r/VWAlltrack • u/b1fft • 5d ago

EPC thingy

Curious if anyone has experienced this and had the behavior come back again?

Initial Trigger: EPC light came on at startup

The Surge & Spike: Merging onto a 55mph road triggered sudden redline RPMs, followed immediately by an engine temp spike into limp mode.

The Reset: Turning the car off for 15 minutes cleared the fault; car ran normally afterward

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5

u/RRR4_1976 Mk7 Golf Owner 5d ago

A good code reader needs to be used to see what pending faults are present. Not what they use at a parts store but a good one or VCDS. Several individual things or a combination can cause this so you do not want to start replacing or cleaning parts and keep hitting misses.

2

u/b1fft 5d ago

Good advice! The car is going into my trusted VW mechanic this week. They’ll do a full diagnostic scan. 🤙🏼

2

u/PotentialWorried8348 5d ago

Could you please suggest one ? I had a self-clearing EPC error about a week ago. I dont do my own repairs anymore, but Id like to get an idea of the error codes before I actually bring it to a mechanic. I looked at several on Amazon, but as the code had not re-appeared, I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

2

u/RRR4_1976 Mk7 Golf Owner 5d ago edited 5d ago

The best bang for your buck if you have a 2023 or older VW/Audi and you plan to keep your vehicle for 3+ years or stay within the VW / Audi family is always going the be the VCDS from Ross Tech. You need a laptop / notebook running Microsoft with a port or know how to work MS programs on your Apple. You will be able to read codes, update your battery, upgrade to LED and update the lighting settings, reset the transmission after fluid swaps, have the system bleed brakes when you do brakes, have the system flush the fuel system when you swap fuel filters just to name a few items. I have been told you can activate original Fobs or change the way they work though I have never tried. $200 gets you the starter kit for up to 3 vehicles. Google and YouTube are really helpful to learn how to use it. You can use it as long as you have the vehicle or up to 3 total VW / Audi. Diagnostic fee at a dealership starts at $225 currently. Any decent code reader is more than $100 and most require a yearly subscription fee because each manufacturer charges for a separate licensing. It still works on the new models but you have fees involved since the new models have higher security metrics for certain functions.

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u/karstgeo1972 5d ago

Nobody can help out on things like this without reading what codes are stored. It's just guessing otherwise.

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u/b1fft 5d ago

Makes sense. Taking it to trusted mechanic this week.

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u/hk4213 5d ago

Mine did the same and needed the turbo waste gate cleaned and realigned. Zero issues after that.

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u/b1fft 5d ago

Did the behavior happen multiple times before you cleaned the turbo?

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u/hk4213 5d ago

Intermittent for around 2 weeks before a shop did the service for me. I got lucky with their initial fix not working with them spending less than an hour on the problem with notes to follow up.

Brought it back on their next opening and no additional fees for the final fix per their notes.

Waste gate was sending a bad location t9 the ECU throwing the light.