Thread: Glowplug warning light started flashing while driving

My wife was driving home tonight and had been driving for about 20 mins or so when the glowplug warning lamp started to flash. We think it was only flashing for about 10 seconds or so but on consulting the owners manual it says that flashing glowplug warning lamps are an indication of and engine management problem and we should seek to get the engine serviced soon. My wife was driving in too high a gear for her speed at the time and the light went off upon shifting down. Would that be a cause of the problem?

We've only had the car serviced a few months ago. We don't fancy shelling out a few hundred for a service if it's unnecessary so if anyone can advise please do so

Thanks!

By serviced they mean take it to the dealers and get it diagnosed. I recently had the same light come on in mine, it started flashing and now I also have the emissions light on. Cause: exhaust gas temp sensor. If you take it Audi, then they can scan it for fault codes because it should have one stored, assuming it's still under warranty - otherwise go to an independents! (for what it's worth, you could also call Audi Assist out as they will be able to tell you what it was)

Thanks Scott, funnily enough, this morning the Glowplug light stayed flashing on my 35 mile commute and my emissions controll light came on and stayed on as well Both are amber rather than red (something I suppose).

Neither of my local Audi garages can take the car until either the 20th or 23rd. How do I go about finding qualified / authorised independent garages?

As a matter of interest (and I know your problem could be different to mine) what caused your problem and how much did it cost to fix?

Is your car not under warranty?
It was the exhaust gas temperature sensor - fixed under warranty, so not sure of costs!
Whereabouts do you live? I can recommend a few places, but no good if they're a million miles from you.

Anywhere near Cambridge, Newmarket or Bury St Edmunds would be good for me Not really close to you I see :D

I bought the car (new) in September 2008 and can't remember offhand if it was a 2 or 3 year warranty tbh, have to check it out.

If you bought it new then you'll have warranty until Sept 2011. Get it booked into Audi. Call Audi Assist 0800 699 999 and someone will come out (free of charge) and diagnose the problem for you to ensure it's safe to be driven.

Had the car booked in but they couldn't see me and give a replacement car (which I'd need) until the 21st. However, all that now superseeded by the fact that last night the car lost a lot of power so I called Roadside Assistance who came to me this morning.

Turns out there is a fault with a Piezo injector and while the car will run, the guy didn't want to just clear the fault because he said there are known problems with these injectors and clearing the fault might only temporarily fix the problem. So I'm sitting at home waiting on a call from the hire company to tell me when they are delivering a hire car to me as the A3 has to go to the dealer for further testing.

Thanks again, I'll update with any results

I had the glowplug light flashing and car would go into limp mode las winter. When I scanned it with VCDS it came back with accelerator pedal sensor error. Unplugging and plugging the pedal back helped.

Worth scanning it, but if you're under warranty then I'd take it to a delership.

So, yesterday Audi roadside assistance organised getting a hire car for me. I waited an hour before calling to see if I could get an update. I was told they would call me back, 30 minutes later I called again and was told that they couldn't see a confirmation on their system that a car had been found.

I got annoyed and asked for a callback.

In fairness to them I then got a call apologising for the lack of updates and explaining that the way they work is to look at all the local Audi dealers first to see if they can get a replacement Audi of similar engine size. I interrupted to say I just wanted a 5-door car that worked and didn't care about the brand or engine size. Once that search is exhausted they apparently then contact National Car rentals or Europacar to get a hire car.

They were waiting on hold with Europacar when I spoke to them. I got annoyed again saying that I could have sorted a hire car in 30 mins or less and I asked them to get back to me ASAP.

Again, fair play to them, in less than 5 mins I got a call to say that the hire car was at the Audi delaer awaiting pick-up (As I'd agreed to bring my car there and do the pickup there).

So the hire car was a 10 plate 2.0TDI A4 S-line automatic Wasn't expecting to like the Auto as I love manual cars but have to admit, I like it

Still waiting to hear what they do with this Piezo injector...

My A3 2.O TDI 170 (56 PLATE) undergoing the same problem.......the wife pulled out to overtake a lorry when the car dropped into limp mode, in an independant garage at the mo but an ex - Audi mechanic. Awaiting phone call this morning, if he can't fix the prob its a trip to the main dealer - then i can get ready :-(

So dealer rang me yesterday, apparently the turbo is gone. Thankfully still under warranty!

