VW Diesel Particulate Filter. Help!

W. Stewart

W. Stewart

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
Messages
268
Location
NC
Display Name
Display name:
W. Stewart
Yikes. Our 2010 Jetta TDI has had an engine light come on at 98,000 miles. Our son took it to a VW dealer and was told that the DPF needed replacing, and that it would cost $3,200.00 !!!!

Looking into this on the internet, it looks like, with other manufacturers (certainly heavy trucks), cleaning a DPF is a routine matter and easily done. With VW, however, one cannot even get to the DPF easily. I think it involves lifting the engine. He was told that several components of the exhaust system would have to be replaced. My reading on the internet suggests that others might have tried to clean or replace the DPF themselves, but a chip in the car's computer needs to be reset or replaced and that is causing some problems.

I would welcome suggestions for this. (We have not yet done the DPF thing). I bought a diesel for the "economy" of the thing!

I can't believe that a company would engineer a car with such a system. It is unconscionable that they do so and yet don't tell the buyer that there will be a $3,200 "maintenance" item required. It is recommended in the maintenance schedule that the DPF be "checked" at 120,000 miles and then every 10,000 miles after that.

I am quite sure that this will be the last VW that I ever own.

Wells
 
check around on www.tdiclub.com in the mkv section- they'll steer you right.
if you need to reset the ECU someone local to you probably has a vag-com cable and can help. If you can't find someone I'll mail you mine.

welcome to owning a VW. does he have a dsg (automatic) transmission? If that puppy lets go they're about 8 grand.


on tdiclub look for a trusted guru to work on your car. stop taking it to the dealer, the dealers really don't know a lot about the tdi's plus they're overpriced. You should be able to get the timing belt done for 600 or 800, but get it done, if that goes you're really hosed and you're about due.
If you can turn a wrench do it yourself, it's not that hard.


matter of fact, here's their list for NC, you're lucky to have quite a few.




North Carolina

Import Auto Werks
1823 E Millbrook Rd # 106
Raleigh, NC 27609
(919) 871-5850 Chris Dale (eastern NC)

German Imports
6385 Irish Potato Road
Kannapolis, NC 28083
(704) 932-8211

German Speed Merchants
6016 Market Street
Wilmington, NC 28405
Parts: (910) 799-7920
Service: (910) 791-4844
gsmwerk@yahoo.com
http://www.germanspeedmerchants.com/

TurbineWhine
Asheville, NC
http://forums.tdiclub.com/member.php?u=36454
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...6&postcount=12

Dave's VW Service
Wilmington, NC
910-392-4285
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...2&postcount=37
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...4&postcount=34

Apex Tuning of Raleigh, NC
1015 Corporation Pkwy Suite 111
Raleigh NC 27610
919-231-0094
http://www.apex-tuning.com
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...postcount=1020

osidak
Omar Sidak
Davidson, NC
tdiwrench@carolina.rr.com
704.701.4040

Appalachian Diesel Works
Daniel Grindstaff, owner
2893 New Leicester Hwy (NC highway 63)
Leicester, NC 28748
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6573...ZA!2e0!6m1!1e1
aka "DG-TDI" on TDIclub
828-273-8951
degrindstaff@gmail.com

Everything Euro
3190 Peters Creek Parkway
Winston Salem NC
336-577-3484
Walt@EverythingEuro on TDIClub
www.everythingeuro.com
 
Last edited:
Go to a tdiclub recommended independent mechanic. I had the stealership tell me 30k miles ago that I had a 'bad turbo' that needed to be replaced. After I replaced the EGR valve myself (which is what I had told them to do in the first place), it works fine. VW dealers are notorious for their incompetence and fraud when it comes to TDIs.

Back to the garage. Both of the cooling fans on my '06 TDI have failed. VW doesnt build cars assuming that they ever need maintenance.

And yes, buy a Honda next time. Did some work on a similar aged accord last week and you can get to components without having to pull the engine.
 
PeeGee said:
matter of fact, here's their list for NC, you're lucky to have quite a few.
Click to expand...


Thanks so much. The car is in Austin, TX, though. I will look at that website tonight for mechanics.

Wells
 
W. Stewart said:
I bought a diesel for the "economy" of the thing!
Click to expand...

Nope. Clean diesel and the premium price on USLD put an end to this.

Pay close attention to the recent VW Clean Diesel ads on TV. Note that they focus on how far you can go on a tank....NOT on MPG. There is a reason.

Far more long-term economy in a Civic, Corolla, Elantra, etc. By a wide margin.

Find a guru:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130044

That said, your repair may be minimal, or it may still be $$ thousands.

