Mk2 2008 Leon FR 2.0 TFSI 200 - intermittent faults, quotes

[outstandingwork]

Hi all,

Apologies in advance for the lengthy post. Some-time lurker and first-time poster here. I bought a used Mk2 2008 Leon FR 2.0 TFSI 200 last month with 40,000 miles on the clock (changed after four years with a Mk5 VW Golf GT 1.4 TSI 170) and, overall, am fairly happy with my purchase.. Even if it doesn’t have the lovely supercharger whine of the GT.. The Leon’s great, but in the short period that I’ve had it, there have been a couple of problems (listed below), and I wanted to call on some of the wisdom of the gurus of this forum.

History: I got the dealer – a small independent place in Uckfield – to check the cambelt status before the purchase, but didn’t explicitly (think I needed to) tell them to replace the water pump at the same time. When I did remember to ask, they would only quote me the price of getting it done separately. I think they were annoyed that I caught the cambelt to be honest, but they did at least do the belt without any further charge to me.

I had a quick go with my handheld VAG-COM scanner the day after I bought it (somehow managed to forget to do this beforehand), and found the following codes.

• 00256-036 A-C Pressure-Temperature Sensor G395 Sporadic 004
• 00576-044 Terminal 15 Sporadic 012 Electrical Fault Circuit
• 00883-044 Ignition Switch D Terminal S Sporadic 012 Electrical Fault
• 01089-034 Switch for Tensioning Strut Stowed F204 Sporadic 002-Lower
• 01135-036 Interior Monitoring Sensors Sporadic 004

Then, a few days later, the temperature gauge reading started to climb while I was driving around town, and the cooling fans did not kick in until the temperature gauge had reached 115°C. It did this several times, while driving slowly, sitting in traffic, and parked up with engine idling. At one point, the engine actually cut itself out whilst idling. Luckily I'd spotted the temp gauge creeping up, and had pulled over to park minutes earlier. It would then not turn back on for some time.

I’ve been up to VAGtech in Milton Keynes to have the car looked at, and it turns out the front brakes were pretty seriously corroded (with noticeable loss of material from the outer 2cm circumference of the inside face of the discs), and they recommended I had them taken care of straight away. I got them done, but am annoyed at having had to do this so soon into ownership!

VAGtech also suggested the following repairs:

1. getting a new water pump (annoyingly meaning another new cambelt as well) - I've had a bit of a search: do new OEM pumps with plastic impellers still suffer the same disintegration as the old ones?);
2. having a new ignition switch supplied, fitted, and coded in (hopefully just the electrics rather than having to refit the barrel);
3. having a new carbon canister, evap hose and evap valve fitted.

I’ll be getting these looked at in roughly that order (not sure exactly how significant each one is, but quotes for all three vary between £700 and £850), and I’m fitting a new headunit this weekend, so it’ll be an expensive month! Hopefully I’ll soon be able to divert my attention to panel filters, intakes, and maybe some other more exciting upgrades.

Does anyone out there have ideas about whether/when to get these faults looked at? And the best place to get them done? So far I’ve been to VAGtech, and obtained quotes from Seat West London (not great rep online) and Russell Automotive Centre (expensive, but potentially worth it?).

Thanks in advance, guys.

 

[mike0105]

Have you considered going back to the place you purchased the car from and insisting they resolve it all under warranty? If not you could reject the car as long as the faults were not made clear to you at the time of purchase. The car needs to be fit for purpose and as described at the point of sale. It does not sound like it is to me.

I would get the water pump done as a matter of urgency to prevent damage to the engine.

 

[outstandingwork]

Have you considered going back to the place you purchased the car from and insisting they resolve it all under warranty? If not you could reject the car as long as the faults were not made clear to you at the time of purchase. The car needs to be fit for purpose and as described at the point of sale. It does not sound like it is to me.

I would get the water pump done as a matter of urgency to prevent damage to the engine.

Cheers mike0105 (and well done for making it through that novel up there).

I'm gathering information at the moment, but am indeed planning on doing exactly that.

Where it gets a bit more complicated is that the dealer was annoyed to find some gearbox issues with the car I sold them as part-exchange, so, in a surprise turn of events, they have actually asked for £230 contribution from me.. I've told them that I'd look into the Leon's errors before continuing. If I had been considering a goodwill gesture of payment earlier, my £300 expense for the front brakes has cemented my position.

