Aux Heater - Vagcom Code - Advice Please

[wackojackouk]

Hi guys

 

As the weather has gone downhill over the past week I have been waiting for the Booster Heater to fire up.

 

Last year when I bought the car I had a problem and they took the car back and said they changed the heater itself and the glow plugs. Got it back and it fired up fine, no smoke.. worked great :)

 

Anyway it fired up the other day and there was a little bit of smoke whilst sitting at the lights so I got myself all worried but got home and it was still running but no smoke. Last weekend could smell the diesel a bit but no smoke so thought it was probably just burning off some excess fuel.

 

Anyway tonight came out of work and 3 minutes up the road sitting at the lights and notice a reasonable amount of smoke coming from my car. Got to next set of lights but only there 30 seconds and no smoke so thought the same as above. Got home about 15 minutes later and the heater was off as the temperature was nearly half way.

 

Decided to plug in vagcom and after finally getting it to work it pulled up some error codes:-

 

5 Faults Found:

 

01409 - Repeated Flame-Out

35-00 - -

01409 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

35-00 - Please Register/Activate

01409 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

35-00 - Please Register/Activate

01414 - Combustion-Air Blower (V6)

36-00 - Open Circuit

01414 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

36-00 - Please Register/Activatee

 

Have seen the Repeated Flame-Out one before when I got the Galaxy back and once I cleared it (after the new parts had been fitted it's been fine).

 

However never seen the Combustion-Air Blower one before - can someone enlighten me about this?

 

I have cleared the codes regardless to see if they come back but now worried I'm going to have hassle again this year and no warranty to claim on :)

 

Got to sort out a clunking noise on the suspension which I hope it just a drop link as well as some other things such as (hopefully) a broken wire in passenger rear door plus I will need some new brake discs soon - when it rains it pours eh?

 

Anyone fancy fixing my Gal lol

 

Seriously any advice much appreciated.

 

WJUK

 

ps - One bright note is that I won a 5000 Stereo on ebay (Gal version) for 99p !!! - hopefully it will pitch up soon.

[chrispb123456]

Hi guys

 

As the weather has gone downhill over the past week I have been waiting for the Booster Heater to fire up.

 

Last year when I bought the car I had a problem and they took the car back and said they changed the heater itself and the glow plugs. Got it back and it fired up fine, no smoke.. worked great :)

 

Anyway it fired up the other day and there was a little bit of smoke whilst sitting at the lights so I got myself all worried but got home and it was still running but no smoke. Last weekend could smell the diesel a bit but no smoke so thought it was probably just burning off some excess fuel.

 

Anyway tonight came out of work and 3 minutes up the road sitting at the lights and notice a reasonable amount of smoke coming from my car. Got to next set of lights but only there 30 seconds and no smoke so thought the same as above. Got home about 15 minutes later and the heater was off as the temperature was nearly half way.

 

Decided to plug in vagcom and after finally getting it to work it pulled up some error codes:-

 

5 Faults Found:

 

01409 - Repeated Flame-Out

35-00 - -

01409 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

35-00 - Please Register/Activate

01409 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

35-00 - Please Register/Activate

01414 - Combustion-Air Blower (V6)

36-00 - Open Circuit

01414 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

36-00 - Please Register/Activatee

 

Have seen the Repeated Flame-Out one before when I got the Galaxy back and once I cleared it (after the new parts had been fitted it's been fine).

 

However never seen the Combustion-Air Blower one before - can someone enlighten me about this?

 

I have cleared the codes regardless to see if they come back but now worried I'm going to have hassle again this year and no warranty to claim on :)

 

Got to sort out a clunking noise on the suspension which I hope it just a drop link as well as some other things such as (hopefully) a broken wire in passenger rear door plus I will need some new brake discs soon - when it rains it pours eh?

 

Anyone fancy fixing my Gal lol

 

Seriously any advice much appreciated.

 

WJUK

 

ps - One bright note is that I won a 5000 Stereo on ebay (Gal version) for 99p !!! - hopefully it will pitch up soon.

Hi there

Thats bad luck if that was a brand new heater, cos it sound like the fan motor has gone, has it run since you cleared faults. You can run the fan and fuel pump with vag com, select measuring blocks.

