VOLKSWAGEN SHARE PRICE

VOLKSWAGEN SHARE PRICE

In the German language, Volkswagen means "The People's Car". However, the People as a whole are energetically rejecting Volkswagen cars in favour of other brands of automobiles. Volkswagen (VW) as a company has suffered  tremendous financial losses and has fallen from grace because of the cheating devices that gave rise to the emissions scandal that affected 11 Million vehicle globally. The cheating German auto manufacturer, recently announced a EUR4.1 Billion euros (USD4.6 Billion) operating loss for the year 2015 and set aside an additional sum of EUR16.2 Billion (USD18.2 Billion) to pay for its diesel emissions test-rigging scandal. But regardless of the amount of money Volkswagen is throwing at the problem,  the VW share price had already plummeted from US$244.30 in early April 2015 to US$166.98 by mid September 2015. This 32% decline in share price slipped  even further by a whopping 18.5% to close at USD 136.15 by of third week April 2016. So within one year and two  weeks the Volkswagen share price fell by a massive 44.3% in  value. 

Volkswagen's USD 18.2 Billion shlush fund is destined to cover the costs of legal expenses, penalties, claims, recalls and vehicle buy back from all the countries affected by the diesel emissions cheat software, essentially to cover all cost incurred last year. Somehow this  US$18.2 billion  is likely to be just the beginning of their woes because on Thursday 21 April 2016, a US federal judge announced that Volkswagen promised the  US government that they will buy back as many as 482,000 diesel cars, as well as pay all penalties to make up for the  pollution generated by their cars.

Having said that, it's been a very bad week for German automakers as a whole because a US attorney seizing an opportunity to make hoards of money, has sued Daimler over Mercedes Benz's diesel pollution. He hired a company to test Mercedes-brand diesels driving on real roads, the findings showed that they spewed out much more nitrogen oxide virtually all the time than the amount stated. He shared the test results with California regulators which will surely trigger an inquiry  by the US Environmental Protection Agency, into Daimler Benz's emission figures. He also intimated that there could also be some complicity on the part of European governments. Daimler said the lawsuit’s claims are totally without merit and that the investigation is unrelated to the VW emission scandal. The company also repeatedly denied  using emission defeat devices or manipulating emissions tests. 

However Daimler AG did concede that the US Department of Justice asked the company to investigate irregularities in diesel emissions in its Mercedes brand vehicles. Now that at least two German automakers are under US scrutiny, the emissions-cheating witch-hunt could be growing exponentially. Senior Kelley Blue Book  analyst Karl Brauer said that  Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen and other automakers, and several governments have known for years that diesel cars only met with emissions standards in the lab, but not on real roads. He also added that it was so understood, even if not documented; essentially an agreement between the automakers and the European governments. Hardly had the above transpired when Germany’s transport minister announced that five automakers agreed to recall 630,000 diesel vehicles in Europe following an investigation into emissions levels. Recalls include Mercedes and Opel, as well as Volkswagen and its subsidiaries Audi and Porsche.

Earlier this year, Dutch emission tests revealed that a Mercedes C-Class BlueTec diesel emits 40 times more nitrogen oxide on road tests than in lab tests. In other tests released by the British government during this week, have shown that diesels from Daimler and other automakers, including Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motor Company and Hyundai Motor Company, perform vastly differently in lab tests than they do on the road.

Volkswagen, the German carmaker Volkswagen announced on Friday past (April 22) that the massive engine-rigging scandal it is currently engulfed in, pushed it into an annual loss, for the first for more than 20 years, but the final total costs are still incalculable.

Back in Tokyo Japan the latest fuel consumption misconduct is at play. Mitsubishi is embroiled in a fuel-consumption scandal affecting thousands of its vehicles and admitted to 'cheating' since 1991. They have been using an improper fuel-efficiency testing method for the past 25 years and have no idea how many cars are affected sold overseas that exceed the already known figure of 600 00 vehicles. Mitsubishi admitted that a group of unnamed employees rigged fuel consumption tests back in 2002 to make some of its cars seem more fuel-efficient than they actually were.   
A decade ago Mitsubishi  was pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy when it was found to have covered up a series of vehicle defects. But today Mitsubishi plans on  compensating customers in a bid to limit the fallout from the scandal. Meanwhile Transport ministry authorities raided Mitsubishi's  offices earlier in April.  

