intake manifold jamming & all in warranty issues.

[Gaz-H]

Hi, 2019 T6 150 DSG Highline. Purchased as pre reg & professionally converted to camper. On the road from late Nov 2020 with 300 delivery miles only ( registered Aug 2019).
Not used as day van and only done 13500 miles to date. in June 2021 after engine management light on ( orange coil) with only 1800 miles done VW diagnosed Intake manifold runner fault with Actuator valve modification required ( admitted it was known issue but not a recall ). new parts fitted including EGR valve, 1 set of vacuum pipes, air filter, pulsation damper.
since then various UK trips & last year 5000 miles in Europe without issue Ending Sept 2022. van rarely used until late March 2023 for a weekend away. 100miles there saw coil light on again, but cleared after stopping etc. Booked into VW with fault diagnosis of intake manifold jamming/stuck. stating found tpi (no idea what this means) but after carrying out test confirmed manifold flap jamming from soot accumulation & electrical side all ok & vacuum Ok. require new inlet manifold. I took a VW all in policy to provide 2 yr service & warranty but they say soot accumulation is not covered. My argument is with such low mileage, the fact they replaced parts of this before indicates a design or build issue which they should cover. They admit if it was still under manufacturer warranty the inlet manifold would just be replaced. My issue is how is this happening & surely just replacing the manifold does not get to the root cause ( unless the manifold itself was somehow faulty?) & a new one would just eventually suffer with the same issue. Atm I am not driving it as I have no confidence in it but it is needed for planned Europe trips.VW suggestion was for me to try to burn off soot & rely on breakdown cover!!! - unbelievable, or pay nearly £1000 to replace inlet manifold.
Booked into local independent to try to get to bottom of this & might be able to build a case to go back & shout at VW to take some responsibility.
‘Anyone have any similar issues or suggestions to help?
Thanks

 

[Paynewright]

@Dav-Tec can you advise if this would be prevented my mapping out the EGR?

(Sorry to hi-jack your thread but think it may be relevant)

 

[Insert Coin]

Wow, that is epic amounts of soot accumulation, I know it’s too late now but I’d be interested to know what fuel you were using?

Supermarket, branded or branded premium?

 

[Gaz-H]

Wow, that is epic amounts of soot accumulation, I know it’s too late now but I’d be interested to know what fuel you were using?

Supermarket, branded or branded premium?

Branded premium when available but probably a mixture of all 3 over its lifetime.

 

[Dav-Tec]

It won't stop it but it would certainly reduce this happening to almost zero as oil, dirty, sooty gases won't be getting recirculated back through the intake system.

 

[Dav-Tec]

Also @Gaz-H have they updated the ECU to the latest software so thing like the DPF cycle and EGR are working correctly?

 

[ThreeBridgeT6]

Worried by this as my 2019 204 DSG is showing the coil light daily from cold, but it goes off one the engine is up to temp and stopped/restarted. No impact on performance (yet) but it looks very much like the heads on my V6 Merc (3.0 diesel) which had to be replaced.

 

[Gaz-H]

Also @Gaz-H have they updated the ECU to the latest software so thing like the DPF cycle and EGR are working correctly?

None of this has been mentioned by the VW garage so I will try to find out if I can get them to answer the phone. Contacting them is another headache.

 

[Dellmassive]

That's a lot of soot... (Thanks for posting the pics)

That would imply lots of short journeys, lots of journey with a cold engine, lots of engine stop/start, not many motorway journeys.?

Either way the inlet manifold and runners are plastic these days..... And wv policy is always to replace a part.

You can remove the manifold and attempt to clean it then refit,.... But most of the cost will be the labour reqd to remove and replace. Not sure on the part cost. (Will need to check)


I have to say though, it's not one of the regular issues we see come up on the T6 on here, or on my vans.

But had to do this job on my old BMW 320D..... Similar thing but the mod was to blank off the swirl flaps as they could break off and be injested into the engine causing damage. (A common mod for a high mileage 320d engine).


So assuming driving conditions is the root cause of the build up ?

 

[Bigsidavies]

@Gaz-H maybe have a look at this. VW are just interested in component swap. This is on my radar for when mine does the same.

Darkside Developments - Walnut Media Blasting / Carbon Cleaning

www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk

Looks like £420 all done.

 

[Dellmassive]

@Gaz-H maybe have a look at this. VW are just interested in component swap. This is on my radar for when mine does the same.

Darkside Developments - Walnut Media Blasting / Carbon Cleaning

www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk

Looks like £420 all done.

Nice

 

[Gaz-H]

That's a lot of soot... (Thanks for posting the pics)

That would imply lots of short journeys, lots of journey with a cold engine, lots of engine stop/start, not many motorway journeys.?

Either way the inlet manifold and runners are plastic these days..... And wv policy is always to replace a part.

You can remove the manifold and attempt to clean it then refit,.... But most of the cost will be the labour reqd to remove and replace. Not sure on the part cost. (Will need to check)


I have to say though, it's not one of the regular issues we see come up on the T6 on here, or on my vans.

But had to do this job on my old BMW 320D..... Similar thing but the mod was to blank off the swirl flaps as they could break off and be injested into the engine causing damage. (A common mod for a high mileage 320d engine).


So assuming driving conditions is the root cause of the build up ?

Thanks for this. The curious thing here is that it’s not used daily. It’s used almost exclusively for our travels e.g 4000miles Aug/Sept last year around Europe. So some small journeys if on site for a few days with e.g day trips around the area but the majority of the few miles (13500) I have racked up would be longer journeys.

 

[Gaz-H]

@Gaz-H maybe have a look at this. VW are just interested in component swap. This is on my radar for when mine does the same.

Darkside Developments - Walnut Media Blasting / Carbon Cleaning

www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk

Looks like £420 all done.

Thanks. Looks interesting. Unfortunately it’s the wrong end of the country for me as I am in the deep South West. My local garage are currently looking at the vehicle & have mentioned cleaning, but are trying to establish the root cause. I have accepted I will have to shell out to rectify the current situation but most importantly I need to establish how to reduce this happening again so I have confidence in touring with it which is what it was bought for. I know that inherently after a lot of use I might have to accept something like this but I can’t accept dealing with it after every 10k miles or so! Something in the system is not working correctly.

 

[Bigsidavies]

Thanks. Looks interesting. Unfortunately it’s the wrong end of the country for me as I am in the deep South West. My local garage are currently looking at the vehicle & have mentioned cleaning, but are trying to establish the root cause. I have accepted I will have to shell out to rectify the current situation but most importantly I need to establish how to reduce this happening again so I have confidence in touring with it which is what it was bought for. I know that inherently after a lot of use I might have to accept something like this but I can’t accept dealing with it after every 10k miles or so! Something in the system is not working correctly.

I’m sure you could send it up by courier and it maybe cheaper as they won’t have to remove the manifold themselves. Worth a phone call.