Have never tried to get a fan motor before, but there is a chap on ebay does parts for all heaters if you need one (dieselheaters4u) check your heater model first, there's a sticker on the end cover. will probably be D5WZ or D5WSC.

 

ps on a lighter note does anyone still have cassettes for the 5000 stereo :)

[wackojackouk]

Hi mate

 

Thanks for the info. Doesn't sound good does it - any idea what the damage might be

[Mirez]

You need "Output Tests" not measuring blocks to enable the pump and fan :)

[wackojackouk]

Thanks Mirez

 

I was waiting for you to come along.

 

What are your thoughts on the error code? - does it sound like it's broke :)

 

Might have to drive down to Swindon and get you to fix for a whole box of wine gums lol

 

WJUK

[Mirez]

Well open circuits are never good, its basically saying the controller is suppling a voltage for the air-blower but its not taking it. For a new unit thats a little suprising, but none the less fixable with the two main reasons being the blower itself has gone defective or there's a fault with the internal wiring. Use Vagcom to initiate the output tests, from memory it'll do the dosing pump first and then the blower, as soon as you hear the dosing pump hit next to activate the blower - you don't want to flood the chamber with diesel :)

 

If you hear the blower then its possibly more a wiring fault then anything else, typically when motors fail they die and thats it. If you hear it running well then its an indication of something else.

 

I've seen a couple now where the wiring from the car into the heater is degrading (like the parking sensor wiring) causing shorts and open circuits. Whilst the blower isn't directly part of that wiring, I have seen blower, pump and heat errors all logged as a result.

 

As regards to me fixing it, you'd be welcome any time :)

Edited October 20, 2010 by Mirez

[wackojackouk]

Cheers Mirez

 

Kinda makes it make a little more sense. I'll fire it up again tomorrow and see if the blower comes on. It has been on yesterday and a couple of times over the past week so it was working up till tonight. I did do a re-scan earlier and no error codes come back - I would have thought they would come back straight away (or not?)

 

TBH not sure if it is a new unit - they told me it was and they replaced the glow plug but I never checked it as it worked fine when I got it back in December last year.

 

Regarding Vagcom I only have the VCDS Lite software - can I still do the Output tests?

 

Thanks for the offer of fixing it. I might take you up on that although gonna be away next week with work so will catch up on that one later - Google tells me you're roughly 2 hours away but if it get's stuff fixed thats not too bad - let just say it would be SOOO much appreciated - hell I might even give you the car for a whole day and see what else you can fix lol.

[Mikef]

 

 

I've seen a couple now where the wiring from the car into the heater is degrading (like the parking sensor wiring) causing shorts and open circuits. Whilst the blower isn't directly part of that wiring, I have seen blower, pump and heat errors all logged as a result.

 

As regards to me fixing it, you'd be welcome any time :)

 

Thats interesting...when you say you have seen parking sensor wiring degrading, whereabouts on the car did you see it?

 

My rear sensors rendomly report things that arent there...they may work one day, but not the next, then work on one revese, but not on anaother a moment later...I've been hunting underneath for any obvious shorts that could be due to wire movement. I've checked all of ther sensors, and they seem to work (clicking/ticking)

 

 

cheers!

 

mikef

[wackojackouk]

Hi guys

 

Quick update for you.

 

Went out aeound lunch time today and the heater didn't fire up so thought oh its gone then. Anyway on way back and sitting at lights and notice some smoke in mirror, low and behold she's smoking !!! - not really what I want to see but .... anyway went to shop near my house and had a quick look and I could hear the heater going but not spitting out any smoke (white smoke btw). Finished up at shops and then drove home (two mins away) and a little bit of smoke for a min or so outside my garage.

 

Got down and had a look underneath and there was a a little bit of smoke coming out the mini exhaust. Smoke then stopped and I noticed that where the mini pipe comes down (joins) the whole pipe up to the mini box bit (like an exhaust back box) was quite wet and on the small box bit there was some liquid dripping. Could this be water or diesel? - I touched it and tbh it smelt like diesel - could there be a leak?

 

Left it running whilst I was looking and again a little bit more smoke... like something is stopping and starting but the whooshing or whirring noise was constant

 

Haven't had chance to hook back up to VCDS Lite yet (try later tonight) but any more thoughts on this?

Edited October 21, 2010 by wackojackouk

[chrispb123456]

Hi guys

 

Quick update for you.

