2009 Jetta TDI and remote start

Racktacular

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
'09 Jetta
Anyone know what remote start is compatible with the '09 Jetta TDI? Is a remote start something that is okay to install in one of these as I heard that a remote start won't warm up a diesel engine. Is that true?

TIA

- Rack
 

dbdubb

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2006
Location
Tampa, Florida
TDI
06 Jetta, 10 Q7
This will really depends on where you live. I think in general, Remote starting a TDI is not a great idea, however if you live in a warmer climate like Florida, you may be able to get away with it.

In cooler areas, when the tempature is cold, the glow plugs will need a few seconds to warm up before trying to start the car, thus if you tried it via remote start, it will be unsuccessful.:rolleyes:
 

kromicacid

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Joined
Aug 23, 2004
Location
Glenmoore, PA
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL - Fixed
Diesel cars do not warm up during idling... Plus, idling when cold for diesels does not do anything good for the engine.
 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 10, 2006
Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
kromicacid said:
Diesel cars do not warm up during idling... Plus, idling when cold for diesels does not do anything good for the engine.
As long as it's not cold outside, they will warm up by idling... just veeeeeeerrrrrrry slowly.

I might go idle mine up from cold just to see how long it would take in 60'F weather.

Boredom solved.
 

Racktacular

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
'09 Jetta
Well, I live in Chicago. If it is 5 degrees outside and I leave it outside overnight, when I get in the car what is the proper procedure? If it doesn't warm up while idling then do I just start the engine and drive away without letting it idle for a few minutes? If so, I should keep the RPM's down until the engine is warmed up?
 

kromicacid

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Location
Glenmoore, PA
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2015 Passat TDI SEL - Fixed
Racktacular said:
Well, I live in Chicago. If it is 5 degrees outside and I leave it outside overnight, when I get in the car what is the proper procedure? If it doesn't warm up while idling then do I just start the engine and drive away without letting it idle for a few minutes? If so, I should keep the RPM's down until the engine is warmed up?
Yes, just get in and drive, no sitting around... I would have to say (im not a guru, just read alot) that you should not go WOT when cold though...

Best option will be a frostheater when it is available for the '09 and just leave it plugged in on a timer to come on 2-3 hours before you are ready to get moving in the morning.
 

Racktacular

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
'09 Jetta
kromicacid said:
Yes, just get in and drive, no sitting around... I would have to say (im not a guru, just read alot) that you should not go WOT when cold though...

Best option will be a frostheater when it is available for the '09 and just leave it plugged in on a timer to come on 2-3 hours before you are ready to get moving in the morning.
Cool thanks. Got a website for that frostheater thing? I've never heard of one of those.
 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
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Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
It took about 15 minutes of idling to get up to 190* in 60'F weather.

A frostheater would definitely be a better way to go.
 

ARGH

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
2012 TDI Sportwagen 6MT
what do you guys mean that a diesel car will not warm up when it idles? i do not understand how it cannot since it is burning fuel idleing. i am new to diesels. :)
 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 10, 2006
Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
ARGH said:
what do you guys mean that a diesel car will not warm up when it idles? i do not understand how it cannot since it is burning fuel idleing. i am new to diesels. :)
Read the post. It does, it just takes about 15 minutes.
 

ARGH

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Location
Chicago
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2012 TDI Sportwagen 6MT
what about in cold winter wheather, say -15 degrees? if it took you 15 minutes to reach warm temp in 60'F it appears that it will take 30 minutes of idle to reach a warm enough engine where the heater actually blows out hot air.
 

40X40

Experienced
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Kansas City area, MO
TDI
2013 Passat SEL Premium
ARGH said:
what about in cold winter wheather, say -15 degrees? if it took you 15 minutes to reach warm temp in 60'F it appears that it will take 30 minutes of idle to reach a warm enough engine where the heater actually blows out hot air.

THAT is the point.

When it is really cold outside the cars will NOT warm up no matter how long you let them idle.

There is just not enough waste heat produced.

Search is your friend and so are the stickies spread all over the forums.

