Particulate filter Icon, Glow plug indicator flashing, check engine light, 2009 tdi

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
Ummmm. Yea. just hit 34,000 miles on my 2009 tdi. never had 1 issue. did all the oil changes myself, did a fuel filter, @ 10k, and 20k myself. Got off work today, and started the car. I have 3 lights on my dash. The diesel particulate filter, glow plug indicator is flashing, and check engine light is on. The Mfd told me i had a engine malfunction and to go to a garage, and i looked up the particulate filter and it wil me to drive on the highway for 15 minutes in 5th gear above 2k or something. I tried this, and no lights went off...

Anyone have any ideas? Vw is closed now, but tomorrow after work the car is going straight to the dealership.. Im happy i still have a little bit of warranty left.... We shall see.


Thanks, Chris
 

elester12

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Location
Washington DC
TDI
2010 TDI
i noticed in your signature you have "Vagcom" in there. Do you still have access to it? What faults do you have?


Check to see if any of the hoses have come off near the turbo or inter-cooler. I had an issue like the one you're having. Could also be a sensor on the DFP system.
 

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
I dont own a vag com, i met up with a great guy off this site, and he did the mods for me.

The car idles like normal. Drives like normal,doesn't seem to be anything wrong from what i can tell.. I will take it to the dealer while its under warranty, and then i guess a vag com is in my near future. :)

Thanks for the help, i will be sure to post up what i find out.
 

DoctorDawg

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Location
Southeastern US
TDI
'09 Jetta Loyal Edition
If the diesel particulate filter is flashing, get it towed. If it is solid, probably OK to drive it to dealer.
 

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
DoctorDawg said:
If the diesel particulate filter is flashing, get it towed. If it is solid, probably OK to drive it to dealer.
Diesel particulate filter is solid. Glow plug indicator is flashing, and the check engine light is solid.

The thing i dont understand about the diesel particulate filter, is i drive about 70 miles each way, everyday, and only about 10 miles is stop and go. The other 60 miles is highway, so i didn't think i should have a problem with it.


Ps, also looking into buying a vag com right now. hmmm

Chris
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Solid is supposed to mean a minor fault; the DPF loading is above the specified range. Flashing is supposed to mean it is at a catastrophic level. In this particular case, it will be interesting to see what codes are set.
 

compu_85

Gadget Guy
Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Location
La Conner, WA
TDI
... None :S
My guess is a sensor related to the DPF has died (DPF failure = dpf light, engine management fault = blinking gp light & MIL)

-J
 

Anomie

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Location
San Diego
TDI
09 Jetta DSG
Sideways240sx said:
...i drive about 70 miles each way, ... only about 10 miles is stop and go. The other 60 miles is highway, so i didn't think i should have a problem with it.
Along with your regular maintenance, do you also do an Italian tune up?

How fast is your highway driving?

If you're well above the engine and vehicle speeds recommended when the DPF light comes on, you're not fulfilling DPF regen enable criteria. Stop and go driving also fails to meet regen enable criteria.
 

swedgemon

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Location
ky
TDI
2002 & 2009
I recently had the same set of lights on my 2009 Jetta TDI at 50,000 mi. VAGCOM said it was the Exhaust Gas Temp sensor, but I was on my way to Des Moines with no time to get to a stealer...drove it 1,200 more miles with no problems, took it to a dealer in Louisville and got the EGT replaced ($775). VAGCOM ROCKS...
Swedge
 

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
Ok guys. Sorry for not getting back on here sooner. The following morning while i was driving to work the glow plug indicactor stopped flashing. Then right after work the particulate filter light went off. Then 5 minutes later while i was on my way to the dealer the check engine light went off.

Ok my commutate daily is about 70 miles. 56 miles is highway, and 14 miles is city you could say. When i get off the highway its usually about 6:30 in the am, and there is no traffic with only 1 stop light and no stop signs between me and my work. Probably under a mile. When i leave my house, or am getting off the highway driving to my house it is about 13 miles. There are 3 stop signs in this 13 miles, so for the most part im moving. On the highway i normally do about 75 mph. I do sometimes do about 80. 75mph is probably about 2400-2500 rpm in 6th gear.(i think)

The only real stop and go driving i do is when i run to stores and stuff, but that is such a small part of the driving i do.

So i took the car to the dealer on tuesday night. They started looking at it today. The service writer called me today, and said they have problems in a sensor that has to do with when it gets hot, and not reading properly(he wasn't very specific) but told me they cant get it to reproduce while idleing at the shop, so they asked for my permission to take it for a drive and data log. I gave them my permission, so they are datalogging now, and then they told me they need to submit the info to VW and see what they say. He is supposed to have another update for me to morrow.

I use the castrol slx 507 00 oil, and filters every 10k. I Did a fuel filter @ 20k, and 30k(with 0 metal in sight).

I would say my car gets an italian tune up every once and a while, when im in the mood, but nothing to crazy. I have a purpose built drag car, i drag race :)

Oh, i also ordered my vag com last night. Just got my email it shipped. so maybe i will have it this weekend, but at this point im not sure when i will get my car back.

Sorry for such a long post, trying to give everyone all the details. Thanks for your help.

