EPC & ESP Lights on Golf R

[orkers]

Picked up my Golf R yesterday, and right now it is sitting 200 metres from my house as it doesn't have enough power to get up the hill.

Yesterday the ESP light and the symbol of the car with the skids lit up and it told me there was an ESP error. I parked up the car and when I got back into it a few hours later the error had gone.

Today i've been driving it normally but as I was nearing home the same two lights came on but also the EPC light, and the car then basically refused to function - idling erratically and not providing enough power for me to get up the hill leading to my house.

The car has done 270kms and I thought I was running it in fairly carefully, with only the very odd drop into sports mode and a bit of acceleration (can't resist a little bit).

Has anyone seen this error or this type of thing before?

Also, any thoughts on what to do from here - the dealer is a 50 mins drive away and isn't open on Sundays - should I call VW Assist to come and have a look?

Bit miffed. Just want to get back in my beloved R.

[brimway]

Iwould be so p***ed off

I can't imagine your pain, R would be my dream car. Call them and tell them to sort it. Probably a minor fix for the dealer, hope all ends up OK

[peedman]

Yeah mate call the roadside assist, if the car cant move then they will tow it. If i remember correctly the dealer said up to 50km for free.

[orkers]

Back to the dealer

Ok, VW Assist (which is just RACV here in Vic) can't do anything. The computer said it is something wrong with the throttle system.

I'll have to ring the dealer on Monday and get it towed back there. Hope they give me a loaner.

[Capercat]

Sounds to me the car is in limp mode. It's like an internal protection for the engine due to a faulty sensor or system.
Feels similar to a disconnected O2 sensor. Dealer will run a scan & pinpoint the fault, usually it's only minor.

[Corey_R]

Ok, VW Assist (which is just RACV here in Vic) can't do anything. The computer said it is something wrong with the throttle system.

I'll have to ring the dealer on Monday and get it towed back there. Hope they give me a loaner.

So Volkswagen Assist won't tow it back to the dealer for you? Or did they say that the dealer will arrange that?

In any case, although I can understand your disappointment and frustration, I wouldn't worry too much. As Capercat has mentioned, it's more than likely a faulty sensor, or maybe even something that has just come loose. It'd be extremely rare to actually have a "serious" (i.e. engine) failure so early. There's practically nothing you could do to do that (well, not with a DSG version anyway).

[Corey_R]

Oh, something I just thought of from previous "warning light" threads....
Check your battery terminals. Make sure that they're both tight (refer to manual if necessary).

[robby_jai]

im surprised.... with VAG cars... if your car will not move or is not driveable under its own steam... VW Assist MUST arrange for a towie to tow your car to the closest VW Service Centre.

IT SHOULD NOT BE DONE AT YOUR COST. The fools at VW Assist have no idea.

call them up and follow this item up with them.


personally i'd be pretty ticked off my brand new car carked it.. just like that.. i'd be returning the sucker and saying keep your stinking pile of crap

[REXman]

Hey mate crap to hear that experience.

I am not just trying to make you feel better, I am sure that it will most likely be something minor to fix. Hopefully you'll get it back in less than a week.

And don't for a sec think it happened cause of how you drove it. I have driven my car very well and it's behaving just as it should.

Quick and painless for you mate.

[orkers]

Thanks for all of the advice.

Just to confirm, VW Assist did offer to tow it to the dealer, but as it was 9pm in the evening and the dealer is also closed on Sunday, they said it is probably worth ringing the dealer 1st thing Monday and seeing what they wanted to do - i.e tow it themselves or get VW assist to do it.

[Corey_R]

Aah, ok, thanks for the clarification orkers cause yeah, VW Assist are meant to tow it.

[orkers]

Just a quick update.

VW Assist towed my car to the nearest dealer (Bayford in Epping) where the service centre were able to look at the car and ascertain two problems - one was that a wiring loom was too tight so the engine vibrations was causing connections to become loose which was causing the ESP and tyre warning lights as well as the throttle problem. The other problem is that the tight wiring loom seems to have caused permanent issues in the throttle body so they have ordered a new one.

Car will be back on the road tomorrow, so I can give back the loan diesel van they have given me - bit of a difference in the handling but the increased boot space is a bonus!

[Corey_R]

Thanks for the update orkers.
Good to see you're making jokes in the current situation

[XHonda]

Hi mate sorry to hear about your problem. I know they are quite different cars, but I had what sounds like a similar problem in the first few weeks of owning my R32. They reset it and said everything OK. Did it again almost straight away and then they replaced 2 coil packs, and have had no problems every since. Was only an o/n job as they had to order the coil packs and they gave me a loaner (Nissan Tiida!!!).

R now on order.

[brimway]

Just a quick update.

VW Assist towed my car to the nearest dealer (Bayford in Epping) where the service centre were able to look at the car and ascertain two problems - one was that a wiring loom was too tight so the engine vibrations was causing connections to become loose which was causing the ESP and tyre warning lights as well as the throttle problem. The other problem is that the tight wiring loom seems to have caused permanent issues in the throttle body so they have ordered a new one.

Car will be back on the road tomorrow, so I can give back the loan diesel van they have given me - bit of a difference in the handling but the increased boot space is a bonus!

Glad things are on the up. You will get over the lack of boot space in your fantastic .:R