STRONGLY suggest you get it repaired, and trade it. Throw an HPFP, DMF, turbo, etc. and you are in for $$ thousands more, even with a guru. An out of warranty VW is a nightmare.
 
ggroves said:
Nope. Clean diesel and the premium price on USLD put an end to this.

Pay close attention to the recent VW Clean Diesel ads on TV. Note that they focus on how far you can go on a tank....NOT on MPG. There is a reason.

Far more long-term economy in a Civic, Corolla, Elantra, etc. By a wide margin.

Find a guru:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130044

That said, your repair may be minimal, or it may still be $$ thousands.

STRONGLY suggest you get it repaired, and trade it. Throw an HPFP, DMF, turbo, etc. and you are in for $$ thousands more, even with a guru. An out of warranty VW is a nightmare.
Click to expand...

The tdi still gets nearly mid 40's. Have you driven a gasser that gets 40+mpg? The tdi makes me want to kill myself a lot less.
 
PeeGee said:
Have you driven a gasser that gets 40+mpg?
Click to expand...

Prius, Corolla Eco, Sonata Hybrid. Rentals within the last year. Reasonable cars.

Didn't try the Civic Hybrid.

For total cost of ownership, a $20K-ish Asian gasser is going to win every time, ignoring the driving experience.
 
ggroves said:
Prius, Corolla Eco, Sonata Hybrid. Rentals within the last year. Reasonable cars.

Didn't try the Civic Hybrid.

For total cost of ownership, a $20K-ish Asian gasser is going to win every time, ignoring the driving experience.
Click to expand...

This being the key point...
 
PeeGee said:
The tdi still gets nearly mid 40's. Have you driven a gasser that gets 40+mpg? The tdi makes me want to kill myself a lot less.
Click to expand...

When you factor the higher initial cost of the TDI engine, and the additional higher running costs of D fuel, the Toyota Prius C option group 3 or 4 looks pretty darn good. Even given the higher cost of the hybrid drive train, it still beats the cost of the TDI(4 door Golf with auto trans) handily.

I have two of them for around town, and have taken one on a long trip averaging 46MPG using AC @~70 and I much prefer it over the VW TDI. Build quality, and reliability is hands-down better in the Toyota. If your only measure is interior volume - the Golf is slightly better, but they are both econoboxes, and the Prius C is simply better all around.

Given the issues I've had with my VWs in the past, including issues with all the engine controls in the TDI and 1.8T engine group, I won't be going back to them.
 
docmirror said:
When you factor the higher initial cost of the TDI engine, and the additional higher running costs of D fuel, the Toyota Prius C option group 3 or 4 looks pretty darn good. Even given the higher cost of the hybrid drive train, it still beats the cost of the TDI(4 door Golf with auto trans) handily.

I have two of them for around town, and have taken one on a long trip averaging 46MPG using AC @~70 and I much prefer it over the VW TDI. Build quality, and reliability is hands-down better in the Toyota. If your only measure is interior volume - the Golf is slightly better, but they are both econoboxes, and the Prius C is simply better all around.

Given the issues I've had with my VWs in the past, including issues with all the engine controls in the TDI and 1.8T engine group, I won't be going back to them.
Click to expand...
I live in the rockies.
I can park my tdi on i70 west bound with the cruise set at 10 over whatever the posted limit is for that stretch and maintain that speed wihout even downshifting, and still make 40mpg while climbing however many thousands of feet, probably 6.

Your prius with what, 100ftlbs of torque? probably can't do that.

/
 
Any late model diesel will have a particulate filter. While I can only speak with any certainty on Ford's (Parts Mgr. at a dealership), The DPF is actually several components in one. On Fords, it is the catalyst, muffler and has several peripheral pieces, ie. EGT sensors, DEF injectors and DPFE sensors. You can thank the government for this. The standards for exhaust emissions and CAFE standards have forced engineers to do things like this. As far as cleaning is concerned, Ford's will periodically "regen" on their own to clean the DPF. So it isn't necessarily VW, but diesels as a whole. A DPF is a complicated catch-all beast, that's why it cost so much. BTW, retail on one for an F250 installed is about 3200 also.
 
PeeGee said:
I live in the rockies.
I can park my tdi on i70 west bound with the cruise set at 10 over whatever the posted limit is for that stretch and maintain that speed wihout even downshifting, and still make 40mpg while climbing however many thousands of feet, probably 6.

Your prius with what, 100ftlbs of torque? probably can't do that.

/
Click to expand...

Over the length of the state of CO, I'm sure it can. If you have another corner case you want to discuss, we can start another thread so we don't further mangle this one. Again, if you are interested in maintaining a constant speed over dozens of other aspects of the driving, maybe a TDI is right for that corner case. Since the Prius C uses a torque converter, there is no such thing as a 'downshift'. If that's important that you maintain one gear, well - congrats, I guess.
 