So couple of questions for you folk:

1. What questions should I be asking the dealer re: specifics on the turbo fail?
2. Is this going to lead to more problems in the future?
3. How can I take 'care' of the turbo in future to prevent another failure?
4. The Audi assistance tech said that a Piezo injector was at fault, could this lead to turbo failure or is it likely that there is still an injector fault? Are they related?
5. Should I insist on the injector being replaced?
6. Out of curiosity, anyone know how much a turbo replacement would cost me out of warranty?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by murkins

So dealer rang me yesterday, apparently the turbo is gone. Thankfully still under warranty!

So couple of questions for you folk:

1. What questions should I be asking the dealer re: specifics on the turbo fail?
2. Is this going to lead to more problems in the future?
3. How can I take 'care' of the turbo in future to prevent another failure?
4. The Audi assistance tech said that a Piezo injector was at fault, could this lead to turbo failure or is it likely that there is still an injector fault? Are they related?
5. Should I insist on the injector being replaced?
6. Out of curiosity, anyone know how much a turbo replacement would cost me out of warranty?

Thanks in advance.

injectors not related to the turbo......and .....turbo units are around £1400 +vat/fitting.........before knocking the car off if youve just come off the motorway/A road or giving the car alot of welly..let the car idle for 1 minute at least before cutting the engine off,that and regular oil changes will keep it sweet !

Excellent post, thanks! Interesting info there!

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I currently have the same problem - flashing glow plug light and constant emission control system light. Can anyone recommend a VAG tester or Audi specialist in Manchester? Just had a new battery put in as the old one completely died, possibly not related but thought i'd mention it just in case. The car starts and drives fine though so i'm hoping it's something minor.

Any help much appreciated.

before anything check that your brake lights are working !.........if they are then disconnect the battery for 15 min then re-connect and see if lights go off(this should reset the ecu.

Originally Posted by jrsteeve

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I currently have the same problem - flashing glow plug light and constant emission control system light. Can anyone recommend a VAG tester or Audi specialist in Manchester? Just had a new battery put in as the old one completely died, possibly not related but thought i'd mention it just in case. The car starts and drives fine though so i'm hoping it's something minor.

Any help much appreciated.

JRSTEEVE im based in Manchester, im no mechanic but i do have vcds, id be happy to scan it for you, least you will have the codes and can take it from there.

Lets us know

Originally Posted by vw754

before anything check that your brake lights are working !.........if they are then disconnect the battery for 15 min then re-connect and see if lights go off(this should reset the ecu.

Sadly they're working fine, thanks for the suggestion though. @Ashaudia3 where abouts are you? I'm in the city centre. I've found a place called VAG Technik near Eccles, they charge £25 for a diagnostics check so I might head over there now just to see what it might be as i'm hoping to take it down to V festival tomorrow! Fingers crossed it's nothing serious!

Thanks for the help

im in newton heath, 2 mins from citys ground

Originally Posted by ashaudia3

im in newton heath, 2 mins from citys ground

Cheers. Just got back from VAG technik, very impressed! Looks like a couple of the sensors may need replacing and will need to flush the DPF, the light came on on the way there. They recommended running it on the motorway at under 2k revs, around 50mph to force the DPF to regenerate but sadly no joy, the glowplug light is still flashing and the emissions light came back on the next time I started up. They've quoted £250ish to flush/clean the filter, does that sound reasonable? They didn't recommend bypassing the DPF as it'll fail the MOT next time round, are there any other options in case the flush out doesn't sort it?

Hi pal. thats good then. I have had similar issue however i had four injectors die on me with similar symptoms, now i have read somewhere that a exhaust gas pressure sensor can cause duff readings on your dpf so i would splash cash just yet. I have dpf also had nightmare past two days, everything on computer said fine but i was getting the light on every thirty mile... turned out to be dpf sensor and inlet manifold. im more than happy to scan your car then go through the fault codes and try help you.... I have other software which basically tells you what the codes mean and how to rectify them and also where there located... nice bit of kit....

found this on another site


If your car is suffering from faulty injector / injector loom then please contact VOSA as they are looking into the matter.
If the loom / injector fails completely, the engine will stall and you'll be driving a car without assisted steering and brakes which, potentially, could be catastrophic. As such, they're keen to hear from anyone with this problem.
VOSA are apparently informing Audi to replace the looms and injectors.
Initially, Audi were only replacing the faulty injector or loom but VOSA have recently advised some owners that Audi should replace all injectors and looms.
If your car has faulty looms / injectors contact VOSA; the more cases that VOSA are aware of, the more likely it is that Audi will have to recall all potentially affected vehicles.

