EPC light Skoda Yeti

[Leighb]

We have a 2016 Skoda Yeti 1.2 DSG (petrol). Regularly serviced and had very little trouble with it.

Today driving to the YC, about 16 miles, the EPC light came on when nearly there and dumped us into Slow crawl mode. I pulled into a lay-by and switched off while I had a look at the manual. Started up again, no light, however it came on again after a mile or so and we got to the club in slow mode. After lunch, no lights. Got nearly home, going through Ipswich so that if we packed up we would not be stuck on a fast Dual carriageway, again within a mile of home the EPC light illuminated as well as the Exhaust Inspection light (looks like a little side view of an engine) . I pulled in to let a couple of cars past and switched off. Started again and the EIS was on but not EPC. Drove home with it still lit but not speed limited.

From what I have looked at it seems likely to be some sensor in the Engine management system that has failed, intermittently though?
Seems odd that it was first EPC alone, then both then EIS alone??

Any ideas, is it OK to drive locally until I can get it fixed? We are meeting friends at Sutton Hoo tomorrow, (about 3 miles) so perhaps OK to drive there?

 

[PaulRainbow]

If you have breakdown cover, give them a call, they should be able to do a diagnosis. Other than a proper diagnosis it would just be guessing.

 

[Leighb]

Mods, afraid I posted this in the wrong thread, is it possible to move to the Lounge ? I don’t want to double post.

 

[KevinV]

If you have breakdown cover, give them a call, they should be able to do a diagnosis. Other than a proper diagnosis it would just be guessing.

Paul's slam right - without the fault code(s) it could be nothing, or everything. Get it diagnosed.

 

[Leighb]

I am contacting our local, just around the corner, garage in the morning. They are well up to speed on VAG vehicles so hopefully have all the necessary diagnostic kit. Meanwhile our friends are going to pick us up on the way to Sutton Hoo.
Just don't want to risk the car packing up completely on the way or return.

 

[mullet]

If you’re somewhat tech savvy, I’ve found an OBD Eleven scanner to be a very useful bit of kit for investigating what’s going on with my VAG car. Lives in the glove compartment, reads all the car’s systems; generally allows alarms to be reset and to get out of limp mode for intermittent stuff; and has helped me avoid some large garage bills. Modern cars are so complicated I sometimes reckon that having a degree in computer science (I don’t…) might be more helpful than being a trained mechanic these days though.

 

[Black Diamond]

I can add a few penneth, or maybe thousands, to the debate, and it is boat-related. We towed our little double-ender rowing boat down to the Golfe du Morbihan last week, behind our new-to-us Skoda Kodiaq (four years old), and the cursed emergency mode light kept coming on. The story got worse today, on a shot trip into Colchester when we couldn't get the blasted thing above second gear. So it has gone off to Bristos in Ipswich on a recovery truck this afternoon.

This is where it gets interesting; the best AA man I have ever encountered filled me in. I too have the DSG gearbox, and it has been a disaster for VW group ever since a man/woman with two brains designed two clutches, one which operates gears 1,3,5 and 7, and the other 2, 4 and 6. And guess which one the emergency mode chooses, until it eventually reduces to second gear? Stories I have read indicate it costs about £1500 to have a whole new gearbox sensor swung in, and it's job done. However, the AA man said that once the problem was discovered, the hare-brain double clutch system has been redesigned and the replacement units have fixed the problem. But this was never deemed to be a safety issue, so a general recall was never invoked, but I'd like to see the CEO of VW survive the inside lane of the A12 in second gear.

I await eye-watering news from Ipswich. Hope you get yours sorted for fewer penneth than that, Leigh.

 

[MoodySabre]

Leigh - isn't this soon after a service? I recall a thread about you and courtesy Clio. I'm not a believer in co-incidences..

 

[Leighb]

Leigh - isn't this soon after a service? I recall a thread about you and courtesy Clio. I'm not a believer in co-incidences..

Not this time. Your recollection was partly correct. It was a Corsa and the cause was some accidental damage.

 

[Leighb]

This is an ongoing saga whose end we hope to reach soon. The garage did some things last week and said to try it out today when we had to drive in to Ipswich to the dentist. As the last time it hiccupped there was a "ERROR START_STOP" warning, I tried driving there with Start-Stop disabled. Got there no bother. Thought "maybe we've cracked it" On the way back tried without disabling it and it went into EPC about halfway home. I pulled into a convenient garage for some fuel and tried again with Start-Stop disabled. Unfortunately it Errored again when nearly home. So no further on. The garage are having it in again next week.

 

[Leighb]

A, hopefully final, update. We took it to Skoda in Ipswich and they have diagnosed a Seized Turbo Actuator Rod. Only about £700 to replace, so not as bad as I feared! Apparently a sticking turbo control variably affects the power and thus triggers all sorts of other errors in the electrotrickery!

 

[MikeBz]

A, hopefully final, update. We took it to Skoda in Ipswich and they have diagnosed a Seized Turbo Actuator Rod. Only about £700 to replace, so not as bad as I feared! Apparently a sticking turbo control variably affects the power and thus triggers all sorts of other errors in the electrotrickery!

We had exactly that (seized turbo actuator) on an Audi A1 (same running gear). Franchised dealers would only replace (new or recon) the whole turbo but our local garage replaced just the actuator - cost was around £150 IIRC. I didn’t chime in earlier because on ours the symptoms where no boost but apart from that it drove fine (manual), so a bit slower but perfectly usable.