GuyGuy
Veteran Member
Great thanks, Car is jacked up now doing an oil change so I'm gona slide under and try and find it!!
Guy
Anyone else have a NOX sensor go bad?
- Thread starter R4074
- Start date
Guy
GuyGuy
Veteran Member
So what I did is put some spray oven cleaner in a small bowl and added distilled water. soaked it in the solution then pulled it out and lightly torched it and put back in the solution. Repeated that a bunch of times all while letting it soak a few minutes in between. Then did the same thing with just distilled water.
Went for a few short drives last night and so far so good.
We will see this morning what happens!!
Went for a few short drives last night and so far so good.
We will see this morning what happens!!
Well due to a GREAT DEALER (Seacoast Volkswagen in Greenland NH), the car appears to be fixed.
I did not have the time to fight with VW yet again within 2 weeks so I took it upon myself to fix the car.
The dealership worked with me on the price of the NOX sensor, I did the labor myself, and then ran into more issues with the def countdown. Back to the dealership and they worked on the car for almost 3 hours before having to call the tech line because the countdown to no restart would not reset. Apparently according to the shop Forman the countdown reset procedure was not working and the tech line had him do some cutting and pasting of code to make it happen.
Once again the dealership stepped up to make it right and only charged me the 1/2hour it should have taken to reset the codes.
Thank You to Seacoast Volkswagen and the wonderful staff you employ
I did not have the time to fight with VW yet again within 2 weeks so I took it upon myself to fix the car.
The dealership worked with me on the price of the NOX sensor, I did the labor myself, and then ran into more issues with the def countdown. Back to the dealership and they worked on the car for almost 3 hours before having to call the tech line because the countdown to no restart would not reset. Apparently according to the shop Forman the countdown reset procedure was not working and the tech line had him do some cutting and pasting of code to make it happen.
Once again the dealership stepped up to make it right and only charged me the 1/2hour it should have taken to reset the codes.
Thank You to Seacoast Volkswagen and the wonderful staff you employ
P2201 nox sensor
After spending some time reading the forum comments I decided not to play the game and took my car to the dealer. Was the right thing to do. First I was told that the part and the labor will be 620 in total. Since I still had VW credit card worth 500 I figured I can afford it
. Any way I left the car overt night as the part was on the back order. Next day when I came to pick it up I was told that I don't owe anything. The dealer contacted their main office and got an approval to replace the module along with the sensor. Somehow the module is covered with extended warranty. That was the fix free of charge. Thanks vw of Brooklyn!
After spending some time reading the forum comments I decided not to play the game and took my car to the dealer. Was the right thing to do. First I was told that the part and the labor will be 620 in total. Since I still had VW credit card worth 500 I figured I can afford it
. Any way I left the car overt night as the part was on the back order. Next day when I came to pick it up I was told that I don't owe anything. The dealer contacted their main office and got an approval to replace the module along with the sensor. Somehow the module is covered with extended warranty. That was the fix free of charge. Thanks vw of Brooklyn!Thats awesome! what year/miles?After spending some time reading the forum comments I decided not to play the game and took my car to the dealer. Was the right thing to do. First I was told that the part and the labor will be 620 in total. Since I still had VW credit card worth 500 I figured I can afford it
KipF
Member
Mine is now out for the 3rd time in 6 months. I'll call the dealer in the morning to schedule an appt. Same error code as the previous 2 times. Both times before the dealer has changed the NOX sensor and done a software upgrade. went approx 2,000 miles on the first repair and only 600 on the second. This is getting old.
Justinw303
Veteran Member
I assume these last two are warrantied, what was your experience the first time it happened, with regard to a warranty claim?
TDI-TillItDied
New member
I posted this on another forum but wanted to share my experience for others:
So my husband and I got the countdown of death the other night. This is a 2012 TDI Passat with 113,000 on her. She has been an amazing car until they started doing "software updates" and such. We've been ripping through Adblue so fast that we thought they were forgetting to fill the tank at the dealership when we brought it in for services. Yeah, not so much...
