Assuming it's a UK-spec facelift, it won't have a catalytic converter, so it seems likely that the warning light you're referring to is the DPF warning light.

It will depend on the exact nature of the fault, but the thing you need to be aware is that active DPF regeneration on a facelift requires that the EGR valve is working. The frequency of regeneration varies according to a number of factors, but if my 2013 Kombi is anything to go by, regenerations typically take place every 150-200 miles.

So, if you drive 1000 miles and no regenerations can take place, it's likely that the DPF will become very heavily loaded with soot long before you get home. At the least damaging, it would be running very badly by the time you got home, or at most it will result in permanent damage to the DPF.

However, depending on driving style, it may still be possible for passive regeneration to occur, and this may prevent the DPF from blocking. To maximise the chance of this happening, it's best to thrash it a little bit, rather than driving slowly. You don't need to drive fast, but it is likely to help to keep engine revs higher than you would otherwise.

In your position I would want to know a bit more about the fault before driving it any distance - specifically: is it intermittent or permanent, and is it preventing the EGR valve from operating at all, or just impeding its operation?

 

try driving the van for a couple of miles whilst keeping the revs above 3000,this forces the dpf to re-gen.if the egr has gone then you can buy a new one from an ebay seller in the uk,should cost about £230 and take you about 90 minutes to swap it.

 

Do not even think about it. I have just sold ours but in the early years the 2010 to 2012 models had the egr issue. I was traveling the country and had same issue. called rac and the guy said the same thing "its ok to drive" ended up with having to have a new cylinder head, timing belt, water pump etc etc. Take it in and replace the valve. Instead of £3k it should cos about £700, good luck T:

 

Every time I hear someone suggest to "thrash it" to clear the DPF it is clear they have no idea! Remember before diesel particulate filters when you floored the throttle in a diesel there would be a belch of smoke from the exhaust.... well that is what is getting filtered out by the DPF. Driving with moderate throttle and a warm engine (so no short runs) means there is hardly any soot produced and the DPF regeneration cycles will be few and far between. Sure to regenerate the system needs to be hot so it will not happen when trundling along an A road at 50 mph in 6th gear, but there is no need and no point to thrash it! THe motorway at 70 mph will do just fine.

 

Every time I hear someone suggest to "thrash it" to clear the DPF it is clear they have no idea!

I think maybe you missed the fact that the system that's a critical part of active DPF regeneration is probably not working.

I did not say that under normal circumstances it ever helps the DPF to thrash the engine.

What I'm suggesting in this specific situation is that the OP uses higher revs than normal to increase the chance of passive regeneration happening, even though the EGR valve is probably not working correctly.

As above, my personal recommendation is the same as Cocoa's - don't drive it any distance until you're sure exactly what the problem is.

 

Prior to visiting the garage I’d read posts suggesting running with higher revs and threw caution to the wind and gave it a go for half an hour up the motorway to the garage. Car still pulled strongly, no smoke or anything untoward. Garage man said it takes 45 mins anyway so not sure what effect it had. Warning light didn’t go out which is what I was hoping for.

Warning light is def listed as cat converter and not the dpf ones below. It is Uk T5 diesel but hard copy manual also talks about petrol variants. I’d never heard of dpf in last 6 years we’ve owned it, it just runs perfectly and don’t even know if it has cat converter in it.

I hear your warnings but I have to risk getting it home as we’ve spent all our money. We’ve got breakdown insurance so I guess if it packs up we can call them.

 

Warning light is def listed as cat converter and not the dpf ones below. It is Uk T5 diesel but hard copy manual also talks about petrol variants. I’d never heard of dpf in last 6 years we’ve owned it, it just runs perfectly and don’t even know if it has cat converter in it.

I agree, the owner's manual is confusing. So I guess you have a warning light in yellow that looks roughly like the shape of an engine? On a diesel engined facelift, that cannot refer to a catalytic converter, because a facelifted T5 diesel doesn't have one. In the UK it would not have been possible to buy a facelifted diesel without a DPF. If you have doubts, just look at the exhaust immediately behind the engine, and then you will know for sure.

I may be clutching at straws but certainly my driving style has changed while driving around Sweden for last few days. Short runs with many speed restrictions as you pass through villages mean I have been in high gears with low revs often . Could the valve be clogged rather than broken? Can the computer read out from the garage tell me either way? Presumably the thing is buried deep in the engine bay and made of solid gold to warrant such a high price?

On a facelift the EGR valve generally doesn't block up of its own accord. The most common failure is condensation accumulating at the top of the valve and rotting away the electronic control board. The diagnostic codes probably won't give any detail about how the valve has failed - they will just indicate that it is not functioning correctly.

As I said earlier, if the DPF blocks with soot and cannot regenerate, it's likely that the DPF will eventually need to be replaced - at VW dealer prices, this is a very expensive repair.

Having said that, the error text that you refer to above suggests that it might refer to one of the control valves that is external to the EGR valve. If it does, that should (in theory) not be too expensive to replace or repair.

 

I may be clutching at straws but certainly my driving style has changed while driving around Sweden for last few days. Short runs with many speed restrictions as you pass through villages mean I have been in high gears with low revs often . Could the valve be clogged rather than broken? Can the computer read out from the garage tell me either way? Presumably the thing is buried deep in the engine bay and made of solid gold to warrant such a high price?

 

This might help?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bOlDFFhuPM&t=725s

 

Thanks for all your advice guys- very helpful. We are on the way back now and are over the bridge and in Denmark. The light hasn’t come on (yet!) will keep you

 

Posted. Fingers crossed

 

I ran my 2012 T5 for over 100k before I changed it.
In fact, I had a little less power after I did so I slightly regretted doing it.

 

This video by Andy is spot on in the way he changes it.
Was invaluable to me when I had to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0AhVX-CefY

 

I will check the vid when I get home - thanks. We made it to Germany today and it didn’t miss a bit but after crawling through some slow roads for 50 miles the engine management warning light came on after a misfire. It then went into limp mode and wouldn’t rev above 1500rpm. After 50 miles on motorway we pulled off for a stop and after switching back on the warning light disappeared and she is revving freely again. Some kind of reset. So I think we are seeing a pattern. It couldn’t be anything to do with using Swedish diesel could it? It’s also 29 degrees here today. Was ready to throw towel in and call breakdown insurance but will now risk going further but avoiding slow roads.

 

Yay - we made it back to the UK. No further warning lights or malfunction. Wondering now wether to book its annual service at expensive VW garage or my usual local friendly independent. Thanks for all the advice along the way.

 

Thanks for all your advice guys. we got home ok but the light came on again following short trips and it failed MOT on emissions so we had little choice but to have a new one fitted. Not cheap are they! Garage man said it's a common fault - thanks VW. Next time instead of fiddling emission figures and polluting the planet why not spend the money on good engineering.