Newbie introduction - I am looking for some technical assistance for my daughters car

[sean692]

Hi there, my name is Sean, I live in Burntwood, staffs, not far from Lichfield and the Ibiza belongs to my daughter, it is a 2011 1.2 tdi. I bought the car when she was 17 to learn to drive in and we’ve now had the car almost 2.5 years, she passed her test about 15 months ago.

she loves the car, we’ve done a few upgraded, Apple car play, painted the wheels black and had a black wrap on the roof and mirrors, the car is white. It looks great and when it’s running it drives great but I have spent a lot of money on the car and have now gone up a cul de sac with a persistent warning light.

12 months ago the car had a reconditioned turbo, we’ve had no issues sine but I noticed the oil level rising and wondered if the the DPF was going to be an issue, then before I had chance to do anything about it, the glow plug light followed by the engine management light illuminated. My daughter only drives short journeys to work at a local supermarket, which I know isn’t ideal for this engine.

Three weeks ago I took the car to a mechanic, he changed the oil and filters and changed the turbo boost pressure sensor. All good, no engine lights, as soon as I collected the car, I drove 20 miles to a specialist who deleted the EGR and DPF . I drove the car home a day later with no issues. The following day my daughter used the car for work and on her way home the glow plug light started flashing followed by the engine management light. I took the car to a friend on Monday who cleared all the faults, not sure what they were and he replaced the turbo actuator. Collected the car yesterday and it drove very well, then today on her way back from work, the bulb warning light followed by the glow plug light comes on again, she takes it for a long drive, the light stays on, but no engine management light. When she gets home, I take the car for a run, start the engine and no warning lights. I park the car at the shops, head off again and immediately the glow plug light starts flashing, no other lights, I drive the car and it feels very flat. After 15 mins of driving I restart the car and the light goes out, strangely a start stop error shows on the read out but the car is back to driving normal again.

I am not sure what to do, I’ve spent close to £800 on the car in the last 3 weeks and have no idea why we are having these faults. Had the issues before the egr and DPF were removed and I don’t think this is connected as I’ve used West Midlands remaps and they have a good reputation. Could it be a wiring fault I will never be able to detect or is there anything else I can try?

thank you and apologies for the essay. Regards Sean and Molly

 

[sean692]

Just wanted to add, just in case this sounds familiar to anyone, my daughter drove the car to work this morning and three lights are showing, the bulb light, the glow plug light was flashing and also the engine management light came on. However, on her way home just the engine management light was illuminated and coincidentally the stop start has stopped working.

She said it drove home well on the way home with just the engine management light showing. When she got home I took the engine cover off and looked at the wiring and all looks in good order, cleaned all electrical connectors with brake cleaner, made sure there were no loose wires, all looks good. It’s very clean under the bonnet. Started engine and still the engine management light but no surprise there I suppose.

I am reasonably confident to rule out the turbo and both the egr and dpf have been coded out. Could it be electrical, are these known to have any weak wiring or common electrical gremlins that can result in faults. Up until recently it had been driven without any warning lights , since the turbo was replaced. Mechanically, it’s in great shape and too good to give up on but also I am worried that I may never get to the source of the problem.

any suggestions, reccommendations or anyone who can assist, would be most welcome. We’ve spent close to £800 on the car in the last 3 weeks, it comes home with no faults and then after light use they all start popping on again.

thanks again Sean

 

[Delanor]

Just wanted to add, just in case this sounds familiar to anyone, my daughter drove the car to work this morning and three lights are showing, the bulb light, the glow plug light was flashing and also the engine management light came on. However, on her way home just the engine management light was illuminated and coincidentally the stop start has stopped working.

She said it drove home well on the way home with just the engine management light showing. When she got home I took the engine cover off and looked at the wiring and all looks in good order, cleaned all electrical connectors with brake cleaner, made sure there were no loose wires, all looks good. It’s very clean under the bonnet. Started engine and still the engine management light but no surprise there I suppose.

I am reasonably confident to rule out the turbo and both the egr and dpf have been coded out. Could it be electrical, are these known to have any weak wiring or common electrical gremlins that can result in faults. Up until recently it had been driven without any warning lights , since the turbo was replaced. Mechanically, it’s in great shape and too good to give up on but also I am worried that I may never get to the source of the problem.

any suggestions, reccommendations or anyone who can assist, would be most welcome. We’ve spent close to £800 on the car in the last 3 weeks, it comes home with no faults and then after light use they all start popping on again.

thanks again Sean

You really need an OBD11 (thats OBD2 not 11) code reader plugged in to see what is throwing the fault lights to be honest if you don`t wish to put it into a garage every time get yourself a code reader they are not very expensive depending on how much you want to pay I used to own a Porsche 911 an RX-8 and the Cupra Formentor and I used to keep a code reader in each car because some faults can be reset depending what it is.
If the battery is down it maybe stopping stop start to conserve power.

 

[sean692]

Thank You for responding, a guy I work with has a reader. I did borrow it a couple of weeks ago when the problem first arose, I got the following code: P256300 Turbo boost control position sensor circuit range/performance...it’s all Greek to me. However, since then it has been to two people and has been fitted with a new boost control sensor and turbo anctuator fitted. Each time, car comes back with no lights on the dash and then the following day lights come back on.

I will borrow the reader again tomorrow and post the fault code.

 

[Delanor]

Some fault codes can be reset with a code reader but depending on the fault, that fault is logged and will return if the problem is not dealt with.

 

[sean692]

when it was looked at last week, all the fault codes were cleared and the chap that looked at the car was convinced it needed a turbo actuator, which was a little surprising considering the turbo had been replaced within the last 12 months. Has local driving and the DPF not regenerating killed the affected the turbo??? when the dash warning lights have gone out, the car seems to perform normally, which makes me feel the turbo is okay.

i will post the faults tomorrow, if it points to the turbo again I feel I’m going to have to give up and find her a new car.

 

[sean692]

Good evening, I have scanned the faults tonight and have two engine codes:

P256300 - turbo boost control position sensor
P00AF00 - turbocharger/supercharger boost control ‘A’ module - performance.

i am not sure where this takes me to next. Just to recap, the N75 valve has been changed which is also referred to as the boost control sensor, the turbo actuator has been changed, the turbo has been swapped within the last 12 months, the vacuum lines look okay but not being a mechanic I haven’t tested them and they are are also routed to the correct valves. Is there anything else I could have overlooked? The glow plug light is intermittent and didn’t come on today until 20 mins into driving.

is there anything else I can check? Thank you

 

[Delanor]

To be honest if those two fault codes are showing that is where to start and need to be cleared as even a technician would have to start there as I have said some codes can be cleared temporarily but that doesn`t mean that fault has been cleared, I suspect the car doesn`t cover much mileage which is going to cause DPF problems including Diesel contaminating the oil as has already been the case, Diesel Ibiza`s have been known to suffer from particulate filter problems if not regularly taken on long runs.
You are getting into the realms of it needing investigation by a decent TDI expert who knows these engine faults and the causes.
I will add I wouldn`t advise anyone to purchase a TDI if it is just used as a round town runabout because of DPF issues, performing a DPF delete could cause the vehicle to output fault codes, force the car into limp mode, and cause other operational issues including emission level failure on an MOT.