Charge plug not locking at all

[JoulesThief]

Nope, just grabbed the door handle to unlock, and sat down to let the charge cycle complete itself. What I didn't realize was that at 98%+ charge, the charging wouldn't resume and the system would throw a fault. I don't try to charge unless the battery is at least 1/16 depleted, but never thought the eGolf would actively refuse to complete a charge cycle after pausing for 30 seconds when unlocked.

Take the keyfob, and lock the car. Walk around to the charger port. Take the keyfob and press "unlock" on the keyfob twice.That should unlatch the handle, provided you put the handle all the way back in to the port, first, other wise it binds, releasing the pin. This has always worked for me... Car has to be and should be locked when not in use, and when charging, even in the garage, to shut off all the peripheral electrics on a VW.

If that doesn't work, then you really do have problems. It's important to always push the charger handle back IN fully if it doesn't come out due to the locked pin, before locking the car, and then trying again via the keyfob unlock button.

Trust me, I tried everything. If this happens to you, it's not a matter of locking and unlocking via the key fob, or the driver's door lock, or the "emergency release" procedure in the owner's manual. The root of the issue is the charge fault. I should never have unlocked the car while it was almost completed with charging, without immediately disconnecting the plug. Once that fault happens, no normal unlock process or pull/push of the charge plug will interrupt the fault cycle. It really is a problem without an emergency release on the locking pin.

Do you have any regrets buying it and having it shipped to Florida now?

 

[Sparky]

Do you have any regrets buying it and having it shipped to Florida now?

No regrets. I was an early Touareg TDI owner, and this pales in comparison to the efforts VW made to get those right. You learn to expect some bumps along the road.

 

[JoulesThief]

Do you have any regrets buying it and having it shipped to Florida now?

No regrets. I was an early Touareg TDI owner, and this pales in comparison to the efforts VW made to get those right. You learn to expect some bumps along the road.

Gen 3 Touareg TDI owner here. Basically an AWD ized Passat SE TDI made into an SUV. Still heavy at 5000 pounds, doesn't eat tires as bad, or brakes, if driven nicely with the 8 speed automatic transmission. Just less beastly... 240 HP, 406 ft lbs of torque, and lighter, with the V-6, and 1/4 the bells and whistles. The V-10 TDI was a Super car, price tag wise and cost of maintenance wise also.

 

[Sparky]

Gen 3 Touareg TDI owner here. Basically an AWD ized Passat SE TDI made into an SUV. Still heavy at 5000 pounds, doesn't eat tires as bad, or brakes, if driven nicely with the 8 speed automatic transmission. Just less beastly... 240 HP, 406 ft lbs of torque, and lighter, with the V-6, and 1/4 the bells and whistles. The V-10 TDI was a Super car, price tag wise and cost of maintenance wise also.

Cheers to that. :mrgreen:

 

[Sparky]

Do you have any regrets buying it and having it shipped to Florida now?

No regrets. I was an early Touareg TDI owner, and this pales in comparison to the efforts VW made to get those right. You learn to expect some bumps along the road.

So, as an update, VW sent a technical specialist to a local dealer to repair my eGolf. They replaced the wiring harness, which requires dropping the battery pack out and de-electrifying the system. I got a good look at the charge port and lock mechanism once removed from the car. There are four torx screws holing the locking pin assembly to the back of the charge port. The cable attached to the locking pin runs through a metal sleeve, so it's not really accessible.

In speaking with the tech specialist, I understand that VW replaced the wiring harness to fix the same issue an owner in CA experienced. So, even though I was hoping for a coding change to disable the lock, VW knew to resolve my issue in the same way. Hats off to VW on making the repairs in So. Florida, no questions asked.

 

[JoulesThief]

Do you have any regrets buying it and having it shipped to Florida now?

No regrets. I was an early Touareg TDI owner, and this pales in comparison to the efforts VW made to get those right. You learn to expect some bumps along the road.

So, as an update, VW sent a technical specialist to a local dealer to repair my eGolf. They replaced the wiring harness, which requires dropping the battery pack out and de-electrifying the system. I got a good look at the charge port and lock mechanism once removed from the car. There are four torx screws holing the locking pin assembly to the back of the charge port. The cable attached to the locking pin runs through a metal sleeve, so it's not really accessible.

In speaking with the tech specialist, I understand that VW replaced the wiring harness to fix the same issue an owner in CA experienced. So, even though I was hoping for a coding change to disable the lock, VW knew to resolve my issue in the same way. Hats off to VW on making the repairs in So. Florida, no questions asked.

What do you guess this type of repair would cost outside of warranty?

 

[Sparky]

What do you guess this type of repair would cost outside of warranty?

I understood the tech specialist spent one day on this, so with parts and labor easily $1,500 - $2,000, I would guess. There are no parts/labor costs on my paper work, and no time increments listed for the repair. But the stack of service paper work for their file was a 1/2 thick. The wiring harness they pulled and replaced is a sealed unit and includes the entire charge port and locking pin assembly,and the orange power cables running to the battery, EPC and motor, so you have some sense of the scope of the repair.

Apologies to the OP for the thread hijack. Thought this would be of interest to owners who frequently charge at public stations as I do.