Unexplainable problem with the engine, ESP and EPC lights turn on?

Tiny
SANDU RS
  • MEMBER
  • 2013 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA HYBRID
  • 1.4L
  • 4 CYL
  • TURBO
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 160,000 MILES
Two things to mention first, car battery was tested and was at 27% health with 1% charge. The problem mostly occurs when I slide in snow/ice, in general when ESP comes on. On the dash appears EPC light and check hybrid system for 1 second, the engine sounds like it's going to fall off, vibrates very hard I can hear all the plastic covers vibrating to the side, almost like the engine has disconnected, that's the best I can imagine. When scanned, a fault appears on Camshaft position sensor. I changed the sensor, took it to a shop to get checked, they said the engine is in mint condition mechanically. What could this be? I should mention one thing I noticed, I can drive normally and nothing is wrong and as soon as the ESP kicks in for whatever reason and the check appears for a second and the engine sounds etc, the rest of the drive is very problematic, after this problems comes on once, it can persist through the drive even if ESP didn't show it kicked in.
Thursday, December 7th, 2023 AT 1:09 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,904 POSTS
This can happen when the engine is misfiring, have you changed out the spark plugs and coils? If not, this is where I would start, if the engine is not running well the ESP system can get mixed up and flash the ESP warning light. Here is a generic guide to help you step by step with instructions in the diagrams below to show you how to do the job on your car:

Torque spec: Spark Plug. 22 Nm

Check out the images (below). Please upload pictures or videos of the problem so we can see what's going on.
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Friday, December 8th, 2023 AT 11:16 AM
Tiny
SANDU RS
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Yes, the coil pack and spark plugs are pretty new. The problem isn't with the ESP. ESP works like it should to, when the car slides in snow, ESP kicks in, the question is why does the engine misfire for 1-2 seconds after ESP did its thing keeping the car straight. What I'm thinking right now is that because the battery is trash (27%health and where I'm at its below freezing outside) it doesn't have enough juice to power all the systems including the ESP and so it doesn't send enough or send incorrect voltage to the coil packs causing a misfire while ESP is working, after it's done everything comes back to normal. Can this be true? I don't want to keep changing everything until I find the problem.
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Saturday, December 9th, 2023 AT 11:06 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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Yep, good call, can I ask if this is a plug-in hybrid? If not, it sounds like the hybrid battery is bad. But we should run the CAN codes to see if any are stored. You can get a CAN scanner (Controller Area Network) which will work on most cars from Amazon.

Here is a video to show you how:
.

https://youtu.be/u-4syLc-ifQ

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/can-scan-controller-area-network-easy

To change the battery out you need to be trained and it takes an engine hoist to remove the battery because it is heavy. Here are the instructions on how to do the job I would read it over completely so you can see the job that needs to be done, Like I said though you need to be trained on this job to avoid personal injury. Before we do anything let's run the codes first to confirm the failure. Check out the images (below). Please let us know what happens.
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Monday, December 11th, 2023 AT 9:16 AM
Tiny
SANDU RS
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
The only code that comes up is camshaft position sensor. I changed my 12V battery today and no luck, maybe even worse. The misfire continues and now it's not even when ESP kicks in, it's just random, one time it was slow speed uphill start, another time when downshifted and slowly gave it gas. Just random couldn't find a pattern like it used to have only when ESP worked. I just can't figure it out, one time the car is perfect, left it for 2 weeks in the cold, started it and now has misfires. Today I bought a multimeter and tomorrow i'm going to strip apart the ignition pack, spark plugs and fuel injector to see their health. I just can't correlate one to another, how can a car be in great shape and after 2 weeks the coil packs are broken or the fuel injectors are clogged up, how?
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Monday, December 11th, 2023 AT 9:43 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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You could have cracked a spark plug which this problem sounds like, I would remove the spark plugs again for inspection. Also, I have seen defective spark plugs as well, FYI. Let's run the codes it might tell us which cylinder it is.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing
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Monday, December 11th, 2023 AT 10:32 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,904 POSTS
Let's run the codes it might tell us which cylinder it is.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

Please go over this guide and get back to us.
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Monday, December 11th, 2023 AT 10:34 AM

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