Mitsubishi Motors Corp’s president Tetsuro Aikawa bows with other company executives
at a news conference. Photograph: Toru Hanai/Reuters

These embarrassing global scandals have raised questions about the Japanese and German carmakers future, but points to a broader problem in the global car industry as regulators probe other automakers' pollution and fuel-efficiency standards. While the echos of these announcements are  is still resonating in the ears of the motor industry,  Germany's transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said  Volkswagen's emissions-rigging scandal sparked a inquest and found irregularities at 16 car brands, amongst which are Mercedes, France's Renault, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Jaguar, and Nissan.

EPC DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHT

EPC DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHT

VW, Audi, Skoda and SEAT vehicles are crammed with wonderous technology, ranging from various electronic modules that overseas their general functionality to hoards of sensors that monitor how these vehicles behave and actuators that respond to software controlled decision making elements. One could say that collectively they give cars a degree of Artificial Intelligence and their seamless integration makes motoring a lot easier. But when something goes wrong, there is also a swarm of warning lights on the instrument cluster that will flash at you until you take corrective action. However, knowing exactly what each warning light flashing on its dashboard is trying to tell you, is a completely different story. Even though some of these light are self explanatory and fairly obvious to understand, others are not, and  can be interpreted by looking in the owner’s manual. Knowing what these warning lights mean is really important to drivers because they can preempt a potential breakdown or full-on engine failure, insulating you from expensive repair bills.

As a general rule, warning lights illuminated either red or amber (yellow /orange), though a blue light is often used to indicate high beam and green lights are used to mean indicate left and right  turn signals. On a VW Polo a red warning light emphatically means that something needs to be done immediately. For example, the Oil pressure warning light, or the low brake fluid level light, or the parking brake warning light, or the Coolant level low / coolant temperature high light, illuminates red or flashes red as a danger sign and needs immediate attention. Failure to remedy can result in the engine seizing, the brakes failing, damaging your rear disks and brake pads, or the engine overheating resulting in a possible blown head gasket or worse, respectively. On different model VAG vehicles, the use of red and amber light may overlap. 

An amber / yellow /orange light  on the other hand serves to be rather informative and draws the driver]s attention to a potential problem or a problems that needs to be remedied soonest. For example the amber Anti-lock braking system (ABS) light, or the amber Airbag light, or the amber Immobilizer light, or the Brake pad wear light, or the Engine fault Onboard diagnosis (OBD) light, none of which will impede driveability nor endanger the driver. But this isn't strictly true especially when encountering the dreaded yellow EPC light. 

WHAT IS AN EPC LIGHT?

EPC stands for Electronic Power Control and has  much to do with controlling the electronic throttle hence it is sometimes referred to as the "Electronic Pedal Control". Probably because the throttle valve is actuated by an electric motor rather than a physical cable between the accelerator pedal and the throttle control valve. In essence the engine control unit responds to the sensor on the accelerator pedal and sends a corresponding command to the throttle valve positioner via four wires which is commonly known as "Drive by wire". But the EPC is much more than just an Electronic Pedal Control. Any malfunctions in the either the "Drive by Wire" circuit  or its associated sensors are detected by self-diagnosis and indicated by the EPC warning light.

The Electronic Power Control (EPC) is a circuit made up of various engine components or sub circuits that collectively addresses torque. In reality it should have been called "Electronic Torque Control". Should  a problem arise in the torque system, it correspondingly illuminates the easily identifiable yellow/amber/orange word "EPC" in the instrument panel.  The EPC circuit's decision making elements are embedded into the ECU which is responsible for the electric throttle valve positioning and overall torque-oriented engine management.

As such the ECU has to gathers all torque demand inputs in order to correctly calculate the appropriate control actions. These inputs includes, the Engine speed, the Engine load signal fetched from the air mass meter, the Vehicle speed, the shift point of an automatic gearbox, whether or not the air conditioner compressor is ON or OFF, whether or not the the cruise control system is engaged, whether or not the Traction Control System is engaged  or the braking  system is applied.

The combination Brake light / brake pedal switch provides a braking input to the ECU, failure of the switch to send data of the drivers foot on the brake pedal can trigger the EPC light in certain VAG vehicles, but definitely on the VW Polo. Don't be fooled by the brake lights that are working, when the brake pedal is depressed because it does not imply that the brake pedal switch is functioning as it should. In similar fashion the Clutch Pedal Switch provides cruise control input to the ECU, engaging the clutch, automatically disengages the cruise control which could also trigger an EPC episode.