PeeGee said:
Your prius with what, 100ftlbs of torque? probably can't do that.
Click to expand...

Your ability to climb a mountain is strictly a function of available power. Torque has nothing to do with it.

For acceleration contests and racing with lots of speed changes, a wide torque band is helpful, to climb a hill it is power alone.

I like how the TDI drives and as a written off car that gets 40+mpg, it still is very economical to operate. For a new car, there is currently no good reason to go with another TDI.
 
docmirror said:
Over the length of the state of CO, I'm sure it can. If you have another corner case you want to discuss, we can start another thread so we don't further mangle this one. Again, if you are interested in maintaining a constant speed over dozens of other aspects of the driving, maybe a TDI is right for that corner case. Since the Prius C uses a torque converter, there is no such thing as a 'downshift'. If that's important that you maintain one gear, well - congrats, I guess.
Click to expand...

You mean a CVT I assume.

Point being your prius isn't going to maintain 75mph up these hills. Especially considering even on the flat lands of CO you're down 20% HP while the turbo diesel is not.
 
weilke said:
Your ability to climb a mountain is strictly a function of available power. Torque has nothing to do with it.

For acceleration contests and racing with lots of speed changes, a wide torque band is helpful, to climb a hill it is power alone.

I like how the TDI drives and as a written off car that gets 40+mpg, it still is very economical to operate. For a new car, there is currently no good reason to go with another TDI.
Click to expand...

it's actually more of a matter of turbonormalizing that power at 12k feet...
 
Torque. Pure and simple. My MkVI Golf TDI will pull a 2000lb trailer in 6th gear with the cruise on and still get 34mpg; normal is 42 driving like a teen-aged *******. It's so good, I usually have to jump start my pickup truck because it's sat so long. By buying at the end of a model year, I got it for a little over $23k cash, less than the gas model. The occasional problem is the only one you hear about, sort of like Prius batteries. A vocal few will have issues, the rest of us motor on for hundreds of thousands of miles. This is my 5th VW/Audi/Porsche and my 2nd TDI, most of them abused beaters, I've never had a single issue.
 
mikeinbama said:
Any late model diesel will have a particulate filter. While I can only speak with any certainty on Ford's (Parts Mgr. at a dealership), The DPF is actually several components in one. On Fords, it is the catalyst, muffler and has several peripheral pieces, ie. EGT sensors, DEF injectors and DPFE sensors. You can thank the government for this. The standards for exhaust emissions and CAFE standards have forced engineers to do things like this. As far as cleaning is concerned, Ford's will periodically "regen" on their own to clean the DPF. So it isn't necessarily VW, but diesels as a whole. A DPF is a complicated catch-all beast, that's why it cost so much. BTW, retail on one for an F250 installed is about 3200 also.
Click to expand...

Bingo. Pretty much all the new diesels have a particulate filter on them, some have even more aftertreatment. This isn't just a VW thing, welcome to the world of modern diesels. As they age, they likely won't be cheap to maintain.

Look at it a different way, I'm sure this one time expense will still be cheaper than ongoing maintenance on an airplane. :)
 
mondtster said:
Bingo. Pretty much all the new diesels have a particulate filter on them, some have even more aftertreatment. This isn't just a VW thing, welcome to the world of modern diesels. As they age, they likely won't be cheap to maintain.

Look at it a different way, I'm sure this one time expense will still be cheaper than ongoing maintenance on an airplane. :)
Click to expand...
My wife used to have a BMW X5 that was barely out of the factory service period. After a couple years she made a snide comment about a $1K cylinder i bought for one of my lycomings, so I pencilled it out and showed here that it was costing more maintenance $$ for the BMW per mile than it did for the beechcraft. The next day I got home from work and the BMW was gone, there was a toyota sequoi in the driveway. She told me "I got rid of mine, now it's your turn"
 
PeeGee said:
The tdi still gets nearly mid 40's. Have you driven a gasser that gets 40+mpg? The tdi makes me want to kill myself a lot less.
Click to expand...


Operating costs end up the same once you factor in parts prices and higher than average need for repairs.

Both forms of fuel are less per gallon than bottled water. Seems kinda silly to want to off yourself over operating costs of your horseless carriage.

You could always go back to owning a real hay burner. They tend to have expensive breakdowns and it takes a lot more energy to fuel them because they burn it whether you're riding or not.
 