Bill
 

CountryBoy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2001
Location
Strasburg, VA, USA
TDI
2009 VW Jetta SportWagen TDI DSG, 2002 Jetta GLS TDI 5-Speed
ARGH said:
what about in cold winter wheather, say -15 degrees? if it took you 15 minutes to reach warm temp in 60'F it appears that it will take 30 minutes of idle to reach a warm enough engine where the heater actually blows out hot air.
Diesels are much more thermally efficient than gasoline engines. They don't produce enough waste heat (wasted energy!) in idling to effectively warm the car up. Diesel engines warm up under load, IE driving. Seat heaters are a wonderful thing for just that reason. Additionally, several folks have mentioned that the 2009's blow hot air well before the engine is warm, which means it has supplemental heat of some kind to warm the cabin air. So, no need to let the car idle for 15 minutes and risk engine damage.
 

pawel

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Location
Naugatuck, CT
TDI
'09 TDI 6 MT, Platinum Gray Metallic, Anthracite Interior
CountryBoy said:
Diesels are much more thermally efficient than gasoline engines. They don't produce enough waste heat (wasted energy!) in idling to effectively warm the car up. Diesel engines warm up under load, IE driving. Seat heaters are a wonderful thing for just that reason. Additionally, several folks have mentioned that the 2009's blow hot air well before the engine is warm, which means it has supplemental heat of some kind to warm the cabin air. So, no need to let the car idle for 15 minutes and risk engine damage.
09 TDI have an electric heater, everytime I turn the fan on when it's cold I can hear electric relay clicking sound and warm air starts to blow from vents.
and when comes to cold starts, just start the engine, give it few seconds for the oil to get where it should be and START DRIVING. Keep your rpm's around 2000 and shift around 2500. when engine warms up (engine temp needle above second white mark), drive normaly.
 

newbury

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Location
Fairfax, VA/Fulton, MS
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2009 JSW
kromicacid said:
Diesel cars do not warm up during idling... Plus, idling when cold for diesels does not do anything good for the engine.
Actually idling was a well accepted practice, as long as you burn it out when you are not idling.

Get home late, temps 30 to 40 below. Let it idle for 10 hours and burn a gallon. Keeps everything warm. Get up early and drive it like you stole it.
 

velociT

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Location
Not Austin, TX
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06 Jetta TDI *sold*
newbury said:
Actually idling was a well accepted practice, as long as you burn it out when you are not idling.

Get home late, temps 30 to 40 below. Let it idle for 10 hours and burn a gallon. Keeps everything warm. Get up early and drive it like you stole it.
It is fine to do that, but you'd want a high-idle program that idles the car around 13-1500 rpms.
 

Racktacular

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
'09 Jetta
Thanks or the responses guys. I guess I was wanting a remote start so I'm not getting into a freezing cold car and to melt the ice on the windshield. If I got a remote start just so the inside heater will come on and the window(s) will defrost, will that be detrimental to the car? I know the engine won't be warmed up but that is okay with me.

Does anyone see a problem with a remote start and the above usage?

Thanks.

- Rack
 

Plonker

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Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Location
Bozeman, MT
TDI
04 Jetta Wagon TDi
I second that. The amount of time it would take to heat up the cabin enough to defrost windows would be plain inconvenient, not to mention bad for the engine and a waste of fuel.
 

Racktacular

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
'09 Jetta
Plonker said:
I second that. The amount of time it would take to heat up the cabin enough to defrost windows would be plain inconvenient, not to mention bad for the engine and a waste of fuel.
Why would it be bad for the engine to have it idle for 3-5 minutes before I got in it once a day?

And why would it be inconvenient?
 

Plonker

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Location
Bozeman, MT
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04 Jetta Wagon TDi
Depending on the temperature, it's likely that sufficient warm-up would occur over the course of 20-30 minutes or so. And letting the engine run under little to no load for that long in the cold isn't good. With a diesel, you want to start driving as soon as you start, no matter how cold.

I can't find any documentation that supports this with numbers, but it seems to be common opinion on these boards.
 

roadhard1960

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Location
Covington, Ga.
TDI
2003 Jetta wagon GLS 5 speed
Try to idle your car on a cold day to get your answer. My car did not warm up at all this weekend when it was just about freezing and a good breeze. Even with out the breeze that engine just does not make heat like a gas engine. Even driving it takes a few miles or more for there to be a hint of heat coming out of the vents.
 

Racktacular

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
'09 Jetta
roadhard1960 said:
Try to idle your car on a cold day to get your answer. My car did not warm up at all this weekend when it was just about freezing and a good breeze. Even with out the breeze that engine just does not make heat like a gas engine. Even driving it takes a few miles or more for there to be a hint of heat coming out of the vents.
I get that. But that isn't what I would want a remote starter for. I am more than happy to get into the car while it is cold and just go and keep the RPM's under 2500 until warmed up. No problem.

What I want it for is to warm the CABIN and to defrost the windshield before I get there. As long as it won't destroy the engine this would be a great thing. I mean think about how ice freezes to the windshield. You are going to be idling to wait for the windshield to defrost anyways, no? The windshield has to not fog up and all that jazz. If the cabin was warm and the ice was melted before I got there that would be GREAT. I really don't care if the actual engine was warm or not.

