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This morning my check engine light started flashing when I turned the ignition. Made a funny noise and the car shook a little. Only lasted a few seconds. Drove/sounded normally afterwards. Never happened before. Had a problem with engine light because of a defective water pump. Had it fixed in October and it's been OK since then. Car manual tells me that blinking engine light is caused by faulty cat converter. Was this just a glitch or should I be worried? Is it safe to drive it without getting it checked out? It's a 2005 VW Jetta. Don't want to spend money on an inspection if it's unnecessary.
Last edited by ContainednCary; 04-27-2015 at 10:58 AM..
You can drive it. You will get crappy gas mileage and your O2 sendors will be going mad. It won't do immediate harm but you can't leave it that way. If it gets too hot there is a risk of fire damage
Call the dealer and have them run the VIN to see if there are any open recalls.
Blinking light on GM, at least, doesn't mean that the cat is the problem, it means you're risking damage to the cat.
It generally indicates a severe misfire on one or more cylinders (Which would also explain the shaking).. Which means that unburned fuel is being dumped into the cat, where it will likely ignite, causing damage to the cat.
Certainly should not be driven if you have a flashing SES light.
That seems to be the case here.. And you do seem to be right that the manual either says or implies that the cat is the problem. I found this answer from a VW mechanic..
Quote:
The reason the engine light was blinking while driving is because the engine was not running on all 4 cylinders and misfiring . The most common issue for this cause wich is very common is a faulty ignition coil . I do not recommend you drive the vehicle with the engine light blinking because it will do more damage to the catalytic converter. You may be able to fix this yourself if you have any experience but like stated before you have a faulty ignition coil and will need to have the car towed to a repair shop if you don't think you can handle replacing the coils . Vw has actually came out with a recall for these coils not too long ago you can tow it to the dealer and they will cover this issue under warranty for no charge . I hope this helps.[LEFT]
Read more: http://www.justanswer.com/vw-volkswa...#ixzz3YcrfuQMM
The 'recall' he speaks of is on a 2002 model. And the answer is 5 years old.. So, that recall is likely dead by now.. But.. Odds on are that you had at least 1 cylinder not firing.. Could be due to plug, plug wire, coil..
I'd love to know exactly how the manual is worded about this.. Just out of curiosity.
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You posted this also in the VW forum. As I mentioned over there, browsing the web came up with a bunch of people having the same issue. For all of them, it seemed to revolve around the coilpacks. Chances are, one or more of them have gone bad. As noted above, you do not want to drive the car like this as it could end up damaging the CAT.
My CEL only blinked temporarily. What I need advice on is whether I should jusy keep driving or get the coils/converter checked. I don't have a lot of money so if I can safely avoid a trip to the mechanic it would be very convenient. Thanks to all the responders.
My CEL only blinked temporarily. What I need advice on is whether I should jusy keep driving or get the coils/converter checked. I don't have a lot of money so if I can safely avoid a trip to the mechanic it would be very convenient. Thanks to all the responders.
Just to confirm, the CEL is no longer blinking? If this is the case, was it raining out when the CEL blinked the first time?
the flashing CEL on VW's is a "don't drive me" message. If it occurs while driving, pull over and stop the vehicle. You can normally turn off the engine and restart, and see if you still have a flashing code...if not, I'd continue on. If it is still flashing, forget it and have it towed to the dealership.
you likely had a cylinder misfire, or multiple cylinder misfire which caused the rough running. At a minimum, I would recommend taking the vehicle to a auto parts store to figure out what code was tripped, and hopefully isolate which cylinder was having the misfire. From there, it's tracking down what caused the misfire and correcting the problem. If you're mechanically inclined, you may be able to diagnose and fix yourself, if not, I'd recommend a independent specialty VW/Audi shop that can handle the repair and will likely cost you less than the dealership rate.
Just to confirm, the CEL is no longer blinking? If this is the case, was it raining out when the CEL blinked the first time?
No longer blinking as of yesterday. Haven't driven it yet today. It wasn't raining but it rained overnight and I started it early morning in abnormally cold(Ca. 40 degree) weather.
No longer blinking as of yesterday. Haven't driven it yet today. It wasn't raining but it rained overnight and I started it early morning in abnormally cold(Ca. 40 degree) weather.
The misfire could have been caused by moisture (from the rain) getting stuck where it doesn't belong such as near the coilpacks/spark plugs. Try pulling the packs out and looking to see if there is any moisture in there.
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