2016 E Golf Charging Fault

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Zataralee

***
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Messages
3
I've had my E Golf for six months. It has 9k miles on it. Last week the locking mechanism that locks the charging door broke, then the other day it stopped charging. I took it to the dealership and they can't figure it out but they think it's a problem with the charging module or the battery. VW is flying in a VW specialist because they don't have any in my area (Spokane WA) ..... Meanwhile, I have no other mode of transportation other than a motorcycle.... But it's 45 degrees and raining... And they are not willing to provide a loaner car till their specialist determines if the warranty will cover it... Has anyone else had issues like this?
 
Are you getting any error in the display? A few have had the issue in the forum below:
http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=369
 
ultim8gamr said:
Are you getting any error in the display? A few have had the issue in the forum below:
http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=369

There are no errors at all. The charging light turns green, you hear the charger try to engage with a click under the hood. Then the light turns yellow, then green again, then yellow, then green, then yellow one last time, then red.
Update, VW is now saying the charging port needs to be changed out, and that the job requires pulling the battery from under the car to change the port... so NOW they are going to get me a loaner car. I'm starting to think if this can happen with a car that's 6 months old (we got it in 2017 as a NEW 2016 model at a reduced price) then I may want to move on quickly to another car.
 
I fail to see the logic of bailing on a car because one thing goes wrong. All cars are complex systems of mechanical and electrical components and sometimes they just fail. I would rather have it fail during warranty then after. I had a Ford Focus which I thought they were going to rebuild piece by piece as each month something failed. But they were all under warranty and afterwards the car was trouble free.

Hope it works out for you.
 
It's just frustration talking... But there is at least some concern when a new car starts to have issues so fast. Mostly because I found out AFTER we bought it that Washington isn't one of the states that VW sells this car in normally. It was shipped to my local dealer by mistake and should have gone to Oregon. I went in looking for a lease on one, and rather than tell me they don't lease them in this state, they tell me they don't normally have them on hand but they happen to have one that they were going to ship to Oregon... That they received it by mistake and I could test drive it while they work on what they would be selling it for since they had no intention of selling it here... Naturally they have me a good deal. $19,000 ... But my concern now is the fact that they don't have anybody here certified to work on them. VW had to fly somebody in for this issue. Parts are not readily available... It's great VW is taking care of us right now... But you're talking to a guy who works on my own stuff usually. I'm a fan of VW, a owner of Ducati motorcycles owned by VW, and frankly love everything about the company... Especially the boldness of diesel gate. Lol.. If I bailed it's because I bought it so I wouldn't have to worry about my wife's monthly gas consumption and car maintenance... And given she's driving a loaner Q3 Quattro, and we're having issues, it's looking just a little like we should have gone for a hybrid like the etron... Hindsight though...
 
Zataralee said:
It's just frustration talking... But there is at least some concern when a new car starts to have issues so fast. Mostly because I found out AFTER we bought it that Washington isn't one of the states that VW sells this car in normally. It was shipped to my local dealer by mistake and should have gone to Oregon. I went in looking for a lease on one, and rather than tell me they don't lease them in this state, they tell me they don't normally have them on hand but they happen to have one that they were going to ship to Oregon... That they received it by mistake and I could test drive it while they work on what they would be selling it for since they had no intention of selling it here... Naturally they have me a good deal. $19,000 ... But my concern now is the fact that they don't have anybody here certified to work on them. VW had to fly somebody in for this issue. Parts are not readily available... It's great VW is taking care of us right now... But you're talking to a guy who works on my own stuff usually. I'm a fan of VW, a owner of Ducati motorcycles owned by VW, and frankly love everything about the company... Especially the boldness of diesel gate. Lol.. If I bailed it's because I bought it so I wouldn't have to worry about my wife's monthly gas consumption and car maintenance... And given she's driving a loaner Q3 Quattro, and we're having issues, it's looking just a little like we should have gone for a hybrid like the etron... Hindsight though...