 

Went out aeound lunch time today and the heater didn't fire up so thought oh its gone then. Anyway on way back and sitting at lights and notice some smoke in mirror, low and behold she's smoking !!! - not really what I want to see but .... anyway went to shop near my house and had a quick look and I could hear the heater going but not spitting out any smoke (white smoke btw). Finished up at shops and then drove home (two mins away) and a little bit of smoke for a min or so outside my garage.

 

Got down and had a look underneath and there was a a little bit of smoke coming out the mini exhaust. Smoke then stopped and I noticed that where the mini pipe comes down (joins) the whole pipe up to the mini box bit (like an exhaust back box) was quite wet and on the small box bit there was some liquid dripping. Could this be water or diesel? - I touched it and tbh it smelt like diesel - could there be a leak?

 

Left it running whilst I was looking and again a little bit more smoke... like something is stopping and starting but the whooshing or whirring noise was constant

 

Haven't had chance to hook back up to VCDS Lite yet (try later tonight) but any more thoughts on this?

Hi Wacko

As for the leak you really need to drop the unit down as the fuel inlet and water connections are on top and is not accessible in situ, if there's no fan errors I would be inclined to strip it down clean combustion chamber and fit a new glow plug.

 

I dont know the length of your journeys but cant emphasise enough short stop and starts for these heaters, dont do them any good. Ideally they need to run at full speed for at least half an hour to keep it running clean.

Edited October 22, 2010 by chrispb123456

[chrispb123456]

Hi guys

 

Quick update for you.

 

Went out aeound lunch time today and the heater didn't fire up so thought oh its gone then. Anyway on way back and sitting at lights and notice some smoke in mirror, low and behold she's smoking !!! - not really what I want to see but .... anyway went to shop near my house and had a quick look and I could hear the heater going but not spitting out any smoke (white smoke btw). Finished up at shops and then drove home (two mins away) and a little bit of smoke for a min or so outside my garage.

 

Got down and had a look underneath and there was a a little bit of smoke coming out the mini exhaust. Smoke then stopped and I noticed that where the mini pipe comes down (joins) the whole pipe up to the mini box bit (like an exhaust back box) was quite wet and on the small box bit there was some liquid dripping. Could this be water or diesel? - I touched it and tbh it smelt like diesel - could there be a leak?

 

Left it running whilst I was looking and again a little bit more smoke... like something is stopping and starting but the whooshing or whirring noise was constant

 

Haven't had chance to hook back up to VCDS Lite yet (try later tonight) but any more thoughts on this?

Hi Wacko

As for the leak you really need to drop the unit down as the fuel inlet and water connections are on top and is not accessible in situ, if there's no fan errors I would be inclined to strip it down clean combustion chamber and fit a new glow plug.

 

I dont know the length of your journeys but cant emphasise enough short stop and starts for these heaters, dont do them any good. Ideally they need to run at full speed for at least half an hour to keep it running clean.

Hi again

Just to add that possibly some of those faults codes may have been from the previous heater fitted? also you mentioned "like something is stopping and starting" is your run on pump working? as this will cause the heater to stop & start.

[Mirez]

WJ, Smoke is poor combustion which would suggest a lack of diesel, air or ignition. The most common failure on these being glow plugs I would suggest its in need of replacement or cleaning. Short trips absolutely hammer the heater, its run cycle is quoted at 30minutes optimal but there is no automatic inhibit on the cars since it can't predict the journey time.

 

Personally, I think a switch should have been fitted like most merc's - press it when its cold to warm the car up, simple. On a two minute journey the combusion process won't even be properly stable so shutting it down just to fire it up again 2 mins later will be creating a mountain of sooty oily residue inside which the plug will have to overcome. If its covered in this crud for a long enough period the plug itself can overheat, which is the given reason for the poor service life of the plug on the galaxy.

 

The liquid you see/feel will almost certainly be unburt diesel - the noise will be the combustion motor "pre charging" the chamber ready for the next attempt at a start, if its soaked in diesel however the chances of a start are remote, if by some miricle you do get a start make sure you run it for a good 30/40 minutes - just let the car idle ideally and you might just burn off/out some of the crud.

