Intake Manifold Kaput

On the way to work the other day, my catalytic converter light went on. That's what it says in the owner's manual, but my service tech informed me it could mean 80 different potential problems. They just put catalytic converter there to make people feel better, since it's covered under the 80,000 mile federal emissions warranty.

I scheduled an appointment for the following week and was told not to worry about it. It would probably go off. Perhaps bad gas. It did go off later that day, but I was still able to capture the codes it was throwing using the VCDS software. A search on the web brought up many people with intake manifold problems, usually at around the 35,000-45,000 mile mark. I was now a member of this club. I emailed my service manager four days in advance, in case they needed parts. He didn't look at it until I was standing there this morning (we're now waiting on the parts).

What I got:

2 Faults Found:
008213 - Intake Manifold Flap Position Sensor (Bank 1)
               P2015 - 000 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent

005386 - Engine Off Timer Performance
               P150A - 000 -  - Intermittent

As these are intermittent problems, it wasn't surprising the light turned off, but the error was recorded and needed to be addressed. I think these errors are also related to my rough idle problem I've had for about a year. The RPMs would stay still, and there would be periodic shudders from the engine, even with the AC off.

Thankfully, the GTI has a 50,000 mile drivetrain warranty, so after several hours of diagnosis, I was set up in a loaner car, a 2014 Jetta Dash Rattle Edition with only 2,000 miles. The new intake manifold was arriving from another dealership in the late afternoon, so the car wouldn't be ready until the next day.

The repair would have cost $800-1,000, according to my service rep. The question, I suppose, is whether this is likely to happen again at the 90,000 mile mark. My guess is I won't be the one to find out.

Mileage: 44,852