On his way home from work, my husband got a 200 mile warning for Adblue. Odd... we never got the one at either 1200 or 1500 whichever it is... NBD though, he planned to get some right after dinner. Well a few miles later he got a CEL too. When he went to AutoZone for DEF the guy ran the codes and it was pretty obvious that we were going to fall into the NOx sensor issue. However, the Adblue didn't reset after we filled it. Very strange.
The next morning, Adblue light and CEL stayed on and car decided to go into reduced power mode. We had the car towed to the dealership using the Goodwill Package Towing and awaited results. They advised us that we required a NOx sensor and that it would cost $790 after our military discount...ouch. But whatever, we said get it running and we're holding our breath for some buyback news.
I have to add that the tow truck driver advised me he had towed many many broken VW's to the same dealership this week and to stand our ground because we weren't alone.
Fast forward a few days, they replaced the sensor, however the Adblue countdown continued. She's nearly out of miles and almost at lockout. The dealership advised us to put no more money into this car. They have no idea why she's not resetting and just short of replacing the exhaust system, I'm not sure we're going to find out. They're pulling the new sensor and advised us to come get the car until the buy back or repair offer is made in June.
Thank goodness my father-in-law has a loaner car for us, we're still making payments on this car and had planned to drive it till the doors fell off...VW was supposed to be a reliable name which is why we paid the premium for the diesel car and the ridiculously expensive services it has needed.
So my husband and I got the countdown of death the other night. This is a 2012 TDI Passat with 113,000 on her. She has been an amazing car until they started doing "software updates" and such. We've been ripping through Adblue so fast that we thought they were forgetting to fill the tank at the dealership when we brought it in for services. Yeah, not so much...
On his way home from work, my husband got a 200 mile warning for Adblue. Odd... we never got the one at either 1200 or 1500 whichever it is... NBD though, he planned to get some right after dinner. Well a few miles later he got a CEL too. When he went to AutoZone for DEF the guy ran the codes and it was pretty obvious that we were going to fall into the NOx sensor issue. However, the Adblue didn't reset after we filled it. Very strange.
The next morning, Adblue light and CEL stayed on and car decided to go into reduced power mode. We had the car towed to the dealership using the Goodwill Package Towing and awaited results. They advised us that we required a NOx sensor and that it would cost $790 after our military discount...ouch. But whatever, we said get it running and we're holding our breath for some buyback news.
I have to add that the tow truck driver advised me he had towed many many broken VW's to the same dealership this week and to stand our ground because we weren't alone.
Fast forward a few days, they replaced the sensor, however the Adblue countdown continued. She's nearly out of miles and almost at lockout. The dealership advised us to put no more money into this car. They have no idea why she's not resetting and just short of replacing the exhaust system, I'm not sure we're going to find out. They're pulling the new sensor and advised us to come get the car until the buy back or repair offer is made in June.
Thank goodness my father-in-law has a loaner car for us, we're still making payments on this car and had planned to drive it till the doors fell off...VW was supposed to be a reliable name which is why we paid the premium for the diesel car and the ridiculously expensive services it has needed.
South Coast Guy
Veteran Member
Just so you know, all repairs are expensive. Parts cost alot, and labor at any decent shop will be in the $80 to $119 per hour rate. And no one diagnoses problems for free.
TDI-TillItDied
New member
Yes, parts do cost a lot. No one asked for free. However I did ask for a reliable vehicle when I paid a premium price for it 4 years ago.
The issue is, they could not reset the DEF countdown. With the $790 out of pocket, the car was still in reduced power mode.
Despite a several thousand dollar laundry list of things the VW Corporate service line advised our service manager to replace to get the car usable; the manager suggested we park this car until any announcements are made about a buyback or repair.
We paid for the hours they spent on it and they pulled (at their suggestion) the new sensor and put back the old parts. She sits in the driveway awaiting news.
The issue is, they could not reset the DEF countdown. With the $790 out of pocket, the car was still in reduced power mode.
Despite a several thousand dollar laundry list of things the VW Corporate service line advised our service manager to replace to get the car usable; the manager suggested we park this car until any announcements are made about a buyback or repair.
We paid for the hours they spent on it and they pulled (at their suggestion) the new sensor and put back the old parts. She sits in the driveway awaiting news.
