Audi A3 Glow Plug Light Flashing: Help!

Hello, I'm having a problem with my Audi A3 TDI. The water pump, timing belt, and head gasket have been replaced. The car runs again, but only when it's on, and about 30 seconds later, the glow plug warning light starts flashing!

Can anyone help me figure out what this might be or where I can look to find the error?



Thank you and best regards, Angi!

The error is located in the engine control unit.

Just have it read out (or have someone read it out).

Why was the entire unit replaced? The head gasket shouldn't be part of the regular service.

m;

"Yes, the head gasket on the 3-cylinder engine had blown, and the timing belt was already 12,000 km overdue! That's why we did everything at the same time. Is it possible to clear the memory by disconnecting the battery for a while?"

Um, I don't understand you right now.

Why do you just want to stick your head in the sand and mindlessly delete errors without knowing what they were?

Read, delete, and check if and when it reappears. Anything else, in my opinion, is a sloppy workaround.

m;

"Yes, I understand that. But the problem wasn't there before the change, and I thought there wouldn't be anything broken. So, I'll disconnect the battery and try to see if the problem goes away. If it comes back, then I know there's definitely a fault somewhere! I'd like to be able to drive the car, but I'm not sure if it will work or if something else will break."

Disconnecting the battery does not clear the error memory (the control unit does not have a constant power supply and is...).
It's off anyway after you park it!
After 50 attempts (without the error being resolved), it will automatically delete itself. However, since the light is always...
Assuming that the error reappears, I would assume that the problem still exists.
If you're lucky, only one of the brake pedal switches is misadjusted.
But it's all stored in the error memory .

Can anyone tell me where the glow plug relay is located in this A3?

Can anyone tell me where the glow plug relay is located on this A3?
Not from the head. However, the relay is independent of the lamp (or vice versa).

Best regards,
Rudi

Hello everyone,

In my case, the glow plug control display is directly sourced from the glow plug control unit (BOSCH 0281003 015). A blinking light doesn't trigger any error codes in the engine control unit; it indicates one or more faulty glow plugs. On this device, it's the middle connector where the glow plugs are connected. I was able to measure the current flow there and determined that there was no current flowing to cylinder 2. Be careful when taking measurements and use proper cables and measuring instruments, as the glow plug current can be up to 20 amps.
If it started happening after the repair, they might have removed the glow plugs and tightened them with too much torque, which can damage them and cause them to fail. This failure would then be indicated by a warning light. It's also possible that a cable wasn't reconnected properly.

Best regards, axel_f

axel_f wrote:

A flashing light does not indicate an error in the engine control unit; instead, it signifies one or more faulty glow plugs.

Hello Axel,

That might be true for your Fiat JTD. However, this is about an A3, which uses the glow plug filament as an error indicator for the engine control unit, not as an indicator of a glow plug defect.

Regards,
Guste.