If you're VAG group loyal, and it sounds like you are... you'll learn that VW has a very slow methodical method of fixing or repairing their cars... they don't throw new parts blindly into the car until it gets fixed. Emphasis should be on slow and methodical. I'm certain that the specialist, who, BTW, gets flown out to fix A LOT of e-Golfs when it's battery or recharge related repairs, will get it fixed. The key is them having the spare parts in their warehouse down in Ontario CA, and getting the part up to your car in WA to be worked on. That takes time, VW doesn't stock these rarely failing parts in dealership inventory. So that takes some time also... That's just the way the Germans inventory parts and offer service their cars in the USA, vs the Motherland in Germany. Patience, grasshopper, patience.... I'm sure once this snafu is worked through, you'll be happy again with your e-Golf, though it does sound like you are piling on the miles on that BEV car kind of fast. VW prefers 7500 to 10,000 mile a year leases for a reason, that's what they think the car will handle annually without them having warranty repair claims on the battery. Take it as a "sign"
 
We are having a different problem with our on-board charger. The car worked fine for many months, but the last four times we plugged it in (three times at two Chargepoint stations, once on our home L2 charger), no current is drawn immediately and eventually the charging times out - we get a message from Chargepoint that charging is complete and 0 kWh were added. We unplug the car, re-initiate charging and it works fine and charges to completion.

Has anyone seen this problem? Anything in particular we should look for? Could be a timing or sensor issue? Would VW service see any codes indicating the problem? The "plug twice" workaround may be the best solution until the charger completely fails.
 
fyfchu said:
We are having a different problem with our on-board charger. The car worked fine for many months, but the last four times we plugged it in (three times at two Chargepoint stations, once on our home L2 charger), no current is drawn immediately and eventually the charging times out - we get a message from Chargepoint that charging is complete and 0 kWh were added. We unplug the car, re-initiate charging and it works fine and charges to completion.

Has anyone seen this problem? Anything in particular we should look for? Could be a timing or sensor issue? Would VW service see any codes indicating the problem? The "plug twice" workaround may be the best solution until the charger completely fails.

Possible problem is cold weather and stiff rubber O ring gaskets in the charging handle needing a very firm push into the plug in socket on the car. Happens most every year around this time.
 
Thanks for your response. Did it again yesterday - but since we are in California it is only 50-60 degrees - probably not cold enough to affect o-rings. Seems more like a timing/software/electronics fault since it charges fine on the second try even without unplugging the charger. Since no one else seems to have seen this fault, maybe it is unique to our car.
 
fyfchu said:
Thanks for your response. Did it again yesterday - but since we are in California it is only 50-60 degrees - probably not cold enough to affect o-rings. Seems more like a timing/software/electronics fault since it charges fine on the second try even without unplugging the charger. Since no one else seems to have seen this fault, maybe it is unique to our car.

I live in Southern California too, in fact, in the SFV. Cold days are when you'll notice the problem, it sounds like. Good luck, get firm grip on that handle and give it a good straight stiff shove in alignment, into the charging socket. 50 to 60F is cold enough to make the o ring a lot less pliant, especially when, like for example, my girlfriend tries to plug it in. I don't seem to have the problem, she does. Just saying...
 
JoulesThief said:
fyfchu said:
Thanks for your response. Did it again yesterday - but since we are in California it is only 50-60 degrees - probably not cold enough to affect o-rings. Seems more like a timing/software/electronics fault since it charges fine on the second try even without unplugging the charger. Since no one else seems to have seen this fault, maybe it is unique to our car.

I live in Southern California too, in fact, in the SFV. Cold days are when you'll notice the problem, it sounds like. Good luck, get firm grip on that handle and give it a good straight stiff shove in alignment, into the charging socket. 50 to 60F is cold enough to make the o ring a lot less pliant, especially when, like for example, my girlfriend tries to plug it in. I don't seem to have the problem, she does. Just saying...

I don't think it was temperature. It failed when it was 80 degrees here, so I finally gave up and went to a dealer last week. They said sure, they knew the problem for 2016s and a software update solved it. I had previously called VW central who never heard of the problem but they admitted they had no one with technical expertise in that office! Anyway, so far - so good - it has charged to completion without failing three times.

When I asked what the update did in addition to fixing the charging problem, the service advisor said he didn't know. Does anyone on the list know what updates TB 93 18 01 might do in addition to fixing the charging issue?
 
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