TURBO: 2012-2014 Passat turbo failures [discussion thread]

PaulB said:

I am a little amazed over all the concern about being stranded by this car. It's like being concerned about getting killed by terrorists, or getting struck by lightning. Yeah, it happens now and then, but what are the chances?

I've had a lot of cars in my day, and every one of them was capable of stranding me. Somehow I managed to survive, but I don't know how...

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To each their own, as they say. Everyone's circumstances are different. Some people travel with small children, or elderly people. Being stranded in extreme weather could be deadly. Some people, me, travel in areas where there is limited or no cell service. I wouldn't say I worry about it, but it's definately in the back of my mind. Of course every car can have a failure, but unless you've been asleep at the wheel you may have missed the very high number of turbo failures reported on this website. This high failure rate is what prompted VW to act, anyone that states the problem isnt substantial is minimizing the issue.

I prefer to protect myself from terrorists and lightning to the best of my ability. I dont travel to Iraq and advertise that I am a Christian and I dont change irrigation in lightning storms!

+1 on that! Like between fossil and Ukiah last winter when it was -22F even someone in good health could not hike the 25 miles to call for safety. A lot of people who buy the Passat and other VW diesels are indeed the rural mileage kings and any failure just cannot happen. (that's kind of why I bought a new car)

Yeah, I try not to worry about it very much in my circumstances, but I can certainly imagine the desire to not have a car that could blow a turbo in terrible weather + location + child situation. I don't blame anyone for giving up this car for as long as they live under those circumstances, and as long as there's no confirmation as to what definitively causes the failures. Only been stranded once by a vehicle, and luckily I was by myself on interstate with great weather and nowhere to be in a hurry.

jrm said:

+1 on that! Like between fossil and Ukiah last winter when it was -22F even someone in good health could not hike the 25 miles to call for safety.

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EXACTLY like Fossil to Ukiah! No Cell service, few cars after 7 PM and no residences to just pop in to for safety. People that never leave the city have a hard time grasping how many rural areas still don't have cell service, and those that do may only have one provider in the area.

Case in Point, I was in Mitchell on Friday for volleyball, do you know how you communicate in Mitchell OR? A pay phone!


Mitchell DID have Cell service. http://www.ktvz.com/news/fire-brings-smoke-and-cell-service-to-mitchell/27100070

jrm said:

A lot of people who buy the Passat and other VW diesels are indeed the rural mileage kings and any failure just cannot happen. (that's kind of why I bought a new car)

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You can look at my Fuelly and make the "Mileage King" determination on your own. But you are exactly correct on why I bought a brand new diesel. Long legs and dependability. I have just went out of 36K mile warranty. I refuse to let this car nickel and dime me to death.

I dont want to "worry" about being stranded between Condon and Spray on OR 19, 25 miles from either this winter during basketball season either..

Has anyone purchased or gotten an estimate to replace the oil lines to/from the turbo? Anyone know how much bigger the oil lines are that are being replaced with turbo failures? It's probably not the easiest weekend project to dive into, but I'm curious about it.

They aren't any different, according to the part numbers in ETKA.

Line replacement is recommended when the turbo is changed because they're probably worried about coking or some other restriction in the line.

VeeDubTDI said:

They aren't any different, according to the part numbers in ETKA.

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Oh, I thought I read somewhere that the oil line ID was made larger, and they were being changed for the reasons you mentioned as well as to provide more oil flow. I don't remember where I got that from, but thanks for the info.

I think someone in this thread may have mentioned hearing it from a VW wrencher, but nothing confirmed as far as I know.

Deezil_n_Dachs said:

Oh, I thought I read somewhere that the oil line ID was made larger, and they were being changed for the reasons you mentioned as well as to provide more oil flow.

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That was mentioned here. I think the only way to find out is to head to the dealer. I may just do that. If there are larger lines available, I want 'em.

Prepare for the parts guy to look at you like you have three heads.

Had my turbo replaced at VW in Canada. There were no codes, but there was clearly Turbo struggle, whining, and clatter.

The turbo failures are avg at 22,000 mileage per thread collection. So it seems to me it's either very early stage 1,000 to 10,000 miles or after 40,000. I have 28,000 miles so passed first stage and now will be awaiting for second stage to pass. It will be during cold winter time so we shall see if its fail during the winter.

phlfly said:

The turbo failures are avg at 22,000 mileage per thread collection. So it seems to me it's either very early stage 1,000 to 10,000 miles or after 40,000. I have 28,000 miles so passed first stage and now will be awaiting for second stage to pass. It will be during cold winter time so we shall see if its fail during the winter.

