EPC light issues
Hello all. Last November I bought a 2016 Golf SE TSI 1.8T with only 45,000 miles from Audi Beverly Hills. It’s a beautiful car, the previous owner kept it in great condition, and it came with a full service history through Volkswagen. This is my first attempt at owning something not Japanese and I’ve absolutely loved driving it for the last 9 months, but it’s starting to act a bit strange on me.
Three times now I’ve had the EPC light come on under very similar conditions. Each time, the engine was still relatively cold and I was taking off from a stop somewhat aggressively. It almost feels like traction control is kicking in, the car briefly loses power and there may be a slight shudder. As soon as I let off the gas and get back on it, the car drives normally again, although the EPC light stays on solid.
If I pull over, shut the car off, and restart it, the EPC light goes away and the car drives completely normally again.
I have OBDeleven and I got the recurring codes of P03A500 (Cylinder 2 Pressure Too High), P03AF00 (Cylinder 3 Pressure Too High), and P130A00 (Hide Cylinder). Interestingly, the same two cylinders keep coming up.
Last night, however, something different happened. I got in after work and started the car, and it immediately went into limp mode and the EPC light came on again. I did not drive it. I shut the car off and restarted it, and the warning disappeared.
OBDeleven showed a new P00B700 (Engine Coolant Flow Low/Performance) fault. My coolant level is right where it should be and the temperature gauge has always been normal. There is no record of the water pump ever being replaced so I’m most likely on the original still.
I’ve also noticed that the car sometimes has a slower-than-normal crank when starting, and OBDeleven has previously shown random stored faults for things like the windows and TPMS that never triggered any warning on the dash. The optimistic side of me wonders if a weak battery/low voltage could be contributing to some of these weird faults?
I’m planning on taking it to a VW dealer for proper diagnosis first because I also found a VW TSB that appears to address the P03A5/P03AF codes on the 1.8T that involves an ECM flash before replacing anything so id like to try that. I’m curious whether anyone with a similar Golf has experienced this or knows what could be causing it.
Any insight would be appreciated.