2009 118tsi Golf. Exhaust fault light flashing on dash.

[Brooke3844]

Hi guys.

Just wondering if anyone can help me with my problem.

About a week ago I was driving home and the exhaust fault light came flashing up on my dash, for around 5 seconds then went off and didn't re appear.
I got home and looked it up in the manual. It said to take it to my nearest dealership.
I rang my dealership the next day and told them what had occurred, they couldn't get it in until the following week and told me it was fine to drive until then.

In that week that I drove it, it came up another 4 times.
It also now feels a little shuddery when it's sitting idling.

I have picked up the car this afternoon from the dealers and they claim to have found no faults on the computer and cannot tell me what is wrong as they need to have the car hooked up to the computer to tell them what is going on before they can go through their process of elimination.

I was thinking maybe someone on here has gone through something similar or could give me some helpful info on what might be going on!!

It's getting very frustrating!

Cheers. Brooke.

[fully]

Well why didn't they keep the car until they found the fault? Some dealers are just useless.

[Brooke3844]

Well why didn't they keep the car until they found the fault? Some dealers are just useless.

Exactly... Totally useless...

Basically he told me it could be too many different things and that unless they could get the computer to pick up the exact fault they're going to pretend I didn't exist.

Next time the light comes on I'm dumping on their doorstep and they can keep it until it's fixed.

[fully]

Yeah you should!

[grtuned]

2009 118tsi Golf. Exhaust fault light flashing on dash.

Name and shame please!!

[dood]

Hi guys.

the exhaust fault light came flashing up on my dash, for around 5 seconds then went off and didn't re appear.

In that week that I drove it, it came up another 4 times.
It also now feels a little shuddery when it's sitting idling.

Having had first hand experience with identical problems with my 2009 118tsi, I am 99% certain that you fave the dreaded cracked piston problem, related to the faulty fuel injectors that came with this car. (search long discussions under my previous posts). Simple test for VW is to check compression.

My car was out of warranty, but after a month of VW to-ing and fro-ing, they finally fixed all the pistons and replaced the fuel injectors with newer ones, which they say will not cause the problem to recur. No charge. Insist on a loan car.

[AdamD]

Having had first hand experience with identical problems with my 2009 118tsi, I am 99% certain that you fave the dreaded cracked piston problem, related to the faulty fuel injectors that came with this car. (search long discussions under my previous posts). Simple test for VW is to check compression.

The broad loss-of-compression issue that affected so many 118TSIs (covered by campaign 24S4) is not specifically related to fuel injectors at all, although obviously I can't comment on your car specifically. Also, that problem usually (but not always) manifests itself with the Check Engine Light (CEL) also, and misfire fault codes are logged in the ECU.

Brooke: have a read through this (very long and somewhat depressing) thread for lots more info on that particular problem:

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f112/golf-118-tsi-engine-failures-resolved-via-service-campaign-24s4-44540.html

Has your car had the 24S4 campaign ECU flash done?

[Brooke3844]

Brooke: have a read through this (very long and somewhat depressing) thread for lots more info on that particular problem:

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f112/golf-118-tsi-engine-failures-resolved-via-service-campaign-24s4-44540.html

Has your car had the 24S4 campaign ECU flash done?

FAR OUT!! Basically everyone is saying to park it up and stop driving it. I've been driving my car round for the last 3 weeks with this engine light flashing up sporadically.
My dealership told me it would be fine to keep driving before they had looked it over, because they couldn't get it in straight away.
Then after them looking over it and not finding anything, told me to keep driving.
I dropped it back at the same dealership again this morning and they told me they would give it to one of the service guys to drive home to see if he could get the light to flash up.

I think I'm going to have to get angry if I find out it's a catalytic converter and demand they fix it for nothing. SO frustrated!!

[AdamD]

I think I'm going to have to get angry if I find out it's a catalytic converter and demand they fix it for nothing. SO frustrated!!

If it's only the cat, you should count yourself lucky.

[Brooke3844]

If it's only the cat, you should count yourself lucky.

I think you might be right! It's been two days and no phone call from the dealer. I'm guessing they haven't been able to figure it out yet and hopefully they're too scared to ring me back until they've fixed it.

[Brooke3844]

So! I rang my dealership today to check up on things...
Apparently they have been talking with Volkswagen and are conducting compression tests on the car.
I get a horrible feeling its going to be a cracked piston...
How much am I looking at to fix this??
My car is well out of warranty now...

[fully]

Shouldn't cost you a thing, it's a known issue and an engine is expected to last for way more than 4 years.

[Lucas_R]

Shouldn't cost you a thing, it's a known issue and an engine is expected to last for way more than 4 years.

^ this. It's a problem VW Aust have been ignoring when they should have done a nationwide recall and fixed it properly. My advice would be to get it fixed and then sell it - the 118TSI engine has so many problems its not funny. And given that 90% of them are mated to the equally crap 7 speed DSG, most will have issues with either the engine or gearbox (or both if you are lucky) at some stage.

[hogs]

when the same thing happened to me, i had the engine rebuilt by the dealership -_-

[logger]

Shouldn't cost you a thing, it's a known issue and an engine is expected to last for way more than 4 years.

I agree, if it turns put to be a cracked piston you should not have to worry about the cost.
You might even have a bit of a win here Brooke. Judging by your profile location, outside of the metro area & my own experiences in the same area, there is a good chance your dealer will organise a new replacement engine rather than repair. So you may well end up with a brand new long engine with an an extra 2 years warranty on it instead of a rebuild.