Chris
 

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
Anomie said:
Along with your regular maintenance, do you also do an Italian tune up?

How fast is your highway driving?

If you're well above the engine and vehicle speeds recommended when the DPF light comes on, you're not fulfilling DPF regen enable criteria. Stop and go driving also fails to meet regen enable criteria.

Is the dpf light suppose to come on? other then this time, in the first 34,000 miles i have never seen it come on.

Thanks, Chris
 

Anomie

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Location
San Diego
TDI
09 Jetta DSG
Sideways240sx said:
Is the dpf light suppose to come on? other then this time, in the first 34,000 miles i have never seen it come on.

Thanks, Chris
In short, the DPF light should never come on (excluding the cluster test at Key ON).

If you drive in a manner that VW considers normal, then no. To be fair, most of the time I don't. I have city street cruising at 1400 rpm in 4th or 2700 in 6th. All or nothing I suppose. Every once in a while when I cruise a longer road nearby that has a 50mph limit, my cooling fans come on full blast at the stops, indicating DPF regen. I'm not saying this is the only time that regen occurs, but that 50mph road best fits regen enable criteria so that the DPF can stay clean.

For argument's sake, let's just say that a TDI CBEA driver almost never encounter a drive cycle that includes the proper DPF regen enable criteria. Eventually, their DPF will start to get extra stuffy, and this can throw the DPF light. This is to inform them that they need to start finding enable criteria. As it says in the manual, roughly 50mph in 5th for a few miles under light to moderate load (or something to that effect, I forget off hand).

If by some miracle the driver ignores the light, fails to do anything about it, or simply can't meet regen enable criteria, the DPF will continue to soot up until it's so clogged that the DPF will require dealer service, and the car has to be towed there.

From what you've said about your experiences, this was a sudden event, yes? Most likely you're not completely clogged up and the sensor is going faulty. After you get it back, I recommend trying to match enable criteria at least once a month. Just go for a drive and see if your fans kick on full at a stop light, if so then you're in regen, congratulations. Whether or not the dealer finds anything wrong with the sensor, this can be a little preventative maintenance do ensure that the DPF light isn't coming on for the DPF being clogged.
 

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
Anomie said:
In short, the DPF light should never come on (excluding the cluster test at Key ON).

If you drive in a manner that VW considers normal, then no. To be fair, most of the time I don't. I have city street cruising at 1400 rpm in 4th or 2700 in 6th. All or nothing I suppose. Every once in a while when I cruise a longer road nearby that has a 50mph limit, my cooling fans come on full blast at the stops, indicating DPF regen. I'm not saying this is the only time that regen occurs, but that 50mph road best fits regen enable criteria so that the DPF can stay clean.

For argument's sake, let's just say that a TDI CBEA driver almost never encounter a drive cycle that includes the proper DPF regen enable criteria. Eventually, their DPF will start to get extra stuffy, and this can throw the DPF light. This is to inform them that they need to start finding enable criteria. As it says in the manual, roughly 50mph in 5th for a few miles under light to moderate load (or something to that effect, I forget off hand).

If by some miracle the driver ignores the light, fails to do anything about it, or simply can't meet regen enable criteria, the DPF will continue to soot up until it's so clogged that the DPF will require dealer service, and the car has to be towed there.

From what you've said about your experiences, this was a sudden event, yes? Most likely you're not completely clogged up and the sensor is going faulty. After you get it back, I recommend trying to match enable criteria at least once a month. Just go for a drive and see if your fans kick on full at a stop light, if so then you're in regen, congratulations. Whether or not the dealer finds anything wrong with the sensor, this can be a little preventative maintenance do ensure that the DPF light isn't coming on for the DPF being clogged.
Thank you. very informative post. This was a all of a sudden thing. My car has regened before. I have heard the fans kick on at full blast, while i pulled up to a stop sign/light.

So are you saying to regen properly i need to do 50 in 5th? Or would my 72-75mph in 6th be just as good?

I am not new to cars, but i am new to diesel. This is my first car. Based on my experiance with this car, will see what the next car is. :)

I must say so far the car has been great. Hell it still is great, but if i start having lots of expensive sensors go out, i dont know how happy i will be. I have had the car 1 yr, and am just under 35k. So i plan to have 130-150k on the car by the time its paid off. I didn't think this would be a problem, hopefully its not.

Thanks, Chris
 

Anomie

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Location
San Diego
TDI
09 Jetta DSG
Sideways240sx said:
So are you saying to regen properly i need to do 50 in 5th? Or would my 72-75mph in 6th be just as good?
Whatever it says to do in the manual, "In the event the DPF light comes on..." just do that once in a while, it betters your chance of starting AND completing a full regen cycle.
 

DanG144

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2007
Location
Chapin, South Carolina, USA
TDI
2005 A4 Jetta 5spd
paraphrasing 'Drive at least 37 mph (60 kph) for 15 minutes. 2000 rpm in 4th or 5th gear is most effective.'

No mention of maximum speeds, and I would not expect any limit. Many vehicles will avoid a regen altogether if the exhaust temperatures are high enough. I do not know about ours.

