VW Crafter Glow Plug Issues: Fix Guide & Costs

I faced almost the exact same issue with my 2012 VW Transporter diesel engine last winter. The check engine light kept coming on and the preheating lamp would not turn off, especially during cold starts. After several rough idles and increasingly difficult starts, I took it to a workshop. They diagnosed a faulty glow plug in cylinder 3. The entire diagnostic and repair process took about 3 hours. Total cost was 440€, which included parts and labor. The repair process involved: Full diagnostic scan, Glow plug resistance testing, Removal of the old glow plug, Installation of new glow plug, System reset, Test cold start Since the repair, the cold start issues completely disappeared and the engine light has stayed off. The engine now starts smoothly, even in cold weather. To give more specific advice about your Crafter: What engine size do you have? How many kilometers on the clock? Are you experiencing any other symptoms besides the warning lights? Does the engine make any unusual sounds during start? These details would help determine if your issue is similar and whether you might be looking at the same repair process.

Thanks for the detailed response. My Crafter has 195843KM and just had its annual service last month. The engine combustion feels rough and I notice decreased fuel efficiency, especially during cold starts. No unusual sounds, but the engine misfire is quite noticeable when starting up. The glow plug indicator behavior matches exactly what you described. Will take it to the workshop based on your feedback since the symptoms align perfectly. Good to know the repair time and cost range.

Thanks for those additional details. The symptoms you describe with your Crafter, especially the rough engine combustion and fuel efficiency drop, match my Transporter experience exactly. Since you mention engine misfire during startup, this strongly reinforces my suspicion of glow plug issues. The fact that this is happening right after your annual service is actually helpful timing. The workshop should already have recent diagnostic data to compare against. One thing I learned from my repair is that faulty glow plugs often trigger multiple related fault codes in the error memory, which can help pinpoint the specific cylinder affected. From my post-repair experience, you should notice: Smoother cold starts, Normal preheating lamp operation, Better fuel efficiency, No more engine light warnings, Elimination of rough idle issues Make sure the workshop does a full system diagnostic scan rather than just replacing the obvious faulty parts. In my case, they found the glow plug control module had minor damage too, which could have caused future issues if left unchecked. Based on your mileage, it might be worth having them check all glow plugs while they are at it. The labor cost difference is minimal once they are already working on the system.

Thank you for the comprehensive info about the glow plug repair. The symptoms you mentioned match my diesel car issues perfectly, from the rough engine combustion to the decreased fuel efficiency. Given my Crafter has almost 196000KM, checking all glow plugs makes a lot of sense. I will schedule the workshop visit next week. From what you shared about your repair experience, the 440€ cost seems reasonable considering the diagnostic work and parts involved. Really appreciate the heads up about having them check the control module too, definitely worth preventing future problems while they are already working on it. The detailed breakdown of improvements you saw after the repair gives me confidence this will resolve my cold start issues. Will make sure they do that complete system scan you suggested rather than just swapping parts. This has been really helpful in confirming my initial suspicion about the glow plug being the root cause.