If I remote started my car 5 minutes before I got into it (twice per day- once in the morning and once after work) is that bad for the engine? I find it odd that it would be bad for the engine. I can see that it wouldn't help warm it up, but for it to be bad and detrimental to the engine seems wrong to me. Admittedly, I'm ignorant on this so if someone that says it is bad can you tell me why and perhaps send a link my way?

Thanks!
 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
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Location
Not Austin, TX
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06 Jetta TDI *sold*
Racktacular said:
I get that. But that isn't what I would want a remote starter for. I am more than happy to get into the car while it is cold and just go and keep the RPM's under 2500 until warmed up. No problem.

What I want it for is to warm the CABIN and to defrost the windshield before I get there. As long as it won't destroy the engine this would be a great thing. I mean think about how ice freezes to the windshield. You are going to be idling to wait for the windshield to defrost anyways, no? The windshield has to not fog up and all that jazz. If the cabin was warm and the ice was melted before I got there that would be GREAT. I really don't care if the actual engine was warm or not.

If I remote started my car 5 minutes before I got into it (twice per day- once in the morning and once after work) is that bad for the engine? I find it odd that it would be bad for the engine. I can see that it wouldn't help warm it up, but for it to be bad and detrimental to the engine seems wrong to me. Admittedly, I'm ignorant on this so if someone that says it is bad can you tell me why and perhaps send a link my way?

Thanks!
Rack,

You're right, you can do that, and it won't hurt anything, but I'd recommend a high idle program to keep it at 13-1500 rpm.

If you want the car hot when you get in it, just get a frost-heater.

It pre-warms the coolant so you have heat right away.
 

Racktacular

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Location
Chicago
TDI
'09 Jetta
Thanks for the response. That is what I thought.

I don't know much about a frost heater but one hasn't been developed for the '09 TDI's right?
 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
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Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
Racktacular said:
Thanks for the response. That is what I thought.

I don't know much about a frost heater but one hasn't been developed for the '09 TDI's right?
Last I heard, Frostheater was looking for a 09 to do R&D on.
 

kromicacid

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2004
Location
Glenmoore, PA
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL - Fixed
Racktacular said:
What I want it for is to warm the CABIN and to defrost the windshield before I get there.
This will not happen with idling.
Racktacular said:
As long as it won't destroy the engine this would be a great thing.
It wont 'blow up' the engine, but will not be good for it either. I assume you purchased this vehicle with this engine because you drive a long distance, or expect it to last a couple of hundreds of thousands of miles. Idling while cold in a small TDI engine is just not a good thing.

If you are worried about ice on the windshield, go out and buy one of these at the local 'gas' station.

Also, you lose a key to have it next to the ignition so the security is 'by-passed'

If you really feel the need to have a remote starter installed against the advice of most other people on this board who have read almost everything on this board, please stop asking questions and just do it.

here are some links to prove the things most of us have said.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=2287297&postcount=10
http://www.internationaldelivers.com/assets/pdf/dyk168i.pdf - i know it is not an International engine, but the same theory applies to VW TDI engines.

Also - do a search on "remote starter" and read up. Search is your friend.
 
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I'm WNY PAT

Veteran Member
Joined
May 7, 2006
21 degrees this morning with a couple inches of fresh snow. Glow plugs on for maybe 3 seconds, then fired right up. Turned the front and rear defrost on, cranked the seat heater to 5, brushed off the car. The car was putting out heat and warming the windsheild enough to melt the little snow that was falling within about 2 or 3 minutes it took me to clear off the windows and lights. Other cold morning I let it run for maybe 45 seconds to a minute while I put on my seatbelt and get things situated. I don't make a habit of warming it up for extended periods of time though.
 

10then34

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Feb 15, 2007
Location
North Dakota
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'06 Jetta
Oh, the old 'a diesel engine doesn't warm up at idle' and 'you'll suck oil through the turbos oil-seal' mantras.

Somehow my '06 hasn't heard of either OWT:
If it is -20F outside, I just go out 30min before I need to leave and start the car. Cabin heat 'red', both seat heaters 'on', high-beams 'on', mirror and rear-window defrost 'on'. The car kicks into a high-idle at 1000rpm and you can hear a slight whistle from the turbo. 30min later the radiator cooling fan is running, the coolant temp is at 180F and the car is reasonably warm. For hahas I took off the lower IC hose to check for oil which was dry except for a couple of drops.

(and no, I don't have a plug-in at work so the frostheater is not an option).
 
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