Emission Control System warning light came on and stays on

[ecnirp98]

Hi,

I bought a 2008 A3 2.0TDI 5 door Sportback with 98K miles last October, driving the car home Friday night, the Emission Control System warning light came on and stays on, car drives the same, no noticible difference in performane etc, made it home no problem, looking at the manual, it advised driving the car for 15-20mins between 40-60KMH to burn off the filters, this made sense as I do a short run to work and home (10 mile round trip on B roads with stops/starts for traffic/lights etc) I did this on an A-road and had a 30 mile run (not pushing it at 60-70MPH) on the motorway but the light remains on? is it still safe to drive, I presumed it was ok to drive as owners manual basically advises you to take it on a good run !!!

The only thing I'd noticed on the car since getting it is a very slight judder when dropping to idle Neutral at traffic lights, it pulls of fine etc, so was planning to mention it at the next service due in May, but just wondering now if that could be related to the warning light? never driven an A3 before so didn't think it was a major problem.

So planning to take the car to a garage as most of the posts say you need the fault code, I'm concerned it could cost a packet at an Audi dealer, so would a non-dealer garage be able to diagnose the code? I have a 2 year RAC gold warranty I bought with the car (was planning to keep this car a few years as been after an A3 for years), but reading on the forums most people are saying they they try and wriggle out of covering you !!! but the manual does seem fairly comprehensive so I'm hoping i'm covered.

I also have AA Homestart breakdown cover through my bank, is it worth calling them out to see if they can diagnose the fault?

Can anyone recommend a garage in Manchester? Manchester Audi is the main dealer near me, they will probably charge me £100+ just to plug the fault code laptop in

Thanks for any advice.

 

[hades-]

look on the vcds users map
and PM anyone local to scan for you

 

[Lewis583]

As Bez101 said it needs scanning. You can either check the VCDS users map and contact someone who is local to you LINK TO VCDS MAP

or contact a specialist local to you. AwesomeGTi are based in Manchester and they're also a sponsor of this forum. Try dropping them a PM/posting a new thread in their section.

 

[ecnirp98]

As Bez101 said it needs scanning. You can either check the VCDS users map and contact someone who is local to you LINK TO VCDS MAP

or contact a specialist local to you. AwesomeGTi are based in Manchester and they're also a sponsor of this forum. Try dropping them a PM/posting a new thread in their section.

Hi,

Thanks, I have PM someone in the Manchester area, so awaiting their response.

Thanks.

 

[Gourlay1990]

I had the same thing on my 170 tdi, so I called out RAC and he said it was the pressure sensor or temperature sensor. I have warranty so I took it to audi and they fixed it for me.

 

[bleachy]

I work on transporter t5s and they are the same. We are told by the main dealer if that light comes on go for a long drive an rev it through the gears to clear out the crap. If you dont its an new 1 which on a t5 is a £1000.

 

[ecnirp98]

I took the car to Halfords today as they have a link with my RAC warranty, they put it on the scanner and it came back

P0234 - overboost condition

rather than charge for the dianostics check as RAC warranty won't cover carbon build up in the turbo, they put in DPF Cleaner & Diesel System Cleaner as it is likely to be carbon build up in the Turbo they reckon, they've reset the fault so I will see if it returns, car feels abit more responsive at high revs, they advised driving the car abit harder as I do low milage on b roads to and from work, so don't hammer it, thinking more about fuel economy!!!! so will have to see....

 

[sliced]

some say put it in 3rd gear and put nail it down the slow lane of the motorway for a minute or so?!

 

[ecnirp98]

some say put it in 3rd gear and put nail it down the slow lane of the motorway for a minute or so?!

Yeah, gonna drive it abit harder now, never realised the carbon builds uplike that in Diesels, I've driven petrol engines till now.

The Audi manual states to drive the car at higher revs for about 15-20 mnutes if you get the DPF warning light to heat it up and burn the blockage off, seems scray to thrash it in third gear if you have an engine warning light on !!!!

