Solid, Amber Engine Warning Light

[T6.1Cotswolds]

I have a new to me T6.1 Cali Ocean, it’s done 21,700 miles and is a 2023 model. I’ve had it a month and have done about 300 miles.
Today the engine warning light came on, solid amber. No matter what I do it won’t turnoff, and I’ve taken it on a decent 40 mile motorway run to try and force a regen. Any ideas what it might be ?

 

[WelshGas]

I have a new to me T6.1 Cali Ocean, it’s done 21,700 miles and is a 2023 model. I’ve had it a month and have done about 300 miles.
Today the engine warning light came on, solid amber. No matter what I do it won’t turnoff, and I’ve taken it on a decent 40 mile motorway run to try and force a regen. Any ideas what it might be ?

The link below says Exhaust Fault. It could be a sensor or EGR Fault. There is another light for DPF.
You need to get the codes read.

https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/en/owners-and-drivers/about-my-vehicle/warning-lights.html

I would call out VW Assist as you must be in warranty.
The service is managed by the AA, but request a VW Assistance technician. There may be a delay for the VW technician.

 

[T6.1Cotswolds]

Thanks. I called VW assist earlier. Pretty useless - said because it’s amber and not flashing I have to take it to a dealer and they won’t send anyone out. Will phone my local dealer tomorrow. Slightly frustrating after only having it one month - let’s hope this isn’t a sign of future reliability issues !

 

[Viktorgeorge]

....I would call out VW Assist as you must be in warranty.
The service is managed by the AA, but request a VW Assistance technician. There may be a delay for the VW technician.

@WelshGas I am just wondering if this is still the case - I know it used to be.

When my 3-year free VW Assist expired last month, they wrote inviting me to call and renew and I rang the number given and asked specifically if it remains the case that I can request VW Assistance technician. This is because I already have separate (all options) AA breakdown cover though Barclays Bank.

The lady I spoke to was insistent that they will only send out the first technician available and whilst she was vaguely aware of some technicians with VW expertise she said they had no method to send one out on a specific request. She even went on to say there is no point in my renewing VW assist cover, given that I already had AA cover from my bank!

I wonder if she is correct or not? Has anyone on the forum recently called VW assist and successfully requested/achieved a VW Assistance technician?

 

[Viktorgeorge]

I have a new to me T6.1 Cali Ocean, it’s done 21,700 miles and is a 2023 model. I’ve had it a month and have done about 300 miles.
Today the engine warning light came on, solid amber. No matter what I do it won’t turnoff, and I’ve taken it on a decent 40 mile motorway run to try and force a regen. Any ideas what it might be ?

@T6.1Cotswolds I had the same warning light in June on my similar age and mileage Ocean. I took it in to my VW dealer who said it was a known problem and quickly replaced the relevant engine part which was a 'faulty changeover valve'. I have had no problem since.

 

[WelshGas]

@WelshGas I am just wondering if this is still the case - I know it used to be.

When my 3-year free VW Assist expired last month, they wrote inviting me to call and renew and I rang the number given and asked specifically if it remains the case that I can request VW Assistance technician. This is because I already have separate (all options) AA breakdown cover though Barclays Bank.

The lady I spoke to was insistent that they will only send out the first technician available and whilst she was vaguely aware of some technicians with VW expertise she said they had no method to send one out on a specific request. She even went on to say there is no point in my renewing VW assist cover, given that I already had AA cover from my bank!

I wonder if she is correct or not? Has anyone on the forum recently called VW assist and successfully requested/achieved a VW Assistance technician?

Excerpt from AA /VW document, backed up by latest VW Assistance Handbook.

https://roadsidecover.uat.bcas.theaa.com/Documents/VW/FAQs.pdf

 

[acer]

@WelshGas I am just wondering if this is still the case - I know it used to be.

When my 3-year free VW Assist expired last month, they wrote inviting me to call and renew and I rang the number given and asked specifically if it remains the case that I can request VW Assistance technician. This is because I already have separate (all options) AA breakdown cover though Barclays Bank.

The lady I spoke to was insistent that they will only send out the first technician available and whilst she was vaguely aware of some technicians with VW expertise she said they had no method to send one out on a specific request. She even went on to say there is no point in my renewing VW assist cover, given that I already had AA cover from my bank!

I wonder if she is correct or not? Has anyone on the forum recently called VW assist and successfully requested/achieved a VW Assistance technician?

I’ve called for assistance twice and requested a VW specialist engineer. They said that they could get a ‘general person’ (or similar term) to come much quicker, but if I wanted to wait a bit a VW engineer could be arranged.

 

[T6.1Cotswolds]

Does anyone think it’s worth taking for another run? I’ve just read regen won’t work when less than quarter of a tank which it’s currently at ? Might be worth filling up and doing a decent run in it first / before taking to the dealer ?

 

[Begize]

It could be a lot of things, afaik the solid (i.e. not flashing) light and lack of other error messages means it's a non urgent, but potentially requires attention fault.

I had the same on my MY22 Ocean earlier this year. Used ODBEleven to analyize it and came back with coolant valve stuck open. Cleared it and was fine for a week before coming back on. Before I had chance to do anything else, got a slightly confusing email from VW about booking a workshop visit which, when I rang my dealer, is apparently automatically generated when the van "phones home" that it has a problem.

Van went in for two days and had to have said valve replaced.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Does anyone think it’s worth taking for another run? I’ve just read regen won’t work when less than quarter of a tank which it’s currently at ? Might be worth filling up and doing a decent run in it first / before taking to the dealer ?

I might have tried that, @T6.1Cotswolds, but I was about to do a Europe road trip so opted for a dealer visit. In my case and apparently also in that of @Begize above, it was the right choice.

So with my hindsight, I would book it in under your warranty. I took a walk nearby* whilst Ipswich VW (Tish or Joel both really helpful and email savvy which makes arrangements much easier) did the repair and was away within 2 hours.

* walking West along the river Gipping, a strangely natural walk in the middle of the town:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/7vT9Kg1TaeLYfDgK7?g_st=ic

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Excerpt from AA /VW document, backed up by latest VW Assistance Handbook.

View attachment 142029

https://roadsidecover.uat.bcas.theaa.com/Documents/VW/FAQs.pdf

Thank you, @WelshGas. I am going to call them again to revisit the point, as my renewal passed last week. Have you seen any reference to the European cover element of VW Assist having ‘specially trained Volkswagen technicians’? I think that for me that would be the strongest argument to renew.

 

[WelshGas]

Thank you, @WelshGas. I am going to call them again to revisit the point, as my renewal passed last week. Have you seen any reference to the European cover element of VW Assist having ‘specially trained Volkswagen technicians’? I think that for me that would be the strongest argument to renew.

As far as I am aware in Europe, apart from something simple like a flat tyre they tend to just recover to the nearest VW Dealership/Associate.

 

[Roger Boeken]

@T6.1Cotswolds I had the same warning light in June on my similar age and mileage Ocean. I took it in to my VW dealer who said it was a known problem and quickly replaced the relevant engine part which was a 'faulty changeover valve'. I have had no problem since.

Same here. T6.1 4mo 2022 24Kmiles, lucky to have 5y warranty.

 

[dspuk]

I'd get a Carista and find out what the actual fault is - can be a number of things.

I had the solid orange engine light for over a year. Carista told me it was the coolant valve stuck open and I just kept an eye on the engine temp and left it, getting it replaced at the next service and no issues since. Common issue.

I too rang the helpline halfway through who said Orange lights are a garage trip unless you have a "loss of power or performance". Some just said that to them on orange and had a tech come out, one even doing the repair on the drive the next day.

I wasn't that fussed.