Glow plug light and engine light issue!

[Evi1 Kitty]

I have a 2012 tdi 2.0, I’ve had her just over two years with nothing but problems. For the last 18 months I’ve had the engine light come on periodically and when not moving the glow light plug would flash, but would then stop as soon as the car was moving again. The engine light can stay on for weeks and suddenly go off only to come back on a day or so later.

The car has no other symptoms, only a fly wheel rattle in the gearbox. I had the Turbo Actuator changed last Friday, all lights went off until Sunday, since Sunday the glow plug light flashes constantly and the engine light is back on.

I don’t think it’s related but when having the actuator changed the mechanic noticed there were cracks in the brake booster system pipes so he taped them up (until the parts come in from VW), but I hadn’t noticed a hard brake pedal, but also since Sunday the brake pedal is hard so I currently don’t have any assistance on the brakes. That is due to be done today. Could that cause these lights? I know they are engine management lights, the mechanic has plugged it in multiple times with no error message, that is why he thought it was the actuator. All headlights are working fine, the car accelerates, I have notice since Sunday also, when I first drive it, the gears don’t want to change and it revs quite high before the gearbox changes gear, (usually from 2nd-3rd), it’s never done that before.

As I said the engine lights have been on for around 18 months, luckily the mechanic cleared them before the MOT and it passed fine, it’s just annoying not knowing what is causing them!

[bigkris06]

There is a possibility it could be to do with the pipes you have taped up.
The turbo actuator is controlled by vacuum, as are the brakes, although the vacuum only provides braking assistance (hence they work better when you are driving) any loss in vacuum pressure is likely to cause performance issues.