As for getting them to carry out the work under warranty (such as it is), I don't have a lot of faith in their chosen garage either to be honest, given that those shocking front brakes made it through their '66-point pre-sale check'.. And they definitely took the wheels off to refurb the alloys, so no excuses there. Odd that they didn't do the pump when they were doing the cambelt..

I would like to get the pump done, agreed. Especially if there's a chance that the gauge isn't reporting the temperature correctly in the first place. Thanks for the advice!

I'm taking an RAC/AA tech with me to the next car I buy, even if it's from a dealer..

 

[outstandingwork]

Bit of an update: I've noticed that, instead of/as well as the water pump, the cooling fan controller could be the problem. The fans don't seem to kick into the low-duty cycle on every occasion that they should, meaning that the engine starts to overheat.. The fans then stay motionless until the temperature gets high enough for the high-duty cycle to kick in.. at which point they engage 'jet mode' (sometimes when engine running, sometimes after parking up and switching off). Seems to be independent of what I do with the AC/heater. The temperature does drop fairly quickly back to 90°C when jet mode engages.

I'll be looking into VAG specialist quotes for getting the fans looked at, as well as the water pump. It's just annoying how intermittent the faults are!

 

[ThirdLeon]

Hi all,

Apologies in advance for the lengthy post. Some-time lurker and first-time poster here. I bought a used Mk2 2008 Leon FR 2.0 TFSI 200 last month with 40,000 miles on the clock (changed after four years with a Mk5 VW Golf GT 1.4 TSI 170) and, overall, am fairly happy with my purchase.. Even if it doesn’t have the lovely supercharger whine of the GT.. The Leon’s great, but in the short period that I’ve had it, there have been a couple of problems (listed below), and I wanted to call on some of the wisdom of the gurus of this forum.

History: I got the dealer – a small independent place in Uckfield – to check the cambelt status before the purchase, but didn’t explicitly (think I needed to) tell them to replace the water pump at the same time. When I did remember to ask, they would only quote me the price of getting it done separately. I think they were annoyed that I caught the cambelt to be honest, but they did at least do the belt without any further charge to me.

I had a quick go with my handheld VAG-COM scanner the day after I bought it (somehow managed to forget to do this beforehand), and found the following codes.

• 00256-036 A-C Pressure-Temperature Sensor G395 Sporadic 004
• 00576-044 Terminal 15 Sporadic 012 Electrical Fault Circuit
• 00883-044 Ignition Switch D Terminal S Sporadic 012 Electrical Fault
• 01089-034 Switch for Tensioning Strut Stowed F204 Sporadic 002-Lower
• 01135-036 Interior Monitoring Sensors Sporadic 004

Then, a few days later, the temperature gauge reading started to climb while I was driving around town, and the cooling fans did not kick in until the temperature gauge had reached 115°C. It did this several times, while driving slowly, sitting in traffic, and parked up with engine idling. At one point, the engine actually cut itself out whilst idling. Luckily I'd spotted the temp gauge creeping up, and had pulled over to park minutes earlier. It would then not turn back on for some time.

I’ve been up to VAGtech in Milton Keynes to have the car looked at, and it turns out the front brakes were pretty seriously corroded (with noticeable loss of material from the outer 2cm circumference of the inside face of the discs), and they recommended I had them taken care of straight away. I got them done, but am annoyed at having had to do this so soon into ownership!

VAGtech also suggested the following repairs:

1. getting a new water pump (annoyingly meaning another new cambelt as well) - I've had a bit of a search: do new OEM pumps with plastic impellers still suffer the same disintegration as the old ones?);
2. having a new ignition switch supplied, fitted, and coded in (hopefully just the electrics rather than having to refit the barrel);
3. having a new carbon canister, evap hose and evap valve fitted.

I’ll be getting these looked at in roughly that order (not sure exactly how significant each one is, but quotes for all three vary between £700 and £850), and I’m fitting a new headunit this weekend, so it’ll be an expensive month! Hopefully I’ll soon be able to divert my attention to panel filters, intakes, and maybe some other more exciting upgrades.

Does anyone out there have ideas about whether/when to get these faults looked at? And the best place to get them done? So far I’ve been to VAGtech, and obtained quotes from Seat West London (not great rep online) and Russell Automotive Centre (expensive, but potentially worth it?).

Thanks in advance, guys.

I know this is an old post but just curious if you solved this?

I have the ignition switch fault codes and recently have had trouble with temperature and fans.
My fans never kick in and although I've replaced both temp sensors, tested thermostat - the car does not register coolant temp at all.
It revs higher on idle and is using too much fuel.

I'm interested to know if the ignition switch fault could be the cause