@Ken green: I just took it in this morning. They’re verifying the code first and then will call me to let me know if it’s covered. To clarify, I bought the car used and the (12 month/12,000 mile) warranty was included with the car - contract provider is National Warranty Corp.
@VDCdriver: I’m hoping they will replace the engine valve cover gasket today per recommendation by my mechanic (looks like they simply tried to re-seal the cover gasket). This is covered under the warranty - I’ll be sure to ask about any sludge build-up. I hadn’t mentioned this before thinking it unrelated, but perhaps it’s not so unrelated…
Oh the saga…
Please let us know how it comes out.
Apologies for the radio silence. So here’s the quick & dirty lowdown. After spending a whole day trying to duplicate the diagnostic code uncovered by my mechanic the dealership came up with the following intermittent codes:
Code 16395 Bank One cam shaf A (intake). Retard set point not reached (over advanced). P0011 Not a plausible signal intermittant.
Code 16684 Random multiple missfire detected. P0300 upper limit reached intermittant.
Code 16685 Cyliner No. 1 missfire detected. P0301 upper limit reached intermittant.
Code 16687 Cylinder No. 3 missfire detected. P0303 not a plausible signal intermittant.
He said he would have to tear into the engine to see exactly what the problem is and to ultimately determine if it’s a warrantied fix. I opted out for the time being.
I’m going to take the car to a VW mechanic in town to see if they can get a more accurate diagnostic; and hope that they have more experience with this particular issue.
Unfortunately the leaking valve gasket is not covered; “Minor loss of fluid or seepage is considered normal and is not considered a Covered Breakdown.”
So nothing’s been fixed. The check engine light is off now and I’m driving at risk. I will schedule with the VW mechanic as soon as next week.
The dealership did not charge me for any of the diagnostic work which I thought was really nice.
Have you checked the maintenance schedule in the owners manual to see how often the spark plugs need to be changed and are they due for a change?
My vote is with keith about the spark plugs being a possible factor in this problem; except for the camshaft problem of course.
Short of some drastic reason for doing so, I’m not a fan of tearing into an engine on a discovery mission.
The leaky valve cover gasket may be considered normal for purposes of stonewalling a warranty claim but it’s not a good idea to leave a problem like this unattended.
Not only can a minor leak lead to castastrohic oil loss it’s also possible that spark plug well seals could be leaking and this in turn could cause spark plug misfires, etc.
Just my 2 cents, but a leaking valve cover gasket should be a covered repair and if it was under the original factory warranty it would be.
I would also say that you should not be too enamored over that free diagnostic work. Odds are a few minutes was spent with a quick scan in the interest of customer PR and shuffling you on down the road.