Exhaust warning light - eek!

[seatrookie]

We had the exhaust warning light come on the other morning. we have an 04 2.0 tdi altea, with knocking on 37000 on the clock. Stoneacre advised bring it straight to the garage, but being nearer to Nottingham than Peterborough we call Willoughbys who say call Seat Assist. 45 mins later the AA van turns up (how's that for service) and he tinkers for about three minutes before telling me he'd reset the computer and now it should be ok. He said something about a something motor, p2100 - or maybe p1200 - and if it went again to take it to the garage straght away.

Lo and behold we leave Nottingham for Peterborough for Christmas and on going to go out last night the light came back on again. Research online suggested switching on and off the engine five times, with 30 seconds interval between each ignition, and weirdly enough the light has gone off again, but I'm not quite sure why. might it just be dodgy wiring and the cold, or is it something more sinister ... and what are my chances that the repair might be covered by the warranty?!?!?!? How to make a Christmas merry!

 

[1litre wonder]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH dear ...................

where do i start , eventually our altea was scrapped because of this problem ... i'll need to jump over to another forum to pinch all the engine problems we had when this problem started

 

[1litre wonder]

right on our altea they replaced

the ECU reprogramed ,
then a new ECU ,
all new sensors ,
EGR valve cleaned ,
then EGR valve replaced ,
then new sensors again and god knows what it is this time .

the thing i dont get is that we are the only ones that have this problem , its a VAG 1.9TDi lump thats used in everything from skodas ( 99% of the private taxis up here use 1.9TDI skodas ) then the number of 1.9TDi engines out there , surely SEAT should have an idea what it is thats wrong

with ours its emissions were running SKY HIGH for no reason , then when they took out the EGR valve it went to a normal reading , fired a new one back in and it shot back up again , then when they reset the light , it would trip again a less that 500miles later

 

[seatrookie]

oh dear. The car light keeps popping on and off without reason, and it's going in to the garage tomorrow to work out the problem. The headlamp blew a couple of days before the emissions light went on and I was figuring it was the electrics suffering for some reason.

Here's hoping that ours is not what yours was ... did they do you a swap or make you buy a new one?

 

[1litre wonder]

they bought it back and then we got another one but it was a 2.0FSI sport in petrol we got

 

[seatrookie]

They have changed the fuel motor today and the light is off. We'll see how long that one lasts ... a bit worried what that means was happening ... can see a technical google search coming.

More worrying is that they've found a problem with the air con whilst it was in, and until whatever is wrong with it can be fixed (and the part arrived) we can only use the economy blowers not the regular air con. I thought the normal wasn't blowing very well, but who'd have guessed it would be bad enough to be told not to use it?!?!?!

Methinks this car is going to disintegrate before it gets to the end of its warranty ....

 

[1litre wonder]

thats what ours felt like mate , out of intrest what plate is it on ??

 

[seatrookie]

It's an 04 - we got it very early after it was launched ... the demo car arrived for Willoughbys the same time as ours arrived, I think!

 

[1litre wonder]

yeah our was one of the first off the boat as well , i think it might be a problem with the build quality of the first series of cars

 

[Tell]

I always think that the first cars in the first year or so have higher build quality than the car that came off latter. That was true with my Fiat Uno solid, the partners rattled away and was not the same. Two year difference.

My Altea was built in the Autumn of 2004 after a long wait when the dealer went under, the order was moved between dealers by Seat UK themselves or in consultation, then when it was being built word came through that they had left off the parking sensors. "Did I want this car without the parking sensors or we could fit them here in the garage free or do you want a rush built one ?". A rush built one to me didn't seem so good as the leasurely one that they had been working on since July when I orderded it. It arrived in the country in November 2004. I have no complaints with it. No rattles or bits dropping off. Mustn't speak too soon, only the cruise stick going wrong and fixed under warranty.

 

[ALTEA]

I always think that the first cars in the first year or so have higher build quality than the car that came off latter. That was true with my Fiat Uno solid, the partners rattled away and was not the same. Two year difference.

My Altea was built in the Autumn of 2004 after a long wait when the dealer went under, the order was moved between dealers by Seat UK themselves or in consultation, then when it was being built word came through that they had left off the parking sensors. "Did I want this car without the parking sensors or we could fit them here in the garage free or do you want a rush built one ?". A rush built one to me didn't seem so good as the leasurely one that they had been working on since July when I orderded it. It arrived in the country in November 2004. I have no complaints with it. No rattles or bits dropping off. Mustn't speak too soon, only the cruise stick going wrong and fixed under warranty.

Don't know why you were asked if you want a rush built one. I think someone was pulling your leg there! I think all cars are made the same. The chaps on the production line are'nt told to get this one through quick because mr smith is waiting!

 

[Tell]

I took it for code that they wanted to sell my car that I'd waited 5 months for to someone else since it hadn't got the parking sensors fitted that were ordered and I could wait another period, but it would be a rush build ie. jumping the queue. Didn't think it was worth it given that they could fit the sensors on themselves and decided they really wanted to give my car to someone else so resisted.

The five months included the time when Seat goes on holiday for a month in the Autumn each year. The parking sensors were left off because the dealers car order system isn't computer linked to the HQ to factory system, so someone in MK left it off as it was re-typed from one system to another, that's what I was told.