Engine needs to run longer

[Kaxolo]

Hello everyone,

I have a Seat leon E-hybrid and lately I´m getting the message "Engine needs to run longer" a lot. When slowing down or driving slow (when the petrol engine should stop) the petrol engine tries to stop but inmediately turns on again. It can do that 10 times in minute. and everytime the same message,

 

[SRGTD]

I read of a current model VW Polo owner over on uk-polos.net forum having a similar message displayed under ‘vehicle status’ in the vehicle settings when their car was performing a GPF / OPF regeneration, the purpose of the message being to keep the engine running so the regen can be completed.

That might be why your car is displaying the ‘Engine needs to run longer’ in circumstances when it thinks the engine is going to be switched off - if it is performing a GPF / OPF regeneration, then switching the engine off will mean the regen isn’t completed.

 

[Kaxolo]

Not sure what it is as is very random, and not sure either how good is for the engine to start/stop so many times

 

[Stebb]

Hi. My Cupra version did this - then I got an engine warning light saying a problem with emissions. The car had to be low-loadered back to the dealer who diagnosed an exhaust recirc valve was stuck. They changed it (car was only 2 months ond) and since then no problems.

 

[Kaxolo]

Recently I got the engine light on. I checked it with OBD and the error was P2422-Evaporative Emission System Vent Valve Stuck Closed.
I cleared the error to see if it would come up again and nothing since. Not even the Engine needs to run longer message.

I was searching on internet and found on a Golf PHEV thread someone was getting the same message (I'm assuming is the same system as the SEAT Leon).
People was saying that a reason could be bad quality fuel and the car trying to get rid of it. Another reason said on that thread was the car detecting moisture in the oil and trying to warm up the engine to evaporate it.

I tried going in Sport Mode and manual a couple of gears below to heat up the engine over 100C. and not sure if that worked but I didn't get the message for a couple of days. I have to say that I had to refuel after as well.

 

[Torque69]

Are you running E10 petrol or E5?

 

[Kaxolo]

I think here in Ireland we are still using E5.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

Did anyone get to the root cause of this?

Mine started doing it this morning. Been working on full e-mode fine up until now. Now it just kicks into hybrid and I get this error on the dash with the the e-mode flickering on/off.

I did a 30min drive today in S mode too in order to try “clear” out anything that might be causing it to happen but today still the same.

The car did have a software update to 1896 last week. Not sure if its related.
Car has now been booked back in next week for investigation.

 

[Kaxolo]

No idea to be honest. It just stopped doing it and never happened again. Please let us know what they say after the investigation in case it starts doing it again.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

No idea to be honest. It just stopped doing it and never happened again. Please let us know what they say after the investigation in case it starts doing it again.

So I took the car out again this evening. Straight away as i pulled off my drive it auto switched to Hybrid even though its in e-mode and after a short while the message on the display appears again.
After doing what i needed to do in the local Tesco, I decided to take the car onto the motorway in S mode and back. Return route approx 8miles worth. As i came off the motorway i switched to e mode and all the way home it stayed in e-mode (approx 3miles worth of driving).
As most of my daily drive is local on e-mode for school runs, im wondering if the car is trying to recharge something using the engine or clear something.
I cant see anything in the manual about this. Hopefully the service team can confirm next week.

 

[Kaxolo]

The things I could find on Google:

- Bad petrol, the car trying to get rid of it. This wouldn´t make any sense when you start on electric.
- Moisture in the oil, the car trying to heat up the engine to evaporate it. I did found that after a good drive it would stop doing it. But the next day it was the same again.
- The 12V battery too low. But as I understood this car doenst have an alternator so I don´t know how it charges it.

In my case it stopped one day, and never happened again.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

The things I could find on Google:

- Bad petrol, the car trying to get rid of it. This wouldn´t make any sense when you start on electric.
- Moisture in the oil, the car trying to heat up the engine to evaporate it. I did found that after a good drive it would stop doing it. But the next day it was the same again.
- The 12V battery too low. But as I understood this car doenst have an alternator so I don´t know how it charges it.

In my case it stopped one day, and never happened again.

Thanks. Thats good info. I was looking at google too and some of those came up.
I’m just documenting the different scenarios so I can pass to the servicing team next week.

Just when i thought all the other issues are resolved after the software upgrade then this crop up!

 

[Kaxolo]

Is not bad for the car I would say. The only thing that was worrying me at the time was so much "start-stop" as when you drive slow, even on hybrid, the car tries to switch to electric but as soon as it stops the engine it turns it on again. So it could do it 5 times in less than a minute.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

Is not bas for the car I would say. The only thing that was worrying me at the time was so much "start-stop" as when you drive slow, even on hybrid, the car tries to switch to electric but as soon as it stops the engine it turns it on again. So it could do it 5 times in less than a minute.

Yep exactly that.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

So….embarrassing as it is, turns out to be a user error ! .

Since the software update, it also cleared/defaulted the battery settings on the infosystem. The technician took me out for a drive and shown me how to correctly setup the battery reserve. I thought I understood this but obviously not. Even the technician said the user interface is not very clear on the procedure, nor is the manual and he only knows as hes a trained vw group electric/hybrid cars for repairs.

He essentially shown me to click on the hybrid icon in the battery menu, then into the settings of it, set the battery reserve (10% in my case) then switch it to e-mode.
Since then i’ve not had this issue. I took it out for a few short and long drives this evening and so far no more issues.
Previously it was trying to maintain the 60% reserve which i didnt realise it was set to.

 

[Kaxolo]

I use the battery reserve almost every day and I don't get the "engine needs to run longer" message. I got for a few months and then it stopped doing it.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

I use the battery reserve almost every day and I don't get the "engine needs to run longer" message. I got for a few months and then it stopped doing it.

Ha! No idea then. I might set it back to 60% tmw and see if it happens again. He said he did a full scan of the car with no errors at all either. Also mentioned the latest software has some tweaks made to the reserve algorithm.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

Just an update, since the reserve settings been changed, I’ve not had the issue anymore. I’m now able to drive in e mode all the way until the high voltage battery goes down to almost zero before engine kicks in.
Maybe it was a bug in the new software version with the default settings…..

 

[Chrispy]

Anyone have any more on this issue?

I noticed the engine running unexpectedly pretty much coinciding with filling up the tank for the first time. I had been using the car for a couple of weeks but not used much fuel as was doing most mileage on electric.

The other day I then got the check engine light and started getting the "engine needs to run longer" message. Fault code was P2422 Evap valve stuck closed, which I've cleared.

This hasn't come back yet but the engine did run unexpectedly this morning. Sometimes it will start as soon as I turn the car on, then e mode will be available after a minute or so. Other times it will start in e mode and stay like that.

I did wonder if it was something to do with it trying to burn off accumulated fuel vapour, which would make sense.

Going to try not filling the tank next time as it never happened before I did.

 

[Deleted member 133570]

Still no longer an issue since I took it to the Seat service who said it was set wrong after the software upgrade. I remember picking up the car with no Issue with same amount of fuel in the tank and didn’t fill up or even use any fuel for couple weeks.
Others on this forum seem to have similar issues and the fix differs to mine….
Im not 100% sure but I hope someone can confirm. I’m only going by my experience.