Justinw303
Veteran Member
This obviously doesn't help after the fact, but how did you come to the conclusion that VW was especially reliable? Research should have shown that relative to the industry average, VW tends to fall short.
Drnknmnky13
Veteran Member
I did this last weekend. Took me longer to jack up and secure the car than it did for me to get the sensor out. I will say that it's on TIGHT. PB blaster and a crows foot O2 socket thing are recommended. I wouldn't use the socket with the side cut out. It will flex and probably strip the bolt.
Use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00390BS7C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cleaned the sensor. It was pretty dirty. Reinstalled. Cleared the code. So far so good. Gone about 900 miles with no code. Hopefully it stays that way. Definitely worth a try if you're out of warranty. Cos me $3 in cleaner since I already had the O2 sensor remover.
GuyGuy
Veteran Member
Well my cleaning lasted about 10 000kms and now it's back on.
I'm gona try and call the dealer to see if something can be done! But at 182000kms I'm not holding my breath.
Guy
I'm gona try and call the dealer to see if something can be done! But at 182000kms I'm not holding my breath.
Guy
KERMA
Vendor , w/Business number
I experienced this same issue in the passat I'm driving for development. After many hours of investigation, best I can figure there's a flaw (for lack of a better word) in the factory programming that is addressed by tweaking the ecu. To make a long story short, it seems to relate to a step transition between operating modes during certain conditions.
Lex Tdi
Veteran Member
Headed to the dealer to see if they would cover it, no dice so i just talked to VWOA to see if they would help and they are sending to a region case manager to look over, i'm not expecting much. I'll plan on cleaning it this weekend and maybe luck out and ignore all this... also crossed 80,000 miles this week. Talk about unlucky timing.
Flyboy777
Well-known member
Ok to revive and further this post I have read ALL 136 posts regarding code P2201 NOX senxsor bank 1 and CEL light on. As far as I can tell the car did not produce nearly the same crisp tourque at low rpm with this CEL DTC on. It was hard to tell if fuel mileage was affected because I drove In a lot of heavy snow and salt water too prior to the CEL coming on but my fuel mileage was down by about 100km on a half tank. I'm thinking the ECU reschedules fuel to something less hot with this fault to back off the NOX emissions. Thus the crappy performance. I never got a countdown for def fluid though. I called the dealer in Orillia/Ontario and discussed the problem with them and the service advisor said the first step was they have a recall for "Connector seal" on the connector plug for the NOX. It was explained to me that they are checking for integrity of the seal on the plug and for corrosion of the pins too. I do notice that some are getting this code after driving in standing water and heavy rain for extended periods or after going to the car wash. so that would make sense in it explains some of these codes.
So I take the car into said dealer the mechanic does the check and the service guy tells me that the connector is ok and sensor needs to be replaced at 1200$ CAD. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I told him to button the car up and I can get his 903$ part landed in Canada for 563$CAD and I'll be doing the job myself. But before they finish I ask if the the codes will be rest for troubleshooting purposes. Nope I'm told it needs a sensor and they cannot reset. So I say fine thinking when I get it home I'll check the codes again and wipe them if it allows. So I get home and find out that I'm able to wipe the nox sensor code BUT there is a "PERMANENT" code remeaining for P2201 NOX sensor bank 1. So I drag out my manual for my generic code reader manual and it says that it may take 40 drive cycles to clear that "PERMANENT" code provided there are no more DTC's for the the same System. After I did a code erase the Code reader showed a YELLOW light which I understand means the associated system is not currently a hard fault but the diagnostic routines have to run and there is an indicator for all 15 of those monitors 10 of which show green and 5 show red still meaning they have not run yet. The DPF and NOX codes still show Red. I is my rudimentary understanding that there is a drive routine that must be done before all of those specific conditions can be met to do a self test of all the monitors. I asked the dealer to tell me what that routine is since they did not do the reset. They never called back despit two calls. BUT HERE IS THE KICKER. WHEN I ERASED THE DTC's the CEL goes out which indicates to me that the system is not currently faulted! I WAS MAD! we will see if the fault returns. I have 141,000 km on my 2012 Passat TDI W DSG and 90 percent of my driving is highway with each drive being 250 km. So it should be a very NOX friendly drive cycle. If the problem returns I'll try removing the sensor and cleaning with carb cleaner like others have suscefully done. So Fingers crossed. I just got the recall in the mail dated DEC 2016 it shows SAFETY RECALL- CONECTOR SEAL. How do they figure it is a safety issue? The dealer did say that it is not covered under any warrantee if the NOX sensor is bad. I have a mind to do the off-road only dsg delete pipe. My only concern is the ad blue software. Anybody had this done with the a Passat successfully? I don't want any CEL issues or DEF countdowns associated with this mod. I know CR PERFORMANCE has successfully done this in the States but anybody in the TORONTO/BARRIE area do this successfully? I don't really feel like driving to the states to have this done. It would be nice to have the extra 25 or 30 HP and 90 more foot LBs. Any further thoughts people? I don't know why the dealer did not rest the codes for trouble shooting purposes and have me report back? I'm wondering if I'm smelling a rat.