I've read a few posts talking about Turbo's failing and costing £1000 to replace, so its abit scary since I only got the car a few months ago and I wanted a car to last me a few years so got a nice spec one with a warranty, to find out the warranty is pretty useless

 

[sliced]

Yeah, gonna drive it abit harder now, never realised the carbon builds uplike that in Diesels, I've driven petrol engines till now.

The Audi manual states to drive the car at higher revs for about 15-20 mnutes if you get the DPF warning light to heat it up and burn the blockage off, seems scray to thrash it in third gear if you have an engine warning light on !!!!

I've read a few posts talking about Turbo's failing and costing £1000 to replace, so its abit scary since I only got the car a few months ago and I wanted a car to last me a few years so got a nice spec one with a warranty, to find out the warranty is pretty useless

alot of people tend to go for a DPF delete and a remap, which means more power and less hastle. Tbh your RAC cover should cover for a new DPF if it fails?

 

[ecnirp98]

The warranty has exemptions on carbonisation of the Turbo and exhaust system through wear and tear, which i'm guessing the DPF would be?

 

[Rick @ Unicorn Motor Dev.]

Hi,

we are in Stockport and are specialists in this area, we can do a diagnosis no problem.

Rick

 

[mike foster]

The warranty has exemptions on carbonisation of the Turbo and exhaust system through wear and tear, which i'm guessing the DPF would be?

Sorry, but what kind of a warranty is that bearing in mind 'carbonisation' is mainly the root cause of all turbo problems and the exhaust system is not usually a problem ?

 

[ecnirp98]

alot of people tend to go for a DPF delete and a remap, which means more power and less hastle. Tbh your RAC cover should cover for a new DPF if it fails?

Having researched abit more, my car is an 08 140BHP, so I think its an 8P2 model, which does not have a DPF.

 

[ecnirp98]

Sorry, but what kind of a warranty is that bearing in mind 'carbonisation' is mainly the root cause of all turbo problems and the exhaust system is not usually a problem ?

Its not a good one, but most warranties exempt wear & tear, they did it half price when I bought the car, and I wanted decent cover as I wanted to keep the car a few years and it was fairly high mileage at 100K, it covers mechanical failure, not wear & tear, I didn't realise the Turbo was pretty much exempted though.

Reading a few posts on the web, they seem to wriggle quite abit and get out of any cover, its called RAC Gold, but is actually administered by the warranty group, so RAC claim no culpability when you complain to them.

 

[mike foster]

I used Warranty Direct when I got my car. Wear and tear is covered after the first three months of taking out the policy and immediate when renewed. All labour is covered and parts are subject to a reduction based on mileage.

Got a new turbo 2 years ago which cost me £200 !

Premium was £270 with £50 excess. Fortunately ( or unfortunately !) I have not needed a repair since.

 

[A3-hassle]

Hi guys new to this.

I have a 55 plate A3 2.0TDI BKD engine.

For a couple of months I had trouble with the car starting. It would turnover but just not catch. This happened about 4 times. On the 5th time the emissions warning light came on. I drove the car to the garage to get it diagnosed. It came back with a fault. The air intake flap was stuck. So I needed a new throttle body. No problem. Went to euro car pars and got a piengurg throttle body.

I fitted the throttle body and whilst I was down there I took the egr valve off and gave that a clean with carb cleaner to. Assembled it all back together but the emission light is still on.

I get a ruff idle and a judder when I turn off but bar that the car seems fine. I also have no clue where this f8 fuse is as mine does not have one. Can someone shed some light on this please. Thanks.

 

[Audiblack15]

@desertstorm hi this is the only way I can message you directly. Are you a VCDS user? I am in stafford and could do with speaking to you.

 

[Garrett 69]

8 years after the event here bud. You need a certain post count before admin will let you PM. Try introducing yourself and your car, you may get a better response.