Our 2002 Jetta TDI has a recurring Malfunction Indicator Lamp (so called in the owner's manual, the engine-shaped yellow lamp on the speedometer face). Vehicle was purchased in May, under the Certified Pre-Owned program, with 30,000 miles (a lease termination); we've put 10,000 miles on it since.
About a month ago, the MIL lamp came on steady during our commute home. We stopped immediately, read the manual to learn that it was OK to drive unless it began flashing, and drove gingerly home (three quarters of our 40-mile commute remained). The lamp came on steady again, 20 to
30 seconds after restart.Next morning, the lamp illuminated steady, 20 to 30 seconds after cold startup, so we took it right to the dealership. Performance was unaffected.
The dealership discovered the coolant was low, and -- furthermore -- someone had put the wrong coolant (yellow-green instead of pink) into the cooling system. The service manager claimed '02 TDIs tend to have a recurring problem with low-volume coolant losses, and insisted that his technicians drained and flushed our cooling system, putting in the correct (G12?) coolant.
This past Friday (less than 5,000 miles later), the MIL lamp illuminated steady, just after warm restart, at the end of our commute to work.
I checked the coolant level at it was rather low. Adding coolant up to the "max" line did not help; the MIL lamp came back on 20 - 30 seconds after cold start. Once again, performance seems totally unaffected.
Only service actions since the dealership did the coolant change: an oil change, and replacement of the paper air filter element with a K-N filter element (both by me personally).
The dealership service section cannot squeeze us into their schedule for at least another week, but the technician assured us we may drive the car in the interim with no risk.
Are these people playing games, or being flippant about risk levels?
How often does a steady MIL lamp indication change into a flashing one, and why?
Thanks
cbdr