Is a dashboard warning light caused by our insurance black box?
Our 2021 Volkswagen Polo's electronic power control (EPC) light comes on intermittently, at which time the car goes into limp mode, restricting the engine speed to 1,500rpm. Switching off and restarting clears the light and the car drives normally. Changing the battery didn't help. A specialist said they would first need the light to be on or to know what caused it to illuminate. The fault only seems to happen when my daughter is driving. Could her insurance black box, fitted behind the rear view mirror, be causing the problem? If not, what do you suggest? Is this a known fault?
– JA
Dear JA,
Although the evidence would seem to point that way, I would consider it highly unlikely that your daughter's insurance telematics device is causing the issue. From your description it sounds as though it's a GPS device that sticks to the windscreen, in which case it won't have any wired connection to the car. The Bluetooth signals it uses to interface with the app on your daughter's phone shouldn't interfere with the car's systems.
While not really widespread enough to qualify as a known problem, EPC lights on VWs are not unheard of. Electronic power control refers to the car's accelerator system, so I'd imagine the problem lies there. It could be an accelerator pedal potentiometer; it could also be a problem with the brake light switch, which is tied into the same system.
It is possible that the issue lies deeper in the ECU or the wiring, but I think it more likely to be one of the above two issues. Unfortunately, it's really tricky to diagnose if a fault code hasn't been stored in the system, which is sometimes the case. That's why the specialist probably wants to see the car while the light is on – obviously, though, that's rather tricky.
One way around it could be to buy a Bluetooth OBDII fault code reader, such as OBD Eleven. This connects to the OBDII port in the car and to an app you can install on your daughter's phone. It can be used to read fault codes while she's driving; when the problem occurs, she can stop, leave the engine running and use the code reader to grab the code while the warning light is still illuminated. Reporting the code to the specialist will give them a better idea of where to start.
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