Multiple Faults Displayed

markward

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Location
Loxahatchee, Florida
TDI
82 Vanagon and 2011 JSW
Hello, out of the blue, my wife's 2011 Jetta Sportwagen, started displaying multiple faults in the speedometer face. Air Bag, ABS, Traction Control, and low tire pressure are all illuminated. I need to get the later VCDS cable to connect, but for now, was curious if there is a common failure point I should look at. It is unlikely all the systems failed simultaneously.

Today, the car was in limp mode as a result of the faults. It has become a priority now.

Thank you for any insight. mark
 

PFCoppinger

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
Location
Worcester, MA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagen
Mine did that after I left the key on ACC to charge my phone, and then forgot about it for a wee bit too long, and had a cooked battery.
 

markward

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Location
Loxahatchee, Florida
TDI
82 Vanagon and 2011 JSW
Battery condition is good. Decided to disconnect the battery ground and let the system discharge. After an hour or so, I used a jumper wire to connect the ground cable to the positive terminal. This did a complete reset. Car started fine, but displayed even more faults lights. I went to close the gate, and all the warning lights were out.

I drove the car about 25 miles and zero problems. I gave it back to my wife. I also reached out the Ross Tech to upgrade my older Dongle to the newer one. Going forward I will be able to at least pull some codes.

I'll post back if the warning lights come back on. It is unlikely anything is actually fixed and I expect it will happen again. My wife has taken it to the local dealer for every maintenance and the 2 DSG services.

We were notified by VW that they had extended the diesel injection warranty and offered to refund any money spent. I don't know if an ECU communication problem would be covered under any remaining warranty.

It will be interesting to see how the dealer experience is as far as keeping its existing TDI customers on board after the recent findings. Thank you for the suggestions though. mark
 

markward

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Location
Loxahatchee, Florida
TDI
82 Vanagon and 2011 JSW
Update.

After driving 30 miles, all the warning lights are back on. We dropped the car off at the dealer this am. Dealer says both rear wheel speed sensors have failed and that is causing all the faults. I find that hard to believe. I can see some of the faults being related, but the air bag warning light and the tire pressure warning light coming on because the speed sensors have failed seems like a stretch. Also, the car has been going into limp mode over the last week or so from time to time. Restarting the engine clears the limp mode.

The dealer wants $606 to change both rear wheel sensors. My cost on them is $21 each. If it was a customer's car, I'd replace the sensors, but advise that it may be ECU related. Just because the speedsensor code is being recorded, does not mean they are both bad.

I asked the dealer if they replaced the sensors and the problem still exists, what happens. Service advisor said, if they misdiagnosed it, they'd apply the $606 towards fixing it properly. I am not sure what to do.

If I pick it up and pay the $130 diagnosis fee, and replace the sensors myself, I have about $160 into the repair if that actually fixes it. If not, which is what I suspect might be the case, I am looking at an ECU or some sort of CAN communication problem they are missing. If I replace the sensors myself, if there is any chance of VW Goodwill, the car has 84,000 miles on it, has always been serviced at the dealer we purchased it from and not sure if I could claim power train warranty, just because you can't drive it in limp mode safely. Any comments appreciated. Thank you.
 

ihatespeed

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Location
holbrook, ma
TDI
11 tdi wagon 6mt 15 golf 6mt (Wife's) 2000 Ford 350 7.3l 6mt 4x4 (technically a TDI)
well, the ABS speed sensors provide tpms and traction control on a 2011, so they are likely related, airbag is wierd.. You really need to see what the vcds codes are. it is a little wierd that they say both.. the airbag warning could be a cumulative thing, most cars have a minimum speed for airbag deployment, perhaps its more symptom than problem.

otherwise I really would look at a bad ground or loose battery terminal, low voltage does craaaaazy things in theese cars.
 

markward

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Location
Loxahatchee, Florida
TDI
82 Vanagon and 2011 JSW
Thanks for the reply. Decided to let the dealer install the sensors. I had to send my dongle into Ross Tech for an upgrade to read the CAN cars. It should be here very soon.

For others that come across this thread, the dealer quoted 2 hours to change the two rear speed sensors, including diagnosing and resetting the ECU. They also road tested it home last night to be sure it did not throw a code. They charge $130 per hour. The sensors were $163 each, which was certainly an inflated cost over dealer list of $138. Plus there is a $25 dollar shop charge.

Overall, there was no indication from the dealer, that they felt bad that we just took a major hit in resale value of our TDI. It was business as usual. Jack the labor rate over book by an hour and jack the dealer list price on the parts by 25%.

I would add, that our 99 Ford Explorer has 230,000 miles and fluids, a set of brake pads F&R and oil changes is all original. The same is true of my 2002 Acura. Rant over. Thanks for the input. mark
 
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