# Undiagnosable EPC light on 2018 Tiguan S



## cahrens (Jun 5, 2018)

I got the EPC light on my 2018 Tiguan S within four days of getting it. The light came up and made some beeping noise. I was going 40mph in a 40 zone, so I just figured that I would look it up when I got home. I turned right onto a 50mph road, and realized that the car wasn't accelerating. After about a minute with the pedal to the floor, it finally reached 40mph, but couldn't go any faster. It was rush hour. People were going around me. At the next light, I restarted the car, and the light went away, and I was able to drive home normally. I called the dealership, and they said that if it happened again, to make an appointment.

The exact same time the next day, 4pm after work, the same thing. But this time, I made a right turn toward the dealership. I pulled into the dealership with the EPC light on. They took the car, gave me a loaner, and kept it for the weekend. I got it back, but they couldn't find anything wrong with it. I guess the EPC light is pretty common in VWs, and not being able to diagnose the EPC light is also pretty common in VWs.

So I've never owned a VW before, and I've never experienced anything like this with any other new car, where they couldn't diagnose a problem. What are my next steps? Do I just wait until it happens again, and then take it to the dealer? I brought the car in last time with the EPC light on so they can diagnose it, but the mechanic reset the light and couldn't find any problems. I guess they did plug in a ODB reader or something that told them that it was some camshaft problem. Then they drove it around some more over the weekend, and couldn't get the EPC light to come back on. I'm not too worried about it. I'm just using it to go back and forth to and from work and to go workout during lunch. It's just inconvenient for me. I spent more time at the VW service department in the last week than I spent in both the GM and Acura service departments in the last 3 years. My wife, on the other hand is pretty pissed because now she can't trust me to run the kids around to their activities in an unreliable car.


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## Lothar1566 (Jan 27, 2018)

Had the same problem. I love this car, and being new I expected a few problems. Had one, the EPC light. Same as you I took it to the dealer and they could not find an issue. Replaced a sensor the second time, no dice. The third time, they replaced the engine wiring harness, after they called in a VW factory guy . Trouble free since then about 8K miles.


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## Rafale (Sep 14, 2017)

To me this is straightforward

I would not accept my car back knowing that it is still defective

It's their job to figure it out. I would let them keep it and if after 30 days pass, I would automatically start the lemon process

The lemon law is very strict regarding unrepairable problems...


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## gerardrjj (Sep 4, 2014)

Sounds like limp mode since it's reset when you restart the engine. In my older VW I know it's common for that to be caused by both over and under boost from the turbo.
It would be nice to get a DTC read while the issue is happening, the result should pin-point the reason for the transient issue. If you can get it to happen again drive to the nearest auto store that does free scans and see what comes up (AutoZone I know does that). 
In my '04 Golf TDI I'll get that if I stomp on the the throttle to hard, too long and I just clear the code with my scan tool without cycling the ignition and off I go at full power again.


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## cahrens (Jun 5, 2018)

gerardrjj said:


> Sounds like limp mode since it's reset when you restart the engine. In my older VW I know it's common for that to be caused by both over and under boost from the turbo.
> It would be nice to get a DTC read while the issue is happening, the result should pin-point the reason for the transient issue. If you can get it to happen again drive to the nearest auto store that does free scans and see what comes up (AutoZone I know does that).
> In my '04 Golf TDI I'll get that if I stomp on the the throttle to hard, too long and I just clear the code with my scan tool without cycling the ignition and off I go at full power again.


Haha. Yes, I have owned both a CJ-7 and a TJ model Jeep Wranglers. I still have my ODBII tool that I can use to pull up the code. I had to give up my TJ when my kids were born because I just didn't have time to work on cars anymore. But when I did get a code, it was easily diagnosed - upstream O2 sensor, downstream O2 sensor, transmission lock solenoid, etc. I've leased new cars since then, and haven't had any problems. I pay a little more, but I like the peace of mind that comes with driving a new car.

