Hi,

So I have just bought a used VW Polo 1.4 TDI (2014). It has 150.000 kms on the clock. I used it for a couple of days and got hit with an overheating alert ("Motor too hot. Stop"). I had the circulation engine replaced and it was just okay. I tested it a lot and the overheating problem was fixed.

But today the yellow spring-like light came on flashing. I was doing 40-50 km/h at the time and was not even pushing the engine. Right after the light came on the car lost a lot of power. My guess is that it has something to do with the turbo. Because when the light is flashing the engine doesnt want to go full power around 1500-1600 rpms. Instead it just behaves like my old hyundai getz. I tried to turn the engine off and starting again and the light disappeared. With that the full power was back. So I did not think too much of it. But after going another 20-30 kms the light was back and again the car was behaving like a damn bicycle.

I googled a bit and learned it was the engine management light. What can that possibly mean. I spent too much already on the overheating problem and I am praying for this to be a small problem.

Does anyone have an idea?

The low power is what is known as 'limp mode', it is to protect the engine but allow slow driving to a garage. A common reason is a blocked DPF.

If you just bought this car take it back to the dealer and get them to fix it: you should have done this when it overheated, as these faults must have been present when sold, so the dealer is responsible for repairing them.

Edited by galileo on 17/02/2019 at 18:09

Usualy you get a dpf specific dash light if the dpf was at fault. My guess is that you need to clean the egr and check air dosage plates usualy located between the turbo and intake/egr.