BTW after driving say 700 km I re-read the DTC's and the PERMANENT DTCs are all gone with only one more non associated monitor showing red (not completed) with a yellow emissions test light.
So I take the car into said dealer the mechanic does the check and the service guy tells me that the connector is ok and sensor needs to be replaced at 1200$ CAD. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I told him to button the car up and I can get his 903$ part landed in Canada for 563$CAD and I'll be doing the job myself. But before they finish I ask if the the codes will be rest for troubleshooting purposes. Nope I'm told it needs a sensor and they cannot reset. So I say fine thinking when I get it home I'll check the codes again and wipe them if it allows. So I get home and find out that I'm able to wipe the nox sensor code BUT there is a "PERMANENT" code remeaining for P2201 NOX sensor bank 1. So I drag out my manual for my generic code reader manual and it says that it may take 40 drive cycles to clear that "PERMANENT" code provided there are no more DTC's for the the same System. After I did a code erase the Code reader showed a YELLOW light which I understand means the associated system is not currently a hard fault but the diagnostic routines have to run and there is an indicator for all 15 of those monitors 10 of which show green and 5 show red still meaning they have not run yet. The DPF and NOX codes still show Red. I is my rudimentary understanding that there is a drive routine that must be done before all of those specific conditions can be met to do a self test of all the monitors. I asked the dealer to tell me what that routine is since they did not do the reset. They never called back despit two calls. BUT HERE IS THE KICKER. WHEN I ERASED THE DTC's the CEL goes out which indicates to me that the system is not currently faulted! I WAS MAD! we will see if the fault returns. I have 141,000 km on my 2012 Passat TDI W DSG and 90 percent of my driving is highway with each drive being 250 km. So it should be a very NOX friendly drive cycle. If the problem returns I'll try removing the sensor and cleaning with carb cleaner like others have suscefully done. So Fingers crossed. I just got the recall in the mail dated DEC 2016 it shows SAFETY RECALL- CONECTOR SEAL. How do they figure it is a safety issue? The dealer did say that it is not covered under any warrantee if the NOX sensor is bad. I have a mind to do the off-road only dsg delete pipe. My only concern is the ad blue software. Anybody had this done with the a Passat successfully? I don't want any CEL issues or DEF countdowns associated with this mod. I know CR PERFORMANCE has successfully done this in the States but anybody in the TORONTO/BARRIE area do this successfully? I don't really feel like driving to the states to have this done. It would be nice to have the extra 25 or 30 HP and 90 more foot LBs. Any further thoughts people? I don't know why the dealer did not rest the codes for trouble shooting purposes and have me report back? I'm wondering if I'm smelling a rat.
BTW after driving say 700 km I re-read the DTC's and the PERMANENT DTCs are all gone with only one more non associated monitor showing red (not completed) with a yellow emissions test light.
