T5 Transporter BPC regeneration causing uncontrolled power surges

[alfredo]

Hello all,

I am in Australia and have had nothing but problems with my VW T5 2008 transporter, the car has the new BPC engine and DPF filter.

My problem is that when driving the car and the DPF filter is regenerating i have little to no throttle control over the car. I find that at all times and more noticeably in heavy traffic the car is dangerous to drive because the power surges and tends to spin wheels and throw the car into the car in front even with small and smooth throttle input.

When rolling along if i press the accelerator pedal by any amount the car does nothing for a second or two then lunges forward like a freight train hit me from behind and spins the wheels even with hardly any throttle input. When i take my foot off the accelerator the car shudders and pulses also...

All this said and done i have had Volkswagen australia out to drive the car and they assure me that this is normal operation of the vehicle and they wont do anything about it.

Is this a common thing has anyone else had this problem? I drive a manual car and automatics would most likely not even notice if the car was doing it.

The car has had nothing but problems really... most sensors on the car have been replaced, the turbo has been replaced as it stopped working properly... its driving me nuts... any help would be greatly appreciated...

Is there a fix for this?

and has anyone else noticed this and complained to their dealers.... Stories please...

[Greg Roles]

Sorry to hear!

I don't have a T5, but the GT TDI Golf, with DPF drives pretty much identical to normal during regeneration, just the idle is higher. The VW tech info I have does say that the boost pressure is raised during regen so that the driver doesn't notice a power loss, so perhaps your boost raise circuit has gone haywire?

Sounds wrong all the same!

[Transporter]

Hello all,

I am in Australia and have had nothing but problems with my VW T5 2008 transporter, the car has the new BPC engine and DPF filter.

My problem is that when driving the car and the DPF filter is regenerating i have little to no throttle control over the car. I find that at all times and more noticeably in heavy traffic the car is dangerous to drive because the power surges and tends to spin wheels and throw the car into the car in front even with small and smooth throttle input.

When rolling along if i press the accelerator pedal by any amount the car does nothing for a second or two then lunges forward like a freight train hit me from behind and spins the wheels even with hardly any throttle input. When i take my foot off the accelerator the car shudders and pulses also...

All this said and done i have had Volkswagen australia out to drive the car and they assure me that this is normal operation of the vehicle and they wont do anything about it.

Is this a common thing has anyone else had this problem? I drive a manual car and automatics would most likely not even notice if the car was doing it.

The car has had nothing but problems really... most sensors on the car have been replaced, the turbo has been replaced as it stopped working properly... its driving me nuts... any help would be greatly appreciated...

Is there a fix for this?

and has anyone else noticed this and complained to their dealers.... Stories please...

You should take it to the dealer.

[gldgti]

hi mate, welcome! if you have no joy at the dealership i'm not sure what advice to offer, however if you manage to get a re-flash of the ECU in some subsequent service VW may already have made changes to the regeneration cycle map due to complaints from other customers.

do you dirve with work boots on?

[alfredo]

my dealers here are seriously hopeless... might as well flip burgers!

I took my car in when it first happened not knowing it had a dpf filter or what one was... I was never told anything about it at the time of buying the car and only now am i learning all about it and how to defeat it...

Anywho so the story goes... took my car in and complained that on two occasions the car lunged into the back of a car in traffic (which it actually did) anywho this is what they have replaced thus far:

1. Dual mass clutch replaced
2. Computer reset numerous times
3. Inspection and test of throttle body and accelerator pedal
4. Alternator, battery and engine earthing tests conducted twice
5. Replacement of the boost pressure sensor (thrust sensor)
6. Extensive road testing by VW Service Centre (200km)
7. Turbo replaced
8. Throttle body replaced on two occasions
9. Parts of exhaust system replaced
10. Suspension system disassembled, regreased and inspected
11. Throttle sender replaced
12. Jack unit was replaced due to broken plastic tabs which led to tools falling out in back of vehicle


after all of this i decided to take the car back and just live with it, couldnt stand watching my car getting ripped to shreds and destroyed by the guys working on it... caught him standing on my polished rim as a stool! grrr

anywho so the story from vw is its been fully assessed and its completely normal for your model of car to do this (new model mine was one of the first int he country) so i am left wondering why they didnt tell me this at the start...

but long and short of it is that i have now done the homework and discovered how to remove the DPF thing so it never goes into regen mode... rosstech vagcom system is in the post with a bit of luck...