I also suspect that 2000 rpm or more in 5th or 6th would be fine as well.

It is hard for me to imagine a commute that would be too much for a regen.

I have been pleasantly surprised that my wife has never noticed a regen in 1600 miles on her car. Her daily commute is 2 miles each way. But she does go about 15 miles down the interstate a couple of times a week. That must be enough to keep it satisfied.
 

Rather Be Biking

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Location
Upstate, NY
TDI
09 JSW Manual
swedgemon said:
I recently had the same set of lights on my 2009 Jetta TDI at 50,000 mi. VAGCOM said it was the Exhaust Gas Temp sensor, but I was on my way to Des Moines with no time to get to a stealer...drove it 1,200 more miles with no problems, took it to a dealer in Louisville and got the EGT replaced ($775). VAGCOM ROCKS...
Swedge
EGT should be covered by the 80k Federal emissions warranty. Should . . .
 

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
Ok guys i just got back with the car. They data logged, and submitted info to vw they said. They came back with the particulate filter needed a cleaning process. They can enter the ecu into, or force the car to do. They told me all the sensors are reading normal, and it just needed to regen, and couldn't more or less.. They seem nice enough, just not sure how much i believe.

On a possitive note my vagcom will be delivered tomorrow.

Thank everyone for there help.

Chris
 

nedro018

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
Location
CO
TDI
2009 tdi dsg sportwagon
Anomie said:
Along with your regular maintenance, do you also do an Italian tune up?
anomie, what is the italian tuneup with TDI's: x rpm's for x minutes? can it be done with a DSG?
i have a volvo 850 and the volvo forums define the italian tuneup for volvo's to be 500 rpm's below redline for something like 5 min in D2 gear, and only performed after fresh oil change. thanks.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
lot of people have different opinions about an italian tune ups. My buddy has the best def, which he usually recomends how to dive a 2 stroke diesel.

"Open the driver door, put your hand in the door jam, slam the door shut, get in the car and then drive it like it was the cars fault."

I imagine if take an on ramp bringing it up to 3-4K through the gears that might do it. But if you have a nice big steep long hill, attack it while holding the the rpms at 3-4K and you'll get those EGT up in no time.
 

Sundowner

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Location
NJ
TDI
None yet
philip_g said:
rumor has it that they even make one in English too.
I've read my manual cover to cover and I would offer a spiritied argument that it is in fact NOT in any form of coherent English of which I am aware.:rolleyes:
 

MayorDJQ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
TDI
'10 Golf 2dr 6m, sold.
Sideways240sx said:
Ok guys i just got back with the car. They data logged, and submitted info to vw they said. They came back with the particulate filter needed a cleaning process. They can enter the ecu into, or force the car to do. They told me all the sensors are reading normal, and it just needed to regen, and couldn't more or less.. They seem nice enough, just not sure how much i believe.

On a possitive note my vagcom will be delivered tomorrow.

Thank everyone for there help.

Chris
Healthy skepticism regarding what a dealer tells you is good, but it sounds like you'll be OK. The lights went off without being reset, so that's a good sign. Their explanation makes sense. Perhaps the sensor got a bit of schmutz on it. It may have just been a fluke.
 

Sideways240sx

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Location
Byron, IL
TDI
09 Jetta TDI
MayorDJQ said:
Healthy skepticism regarding what a dealer tells you is good, but it sounds like you'll be OK. The lights went off without being reset, so that's a good sign. Their explanation makes sense. Perhaps the sensor got a bit of schmutz on it. It may have just been a fluke.
Thank you. Makes me feel better. I got my vag com on friday. i was playing with it this morning, so atleast next time i get a code of any kind, i can get you guys more info...

The dealer was actually pretty great, they told me if it comes up again right away, even if its a little out of warranty they will take care of it, because i had the car in for it, and it was all documented.


Thanks again. Chris
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
My guess is your car went beyond what it felt was the 'normal' DPF regen enable criteria. I *think* the ECU logs these cycles somewhere in its memory where you can access and see when/if it was last run. It may go by key cycles or "starts".

I think running the car more spirited often is even more important now with this style of exhaust aftertreatment. Keep in mind, that car is still quite new so I would expect a few minor teething issues along the way. I am surprised that there has not yet been a software update for the CBEA engine, unless there has and I am not yet aware of it.

Almost every time there is a new platform, system, engine, etc. there is some bit of learning curve that the manufacturer needs to work through. Try as they might, it is impossible to test for EVERY last little thing in the test lab and on the test track.
 

DanG144

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2007
Location
Chapin, South Carolina, USA
TDI
2005 A4 Jetta 5spd
I would have to read back through 5,000 posts to find the few facts available.
Going from memory, if your car is exhibiting a solid CEL (and I think no other indicators - not like you with a flashing GP and DPF light as well) due to reaching some internal trigger on pressure (or differential Pressure) and temperature in your exhaust system, then it was a candidate for this software update.
There were no plans to do the whole fleet.
end memory dump.

Hopefully someone else can point to more pertinent details. But what ever it was would not fix a bad sensor, or correct a wiring issue on a sensor. It was to correct some limit that had been set too tight. They widened the normal operating band.
 
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