09 jetta woes, after emissions fix

littlefoot09

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2013
Location
Kingsland, GA
TDI
2014 PASSAT SE 6MT
Good morning everyone, fixin to take the jetta back to the dealer for another diagnostics, but wanted to check here first to see if anyone has any ideas what might be the problem.....sorry for the long post

The main issue right now is the car is consuming coolant and I can hear fluid running through the heater core/dash while driving down the road.

Backstory:

Aug of 2017 we had the emissions fix accomplished (202,000 on the OD). The heater hadn't been working for a year, I knew it was clogged, the A/C was intermittent and the car was consuming coolant. I didn't have any warning lights except for the occasional coolant low! check owners manual. Which I carried coolant in the car with me and would top off. I never had a overheat issue that I know of. The temperature gauge never went above 190. While the car was getting the fix VW told me the turbo was on its way out and that I had a radiator leak. (something like $6000 in repairs and I could use my restitution money to accomplish repairs)

Emissions fix only was accomplished and I took the car to my local mechanic to get a second opinion on the other issues. They replaced the heater core, the A/C and couldn't find the leak that VW had identified. They cut the top off the old one to see the gunk built up in the core. The heater worked very slightly after the replacement, and I had a random popping noise in the dash after the replacement. The car seemed to run okay except for the popping noise, however for the next few days/weeks I had issues with blowing coolant hoses off. The local shop finally replaced the radiator free of charge. I then started receiving an insufficient EGR flow CEL and got a workshop error for the injector control module. Local shop recommended taking it back to VW due to the extended warranty with the emissions fix.

I went round and round with VW to get the control module replaced. They finally did it and didn't charge me. They then told me that the heater core needed to be replaced due to the heater not working. Was told to take it back to the local shop for the heater core.

Local shop swore it wasn't the heater core.

***back and forth between to the two shops for about a month*** I finally called VOA customer support and got some action from VW.

VW finally replaced the EGR cooler, which I had assumed was clogged, under the emissions warranty. The heater finally worked and the engine light for insufficient flow didn't come back. But I have had this trickling/flowing fluid sound in the dash for a year now without any CELs. It's been back to VW multiple times to try and fix the tricking/flowing sound to no success. I am now getting a low coolant light again and driving with extra coolant in the car to top off when needed.

PERSPECTIVE NOTES: My commute is 50 miles one way to work. I put at least 2250 miles on the car a month. I was averaging at least 27000 miles per year before the fix. Its been in and out of the shop now for a year and I am only at 216000 since the fix. I was averaging an oil change every four months, and just changed it about a month ago for the first time in a year.

Anyway, I am thoroughly frustrated and looking for any advise, thoughts, tests.......anything y'all can think of that might get me on the road again and through this warranty.......

I plan on asking VW for a pressure check of the cylinders, although that was accomplished a year ago and completely flushing the coolant system. Any other ideas short of pulling the engine and cleaning the entire thing? Appreciate y'alls time.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Sounds like your cooling system was contaminated with something foreign long before the "fix" was applied. Not sure what, has anyone ever added anything besides the proper stuff?

A pressure test should reveal any leaks, but if it is a tiny one and it is "internal", meaning somewhere in the engine that allows for the coolant to go away into the combustion or exhaust somehow then it may not be easily found.

There is also a chemical test for combustibles in the cooling system taken from the cap while the engine is running.... but this can be tricky too as the breech may only manifest as an issue at a specific temp, and completely go away at other times.

If the heater circuit was clogged, as you suggest, for over a year, then the engine almost certainly has sustained some overheat damage, as the heater and EGR cooler circuit MUST flow properly all the time (regardless of cabin heat demands) for proper coolant flow. So you may have damaged the engine by neglecting this, and the emissions fix cannot undo previous problems, regardless of the cause.
 

littlefoot09

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2013
Location
Kingsland, GA
TDI
2014 PASSAT SE 6MT
Thanks oilhammer for the input. I hate hearing that about the overheat......I stupidly assumed that the heater core was just an auxiliary system of the coolant system and didn't matter all that much, especially in SE GA when the heat gets turned on maybe once a year. Hindsight is twenty twenty I guess. I'll ask about the chemical test for combustibles. I had added water one time to get it to the house. It was flushed not to long after that. The local shop used dye to find a leak to no success. VW stated multiple times that the wrong coolant was in the system. The local shop showed me the fluid they added (same thing that is identified on the car bottle) and assured me it was just dye in the system.

Of further note, the system has pressure. After driving home and cooling off overnight or during the day, the coolant in the bottle is well below the full mark. As I loosen the cap prior to getting on the road you can hear the pressure relieve and coolant/air bubble back into the bottle. Add about 8oz of coolant and seems to run fine except for the flow sound through the dash. Also, under the dash near the firewall the center area gets really hot, almost to the point you cannot hold your hand on the plastics cause its so hot.

Sounds like I'm looking at a rebuild in the not to distant future...... :(
 
Last edited:
Top