Alahambra loss of power - Exhaust Worshop! error on dash

[DavidK]

SEAT Alhambra 1.9 TDi 115

I?m living in France now but thought I?d contact this forum because my french is nowhere near good enough to tackle a detailed technical discussion.

After travelling 1.5 ? 2 hours the car suffers a sudden loss of power with the screen message ??CHAPPEM. ATELIER!? which translates as ?Exhaust Workshop!?. If I stop and restart the car then it returns to full power, some times just for a few hundred metres other times for the rest of the day.

The next two or three days the message appears on screen but there is no loss of power and then it disappears to return on the next long journey.

The car was returned to the garage I bought it from but whatever they did only lasted for one journey and then the warranty ran out and they didn?t want to know anymore.

I have tried using a fuel additive turbo cleaner. The last visit to the UK, as it was two journeys of 1000km each I used one treatment for each journey ? but it had no effect.

I have a small error code reader but even when the warning light is on the dash it doesn?t show any error codes.

I took the car to a garage near here hoping they would have an idea but as the light wasn?t showing by the time of the appointment, and there was no error code to read, they did a couple of short test runs then said they couldn?t help.

I?m ready to sell the car but I can?t do it in good faith without tracking down this error first.

It can?t be anything much as the car runs fine most of the time ? has anyone any pointers for what to look at or renew in the hope of fixing this for good?

[SirDavidAlhambra]

A tricky one, could it be a lambda sensor fault or something like that?

[johnnyroper]

No lambda on an auy engine.

I would hazard a guess at a boost pressure issue,under boost or overboost triggering limp mode.
A vag specific reader is your best bet as generic readers won?t read manufacturer specific codes only generics.

Have a check round all the vac hoses and make sure no splits or cracks,also try driving with maf disconnected to see if things improve.

Also worth a clean of the map sensor and egr valve.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Impressive, I would go with Johnny?s suggestions for sure!! 

Please now ignore my comment about lambda sensor hehe

[brianh]

Does the Alhambra of that age have a DPF? If so the pressure sensor hoses that goto the exhaust could be worth a look over too.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Interesting observation - I think the Alhambs were first kitted out with DPFs in 2008 as it happens?

[johnnyroper]

From memory AUY doesn?t have a DPF they only started appearing on the 2.0pd engines,was an option initially then became standard feature. 1.9 never had DPF

[DavidK]

Thanks for your help so far.

At the moment I don't know what a maf, map sensor or egr valve are but I'll do my research and have a look at each of them.

In the end I'll go to a VW garage somewhere (I don't trusty the nearest one which is about 45 mins away as I have had poor and mediocre service from them) but that won't be until at least next month due to other commitments - that gives me time to have a look under the bonnet.

I'll let you know if there is any progress but as I only make one or two trips each year which trigger the problem it may be a while.

It will be nice to no longer be scared of overtaking a lorry on an uphill stretch for fear of losing power and having a line of cars behind flashing their lights at me - or even one case where it was a line of lorries and I was in their crawler lane at about 30 mph on the motorway.