2015 Passat - Went with Approved Emissions Modification

Funguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Front Range of Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen dsg and 2015 Passat 6 M/T
normally between 5 and 15 minutes is the golden time to check the oil. I learned this the hard way on a Honda Dry sump XR600R after I dumped 6 quarts into the thing back when I was 15 ;)

I am not sure I am seeing this right. Even in good light. I took your advice and checked it warm. There is oil, in a straight line around the middle of that buckshot plastic ball every time but I am not sure that there is very much oil on the wire between that ball and the full mark.

I can't believe I am having so much trouble. I am going to use a magnifying glass and a led work-light tomorrow and really "scrutinize" this bloody thing. I have an electric oil extractor on it's way to me also.

I'm feeling pretty dumb right now but why should now be different than any other time in my life :eek:
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
the tube is narrow and wipe's on the flexible stick for sure! I have more trouble reading it than any of my other rigs.
 

Funguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Front Range of Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen dsg and 2015 Passat 6 M/T
the tube is narrow and wipe's on the flexible stick for sure! I have more trouble reading it than any of my other rigs.
Thanks I owe you for a consolation. Life was so much easier when I knew everything when I was 16.
 

PAJettaTDI

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SE 6 Spd
Ok, back to my original reason for posting this. I wanted to give my 2015 Manual Passat a few weeks after the fix before I actually calculated the MPG using the odometer and the pump.

35.4 - At about a 50/50 mix of highway/city

I drove in the following scenario since my last fill-up used in this calculation:

- 291 "highway" miles (3 - 98 mile commutes with red lights included)
- 276 in-town miles (includes daily 10 minute idles waiting in a carpool line)

Note: 15 out of 98 highway miles (per day) go through dense red light areas each day and several hills. The in-town miles involve rural windy/hilly roads (PA roads).

I didn't keep track of this previously, but I feel it is about the same as I was getting before, maybe even better on occasion. I drive like a maniac, so this is probably more of a worst case scenario. The car runs great and seems to be configured optimally IMO. I'm very happy I chose this path in keeping my car.
 

Funguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Front Range of Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen dsg and 2015 Passat 6 M/T
That is good to hear PA. I used to watch my mileage closely but since I got this car I haven't watched as closely. Especially since I retired I don't drive regularly either. My car may have that low end torque you spoke about. I do think I have lost a couple of mpg. I may have been wrong about the oil level though. I don't get why they make the dipstick so complicated. No matter how many times I check I get oil right up to the middle of that buckshot size plastic ball. The two notches though that are at and above the full mark are not as full of oil as the one at the bottom of the dipstick. So maybe it isn't overfilled?

Have you noticed this on your car?
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
Funguy: Simple. Clean cloth/paper towel. Place the end of the dipstick flat on the cloth and ROLL it. You'll clearly see where the oil level is.
This is the only way I've found that works on all engines. Gas engines are even harder to read, as the oil stays clean for so long.
 

Funguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Front Range of Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen dsg and 2015 Passat 6 M/T
Funguy: Simple. Clean cloth/paper towel. Place the end of the dipstick flat on the cloth and ROLL it. You'll clearly see where the oil level is.
This is the only way I've found that works on all engines. Gas engines are even harder to read, as the oil stays clean for so long.
Thank you. I did try that but the stick isn't flat. It is completely irregular. Narrow wire. square block. notches, sphere's. I'm okay though. I think looking for oil in the notches will be the trick. I'd forgotten how clean new oil is in a gasser! Possibly the only think I miss about gas cars.

Glad I kept the car so far.
 

jjblbi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2000
Location
lbi, nj
TDI
2014 Passat SEL TDI
I tend to check my dip stick/oil level prior to the daily first start of the vehicle. Oil has fully drained down from motor and dip stick tube. Pull straight up and read--no wipe or rag needed. Working well for 40+ years.

My '06 BRM Jetta had a black plastic dipstick. A light sanding and white plastic spray paint solved that issue.
 

dieselbill

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
Location
Maine
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDI 6 speed sedan Titanium Beige and 06 Jetta Sedan TDI 5 speed Wheat Beige
Phase 1 completed

On 03/23/17 had the phase 1 emissions modification completed. So far I am very pleased with the reprogramming. Will post more after I have put some miles on and received the restitution.
 

Funguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Front Range of Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen dsg and 2015 Passat 6 M/T
That is good news Bill. btw I think my mileage is not as bad as I thought and at this time I am very glad I kept the car.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
cold and rain destroy mpg's I only got 33mpg today on my way home in my 2013 CKRA
 

dieselbill

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
Location
Maine
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDI 6 speed sedan Titanium Beige and 06 Jetta Sedan TDI 5 speed Wheat Beige
VW delivers as promised!

Phase 1 emissions modification completed 03/23/17, restitution in the bank 03/27/17! VERY pleased and love the vehicle too.
 

radtech83

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Location
Indiana
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SE 6MT White
How long once you completed the VW Portal before you were contacted that you could schedule your Phase 1 with a dealer for your 2015 Passat?

