EPC + ASR = WTF?

External Since: Jul 26, 2005 Posts: 52

I have an '02 Passat GLS wagon with the 1.8T engine.

Driving home from work this afternoon, just as I got off the freeway and
slowed to 35MPH or so, the EPC and ASR lights came on. Engine speed
dropped to about 1000RPM and would not respond to the throttle. I was
just able to limp to the curb without getting smashed by other traffic.

Thinking that the walk the rest of the way home in -4F + wind wasn't
going to be nice, I shut off the engine, crossed my fingers and started
it again. This time only the ASR light was on and the car seemed to
drive just fine. The ASR light did not respond to the ASR switch on the
dash.

In the garage, I shut it down and restarted again, and this time both
EPC and ASR lights were off. The ASR light went on and off with the ASR
switch.

I see a few references to the EPC light in various places, all of which
claimed to be related to a brake switch failure or something related.

This behavior seems a bit severe for such a minor problem.

It's going into the shop tomorrow (if I can make it that far), but would
anybody care to venture a remote diagnosis?

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert RemoveThis @iphouse.com

External Since: Jan 19, 2008 Posts: 130

I am not a lover of the DBW stuff.....at least not yet!

You will probably need a vag-com tool in order to see what is not
functioning correctly.
Maybe a wheel sensor?
I am unfamiliar with these systems except that if the wheels are not moving
around the same amount of speed then you might not be able to accelerate
until the system goes into limp mode.

Gee there was an "Unintended Acceleration" recall/problem and now you have
an "Unintended Deceleration" problem!
I am sure that it is a side effect of so-called "safety" systems. 8^o

BTW that sounds DANGEROUS and I would expect a recall if more people
experience this type of problem.
You might want to document this issue and take it to your local VW dealer.
Start a paper trail.

JMHO
--
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)

"Bert Hyman" <bert.RemoveThis@iphouse.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A34BE4958D7AVeebleFetzer@216.250.184.7...
>I have an '02 Passat GLS wagon with the 1.8T engine.
>
> Driving home from work this afternoon, just as I got off the freeway and
> slowed to 35MPH or so, the EPC and ASR lights came on. Engine speed
> dropped to about 1000RPM and would not respond to the throttle. I was
> just able to limp to the curb without getting smashed by other traffic.
>
> Thinking that the walk the rest of the way home in -4F + wind wasn't
> going to be nice, I shut off the engine, crossed my fingers and started
> it again. This time only the ASR light was on and the car seemed to
> drive just fine. The ASR light did not respond to the ASR switch on the
> dash.
>
> In the garage, I shut it down and restarted again, and this time both
> EPC and ASR lights were off. The ASR light went on and off with the ASR
> switch.
>
> I see a few references to the EPC light in various places, all of which
> claimed to be related to a brake switch failure or something related.
>
> This behavior seems a bit severe for such a minor problem.
>
> It's going into the shop tomorrow (if I can make it that far), but would
> anybody care to venture a remote diagnosis?
>
> --
> Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert.RemoveThis@iphouse.com