I'll let you know how i go... also looked at the egr valve think i'll be blanking that off as well while i'm at it...


At the end of the day $20,000 for lawyers and 2 years of my time in civil law suits just aint worth it... I'd rather find a way to beat the system that is reversible seen as my car is brand new and still under warranty for another 85,000km... mmm

If there was a van just as nice and sexy as this one on the market i would buy it hands down... the vw van has been a total pain in the ass... complete and utter junk, supported by morons and sold by morons...

that about sums it up... stay tuned for info on how i go with my mods... hopefully i dont bust the car lol...

[gregozedobe]

Hmm, I'm not sure whether to sympathise with you or sound the troll alarm ?

I apologise if you are genuine, but you are new to this forum today and have come in with a pretty serious list of faults for a new van. Most people with those problems would have been asking for either a replacement vehicle or their money back. It certainly doesn't cost $20,000 to make an approach to VW Aus to discuss your problems.

I have a transporter with a BPC motor and a DPF, it was built in October 2006 and delivered in Jan 2007, so that engine is not a "new model mine was one of the first int he country". Also the standard warranty is 3 years/60,00Km (unless you have already paid over $2,000 for the extended warranty for years 4 and 5).

Where do you live ? How old is your van and how long have you had it ? Who is the dealer that has worked on it so far?

[alfredo]

I am genuine... and yes it is a long list. I have made requests for a new van but to no avail...

I'm in sydney...

I understand the warranty on my car to be 100,000km or 3 years...

Chatswood vw or the denlo group have worked on it and its still just as bad if not worse...

I've explored all avenues that i can see... I have sought advice and i'm kinda stuck... i'd rather not let it run my life... i'd rather just fix it myself and move on...

Does your BPC filter cause strange acceleration when its regenerating?

Have you ever had the filter light come on?

[phaeton]

Welcome Alfredo

Perhaps get a third party to VAG Com it and see if there are faults listed

or

Go to a diesel expert and get them to look over the vehicle.

Did you test drive the model you bought prior to purchase ? how did that drive ?

Good Luck

[gregozedobe]

I've explored all avenues that i can see... I have sought advice and i'm kinda stuck... i'd rather not let it run my life... i'd rather just fix it myself and move on...

Does your BPC filter cause strange acceleration when its regenerating?

Have you ever had the filter light come on?

If I had that many problems with my van I would give up on the dealers and start talking directly with VW Australia, and see what they could do in terms of rejecting the vehicle or supplying a less fault-prone replacement. If you point out how unsafe it is to drive with the "lunging" they might pay a bit more attention to your concerns.

Failing that I would just grit my (financial) teeth and get rid of it - no one wants to be continually dragged down by a lemon. You must have zero confidence in your van by now.

I have never noticed my engine doing a regeneration cycle, and have never had the DPF light come on while driving. I do almost all highway driving, so probably have much less regeneration compared with someone who drives in traffic.

Yours is the first TDI I have heard of with your particular "lunging" problem. I have read of numerous TDIs running a bit rough and with a high idle speed during regeneration, but no-one has had difficulty driving while it happens.

There have been quite a few reports of 4 cylinders having faulty DPF sensors causing regenerations and faults when the DPF wasn't actually blocked enough to need regeneration, but haven't heard that this happens to the 5 cyl TDIs very often.

Let us know how things progress for you.