VCDS Bristol - Emissions Control Light

[Greenman]

Hi all.

I have had the Emissions Control Light light come on yesterday and have tried a few things to resolve but the bugger won't go out.

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/warning-light/emissions-control-lamp

The car seems to be running fine with no misfires, smoke or loss in power, but the light remains on.

I have checked hose going to black carbon filter box and have checked for leaks but it's fine.  Is another popular cause for this PCV?

Does anyone in the Bristol area have VCDS?

Free beer and pub lunch on offer...;)

If not i suppose it stealers time but don''t they charge a bomb for VCDS diag?

[Dan_FR]

That's also an engine management light, not specific to emissions. Get the codes read to give you an idea of where to start, any old £10 reader will pull an error that puts the EML on. Even a £5 Bluetooth OBD adaptor and a £3 Android app will give you the code

It's probably the P0441 EVAP fault which is getting quite common with these cars and often does not effect the engine running, but until you get a code it's total guesswork.

Dealers will charge you a standard fee for diagnostics, which should hopefully involve a lot more than just a diagnostics scan. Probably talking in the £100 region at a main dealer though

Bit far for you, but if you're over the bridge in South Wales any time soon I'd scan the car for you. Good luck getting it sorted

[Greenman]

That's also an engine management light, not specific to emissions. Get the codes read to give you an idea of where to start, any old £10 reader will pull an error that puts the EML on. Even a £5 Bluetooth OBD adaptor and a £3 Android app will give you the code

It's probably the P0441 EVAP fault which is getting quite common with these cars and often does not effect the engine running, but until you get a code it's total guesswork.

Dealers will charge you a standard fee for diagnostics, which should hopefully involve a lot more than just a diagnostics scan. Probably talking in the £100 region at a main dealer though

Bit far for you, but if you're over the bridge in South Wales any time soon I'd scan the car for you. Good luck getting it sorted

Thanks, i might take you up on that offer if i don;t have any joy today.

Going to bite the bullet and book into stealers i think, as i just want it resolved.

My wallet has already gone into hiding...;)

[Dan_FR]

If it turns out to be the canister at fault, I wouldn't spend the £80-100 on one, it can be bypassed and vented to atmosphere or you can pick up cheap ones for £20odd from eBay.

Good luck, keep us posted

[Greenman]

If it turns out to be the canister at fault, I wouldn't spend the £80-100 on one, it can be bypassed and vented to atmosphere or you can pick up cheap ones for £20odd from eBay.

Good luck, keep us posted

I checked all the pipes to the canister last night and they looked ok, but the top screw type connection was fairly loose, and still is.  Could that be at fault?

Is it worth removing the canister and giving it a shake and replacing?

[Dan_FR]

A loose pipe on the canister wouldn't cause it, but a blocked one would. Shaking the canister would only make things worse as a small piece could then block one of the pipes leading to another fault

The canister contains activated charcoal which is probably 'full' and is no longer able to absorb the vapours vented from the petrol tank. If you have the means to clear the fault code, there's an easy DIY you can do to rule out the canister and pipework as the cause..... You can temporarily bypass it, allowing the tank to vent to atmosphere whilst allowing the solenoid to still take in outside air as it's designed to do.

[Dan_FR]

Would be easier to explain by diagram but not something I can do on the works PC. There is no problem with venting to atmosphere, it's all down to emissions based crap again. Just make sure you make it look 'low-key' as it could be a failure come MOT time if picked up... I still need to figure out how to get my crankcase breather pipe setup through an MOT, along with the lack of cat..... 

Main pipe coming from the back of the bay in to the carbon canister (hard plastic one) - unclip it from the back of the bay. Get a vac pipe (8mm from memory), push it on to the white connector at the back of the bay and run the pipe in to the drivers side inner wing area to vent the tank.

Remove the canister and it's pipework, as far as the N80 valve attached to the inlet. This valve still needs to draw air in in order to avoid an EML, so I attached a small in-line fuel filter (motorcycle type) to the intake of this valve and hid it away under my intake

Et. voila - no carbon canister and no EML, yet as the valve is still doing its job the fuel trims/adaption is still active. Not sure on whether the fuel adaptions is active with the blocked canister (P0441 fault present), but unplugging the N80 valve stops the ECU adapting the fuel trims so it really needs to stay or be mapped out properly by the likes of R-Tech etc.

[Dan_FR]

Can grab a picture or two later

Its a small motorcycle fuel filter I had lying round in my shed. Just used a bit of the 8mm vac pipe to join the two, just so the N80 valve isn't sucking in any unfiltered air

When the N80 is unplugged, there is no adaption (no fuel trims). If you bypass the charcoal thingy the way I have mentioned above then you will be fine.

[Greenman]

Well after posting on here and booking in at the stealers, the light has now gone off by itself!

Would this say to you experienced TFSI bods that this is a carbon canister issue?

[Orc]

Mate im in Worcester but travel to Bristol every tuesday

[Greenman]

Mate im in Worcester but travel to Bristol every tuesday

Fancy meeting up on a tuesday then?

I take it you have VCDS?

I'm flexible as to where as i work all over the city.

Free pub grub on offer...;)

[Orc]

Yeah that's absolutely brilliant mate, im at the Ashley down centre doing a masters. Yeah I have vcds. ill take a look for you.pm me.

[Greenman]

Yeah that's absolutely brilliant mate, im at the Ashley down centre doing a masters. Yeah I have vcds. ill take a look for you.pm me.

Your a gent.

PM sent...:)