Car went in for cam belt change, came out with engine warnin

Car went in for cam belt change, came out with engine warnin

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wolfiewolff

Original Poster:

3 posts

207 months

Thursday 15th March 2018
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Hello
I wonder if anyone can help me please? I own a 2013 B7 2.0 TDI Bluemotion Tech Passat estate, mileage 103,074, fsh by VW agents.
As I bought the car recently from a London second hand dealer, I thought a good idea would be to take the car for the free health check offered at at a local VW dealership. It came back with a number of recommendations re tyre condition and cam belt/water pump overdue for replacement.
I got them, to do this I thought, get it done by VW as all other servicing was done by them and it won't need doing for some years[I am retired and the car will only be used for local trips to our recycling and for the odd holiday trip to France].
When the keys were handed back to me after I paid my money I got in the car, started it and the engine management light immediately came on.
It wasn't on before.
I immediately walked back into the reception and told them what had happened.
They called me a taxi [though said the car could be driven] and said that as a courtesy, they were calling a taxi [they have an account said the driver] to take me home and would free of charge be running a diagnostic although in their opinion that it wouldn't have anything to do with what they had done by changing cam belt/water pump.

Please could I ask for opinions on if this was the dase?
I would not have expected a large VW dealer to have fouled up in this way, was it at all possible that something got knocked off or such to cause the engine management light to come on?
They handed me a piece of paper with possible fault memory entries A was one of the glow plugs had become faulty and B a particulate pressure sensor in the A circuit may have become faulty
I would have thought that the mechanic who started the car after doing the job would have noticed this and it would have had to my attention being drawn to this fault?
Any others had this happen before and any suggestions on course of actions? Should they be made to make all good? Or what do you think?

Many thanks !


StuTheGrouch

5,818 posts

169 months

Thursday 15th March 2018
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Engine management light could be on for loads of reasons, and until the codes are seen we won't know. It seems like a bit of a coincidence, so hopefully they'll sort it.

wolfiewolff

Original Poster:

3 posts

207 months

Thursday 15th March 2018
quotequote all
Hi there thanks for your speedy reply.

I am currently waiting for an answer from the dealer. They gave me a fault memory entries sheet which indicated it might be due to a faulty glow plug or exhaust particulate filter sensor fault . It seems a mighty funny coincidence that after having the cam belt/ water pump changed that, without driving the car away from the dealer that the engine warning light should suddenly come on.
One of the questions I want to ask is did the mechanic who did the cam belt/ water pump change would they not have noticed and had to mention it to reception so that I would know about the problem and not have to find out myself?

Clawdius

21 posts

81 months

Friday 16th March 2018
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You are right IF the light was on when the tech finished the job he should have noted it on the job sheet.
Unfortunately these things do come on at any given time and for any reason.
If after a diagnostic check the faults shown have nothing to do with the belt repair I would suggest you have a nice word with the service manager and if he is not stupid he will repair your vehicle at a heavily discounted price because yes,to the layman this seems like a unlikely coincidence.
I have been in the trade for over fourty five years,twenty five as a service manager and have had to deal with this type of situation many times.in the interest of customer satisfaction and hopefully repeat business that is what I would have done.

Sheepshanks

35,078 posts

126 months

Friday 16th March 2018
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wolfiewolff said:
They handed me a piece of paper with possible fault memory entries A was one of the glow plugs had become faulty and B a particulate pressure sensor in the A circuit may have become faulty
If it's had the diesel emissions software update then those items may be covered by the extended warranty VW have been forced to offer due to the update causing so many issues.

Clawdius said:
You are right IF the light was on when the tech finished the job he should have noted it on the job sheet.
Unfortunately these things do come on at any given time and for any reason.
If after a diagnostic check the faults shown have nothing to do with the belt repair I would suggest you have a nice word with the service manager and if he is not stupid he will repair your vehicle at a heavily discounted price because yes,to the layman this seems like a unlikely coincidence.
I have been in the trade for over fourty five years,twenty five as a service manager and have had to deal with this type of situation many times.in the interest of customer satisfaction and hopefully repeat business that is what I would have done.
We're talking about VW here though. VW dealers, backed by VW UK, seem to be a league of their own for being completely hard-faced with customers.

DickyC

51,787 posts

205 months

Sunday 18th March 2018
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The engine warning light was on after I had the cambelt and water pump done on an Audi A4. The mechanic said it was the car having a little cry and it would go away. And it did. It just needed to understand the new status quo.

wolfiewolff

Original Poster:

3 posts

207 months

Sunday 18th March 2018
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Well, seeing that the car had just gone over the 100k mark, & the engine management light had come on, the dealership waived the diagnosis fee, and found that the number three glow plug was failing.The diagnosis being such, they recommended and I agreed to their replacing all four glow plugs. At least I saved some money on the diagnosis and got a free taxi ride home. At least now the glow plugs are good for another 100k miles and I will have peace of mind that one of them won't give up when I am in the South of France somewhere whilst on holiday.

MonkeyJez

86 posts

204 months

Sunday 18th March 2018
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VW changed the cam belt and water pump on my 2012 Golf GT tdi and the moment I fired it up the engine warning light came on and this was about 10 minutes before the dealer was due to close for the day. I went straight back to the service desk and they took it back into the workshop and after 20 minutes of head scratching they found a technician had neglected to reconnect a coolant sensor. Plugged it back in and all good.

It shouldn't have happened, but they did redeem themselves somewhat by keeping the workshop open, sorting the issue and offering a free MOT.