Is it Possible to disable CEL?

[cornflakes2]

I'm just wondering, is it possible (I'm sure it is as anything is possible) or maybe is it common for a shady person/business
to somehow disable the CEL in a car's ECU so as to make it look like there is nothing wrong with a car? Or do all cars must have it working
and/or it's very difficult to hack into it and disable CEL to cover up deep problems they don't want you to know about (ie. a used seller/dealer for example).

[cornflakes2]

now "IF" someone did this to a car to prevent finding fault codes or serious issues, is this sort of thing not against the law or criminally liable?
Are people allowed to do this and get away with it? I'm just asking because I honestly don't know how it works (both in the automotive industry and the actual 'how to' of remapping the ECU so no fault codes show up).

Let's say that I have a car that I find out has major issues and I want to resell it and I ask a garage to remap my ECU so that it will basically show up fault free. Is that allowed? Could there be any kind of legal action taken if discovered?

[cornflakes2]

Sorry, yes I have a gazillion questions because I am just learning about cars and engine parts for the first time and I think I've self-studied myself from complete newb to foundational basics of car mechanics all in just 2 or 3 weeks with no training or education...just self-learning from the good ol internet,
thanks to sites like Chris Fix, Eric the Car guy, ShopDap, humblemechanic, etc....I'm self-crash coursing as much as I can. I could probably DIY a lot of these things now but I just don't have the tools and experience so afraid to try and fix things myself.

No CEL on my car, EVER while I have owned the car. Even when it shut off by itself. No fault codes found by me on my cheap OBD2 reader and none found at 3 garages I went to. Two of them were tuning garages specific to my car and model and the other garage was an actual VW service center. Nobody found any fault codes or told me about any fault codes.

• i must make this note, a couple months ago while driving, my car suddenly lost power at the pedal and it sputtered out after 1 minute later I had no power...even at that time no CEL came on. Now I dunno if it's just me, but, don't you think if a car engine just loses power to the point of sputtering dead, that that should trigger a CEL or fault code of some kind? Yet none** The only light that ever came on now that I recall was a tire pressure light. I put more air in the tires and reset the tire check light and it never came back on so that at least that seems to be working.

I did get a print out of the service history of my car and it appears that the previous owner had 1 or 2 fault codes show up but they didn't specify which codes they were. I only see a small note beside the date and location of where the car was for servicing. One of the notes says a check bulb light came on (which I'm assuming meant CEL) and another said transmission event appeared (dunno what that means), but those were all like last year before I bought the car. From the day I owned it back in November 2017, there have been no CEL or no fault codes.

So I'm just wondering a lot now.

Edited by cornflakes2 on Saturday 17th March 16:44

Edited by cornflakes2 on Saturday 17th March 16:47

[cornflakes2]

sorry for the confusion. All the lights turn on with key on, engine off (including CEL), but I meant that the CEL never turned on while driving, even when the car sputtered out that one time, there was no CEL and now when the car can't stay on after startup during idle, no CEL.

Yes, we checked throttle body and it was super clean. I'll have to find out if someone can check the fuel injectors as that seems to be next on my hit list to check out. I haven't been able to do anything yet since I discovered my air filter was half gone so I don't want to drive it any more until I get my new air filter which I ordered already. It should be here by next week. After I install it myself, I'll take it down to another APR authorized dealer that I found and see if they can do a check up on my ECU mapping.

[cornflakes2]

2013 Scirocco R, with APR Stage 2+, 55k km.
I don't personally believe that anything was intentionally concealed or kept hidden by manipulating the fault codes or CEL thresholds but of course, I could be wrong. But it's just a thought I had because I tend to think about things like that, the "What ifs?"

I also have another question but seems like I've been asking too many questions, I'm not allowed to post anymore new threads so I'll just ask here and hope enough eyes see this to give some answers.

As I've been self-studying, I've come across a lot of confusing terms and the reason is because I found out many parts/tools go two or more names! It's really confusing for a newbie when studying/researching. It would help if any of the more experienced mechanics here could point out some more tools/parts that often go by two or more different names.

Here are a couple that confused the hell out of me until I realized they are actually the same thing, just different names!

-allen keys are the same hex keys
-cam follower is the same also known as the fuel pump tappet (WTH?)
-coils/coil overs are all the same things as ignition coils or coil packs ---> they all mean the same thing!!
(previously some people were telling me to change coil packs and then another was saying change ignition coils and I was like....wth? only to find out later they are actually the same thing).

any others you can let me know of? thanks

[cornflakes2]

E-bmw said:

Allen is a brand name manufacturer of hex keys that has become the norm, just like most people call a vacuum cleaner a Hoover, which is a brand name.

A cam follower is often colloquially called a tappet like an automobile is often colloquially called a car.

Coils aren't the same as coilovers, coilovers are suspension, coils are more correctly called ignition coils, coil packs are a more modern version commonly found on cars now.

Thanks for that. Good to have some of it cleared up!

[cornflakes2]

I got a fault code today (first one that I know of).

Its: P2294 - Powertrain Fuel Pressure Regulator 2 Control Circuit.

It happened right after I drove around 140km/h and I noticed a loss in power and the EPC light came on.
I think this is what is called "limp mode" and I was still able to drive around but i think with less power.

After doing some more research, I read that I should first see if there's anything wrong with the wiring, connectors, etc.
Then if those are fine, the next thing to try is to replace the fuel pressure regulator which I think is called N276 valve, but
not sure if I can get it separately. I think I read that it only comes with a new fuel pump so I should replace the HPFP?

Just in case: 2013 VW Scirocco, 2.0 TFSI (EA113), 55k km, gasoline, with APR Stage 2+

Any advice or let me know if I'm thinking on the right track here?

[cornflakes2]

GreenV8S said:

I'd say the next thing to do is to have the problem(s) diagnosed methodically by somebody who understands how the engine and related systems work and not just to replace arbitrary components speculatively.

Yes, I agree...it would save me money if I don't have to replace all those parts I guess.

I'm just wondering...is it possible that my foam intake air filter which is missing a chunk at the top which faces the intake nozzle, got sucked into my engine? I think the intake air foam was really old and it probably started to deteriorate and just got sucked in and left a hole in my foam. Could that foam turn into some heavy sludge that could clog any hoses/tubing/lines or is the fuel regulator / pump completely different lines that don't take any of the engine oil?

[cornflakes2]

GreenV8S said:

I wouldn't expect any damage from the foam - other than perhaps physically jamming the throttle open and things like that, but foam filters usually use oil based filtration and need to be maintained to be effective. If not maintained, and especially if it now has a hole in it, it's going to be letting all sorts of junk into the engine and that can lead to accelerated engine wear.

thanks. I'm just wondering if that may have led to anything getting clogged and causing a EPC fault code with the fuel pressure regulator or if it has absolutely nothing to do with that.