Engine Light VW Assist

[flymartin]

Yesterday the little yellow engine light came on in my 22 Beach. The manual says this is an emission related fault. Following advice in other threads I have driven around in low gear to try and trigger a DPF regen. Light briefly went off and is now back on.

Bought an OBDII dongle and VAG DPF app says the status is Normal - 81% - I have a couple of long drives coming up so I’m sure the DPF will fix itself.

However, I then used the Car Scanner app to read the DTC codes and it shows code P26B1, which is Engine Coolant Bypass Valve 'A' Stuck Closed

So, again following guidance in other threads, I called VW Assist to come and have a look. This goes through to the AA who went through a little script related to engine light then said this isn’t something we’d come out for, it’s ok to drive, go to your dealer.

So I’m confused. First of all the manual says the light is for emissions fault, when in fact the fault seems to be cooling system related. Secondly VW Assist seems much less helpful than others have found.

Any suggestions beyond booking in with a dealer and probably waiting 6 weeks for an appointment?

Thanks!

 

[BeagleMum]

Yesterday the little yellow engine light came on in my 22 Beach. The manual says this is an emission related fault. Following advice in other threads I have driven around in low gear to try and trigger a DPF regen. Light briefly went off and is now back on.

Bought an OBDII dongle and VAG DPF app says the status is Normal - 81% - I have a couple of long drives coming up so I’m sure the DPF will fix itself.

However, I then used the Car Scanner app to read the DTC codes and it shows code P26B1, which is Engine Coolant Bypass Valve 'A' Stuck Closed

So, again following guidance in other threads, I called VW Assist to come and have a look. This goes through to the AA who went through a little script related to engine light then said this isn’t something we’d come out for, it’s ok to drive, go to your dealer.

So I’m confused. First of all the manual says the light is for emissions fault, when in fact the fault seems to be cooling system related. Secondly VW Assist seems much less helpful than others have found.

Any suggestions beyond booking in with a dealer and probably waiting 6 weeks for an appointment?

Thanks!

When away 4 weeks ago our amber emissions light came on, we were confident it wasn’t the DPF as we had just covered 600 miles and we don’t do short journeys in the van.
We suspected a faulty sensor, booked it into the dealer who completed a diagnostic on Thursday. Diagnosis was a faulty coolant sensor which was replaced under warranty, all fine now.

 

[Scapa]

I had the same problem a couple of months ago’Engine Coolant Bypass Valve 'A' Stuck open’ in my case. Phoned VW assist, no problem they said will send Vw technician to house within a few hours. Technician arrived confirmed fault and initially suggested he could organise a priority appointment at dealership with a courtesy car if required. He then decided why leave me with hassle and inconvenience so offered to order part and come back within 48 hours and install the new valve at the house. That’s exactly what he did. Outstanding service from my perspective.

 

[Ampthill]

We also had coolant bypass valve (similar function to an old style thermostat) issue, which also caused the engine management light to come on. Our VW dealer was not surprised, apparently a not uncommon problem with t6.1. Fixed under warranty and no issue since.

 

[flymartin]

I had the same problem a couple of months ago’Engine Coolant Bypass Valve 'A' Stuck open’ in my case. Phoned VW assist, no problem they said will send Vw technician to house within a few hours. Technician arrived confirmed fault and initially suggested he could organise a priority appointment at dealership with a courtesy car if required. He then decided why leave me with hassle and inconvenience so offered to order part and come back within 48 hours and install the new valve at the house. That’s exactly what he did. Outstanding service from my perspective.

Wow! That sounds like brilliant service. Perhaps I chose the wrong options on the phone and got put through to the AA. I will have another go and see if I can get them out..

 

[dspuk]

We have exactly the same error code on our Cali. Had it for a while now just not had the time to get fixed. Driven around Cornwall, to Wells and France and back, no issues.

Will book it in sometime soon but I’ve had no issues getting a booking at my local dealer and certainly not 6 weeks.

I’m pretty relaxed about it TBH, will sort it soon.

 

[flymartin]

We have exactly the same error code on our Cali. Had it for a while now just not had the time to get fixed. Driven around Cornwall, to Wells and France and back, no issues.

Will book it in sometime soon but I’ve had no issues getting a booking at my local dealer and certainly not 6 weeks.

I’m pretty relaxed about it TBH, will sort it soon.

Thanks - that’s reassuring - I guess the coolant bypass valve becomes more important in winter and possibly doesn’t actually need to operate in summer..? Although I’ve no idea and perhaps it’s the other way around!

