October 2017 required emergency ignition/cylinder housing at a VW dealership.
Car drove fine.
Received oil change/ smog check in November 2017.
Fine.
January 5, 2018 I may have re-started car when it was running. I was sick and couldn’t hear engine.
Car required a 3rd start.
Car now has EPC :LIGHT on dash. No power.
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I recall that the VWs of yesteryear would not allow the driver to engage the starter motor if the engine was running, which I thought was a very good feature. Did VW later drop this feature?
If you sell the car with a check engine lihjt on you will get much less money than it is worth. If you can’t afford to repair and maintain a car, you can’t afford to own one.
I understand…could the ignition repair have damaged something? The car
has been excellent. 36,000 miles only. I’m considering selling it. Very
sad. I am afraid repairs will be too costly.
What does that mean exactly? I’ve never heard that term. Do you mean the car wouldn’t start using the key, and the diagnosis was faulty ignition switch? If you want to try something yourself, check for a blown fuse.
Ok, I think I understand. I doubt the ignition repair is the reason for your current problem. The EPC light means there a problem with the electric activated throttle system, such as with the throttle pedal, throttle body, traction control, or cruise control. Apparently your car is a drive by wire design, meaning when you press on the gas pedal a computer senses the movement, and programs an electric motor in the throttle body to move the actual throttle valve, allowing more air (and gasoline) to go into the engine, making it speed up. Older cars like mine have a cable or rod that connects the gas pedal to the throttle body rather than using electricity.
With an electric throttle system the computer has to continuously verify it is working , otherwise you might have a car that goes on its own, no good. So the computer is always sensing the pedal position and the throttle body motor position, making sure they match up. Since this problem started immediately after you accidentally turned the key to “start” with the engine already running, I think what might have happened is the grinding sound from that event startled you, and you may have stepped on the gas pedal in an unusual way, and that somehow that has damaged the gas pedal position sensing system. Ask you shop to look carefully in the gas pedal area for a broken connector, something bent, missing spring, etc.
The other possibility is the “start” problem caused an electrical glitch that has damaged either the throttle body motor, one of the sensors, or the engine computer. This latter idea seems unlikely though. You could check for blown fuses, might find something. I think however you are going to need to hire a shop to read the diagnostic codes & figure out what is wrong. My guess, whatever’s wrong, it isn’t going to be overly expensive to repair.
I am a woman terrified to take the car in for the computer scan fearing
this will be a costly repair.
I have never had a VW.
I truly can’t afford to have the car torn apart to check for possibilities
and receive a huge repair bill.
I had the car scheduled to go to the highest rated foreign car repair shop.
Price to scan $118.00 only for EPC light. Sounds great. But I feat the
what-if.
There was no grinding sound from the car on 2nd start.
That is a normal price for scan and diagnostics. You will not have any good ideas what to do without it. Some places if they get to do the repair will waive the diagnostic charges. You also sign a form that no repairs made without your approval. If you sell this thing as is you will get the lowest price possible.
You are correct. I am afraid of course. My fear is the EPC warning light
may cause a chain of repairs down the road soon. Still thinking this
through.
Thank You
Some chain auto parts stores will do a simple code scan for free, as a service to their customers. If you find one that offers this service, you can post the codes here and get some more ideas. You might discover the problem is something you can live with and doesn’t need immediate repair. You are right, no doubt about it, there’s major expenses in owning a car.
