This is my first post, so I will try to make it easy to understand.
I am the first and only owner of a beautiful candy white 2010 GTI. About two months ago I started getting a very rough idle and the car was misfiring, about a day later I got the dreaded CEL. It was to the point the car would shake vigorously and seemed like it would stall but never did. I didn’t have a choice at the time, so I had to take it to my friendly neighborhood VW stealer ship. I was also fast approaching my 80K service, so I tacked on the DSG fluid and filter change with them as well.
They had the car for like two days, and found out a few things. It was like 2 months ago, so I might be missing a few details. They found a bad intake manifold, this had an extended warranty covered by VW, so I was lucky. The service technician recommended I get a decarb service as well since they were already in there and would not charge for the labor to get in there. (She mentioned the CEL could come back if I didn’t do this) I reluctantly said yes. There was also a leaking valve cover gasket and a crankcase breather valve I would have to pay to get replaced. I just wanted my car back and said OK to everything. After picking up my car it drove like the very first day all over again.
During the same week I thought it would be a good idea to just do everything else that was left for the 80K service. I have a friend that likes to do this kind of stuff, so we took care of the Oil and filter change and also replaced the fuel filter.
About a week later I started smelling a foul smell coming from somewhere. At first, I didn’t even realize it was from the car. It smelled like something was burning. After a few occasions of me smelling around my car I finally located the source. It was coming from the exhaust. It was horrible, I called the dealership to let them know and was told this was normal after the decarb service. She said if it continued for another week or so to bring it in. So of course, it continued for like 2 weeks and I had no choice but to bring it in again. After a few hours they said they found a bit of fluid on the engine bay and cleaned it up. They couldn’t find anything else and said it might still be the decarb process burning off some leftovers. They said to drive it for another few weeks and return in a month if it’s not gone by then. Of course, it’s now a month and the smells are just as bad.
I am now worried about going to the dealer again, is there any chance this could have been me and my buddy changing the fuel filter? I don’t want that to be the case and then get charged another arm and a leg because of all the technical checks they’ve had to do. Any help here would be greatly appreciated, and I am so very sorry for the long post.
TLDR: My car smells bad!
I am the first and only owner of a beautiful candy white 2010 GTI. About two months ago I started getting a very rough idle and the car was misfiring, about a day later I got the dreaded CEL. It was to the point the car would shake vigorously and seemed like it would stall but never did. I didn’t have a choice at the time, so I had to take it to my friendly neighborhood VW stealer ship. I was also fast approaching my 80K service, so I tacked on the DSG fluid and filter change with them as well.
They had the car for like two days, and found out a few things. It was like 2 months ago, so I might be missing a few details. They found a bad intake manifold, this had an extended warranty covered by VW, so I was lucky. The service technician recommended I get a decarb service as well since they were already in there and would not charge for the labor to get in there. (She mentioned the CEL could come back if I didn’t do this) I reluctantly said yes. There was also a leaking valve cover gasket and a crankcase breather valve I would have to pay to get replaced. I just wanted my car back and said OK to everything. After picking up my car it drove like the very first day all over again.
During the same week I thought it would be a good idea to just do everything else that was left for the 80K service. I have a friend that likes to do this kind of stuff, so we took care of the Oil and filter change and also replaced the fuel filter.
About a week later I started smelling a foul smell coming from somewhere. At first, I didn’t even realize it was from the car. It smelled like something was burning. After a few occasions of me smelling around my car I finally located the source. It was coming from the exhaust. It was horrible, I called the dealership to let them know and was told this was normal after the decarb service. She said if it continued for another week or so to bring it in. So of course, it continued for like 2 weeks and I had no choice but to bring it in again. After a few hours they said they found a bit of fluid on the engine bay and cleaned it up. They couldn’t find anything else and said it might still be the decarb process burning off some leftovers. They said to drive it for another few weeks and return in a month if it’s not gone by then. Of course, it’s now a month and the smells are just as bad.
I am now worried about going to the dealer again, is there any chance this could have been me and my buddy changing the fuel filter? I don’t want that to be the case and then get charged another arm and a leg because of all the technical checks they’ve had to do. Any help here would be greatly appreciated, and I am so very sorry for the long post.
TLDR: My car smells bad!
