Coil Light and Limp Mode

[czm]

Hi
My wifes 2010 A3 1.6TDI Sport back coil light has started to flash and go into limp mode.

Car has 50K on the clock and is regularly serviced.

Any ideas on what the issues is?
Unfortunate I dont have VCDS to scan it with at the mo so hopefully there is someone with some info on the issue.

Thanks

 

[Retroman]

Yellow coil = Engine management system (diesel) - it is NOT the DPF. The only way to establish the problem is to plug in some diagnostic software that can read the error. For example it may be a sensor somewhere?

 

[czm]

Thanks for the reply, yep yellow coil and limp mode.
Once I shut down and restart the issue goes away and then repeats after a while

I have read a lot of the EGR, is that a possibility??

 

[Retroman]

Really hard to guess - things like EGRs and DPFs tend to get randomly blamed on lots of internet forums. I have a friendly local garage who will plug in a fault code reader for nothing - it does not necessarily need to be VCDS. Many of the more advanced, commercial machines will read a simple error code (on these modern VAG cars) and lead you to the problem.

 

[czm]

Great thanks again
I am getting it scanned at lunch time by a local garage and will report what they find.
Thanks

 

[czm]

Scan confirms EGR issue.

Quote £600+VAT

How hard are these to replace?

 

[czm]

Anybody replaced an egr on these?

 

[Nessy]

Before you go ripping out and replacing the EGR valve assembly have the auxiliary coolant pump checked out first.
It's a small 12volt pump mounted on a bracket near the oil sump (easily visible underneath the engine from front once the under-tray has been removed) and supplies coolant to the EGR valve assembly, if the pump plays up then the EGR assembly can overheat and cause limp mode.
My niece had this on her 2010 1.6 tdi ( only common rail diesels have these pumps) and every garage she visited wanted to replace the EGR valve assembly at a similar cost to that quoted to you!
She had intermittent limp mode and the coil light on the dash too.
Hers was an intermittent fault and no fault code was generated, eventually though it did throw up a code pointing to the pump.
Your problem could be the EGR valve assembly, but eliminate the pump first ,at £120 or so it's a lot cheaper and easier than replacing the EGR!