Last time I booked in at Breeze Poole (my nearest Cali specialist) the wait was more like 8 weeks! I will try the nearest VW commercial vehicles place - they may be faster..

Thanks again

 

[Hedley Wright]

I had the same problem a couple of months ago’Engine Coolant Bypass Valve 'A' Stuck open’ in my case. Phoned VW assist, no problem they said will send Vw technician to house within a few hours. Technician arrived confirmed fault and initially suggested he could organise a priority appointment at dealership with a courtesy car if required. He then decided why leave me with hassle and inconvenience so offered to order part and come back within 48 hours and install the new valve at the house. That’s exactly what he did. Outstanding service from my perspective.

You had better service than me. Same fault, when I phoned VW Assist the engineer said ok to drive but go to your nearest Van Centre. As I was on holiday in Scotland that meant a long drive to Inverness. The VW van centre there said no way could they see me for 6 weeks, I eventually persuaded them to run diagnostics same day and they confirmed the coolant mixture valve fault. At this point I cut short my holiday, wasn’t feeling confident about being on Orkney or Shetland with the problem and headed back south. Phone my local centre at Huntingdon, they naturally had to run their own diagnostics but did it at a week’s notice and replaced the part two weeks after that. No chance of a courtesy vehicle in that time frame of course.

 

[BeagleMum]

You had better service than me. Same fault, when I phoned VW Assist the engineer said ok to drive but go to your nearest Van Centre. As I was on holiday in Scotland that meant a long drive to Inverness. The VW van centre there said no way could they see me for 6 weeks, I eventually persuaded them to run diagnostics same day and they confirmed the coolant mixture valve fault. At this point I cut short my holiday, wasn’t feeling confident about being on Orkney or Shetland with the problem and headed back south. Phone my local centre at Huntingdon, they naturally had to run their own diagnostics but did it at a week’s notice and replaced the part two weeks after that. No chance of a courtesy vehicle in that time frame of course.

We were away when ours went, spoke to VW who said it was fine to drive in amber but obviously not red so we continued with our trip.

 

[dspuk]

Thanks - that’s reassuring - I guess the coolant bypass valve becomes more important in winter and possibly doesn’t actually need to operate in summer..? Although I’ve no idea and perhaps it’s the other way around!

Last time I booked in at Breeze Poole (my nearest Cali specialist) the wait was more like 8 weeks! I will try the nearest VW commercial vehicles place - they may be faster..

Thanks again

Yeah. This is an issue any commercial can carry out as it more about the van and engine and less about the camping side.

 

[Hedley Wright]

We were away when ours went, spoke to VW who said it was fine to drive in amber but obviously not red so we continued with our trip.

They told me the same, but if it had gone from amber to red…?

 

[BeagleMum]

They told me the same, but if it had gone from amber to red…?

We were willing to chance it rather than abandon our trip, if it had then obviously we would need VW assist & hoped they would be able to sort it.

 

[dspuk]

We were willing to chance it rather than abandon our trip, if it had then obviously we would need VW assist & hoped they would be able to sort it.

Same. I’ve just kept an eye on it and engine temp. All fine. Not worth abandoning a trip for us. Worse came to it VW would just have to come cart us off. Given coolant valves tend to fail open and overcool, low risk IMHO.

 

[flymartin]

Just to update on this and corroborate what others have said above: I’ve had this fault fixed under warranty today - a coolant valve has been replaced. In between I’ve done about 3,000 miles without any issues - water temp never wavered - and the outside air temp got up to 38. I guess maybe it would have been an issue in freezing conditions..

 

[dspuk]

We have exactly the same error code on our Cali. Had it for a while now just not had the time to get fixed. Driven around Cornwall, to Wells and France and back, no issues.

Will book it in sometime soon but I’ve had no issues getting a booking at my local dealer and certainly not 6 weeks.

I’m pretty relaxed about it TBH, will sort it soon.

Just an update on this. Bothered to ring VW assist today and they effectively said if it's just and orange engine light and the vehicle still drives ok they would neither come out nor send a technician and I should just book it in with my dealer to look it over. Hey ho. Was hoping for the same level of service as @Scapa

 

[Scapa]

Just an update on this. Bothered to ring VW assist today and they effectively said if it's just and orange engine light and the vehicle still drives ok they would neither come out nor send a technician and I should just book it in with my dealer to look it over. Hey ho. Was hoping for the same level of service as @Scapa

The way their system works is if it’s just an orange light then as you say not urgent or classed as a breakdown, however if you happened to have experienced a stutter or two or slight loss of power when the light came on and say so when speaking to advisor and you indicate you are concerned about driving it then it triggers the response I’ve had.