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Hi im new here, was out in my gf/s car the other day and the glow plug light started flashing on and of constantly at about 1 second pulses. i suspect one or more of the glow plugs are needing replaced. I had a quick look under the bonnet today but couldint see any glow plugs? Any ideas?, any replies much appreciated, thanks...

so you took off the cover and couldnt see any of the glow plugs? could be your injectors?

p9dyl wrote:Hi im new here, was out in my gf/s car the other day and the glow plug light started flashing on and of constantly at about 1 second pulses. i suspect one or more of the glow plugs are needing replaced. I had a quick look under the bonnet today but couldint see any glow plugs? Any ideas?, any replies much appreciated, thanks...

Thats funny as mine just started doing it, its not everytime though its done it twice in about 2 weeks. I think its just the cold if your not having any problems starting it. It if starts to do it all the time change your glow plugs. They arent as easy to change as sparks plugs though as they arent easy accessed like spark plugs are as far as i am aware

yea to remove glow plugs u need a special tool otherwise they could break whilst in there and then you're really screwed!

Thanks for the replies, ive changed loadsa glow plugs before, as im a mechanic on trucks, i was talking to someone who works at vw and he said this light doesent only indicate a glow plug fault?? As far as im aware thats what the symbol is used for as ive seen it loads before.

Has any1 changed the plugs before on the 1.4tdi?

polo power wrote:so you took off the cover and couldnt see any of the glow plugs? could be your injectors?

Think if it was injectors it would splutter and run irratic and the engine management light would be on rather than the glow plug light.

I took of the engine cover and couldint see any glow plugs which i found strange lol

Dont mean to be silly, and may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the PD engines dont have glow plugs, hence you dont have to wait for the light to go out before you start it. All modern diesels dont have plugs. Will check at work tommorrow.

vdubit wrote:Dont mean to be silly, and may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the PD engines dont have glow plugs, hence you dont have to wait for the light to go out before you start it. All modern diesels dont have plugs. Will check at work tommorrow.

That would explain why i cant find no plugs lol, so the glow plug light may be used as the engine management light? in saying that on cold days i think the glow plug light stays on longer, could be wrong tho...

firstly i have to wait for the symbol to go out before i start my engine and mines a PD.
secondly why don't u take the car to vw and let them plug it in because it could be something as simple as a faulty code which they could then reset and then end the flashing symbol on ur dash!

if its something else then they should be able to tell u what it is!

DanDiesel wrote:firstly i have to wait for the symbol to go out before i start my engine and mines a PD.
secondly why don't u take the car to vw and let them plug it in because it could be something as simple as a faulty code which they could then reset and then end the flashing symbol on ur dash!

if its something else then they should be able to tell u what it is!

I would rather try to find out myself than pay some silly money to get it on the diagnostic computer, ill keep that as a last resort.

A friend of a friend says the glow plug light comes on in the diesels if the brake light switch is faulty so i shall check that next.

have u had any luck with this mate?

Find an idepandant mechanic, my local one read my fault codes on vag.com for a tenner, saves a lot of messing about and it will tell you exactly what is the prob, or just phone your local dealer and ask them what the problem is and how much to get your codes read, might be cheaper than you think.