I completed the Portal 8 days ago and haven't received anything yet.
 

Funguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Front Range of Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen dsg and 2015 Passat 6 M/T
I did mine through snail mail so I don't know that what I say applies but I think it was right away. They wouldn't let me log back in. Said I was completed. Are you getting any messages?
 

Funguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Front Range of Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen dsg and 2015 Passat 6 M/T
That figures. As soon as you start asking what takes so long the ball starts rolling again. I got my check by Fed-Exp in just a few days after I got the work done. If you are going with a paper check you will need to sign for that envelope.
 

Shawn67

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2015
Location
Ma
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDI
Anyone else have results post software emissions update?
I had my 2015 6speed done this week. I filled it after the work so when I get through the tank I will have a good baseline for MPG changes as I use Road trip for every tank. I have just over 20k miles on the car.

As was said in this thread the difference in low end torque is pretty impressive. Before the fix the engine was basically gutless below about 1500-1600rpm and then came on strong at about 1600. I always thought it was just that the engine couldn't spool up the turbo below that speed but clearly that was incorrect. Now if you give it some gas at say 1000 or 1200rpm you will get a little bit of turbo lag and then the engine pulls well. Where you would need to downshift for second around fairly slow corners you can keep it in third and pull out of it easily. You don't get the rush at 1600 as before because it was already pulling harder lower down.

Just getting the car moving feels different too. The RPM doesn't drop as much as the clutch is engaging and the difference in low end power just seems to get the car moving easier.

Regen seems a little different too. In the past I have only seen it start a regen when the car is fully warmed up. It seems to be more aggressive about regen now. I had it start one when the engine was still far from fully warmed up and it happened to be a short trip. On restart it immediately jumped back into the regen.

Idle is also slightly different. After it gets a little warmed up it always just dropped down to idle speed (around 850 RPM or so)very quickly. Now it sometimes seems to hover slightly faster (around 925rpm) for a few seconds before dropping down to the normal idle speed. This is with AC off and not when doing a regen.

Last thing I am waiting to see... previously the power of the TDI always felt variable. Sometime it pulled like a freight train, sometimes it didn't. After getting on it a few times it would then start pulling hard again, felt like it had a variety of different maps it was running on and occasionally it was on a fairly weaker map. So far I haven't noticed this after the fix but I have only driven a few hundred miles so far.

So far I am very pleased with the changes.

Shawn
 

Skimax

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2001
Location
White mts, NH
TDI
97 B4 variant(retired at 330K), 2000 B5 1.8T passat retired, 2013 SE (buyback5/17) 2015 SEL, 2015 E-Golf SEL sold March 2019, 2018 Volt LT and a 2007 PRHT MX5 for fun
True story.

How about going opening it up?

Nope, that doesn't work.

Going WOT?

That doesn't work either....

OK.. giving it some fuel....

Shawn
I always liked "stepping on Rudolf" most have no clue about the phrase.
 

Shawn67

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2015
Location
Ma
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDI
First tank after Phase 1 is done. MPG (pen/paper) was 42.73mpg which was slightly up from the earlier tank at 42.07. But those had been trending up anyway as temperature increased.

Does seem to regen more often. I think I had 3 in the 593 miles on that tank but it could be that I just see it easier with the Scangauge II.

Shawn
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Does seem to regen more often. I think I had 3 in the 593 miles on that tank but it could be that I just see it easier with the ScangaugeII.Shawn
I may not be as intuitive, but how do you know that the engine is doing a regen ? Also how do you set up the Scangauge II to see the regen ?

BTW: I have not had VW do the fix on my car yet, but will soon.

If you could let me know I'd appreciate it.Thx
 

Shawn67

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2015
Location
Ma
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDI
I may not be as intuitive, but how do you know that the engine is doing a regen ? Also how do you set up the Scangauge II to see the regen ?

BTW: I have not had VW do the fix on my car yet, but will soon.

If you could let me know I'd appreciate it.Thx
Without the scangauge you can tell if you are doing a regen as the engine idle increases. Normally it is under 900.. about 850 or so. When you are in a regen the idle is closer to 950 rpm.

With the scangauge you watch exhaust gas temperature. Under cruising the temp. is in the 500-600 degree f range. When regen kicks in the temp jump to 900+ when cruising. Temp. jumps when accelerating of course in both cases but gets higher during a regen, 1200+ is pretty easy to hit during regen.

Shawn
 

thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
While you are getting your software update, you could also have your front end and rear geometry corrected by having both front and rear toe set to 0 degrees. It eliminates the rubbery feel of the passat handling and, will increase tire longevity. when my 2013 in turned in in a week, with 56k on the conyi's, it still has at least 25k left on them without any uneven or rounding off on the front outside edges.
 

dieselbill

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
Location
Maine
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDI 6 speed sedan Titanium Beige and 06 Jetta Sedan TDI 5 speed Wheat Beige
Thundershorts

Thank you for the alignment suggestion! Mounted summer wheels and tires back on our 2015 vehicle recently and thought the wear on the outside edges looked greater than the inside.
 
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