 

Adding an inhibit switch is quite easy though, and you simply add it in series with the external temperature sensor (clipped to the wiper mech) - that way even if the external temperature calls for booster heat the switch will block the signal and the heater can't fire. If you frequently do short start stop journeys - proper start/stop engine off ones not just M25 style ones! - then I would highly recommend adding a switch to protect the life of the plug.

 

Mikef, Sorry missed your earlier reply. The wiring degrades typically just where it enters the connector on the back of the sensor. If you look underneath, you'll see each sensors wiring comes out of a plastic sleave and is then taped before entering the electrical connector - its that short 3cm where most seem to fail, but random "seen objects" are normally caused by a single sensor on the way out.

Edited October 22, 2010 by Mirez

[chrispb123456]

WJ, Smoke is poor combustion which would suggest a lack of diesel, air or ignition. The most common failure on these being glow plugs I would suggest its in need of replacement or cleaning. Short trips absolutely hammer the heater, its run cycle is quoted at 30minutes optimal but there is no automatic inhibit on the cars since it can't predict the journey time.

 

Personally, I think a switch should have been fitted like most merc's - press it when its cold to warm the car up, simple. On a two minute journey the combusion process won't even be properly stable so shutting it down just to fire it up again 2 mins later will be creating a mountain of sooty oily residue inside which the plug will have to overcome. If its covered in this crud for a long enough period the plug itself can overheat, which is the given reason for the poor service life of the plug on the galaxy.

 

The liquid you see/feel will almost certainly be unburt diesel - the noise will be the combustion motor "pre charging" the chamber ready for the next attempt at a start, if its soaked in diesel however the chances of a start are remote, if by some miricle you do get a start make sure you run it for a good 30/40 minutes - just let the car idle ideally and you might just burn off/out some of the crud.

 

Adding an inhibit switch is quite easy though, and you simply add it in series with the external temperature sensor (clipped to the wiper mech) - that way even if the external temperature calls for booster heat the switch will block the signal and the heater can't fire. If you frequently do short start stop journeys - proper start/stop engine off ones not just M25 style ones! - then I would highly recommend adding a switch to protect the life of the plug.

 

Mikef, Sorry missed your earlier reply. The wiring degrades typically just where it enters the connector on the back of the sensor. If you look underneath, you'll see each sensors wiring comes out of a plastic sleave and is then taped before entering the electrical connector - its that short 3cm where most seem to fail, but random "seen objects" are normally caused by a single sensor on the way out.

Hi Mark

Have to agree with you a simple on/off switch idea and with the knowledge of only using it when you know your journey is going to be at least half an hour + would safeguard a good percentage from early failure, also for me with the added benefit of the timer/manual start I can go out and switch on the heater half an hour before a journey or if I haven't switched it on manually but the outside temp switch has initiated the heater I then decide to stop the engine for a short while, ie go in a shop I select manual setting then switch off the engine then there's no interruption to the heater cycle.

Am now on the third winter season with this setup and dare I say it no smoke or heater problems at all :)

[Mikef]

Thanks for the reply Mirez!! I'll try disconnecting sensors one at a time to see what effect that has.

 

 

On a heater note, my heater now no longer produces white smoke, or makes any kind of 'turbine' noise, and produces no warm air...is this likely to still be a glow plug issue or something more serious?

 

Its interesting reading the comments about short journeys. My wife uses the car to drive to work, which takes about ten to fifteen minutes, and I wonder if thats whats has killed two heaters now...

 

cheers

 

mikef

[Mirez]

The programmable heater makes a big difference and not least because it heats for a constant 30mins! I'm monitoring mine now but 3 seasons for you is certainly good, from general posts most people seem to be suffering issues more often that that so it'll be interesting to keep an eye on our plugs life.

 

Mike, Disconnecting the parking sensors one at a time will just put the module into error state each time - it needs to see all 4 or 8 live at the same time. You should probably start a seperate thread if you want to continue discussing this though, it's a little confusing being in with the aux heater problem :)

 

On that note however, it sounds like your heater has now gone into lock out mode - a number of repeat flame out errors (ie non starts) will lock the unit to save further damage. You'll need vagcomnow to reset the memory is the only downside.

[Mikef]

Thanks Mirez, I've been doing some hunting on what VAGCOm is, doesnt look too frightening. I was reading a thread which listed the glow plugs at VW, and these fit the Galaxy, so will have a dabble..

 

cheers

 

mikef