This EPC light will come on when there is a problem:-

1) With either of the accelerator pedal senders.
2) With either of the throttle angle senders.
3) With the throttle valve control unit
4) With the accelerator / throttle harness.
5) With the throttle adaptation.
6) With grime and carbon build-up in the throttle body. 
7) If the the Throttle Valve Control Unit is replaced.
8) With the Brake Light Switch
9) With one of the Knock Sensors.
10 With the Mass Air Meter (MAF).
11) with the Engine control unit
12) With the Ignition system
13) With the Fuel injection system
14) With the ABS
15) With the Power-assisted steering system
16) With Lambda regulation (fuel consumption signal)
17) With the Alternator
18) With the TCM

Bearing in mind the throttle valve control unit is located on the intake manifold and needs to ensure that the engine is supplied with the appropriate and proper air flow. By implication the MAF measures the air flow and should there be a problem with it, the  ECU will not be able to calculate the proper torque and possible go into EPC mode. The consolation is that every fault that occurs would normally create a DTC entry. So the best way to determine the cause of the EPC light coming on, associated with loss of power and limp mode, is to do a diagnostic scan. 


Links to other EPC Problems!
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ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC POWER STEERING FAILURE

ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC POWER STEERING FAILURE 

In a matter of just a few short days, I've received a flurry of assistance requests from several VW owners,  all of whom seem to have power steering issues of some sort or the other. These issues ranging from complete failure of power steering to intermittent steering assist, to stiff and hard to steer. Among  the vehicles affected are VW Jettas,  Volkswagen transporters, Volkswagen Passats,  VW MKIV  TDI's and Golf Mk5s. Unfortunately specifics about steering problem can vary tremendously because some VAG vehicles are Hydraulically controlled, whereas some are electronic and others are ally controlled, all of which use slightly different technologies and components often spacely dissimilar.   

This implies some vehicles will have a Power steering pump as part of the steering rack assembly whereas others will have a power steering motor / hydraulic fluid reservoir a good meter separated from the steering rack. The following is  a general overview of the operation of VAG power steering systems. But what all these systems have in common, is the dreaded yellow steering light on the instrument panel which lights up for a 3- 4 seconds when the ignition is switched on but goes out after the engine is started. This is part of the self test that checks all electronic modules and mechanical mechanisms are synchronised to work together in harmony. However when the Servotronic warning lamp K92 stays on after the engine is started, there is definitely a fault with the power steering system.


When this happens it is a good idea to book the car in for repairs or do the repairs yourself because it could be quite  expensive.  Either way get the vehicle off the public road because loss of steering while driving can be very dangerous if not fatal especially going around corners because of the possibility of over steer.  An electro-hydraulic power steering system is fairly intricate because its control modules are interconnected. The Power steering control module controls the hydraulic pump motor which produces the hydraulic pressure needed for the steering servo assistance. But in order to this, it needs signals from the 'Powers steering sensor' which is located in the steering column and from the speedometer sensor via the 'Instrument cluster control Module' which is responsible for turning on the yellow steering wheel symbol should there be a problem. And lastly the Power steering controller also needs the engine speed data from the 'Motronic control Unit'. It also needs a 12V supply from terminal 30 as well as 12 volts supply from terminal 15 and of course an earth connection. The power wires are fairly thick and chunky which implies high current delivery. Poor electrical connection can cause arching which will disrupt functionality. Loss of any of signals or voltages to the Power Steering control module for even a few seconds will interrupt steering assist and make the car hard to steer. 

In a previous blog I described the  steering loss I encountered due to loss of  voltage to my car's hydraulic pump motor because my positive battery terminal was loose which resulted in intermittent supply to the main steering control module. It is worthwhile to  to check the level of the Hydraulic fluid in the reservoir when you suffer hard of stiff steering. If there is a leak, the hydraulic pump motor cannot produce the necessary pressure resulting in stiff steering. If the fluid is low, refill the reservoir but don't start the engine but get someone to continually turn the steering wheel between the left and right extremes while waiting for all air bubbles to surface. When the appearance of air bubbles  ceases, it would be ok to start the engine. It is also worth your while to   check for DTC's with a scan tool. Should there be a steering error,  deleting often restores steering assist. The LenkhilfeTRW V270 used in the Polo 9N is normally coded as 10110 which can be changed to 10120, 10130 or 10140 in order to incrementally increase the stiffness of the steering. For more Steering codings click here.