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Lex Tdi
Veteran Member
My light has been on for a year due to the NOX sensor... fuel mileage is not affected. To be honest i was waiting until some nicer weather and a bit of time (have a 6 month old now) and a huge amount of available spare parts in the future. I'll get around to it.... someday
Rico567
Top Post Dawg
I had this done under warranty two years ago. This is just another one of these fragile emissions components that fails in large numbers. And, when coupled with the turbocharger, AdBlue heater, heater core, and a few lesser lights, adds up to a list that confirms our decision to do the buyback next year. Just hope the sensor holds out until then....
Flyboy777
Well-known member
Nox sensor update
Ok I tried to remove the nox sensor to clean but it is in there. I bought the slotted socket but could not get a ratchet on without dropping the exhaust because I'm just working on the car up on jack stands with a creeper. I bought a box end wrench and opened it up with a grinder with the hopes that would provide enough tourque to get the sensor loose after heating and penetrating oil but no luck. So I gave up but would like to report that after towing a snowmobile trailer with the car for 300 km and stopping during a regen that the CEL has gone away! As far as I can tell the added load from towing and the regen cooked off the carbon on my nox sensor! MFI numbers were like a steady 7.5 to 8 litres/100km which is 66% more fuel and heat than when not towing. So I'm not sure if it was the regen or the higher steady load. I have heard other people say that these cars function better when they are driven hard and this would be one case where that is true! I mean we bought these cars because they get phenomenal fuel mileage so most of us hyper mile and are gentle in the way we drive to get the best mileage. I'm now thinking drive it like you stole it because it gets great mileage anyways and the thing won't carbon up as bad. Food for thought. Anyways I'm happy because I can take it in for the recall and not have to worry about the 1500$ fix for this nox sensor.
Ok I tried to remove the nox sensor to clean but it is in there. I bought the slotted socket but could not get a ratchet on without dropping the exhaust because I'm just working on the car up on jack stands with a creeper. I bought a box end wrench and opened it up with a grinder with the hopes that would provide enough tourque to get the sensor loose after heating and penetrating oil but no luck. So I gave up but would like to report that after towing a snowmobile trailer with the car for 300 km and stopping during a regen that the CEL has gone away! As far as I can tell the added load from towing and the regen cooked off the carbon on my nox sensor! MFI numbers were like a steady 7.5 to 8 litres/100km which is 66% more fuel and heat than when not towing. So I'm not sure if it was the regen or the higher steady load. I have heard other people say that these cars function better when they are driven hard and this would be one case where that is true! I mean we bought these cars because they get phenomenal fuel mileage so most of us hyper mile and are gentle in the way we drive to get the best mileage. I'm now thinking drive it like you stole it because it gets great mileage anyways and the thing won't carbon up as bad. Food for thought. Anyways I'm happy because I can take it in for the recall and not have to worry about the 1500$ fix for this nox sensor.
Lex Tdi
Veteran Member
Seriously officer i was told to hammer the throttle to fix my sensor that is full of carbon... Love it.
Flyboy777
Well-known member
Yeh you can add that as a new one to your list of excuses.
Flyboy777
Well-known member
An update. I my check engine light came on again for nox sensor but I towed my trailer for say 100km and the light went out. I was able to take my car in for the emissions fix and not have to pay 1200$ before getting it to fix the carboned nox sensor so I'm happy and now have a warrantee to 192,000km. Life's good.
Mrkinnamon
New member
Did anyone ever figure this out? I've got a 2012 VW PASSAT TDI with p2201. Took it to the dealer 3 times already and same code keeps popping up. I've scoured every single forum and can not find a single post where it has been fixed other than deleting everything and voiding the warranty.
Fixmy59bug
Veteran Member
If you have the Dieselgate warranty, why not leave the car with them until they figure it out.
Mrkinnamon
New member
I did! The dealer had my car for longer than I have. When the light came back on this last time, I told they they need to keep it and run it through the drive cycle until the emissions readiness is all passed or completed and the service writer told me that they can't just have technicians driving my car all day.
cholmes100
Active member
My dealer here in Nova Scotia quoted $1700.00 + tax to replace the Nox sensor. $1400 for the part and $300 for labour. I told them I will set it on fire first.
TurboABA
Top Post Dawg
Unless you're high milage, you should still be under dieselgate warranty, and it should be a free fix. Check your warranty status.