Cheers Ash, I'll probs take you up on the offer but'll have to hang on til next week as I'm off to V festival tomorrow. Reckon vag technik gut said it should be fine getting me down there and back, what do you think, worth risking it? Taken out rac cover just in case!

its upto you pal. am in process of getting car exchanged as been in garage 10 times out of 12 months of ownership. Bought from Audi manchester 56 plate 36000k miles and had nout but issues. I don't trust my car... not trying to put you off going. If injectors go it aint plesent when at wheel, luckily i have never been on motorway when happens. You get glowplug light flashing, then you loose all power, brakes steering ect. Just as though you turn engine off. I got roadside assist but never been able to get her going again so straight to audi everytime so i suppose you would get home

Was yours driving ok before hand? Anything to look out for - noises etc? I've got the flashing glow plug and emissions lights still on, the DPF light hasn't come on since though, touch wood!

not that i noted mate and i had it happen 4 times. Possibley a cough or stutter when driving, but it literally just happens, no pre warning nothing... its a real safety issue hence vosa stepping in and basically ordering VAG to replace all injectors should it happen the once. it only happens on 170 engine and of what i can see it 06 plate to 07 plate. dont quote me i cud be wrong mines a 56. started failing at 40k then 42k then 44k then 50k ruffly. Did the garage give you a print out of the diagnostic fault codes?

Hmm, i'm tempted to chance it as all else seems fine. Didn't get a print out, didn't ask to be honest, but did see them on the laptop. Will definitely be booking it in to be investigated further when i'm back next week, then look to get rid of it and go back to reliable petrol! Cheers for your help!

Well the good news is it got me there an back in one piece, the DPF light came on for a couple of the trips but not all. @Ashaudia3 - let me know when's a good time for you to run it through vagcheck, i'm hoping to get it booked in and fixed asap. Also spoken to BVR automotive, they've quoted £115 for replacing the exhaust pressure sensor and doing a forced regeneration which sounds good to me, but will the forced regen be the same thing offered by vagtechnik? I pretty much drove it at just below 2k revs, around 60-65mph the whole way to make it regen but nothing, i'm guessing the sensors would be the best place to start.

i can do the regen through vcds £30.00 in stoke.

Originally Posted by jrsteeve

Well the good news is it got me there an back in one piece, the DPF light came on for a couple of the trips but not all. @Ashaudia3 - let me know when's a good time for you to run it through vagcheck, i'm hoping to get it booked in and fixed asap. Also spoken to BVR automotive, they've quoted £115 for replacing the exhaust pressure sensor and doing a forced regeneration which sounds good to me, but will the forced regen be the same thing offered by vagtechnik? I pretty much drove it at just below 2k revs, around 60-65mph the whole way to make it regen but nothing, i'm guessing the sensors would be the best place to start.

Originally Posted by vw754

i can do the regen through vcds £30.00 in stoke.

What does that actually do though? If the car won't do it itself does it not need to be removed and cleaned manually or something? I'm new to this high maintenance diesel lark! Cheers

Does anyone know a person with VDCS in South Leicestershire? I am having the same glow plug light problems, but random... I want to avoid the stealers at all costs. Thanks

Hi all, just found this thread as having similar night mare with my a4 170 b7. 3 days ago emmision light came on and had the erg( valve on the manifold that recycles exhaust) replace and reset . All was ok until today after very short journey glow plug light came on while driving. Got home turned off then read to check brake light which were ok but no light but it does not have the kick when u get to about 1900 rpm but does kick at about 3000 other thing to add is I was trying out the speed warning thing and think that may have come on just before glow plug light did.Any thing to check as have a journey to Portugal in a week. Thanks