NO PROBLEM FOUND

NO PROBLEM FOUND

Have you ever taken your under warranty car to your service agent after experiencing extreme EPC Light and Engine Light activity, only to be told "No problem found"? Does the inside of your under 75,000km  car sound like an aviary when you turn-on it's fan? Or, do you constantly have to top-up your oil level between oil changes or at least every 1500 km? How do you handle it, when you go to the agents, to complain about excessive oil consumption, only to be  told that, “all cars use oil and oil consumption is a normal part of a car’s operation, beside oil consumption issues were disclosed in the vehicle owner’s manual". Has your car behaved like a washing machine during a rinse and spin cycle while driving on the freeway, misfiring, shaking and scaring the living day light out of you? If yes to any of the above, then you must be driving a VAG Car - VW, Skoda, Audi or Seat. Yes, when those injector coils go faulty in mid travel, it really frightens you because the car feels like is going to fall apart any moment.  

This also happens to VW, Jetta, VW Caddy, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Beetle, Volkswagen Passat, Volkswagen Touareg, Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Amarok, Volkswagen Caddy, Volkswagen CC,  Volkswagen Fox, Volkswagen Gol G5,   Volkswagen Golf Mk6,  Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Scirocco,  Volkswagen Sharan, Volkswagen Tiguan, Volkswagen Touareg,   Volkswagen Touran, Audi A3, Audi A6, Audi A7, Audi A8, Audi Q5, Audi Q7, Volkswagen Phaeton, Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen  Lupo and Volkswagen Passat.

I've experienced the radiator fan blades disintegrate while driving, and the unbalanced rotation caused the same, exact, identical, engine shake. Then I've also experienced starting difficulties, irregular idling, poor fuel economy, hesitant acceleration, engine misfires and engine stalls. Not to mention the the constant, "in your face" red engine  warning light. All of which turned out to be components of the charge air path, especially the Mass Airflow Sensor (MAF).

When the "No problem Found" response became unbearable, it was time for self discovery. So what I've come to realize is that a mass air flow sensor, is integral part of every modern VAG engine and is normally situated somewhere inside the intake air duct, between the air filter and the engine. 

I've owned several cars, amongst which were Renault, Opel, Mercedes Benz and Mazda yet never ever had the need to replace a MAF even after several years. However with VW, it needs to be cleaned or replaced regularly every 2-3 years. Cleaning a MAF is cheaper than replacing it though replacing a MAF sensor is just easier. It is DIY job because the MAF replacement cost at a VW dealers averages about R1500,00. 

MASS AIRFLOW SENSOR 

VAG engines require a "perfect blend" of air and fuel for absolute combustion. This "perfect blend" is known as stoichiometric or Lambda = 1, which essentially means "the mixture is right" in mechanical jargon. The vacumn caused by the turbo blower and the pistons down-ward travel creates air charge. The main aim of the charge air path is to provide a smooth increase in torque, and to deliver high efficiency throughout its  operating ranges. This air charge is measured by the MAF, so by implication a  properly functioning MAF is absolutely crucial to a smooth ride. But in modern Engine Management Systems their are several components that contribute to maintaining this "perfect blend" among which are:-

1) The Electronic throttle control (EPC)
2) Charge air pressure sensor G31
3) Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor G70
4) Barometric Pressure (BARO) sensor F96
5) Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensor G42 / G299

So any fault in the Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor G70 will trigger the EPC light, because the Motronic engine control unit (ECU)  uses it as an engine load signal and as a reference data to calculate the  signal plausibility of other sensor inputs, when and how much fuel to deliver, and when to generate a spark for the relieve cylinder. At the same time, it will also trigger a DTC in memory. The MAF also works in conjunction with an O2 sensor that provides a “closed-loop” feedback  known as short term fuel trim (STFT) / Long term fuel trim (LTFT), in order to make corrections to that predicted air mass. If the air filter isn't replaced on a regular basis, a build- up of impurities in the MAF will cause it to start failing when it gets too dirty to do its job and trigger the EPC light. 

ENGINE STALL / SHUTS OFF WHILE DRIVING

Engine stalls / shuts off while driving.

Of all the cars built by Volkswagen, the Jetta seems to be the most troublesome VW, and out of all the Jetta models manufactured, since its inception, the 2015 model seems to be the most problematic. Problematic  is perhaps isn't  the best adjective nor the most appropriate word that Jetta owners would use to describe their vehicles.  Most of them say their cars are, very scary and highly dangerous, because of the engine suddenly stalling,  especially in places where it's unsafe to stop. 

Female VW Jetta owners are now generally upset, afraid and some are even terrified to drive their cars, because of their frightful experiences with their cars losing power on the highway / express lanes, as the EPC and engine light turns on. They are fearful and generally worried that it could happen again. All of them convinced that it can lead to a very serious accident, also  stating that the car feels like a death trap when it stalls in fast moving traffic. Many of them feel it is unsafe for them to drive with their children in a car with the potential of being in a rear collision at any time, or get them all killed. They are disappointed and disgusted by Volkswagen personal for not caring about their complaints.

We're talking about new cars and well maintained cars, cars that are taken care of, most with less than 20 000 km on their clocks and one with as few as 30km on its clock, that needs to be towed to the VW service centers. To make matters worse,  roadside assistance sold with these Jettas have an ETA of 3 hours. And to crown the problem, VW agents can't seem to find the reason why these Jettas turn  off in mid travel, yet they are always replacing spare parts. They blame it on a central fuse which was not properly installed, or on the  wiring harness to the gas accelerator housing. Some blame it on calibration, yet it doesn't fix the problem. When a VW dealer was told that the car is unable to accelerate after stopping at a traffic light or at stop street, they echoed that they've never heard of this happening to any other Jetta before, yet this problem seems to be as common as sand.

 In fact it is really common on the 2009 Volkswagen  Routan -  traction control light comes on and the vehicle  completely loses power, engine shuts off while driving and the steering locks. If ever there was a   safety issue, then this is it. Then there is the smell of  gasoline or diesel inside the cabin which the service centers dismiss as an overfilled fuel tank which turned out to be leaky high pressure fuel pump on a 2015 Jetta. Then there is the cooling fan that runs at high speed after the ignition as been turned off, and as a consequence drains my battery.

When these Jettas switch off, nothing works not even the SOS roadside button, so it more like electrical than mechanical, though when the car goes into limp mode the steering system locks and the car cannot even be steered out of harms way. To add insult to injury, VW is unwilling to recall these Jettas and these problems don't seem to be covered by the  VW warranty. 

Somehow certain problems tend to be specific to certain Jettas models, for example, the 2004 and the 2015 Jetta seem to have engine problems though not exclusively.  Clutch clutch failure in the 2015 Jetta  is also common. The 2003 and the 2016 Jettas appear to have transmission problems though also not exclusively. The 2006 tend to have interior electrical accessories issues and the  2009 Jetta seem to have problems with their 'brakes' and ABS module failure. Jetta with FSI and TSI direct injection engines are subject to carbon buildup in the intake system which can cause power loss. It is wise to clean the intake manifold, cylinder head ports  every 30,000 kilometers..

Jetta SE V4 Turbo, Jetta CLI, Jetta S 2.0L, Jetta SE V4 Turbo, Jetta SE 1.8t, Jetta Trendline Plus 2L, Jetta TDI, Jetta TSI 1.8L