse. I'm sure I could follow the steps and shame VW into paying to fix the car, but the time/value/money thing makes it not worth my while.

UPDATE: I drove the car after the reset and thus far it APPEARS to have fixed the countdown (for now). If it does come back I may check the connectors on top of the tank, but at this point it is a 3rd car for us.

If it comes back, please pursue something with the EPA. There are a lot of people who have had Volkswagen deny their emissions warranty claims on items that are clearly emissions controls. This includes the AdBlue heater, the injector and associated wiring, and the NOx sensor.

Since it is an 'intermittent' fail, I am not surprised it reset, mine did. But mine is now in full fail mode, not intermittent, and I can't reset it and my countdown clock has begun. Sorry to say this, but I suspect it is only a matter of time before your intermittent fail becomes a full fail. Hopefully with a reset or two you can limp the car along until buyback time.

UPDATE: My wife drove the car to the airport and on the way home today got the warning and the countdown is down to 85 miles... Needless to say I'm not going to fix it to turn it in a few months from now. I guess it will stay parked in the garage until I drive it to the turn it.

stakeman said:

UPDATE: My wife drove the car to the airport and on the way home today got the warning and the countdown is down to 85 miles... Needless to say I'm not going to fix it to turn it in a few months from now. I guess it will stay parked in the garage until I drive it to the turn it.

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That stinks! On the plus side, without racking up any additional miles, your compensation amount will increase a bit.

VeeDubTDI said:

That stinks! On the plus side, without racking up any additional miles, your compensation amount will increase a bit.

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There's that silver lining!!

So this has now happened to me in my 15 with 47k on the clock. To avoid some dealer nightmares is there a way to reset this without a VCDS cable?

^^^ i don't think it's possible to reset without VCDS!

GTSLOW said:

So this has now happened to me in my 15 with 47k on the clock. To avoid some dealer nightmares is there a way to reset this without a VCDS cable?

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Wow - it's happening on a 2015 already? I'm very curious to know if they will cover it under warranty for you, or if they'll try to saddle you with covering the cost of the repair, since you are over the bumper-to-bumper warranty.

You can't reset it without VCDS or the dealer scan tool, unfortunately.

VeeDubTDI said:

That stinks! On the plus side, without racking up any additional miles, your compensation amount will increase a bit.

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That depends on where he is in the mileage bracket. I have 86K on my car and the bracket I am in is 85-90K, so I can put 4K miles on it without affecting my payout. But with my countdown sitting at 150 miles and a leaking water pump... my car is parked until I deliver it to the dealer.

Brad95 said:

^^^ i don't think it's possible to reset without VCDS!

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VCDS Reset didn't help. I'm at 78k or there abouts so I could go another couple thousand miles with out taking the next milage hit before turn in but I guess that won't be happening now.

Oh yes it's absolutely happened on a 2015. Mine is almost to 48,000 miles so I definitely believe it's mileage related. From what I've read 45-55k seems to be the trouble spot.

I'm leaving this damn thing parked until the buy back.

Update:

I had an extra 30 minutes to kill today so I approached VW of A customer care about my issue. I got the exact response I expected. Sorry Mr. S-----, unfortunately we can't help you.

LAST VW EVER for me! Sorry to all you VW diehards.

Sorry that VCDS did not work. I guess VW programmed the ADBLUE death countdown deep into the system to avoid users to get rid of it by standard warning clearing (or RossTech cannot include a clearing to it for legal reasons...) so they need to keep their system working as designed (lousy and incapable of fully clean NOx).

If you want to live dangerously, you can tell VW you'll keep the car, park it until after the buyout, and then drive into the dealership to see if they can deny fixing it for free... but it sounds too annoying and risky to worth it.

stakeman said:

Update:

I had an extra 30 minutes to kill today so I approached VW of A customer care about my issue. I got the exact response I expected. Sorry Mr. S-----, unfortunately we can't help you.

LAST VW EVER for me! Sorry to all you VW diehards.

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So fix it already and quit whining! This would be like asking to reset the fuel gauge that broke via VCDS . . . pretty silly! If the sensor fails, you get issues . . . but nothing you can fix in software!