[KANNURAN]

I landed in a perfect storm despite the precautions. Please note the background below:

We were to drive from Calicut to Pondicherry, with a refuelling planned at Palakkad COCO. I missed the Palakkad COCO, thanks to Google Maps taking me down a village road somewhere, but I decided to stretch it to Pondy and save a few quid filling a full tank from there.

I was precariously close to empty when I filled to auto-cutoff at Ashram Petrol Pump at Pondy (which I doubly verified to be the highest rated one in the tax-free Union Territory). It is for the first time in the 4 year / 71,000Km usage of the vehicle that I have fueled from a Non-COCO / Unfamiliar Pump and at so close to vapor.

On Day 3, I was driving hard and fast from Pondy to Bangalore and all went well for the first 3 hours. About 10Km before Hoskote, there was a sudden hesitation in the engine and the coil lamp showed up. I turned off the car and started again in single crank, with no coil warning message. After driving slowly for a short distance, the coil lamp showed up again and the engine seemed strained and noisy. I drove at < 40 for about 10Km and stopped at a roadside garage to disconnect and reconnect the battery.

The car started at first crank and there was no coil warning after that. Its been 4 days since the incident and I am using the car daily. So far so good; the coil warning has not re-appeared and the car is driving smoothly. It is giving me normal mileage and exhaust has the typical CRDI smell. But given the horror stories associated with the Continental Injectors, I am very worried.

My knee-jerk reaction has been to buy Liqui Moly Diesel Additive, which I plan to use with my next full tank in the next couple of days.

Based on the situation described above, can I please have your feedback on the severity of the problem I seem to face, and what my next course of action should be. Thanks in advance.

[Flyer]

Check the fuel injectors. Could be an early warning of fuel injector failure. I experienced similar symptoms in my Vento TDI. It could be a problem with any one injector only.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by KANNURAN

but I decided to stretch it to Pondy and save a few quid filling a full tank from there.

My knee-jerk reaction has been to buy Liqui Moly Diesel Additive, which I plan to use with my next full tank in the next couple of days.

Based on the situation described above, can I please have your feedback on the severity of the problem I seem to face, and what my next course of action should be. Thanks in advance.

Basis my experience with this kind of problem (in a petrol engine), here is a suggestion.

Drain the tank and remove and examine the fuel filter and change that. Im sure it is dirty considering the levels of fuel adulteration that we see in India. Ask the garage to remove the fuel injectors and have them cleaned. There is a cleaning process possible. Ive done it. Take the opportunity to drain and change engine oil and change the filter too. Then refill the vehicle with good fresh fuel from a good station and see.

(The pics depict what I had found and done. I repeat, mine is a petrol car.)

[Asoon]

On a very different note, it can be a rat bite,
If it's a bite then it's not a major issue

We have a rapid in the family (8 years old / 77k driven / diesel) and this has happened to us couple of times, (engine + coil light) ,
Get the socket near battery area/ electricals checked from a mechanic he will be able to detect, refer image below

[condor]

@Kannuran, do you often let the diesel level in the tank go down to near empty often ?

[KANNURAN]

Originally Posted by Flyer

Check the fuel injectors. Could be an early warning of fuel injector failure. I experienced similar symptoms in my Vento TDI. It could be a problem with any one injector only.

Thanks Flyer. Planning to OBD Scan and then go for an Injector-Check

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Basis my experience with this kind of problem (in a petrol engine), here is a suggestion.

There is a cleaning process possible. Ive done it. Take the opportunity to drain and change engine oil and change the filter too. Then refill the vehicle with good fresh fuel from a good station and see.

Thanks Shankar. If you dont mind, can you please share the coordinates of the Injector Cleaning Garage you went to.

Originally Posted by Asoon

On a very different note, it can be a rat bite, if it's a bite then it's not a major issue

No Asoon. Not a rat bite (though always a worry )

Originally Posted by condor

@Kannuran, do you often let the diesel level in the tank go down to near empty often ?

Thats the sad bit, Condor. In the entire 4 years of usage, I have NEVER refueled outside a COCO or Narayana Fuel (the most trusted outlet in Calicut) and have always refueled at quarter tank. A first time blooper is giving me sleepless nights. I hope the Scan and Injector Cleaning will resolve the issue.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by KANNURAN

The car started at first crank and there was no coil warning after that. Its been 4 days since the incident and I am using the car daily. So far so good; the coil warning has not re-appeared and the car is driving smoothly. It is giving me normal mileage and exhaust has the typical CRDI smell.

If I understand correctly, your's is 2017 or 2018 model. The injector issues were mostly on the 1.6 Tdi models upto 2012 or 2013 max which came with faulty injectors.

Given your car is running fine now and not showing any loss of power or mileage; I wouldn't jump to injector issue (although it did show the symptom of loss of power). Get it to a garage (FNG or service center) and let them scan with an OBD to figure out what is the problem. Could be something minor like a sensor going kaput or sorts too; no use doing guess work without figuring out the cause.

[dhanushs]

The dreaded coil light comes on when you don't use the vehicle that much man. Too much idle time for these injectors which was previously used frequently causes it. Apparently its some lack of lubrication of injectors and hence some calibration goes wrong and the electrical part fails.

