P026a - work covered under emissions warranty?

[DownByTheRiver]

P026A was popping up intermittently, now stays solid after 2 weeks. Seems like I'm having more regens lately as well, along with a faint ringing sound when I'm on the throttle. I can see the writing on the wall here, but my question is what will the dealership do if it's just that code? If they just replace the sensor, is it covered under the emissions warranty, or does the turbo have to fail outright? My dealership is fairly far from me, so I'm not looking forward to 17 trips to get this figured out.

 

[Lightflyer1]

Anything blocking the air coming into the front of the car? I got this once when I failed to remove my winter front when traveling and it got warmer. Fins clean on all coolers/radiators?

 

[DownByTheRiver]

In Florida, so no winter front, and fins are clear of debris. I'll blow them out tonight JIC though.

 

[Tom in PT]

If your Dieselgate extended warranty is still active then the dealer is obligated to fix the problem at no cost to you. Period. You don't have to wait for the turbo to fail.

If your warranty is still in place, I were you I would take it in and see if you can get the dealer to replace a whole bunch of expensive emissions parts, and hopefully the turbo too.


There are a few threads on here about intercooler cleaning - see flyboybob's posts. There is a sensor at the top of the intercooler that can get fouled with goo. Try cleaning that first. Check out the amount of oil in the big hose going to the bottom of the intercooler. A thorough cleaning of the intercooler and a new sensor might fix your issue at least temporarily, but you need to have the CEL on when you pull into the dealership in order to have them do anything for you under the warranty.

 

[DownByTheRiver]

If your Dieselgate extended warranty is still active then the dealer is obligated to fix the problem at no cost to you. Period. You don't have to wait for the turbo to fail.

If your warranty is still in place, I were you I would take it in and see if you can get the dealer to replace a whole bunch of expensive emissions parts, and hopefully the turbo too.


There are a few threads on here about intercooler cleaning - see flyboybob's posts. There is a sensor at the top of the intercooler that can get fouled with goo. Try cleaning that first. Check out the amount of oil in the big hose going to the bottom of the intercooler. A thorough cleaning of the intercooler and a new sensor might fix your issue at least temporarily, but you need to have the CEL on when you pull into the dealership in order to have them do anything for you under the warranty.

I saw this code right before my ex's turbo went out a few weeks later. Combined with more regens (seems like that's what I'm having too), the turbo didn't last long. The underlined part is what I'm getting at I guess with this thread. I'm not going to do any work that would covered under warranty, but the dealer is pretty far. I was just wondering if they'll monkey around wiping out charge piping and sending me home, or know what's coming next from experience. I think I know the answer to this though. I have about 5k miles of warranty left, so I need to get this straightened out sooner than later. Of course, the code is intermittent again as of today, so there's that too.

 

[Lightflyer1]

The code may be intermittent but will still be stored until cleared. The dealer will do whatever they do, just let them do it. It may be a good experience or not. But they are on the hook until fixed or another solution is reached.

 

[Tom in PT]

^ I agree. Consider yourself fortunate the code comes up before the warranty is up. I believe the dealer may just slap on a new intercooler and not bother to clean it, that's too much work. I don't think they will touch the turbo unless it is completely shot. The presence of oil in the intercooler inlet is probably not going to be enough for them to replace the turbo, they will just say it is "normal".

 

[DownByTheRiver]

^ I agree. Consider yourself fortunate the code comes up before the warranty is up. I believe the dealer may just slap on a new intercooler and not bother to clean it, that's too much work. I don't think they will touch the turbo unless it is completely shot. The presence of oil in the intercooler inlet is probably not going to be enough for them to replace the turbo, they will just say it is "normal".

Just as a follow up, this is exactly what they're doing.

Got a call tonight they're replacing the intercooler. I asked them why it needed replaced and service writer couldn't give me an answer, so he's checking with the tech. Not getting my hopes up, but I've voiced my concerns about the turbo.

 

[Tom in PT]

They probably think the intercooler is not efficient enough (due to the oil or condensate fouling, presumably) so rather than repair (i.e., clean) stuff they just replace it.

I've had some oil in the intercooler inlet piping for the last 25000 miles, which I clean out at 5,000 mile intervals, and my turbo is still ok, knock on wood.

I think it is important to clean out the sensor at the top of the intercooler too, to prevent the code from coming back, so I do that at the same time. Takes a minute or two. I am also going to clean my intercooler next time using diesel fuel flushes, not mineral spirits as flyboybob does in his instructional thread.

 

[740GLE]

my guess is the IC performance degrades similar to how heater cores degrades. continuation of scaling build up, dropping its cooling efficacy.

seeing you're in FL you prob don't use heat much but prob need a new heater core too.

 

[RSH]

If the check engine light is on and you are still within the diesel emmissions warranty period it should be covered.

 

[DownByTheRiver]

Alright, dealer said it was coolant fouling the intercooler, and not oil. They're replacing the intercooler and I should have it back soon.

Heater core was done last year.

Emissions warranty is about up, so it'll be delete time very very shortly.

 

[RSH]

Agreed, I almost feel that once the emissions warranty is up it will be time to get out and move on to something else.

 

[740GLE]

Alright, dealer said it was coolant fouling the intercooler, and not oil. They're replacing the intercooler and I should have it back soon.

Heater core was done last year.

Emissions warranty is about up, so it'll be delete time very very shortly.

Bam!!! dang coolant crud strikes again.

How many heater cores have you gone though?

 

[06bluebeetletdi]

When i had the p026a on my passat, the recommendation from vw was also to replace the intercooler, but the technician and i talked and replaced the sensor and cleaned the intercooler.

i’m on my 4th heater core (1/16 41k, 9/17 53k, 1/22 110k).

 

[DownByTheRiver]

Got the car back and within 20 minutes of driving, the code is back. Assuming its the sensor. Back to the dealer tomorrow.

Only one heater core to my knowledge.

 

[RSH]

Hard to believe the dealer didn't replace the boost/temp sensor when replacing the intercooler. If one component is fouled, the other typically is as well.
At least it's under warranty, take advantage.