JHW said:
My wife used to have a BMW X5 that was barely out of the factory service period. After a couple years she made a snide comment about a $1K cylinder i bought for one of my lycomings, so I pencilled it out and showed here that it was costing more maintenance $$ for the BMW per mile than it did for the beechcraft. The next day I got home from work and the BMW was gone, there was a toyota sequoi in the driveway. She told me "I got rid of mine, now it's your turn"
Click to expand...


And divorce papers were signed, how long thereafter? LOL.
 
PeeGee said:
The tdi still gets nearly mid 40's. Have you driven a gasser that gets 40+mpg? The tdi makes me want to kill myself a lot less.
Click to expand...

I've been averaging 40 overall in my Honda Fit. :D
 
denverpilot said:
Operating costs end up the same once you factor in parts prices and higher than average need for repairs.
Click to expand...

They do, though at this very moment diesel is cheaper than premium.
Point being, especially up at our altitudes, the tdi is hands down a better driving experience.

Though I have a good indy shop and do a lot of the routine mx myself, so it's not so bad.
 
Last edited:
I've been driving a vw amarok truck the last couple weeks. It runs ok but I think they missed the market on the engine choice. It's got a twin-turbo version of the 2.0 tdi diesel. The V-10 tdi diesel from the tourag would make this thing a hilux killer but it's not offered.
 
JHW said:
I've been driving a vw amarok truck the last couple weeks. It runs ok but I think they missed the market on the engine choice. It's got a twin-turbo version of the 2.0 tdi diesel. The V-10 tdi diesel from the tourag would make this thing a hilux killer but it's not offered.
Click to expand...

And thank god for that. The 2.5R5/5.0V10 TDI engine was a disaster. The PD technology (2.5R5/5.0V10 were PD, your 2.0TDI biturbo is CR) is expensive to develop, difficult to calibrate to meet any sort of emissions regulations, noisy, and especially with the V10 a complete nightmare to maintain. Lack of space makes heat a massive issue in hot climates, and the same lack of space means pretty much any engine peripheral renewal requires the whole drivetrain to be dropped down. VAG does have a cool tool to do this, but it is still a 10+ hour job. Nothing like needing 14 hours to change a $20 part.

What they really should offer for it, is the new 3.0 V6 TDI. Fantastic engine, better performance than the V10, but half the operating costs.
 
W. Stewart said:
Yikes. Our 2010 Jetta TDI has had an engine light come on at 98,000 miles. Our son took it to a VW dealer and was told that the DPF needed replacing, and that it would cost $3,200.00 !!!!

Looking into this on the internet, it looks like, with other manufacturers (certainly heavy trucks), cleaning a DPF is a routine matter and easily done. With VW, however, one cannot even get to the DPF easily. I think it involves lifting the engine. He was told that several components of the exhaust system would have to be replaced. My reading on the internet suggests that others might have tried to clean or replace the DPF themselves, but a chip in the car's computer needs to be reset or replaced and that is causing some problems.

I would welcome suggestions for this. (We have not yet done the DPF thing). I bought a diesel for the "economy" of the thing!

I can't believe that a company would engineer a car with such a system. It is unconscionable that they do so and yet don't tell the buyer that there will be a $3,200 "maintenance" item required. It is recommended in the maintenance schedule that the DPF be "checked" at 120,000 miles and then every 10,000 miles after that.

I am quite sure that this will be the last VW that I ever own.

Wells
Click to expand...

You are being taken for a ride.
You have the VAG 2.0TDI Common Rail engine with a DPF (and since its an US spec car, very likely SCR/AdBlue system). Removal/replacing the DPF is a 3 hour job on it. A replacement DPF is approx. 500-600 from VAG. Order from Europe if they want much more than that.

Cleaning the DPF is pointless, DPF filters cannot be effectively cleaned so that they still maintain their function as a DPF that can be regenerated by the ECU, which is a critical function of it. They can show you pictures of before/after cleaning, but they are all BS. It works on truck DPF's which are 10 times the volume of your Jetta DPF.

There are two options: First option; renew the DPF. No other sensors need changing, unless the DPF is blocked because of a faulty sensor. The temperature/pressure sensors (4 of them IIRC) are about 100 each. Usually just the front EGT sensor is faulty, this is easy to diagnose. After renewing the DPF, you just need readaptation with VCDS/VAS. VCDS costs a couple of hundred dollars to buy yourself so this is the max cost - normal workshops who know their salt do it for 50.

Second option is to get rid of the DPF. There will be a performance shop somewhere around your area - most can remove the DPF and do the correct recalibration of the ECU to get rid of the DPF functions. This is sub-1000USD job. That way you'll never have issues with the DPF again.

Anyone saying you need a 3200USD repair for your emissions system in a VAG TDI is full of sierra hotel india tango.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top