Clock Spring dash light show....

[Analogeezer]

So I looked through some threads on this subforum, I see a lot of people have replaced these.

So I got the warranty extension to 15 years/unlimited miles letter and filed that away, figuring "oh I might need this some day", my car is just over 10 years old.

Then BAM, five days later it lights up the TC/SC light, TPMS and airbag light. Drive the car a bit and they all go off.

It proceeded to happen again a few times, but was intermittent.

Then it started being on full time, every time I start the car. So I was making plans to put it in for the warranty repair (more on that in a bit) and today, the glowplug light starts flashing. Then later it gets joined by a CEL, but the CEL is solid whereas the glowplug light flashes.

Car starts and drives normally, even took it up close to redline and nothing apparent going on.

So NOW I am up to six lights fired up on the dash (airbag, glowplugs, CEL, TPMS, TC/SC and another one).

Kinda weird the glowplug light and CEL joined the party, but I would think the car would not run properly if there was an actual problem with the glowplugs.

So I am going to scan the car with VCDS tomorrow but is it possible the clockspring alone is lighting all these dash lights up?

Thanks,

Analogeezer

p.s. Oh here is the thing with the dealer, so I call up their service department explain I have the clockspring problem, based on the description in the letter and ask "WHAT IS THE WAIT TIME ON GETTING THIS PART, NOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?"

The girl replies "oh we would have to get your car in here to diagnose it to make sure it is the problem to tell you that?"

I said to her "Oh I know it has the problem, and that you will have to run diagnostics to get paid for the warranty work, my question is HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET THIS PART?"

She refused to tell me, even after I told her I would be running VCDS before I brought the car in.

The correct answers would have been:

1. Oh we have done a number of these and it usually takes a day or two to get the part OR
2. I'm not sure but I will check with parts and have them call you up.

Yet VWoA wonders why people hate their dealers as much as people hate Comcast.

 

[Analogeezer]

Well let me close this one out so the information is there if anyone reads this thread.

I had the great luck of having TWO things go wrong at once.
1. The CEL and flashing glowplug light turned out to be a P2470, the EGT Bank 1, sensor 4 problem. "Fixed" at the dealer under the extended warranty.

I say "fixed" because yesterday (they repaired the car on Thursday) the glowplug light started flashing again, I checked codes and I had a pending P2470. Then when I started it back up I got a CEL which now shows as a code, not just pending. So back to them it goes. I will report back on what ineptizoidizm was involved in them not fully fixing it the first time.

2. TC/SC light and TPMS light turned out to be a bad rear wheel sensor. Also a roached right rear wheel bearing. My theory on this is I have had a lot of rear brake problems with this car, including the parking brake cable rusting. I think that rear brake was dragging for a while some time back. The heat from that probably cooked the grease in the bearing, the bearing started going and then it caused the sensor to malfunction.

Unfortunately that wound up costing me money as it was NOT covered under the extended emissions warranty (I was not surprised about this).

I think the airbag light was on because when I scanned it with VCDS it returned a steering assist fault. I figure that was tied in with the TC/SC fault since that system would be using steering angle in addition to the wheel speed sensors.

The wheel speed sensor makes sense as this car had indirect TPMS so the wheel sensor being bad would trigger that, as well as the TC/SC which of course works off the wheel speed sensors.

So I was going to bring it back to the Dealer to have them address the flashing glowplug and CEL lights.

When I went to start it this afternoon, it tells me to push in the clutch (it's a manual) and of course the clutch was pushed in.

That's a topic for another thread.

I should be more pissed off but far better to die in my driveway instead of out on the road. I went with my wife and drove the car on Friday 158 miles round trip closer in by the city. So if it had died while we were out, well that would have sucked big time.

At least it picked a good place to die LOL

Analogeezer