I actually took the Tiguan into the dealership with the EPC light; drove there at 40mph during rush hour with a bunch of pissed off people behind me. They pulled the code, and it had something to do with the camshaft. And then instead of fixing it, they reset it, tried to reproduce it over the weekend, and then just gave me back to me, and told me that if it happens again, to bring it in. That was actually the second time that the EPC light came on. If it was the first, I would feel a little better about it. Now I just have anxiety that my it's going to happen again, when I have kids in the car with somewhere important to go.


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## hawker800mech (Sep 5, 2016)

*Camshaft Sensor*

We are having the same issue with our two week old Tiguan S. EPC light and shows it’s the camshaft position sensor. Second time into the dealer and a sensor is on order. The light is more frequent and wife will restart the car to clear it. Hopefully VW doesn’t have a vendor issue with this part and we keep seeing it. It will be back tomorrow to have the part changed. I wish they just put the GTI engine in this thing like the ROW Tiguans - they would sell a ton of them. My MK7 stage 2 GTI got 31 mpg.


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## cahrens (Jun 5, 2018)

hawker800mech said:


> We are having the same issue with our two week old Tiguan S. EPC light and shows it’s the camshaft position sensor. Second time into the dealer and a sensor is on order. The light is more frequent and wife will restart the car to clear it. Hopefully VW doesn’t have a vendor issue with this part and we keep seeing it. It will be back tomorrow to have the part changed. I wish they just put the GTI engine in this thing like the ROW Tiguans - they would sell a ton of them. My MK7 stage 2 GTI got 31 mpg.


I'm so sorry that it's happening to your wife's car. I don't think my wife would put up with it. My EPC light came on again yesterday; third time. So hopefully, they dealer will change out the sensor or something. Please keep me updated. I think we may have the same issue. Hopefully, it is just a faulty sensor, and not something really wrong with the camshaft itself. I'll keep my status updated as well.


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## autostrophic (Aug 23, 2011)

cahrens said:


> I'm so sorry that it's happening to your wife's car. I don't think my wife would put up with it. My EPC light came on again yesterday; third time. So hopefully, they dealer will change out the sensor or something. Please keep me updated. I think we may have the same issue. Hopefully, it is just a faulty sensor, and not something really wrong with the camshaft itself. I'll keep my status updated as well.


Did you also see the CEL flashing or just EPC?


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## cahrens (Jun 5, 2018)

autostrophic said:


> Did you also see the CEL flashing or just EPC?


No. Just the EPC light and some message about how rpm is limited to 3000rpms. When I first saw it, I was driving in a 40mph zone. Everything seemed fine so I was just going to look up "EPC" when I got home. Then when I made a right turn on red (after a full stop), and it went 0 to 40mph in 60 seconds with a bunch of angry drivers behind me is when I realized that there was a problem. The first time, I restarted the car at a traffic light, and the EPC light cleared. The next couple of times, I just drove it directly to the dealership. I would imagine that I could have cleared it myself by restarting the car again.


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## hawker800mech (Sep 5, 2016)

cahrens said:


> I'm so sorry that it's happening to your wife's car. I don't think my wife would put up with it. My EPC light came on again yesterday; third time. So hopefully, they dealer will change out the sensor or something. Please keep me updated. I think we may have the same issue. Hopefully, it is just a faulty sensor, and not something really wrong with the camshaft itself. I'll keep my status updated as well.


Wife took it into the dealer and got the EPC light two times before she got there. Restarting cleared the light. They replaced the Intake Cam Sensor. It had fault code P0342 for reference. She’s started it three times since and has not gotten the EPC light - fingers crossed.


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## cahrens (Jun 5, 2018)

I just got mine back. My code was P0367 for camshaft sensor B. They replaced the G300 camshaft sensor. I'm hoping I won't have to see the service department again until my 10k service. If I get the EPC light again, I'll update. Otherwise, it means it's fixed.


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