The coil light also can come when you have a faulty EGR. That too is very expensive to replace in the showroom, but can be solved outside.

For now, I think you can follow the advises given above, and keep your fingers crossed.

Always keep a lac aside man for the VW/Skoda TDi Engines.

[hserus]

Replace the diesel fuel filter and see if this goes away, first, after that scan your car.

[KANNURAN]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

If I understand correctly, your's is 2017 or 2018 model. The injector issues were mostly on the 1.6 Tdi models upto 2012 or 2013 max which came with faulty injectors.

Thanks Ninjatalli. It is a 2018 Model

Originally Posted by dhanushs

For now, I think you can follow the advises given above, and keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks Dhanush. Refining all the guidance above, I will first do an OBD Scan and if required, go for the Injector Cleaning.

Originally Posted by hserus

Replace the diesel fuel filter and see if this goes away, first, after that scan your car.

Thanks Hserus. The coil error disappeared after I disconnected the battery. Everything has been smooth since. I will first do a scan and use from the advise above.

A sincere thanks to everyone.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by KANNURAN

Thanks Shankar. If you dont mind, can you please share the coordinates of the Injector Cleaning Garage you went to.
.

The private garage where I get my vehicle serviced Aeon Motor Works has an arrangement with some outfit near J C Road in Bangalore for Injector Cleaning. The Aeon owner Aniruddh’s number is 099457 18181.
Hope it helps.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by KANNURAN

On Day 3, I was driving hard and fast from Pondy to Bangalore and all went well for the first 3 hours. About 10Km before Hoskote, there was a sudden hesitation in the engine and the coil lamp showed up. I turned off the car and started again in single crank, with no coil warning message. After driving slowly for a short distance, the coil lamp showed up again and the engine seemed strained and noisy. I drove at < 40 for about 10Km and stopped at a roadside garage to disconnect and reconnect the battery.

Was the coil lamp (technically called a glow plug, I think) flashing or steady? From what I recall of my Vento, there could be different connotations for a flashing / steady lamp. And VW probably called it as a fault with Engine Management System.

Anyways, this glow plug flashing can indicate one of many common problems which can be related to air intake, turbo, sensors, EGR etc. - the only way to diagnose the exact cause is through diagnostic procedures with proper tools like (VCDS - VAG COM or VAS etc.) which should guide you to specific error codes. Or best get it scanned from the nearby FNG.

My knee-jerk reaction has been to buy Liqui Moly Diesel Additive, which I plan to use with my next full tank in the next couple of days.

While this may not help the situation directly without knowing the root cause, filling in the L. Moly additive will do good in general.

[AKSarkar1]

Had a similar experience in my 2015 VW Vento albeit it is a petrol car. I was returning from an outstation trip and my car was running on fumes, had to forcibly fill up from a shady looking gas station on the outskirts of Mumbai which didn't even have a properly functioning card machine.

Fastforward to 1 hour later, the engine started jerking very badly almost wobbling and the 'Check Engine Light' showed up. Decided to continue driving and the next morning I added the Liqui Moly, helped my case. Car has been smooth and no problems since then. I outlined the cause to be extremely adulterated fuel.

Luckily in my case since the petrol station didn't have a card machine, I fueled the bare minimum and paid cash. That amount of fuel was almost certainly consumed in whole by the time I reached back home but it was a lesson for me.

[Auto_Aficionado]

This happened to me twice in an year with my pre owned diesel Vento TDI 2013. A quick OBD scan said that my injector 2 & 3 failed and after getting them repaired from a FNG and driving the car for about 1k kms the 1st & 4th failed eventually.

I hope this doesn’t happen again. If incase it does, I will try to disconnect and reconnect the battery as you did and check if it fixes the glow plug indicator warning.

All the best

[NEWTON-METERS]

Good day,
As a Skoda rapid owner myself with 1 lakh kilometres on the odometer.When one of my injector gave up at 91000 kms I had a similar glow plug sign and jerkiness with my car moving in limp mode.The issue got sorted a couple of times and the issue reoccured So both service centre and my FNG suggested to change the injector after finding the faulty injector through OBD scanner.

After further research on these injectors I got to know that the injectors are mostly fine its the solenoid coil on top of them which get weak over a period of time which is the culprit.My injector had this issue.Since I was bout to join the ship in a weeks time I hastily changed the old injector with a new one.This solenoid coil can’t be removed and changed since it is the part of the injector.

But ever since my one injector has failed I am looking for scrap diesel ventos and rapids in the scrap yard in my place where I live
Since removing the injector is quiet easy requiring to remove just the fuel pipe and two Allen bolts on top to be removed.Two fuel injectors come out as a set.Buying both the injectors from the scrap dealer for 5 to 6 thousand and keeping it standby is the best bet for a cheaper replacement and what I intend to do.

Because I refuel from the biggest and best petrol pump in my city and yet had an injector failure so its not a matter of IF but a matter of WHEN your injectors going to fail . 27000 - 30000 is the minimum your gonna spend with labour and programming for it incase of a injector failure