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I wonder if the cars that are chipped have the turbo issues.

donDavide said:

I wonder if the cars that are chipped have the turbo issues.

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Good one

ECU Flash

Had check engine light come on yesterday. No noticeable performance impact. Brought it to the dealer they found four codes stored and said (ECU) flash update was required. I went ahead thinking there may be goodness with the update insofar as work done since the car was built (2012 model year). The codes were not detailed on the work order and the technician not available when I picked it up. I wonder if anyone knows whether the ECU updates are common from 2012-2014 thus there is potential value to the $205 outlay for the update.

Second, I want an ODB2 scanner to: know the codes going forward; know when DPF regen is occurring (2hr commute every day and have yet to 'notice' with either the 2012 or 2014); and a nice to have boost reading. There are many scanners out there - suggestions please.

wdb said:

Had check engine light come on yesterday. No noticeable performance impact. Brought it to the dealer they found four codes stored and said (ECU) flash update was required. I went ahead thinking there may be goodness with the update insofar as work done since the car was built (2012 model year). The codes were not detailed on the work order and the technician not available when I picked it up. I wonder if anyone knows whether the ECU updates are common from 2012-2014 thus there is potential value to the $205 outlay for the update.
Second, I want an ODB2 scanner to: know the codes going forward; know when DPF regen is occurring (2hr commute every day and have yet to 'notice' with either the 2012 or 2014); and a nice to have boost reading. There are many scanners out there - suggestions please.

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I can't speak to the ECU flash as I haven't had one done on my 13. After my turbo blew the other week I ordered the ODBLink LX ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H9S71LW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) and I paid for Torque Pro (I think it was $4 on the play store). If you have an iPhone you will have to find a similar product to Torque. I set alarms for the entrance to the DPF (I think in Torque they call it Cat B1S1, but my VagCom calls it B1S2) and I can now tell when it goes into regen. I upgraded my VAGCom to the latest CAN bus version so I can do some stuff like take the hill hold off and reset the service light reminder.

If you do end up with Torque I can help you setup the parameters and alarms you'd like watch. I also have most of the Tasker programs to start and stop Torque when you get in the car and when you leave it. I am still adding some finishing touches but for the most part have it working pretty well.

As an aside, has anyone with torque noticed the stock "boost" reading in torque does not agree with the VW specific PID ( the one reported on 0x70h)?

phlfly said:

Good one

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So does that mean yours went?

wdb said:

Second, I want an ODB2 scanner to: know the codes going forward; know when DPF regen is occurring (2hr commute every day and have yet to 'notice' with either the 2012 or 2014); and a nice to have boost reading. There are many scanners out there - suggestions please.

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Why not get VagCom/VCDS?

donDavide said:

Why not get VagCom/VCDS?

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www.ross-tech.com

donDavide said:

Why not get VagCom/VCDS?

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Don, one reason to get the OBD and Torque is that you can monitor everything that has a sensor for the most part while you drive, and for under $20, that's certainly not possible with VCDS/RossTech. Not taking anything away from VCDS, I'll get it some day as I have 2 TDI's now, but TP and the OBD are a cheap way to monitor and works well.

EfinTDI said:

Don, one reason to get the OBD and Torque is that you can monitor everything that has a sensor for the most part while you drive, and for under $20, that's certainly not possible with VCDS/RossTech. Not taking anything away from VCDS, I'll get it some day as I have 2 TDI's now, but TP and the OBD are a cheap way to monitor and works well.

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Ok, my brain was thinking about some thing else.

But, as you have seen, Dorque is largely useless for troubleshooting and coding/adaptation. You do get what you pay for . . .

- Tim

tadawson said:

But, as you have seen, Dorque is largely useless for troubleshooting and coding/adaptation. You do get what you pay for . . .

- Tim

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You don't buy Torque Pro for coding, it works well for troubleshooting codes, deleting codes once item is repaired etc. and showing your engine data you desire, and can be used for all your vehicles, not only the vw. I use it as well on my F350 and sons and daughters cars to diagnose codes. There the VDCS is useless, you get what you pay for, wow that's a lot...

EfinTDI said:

You don't buy Torque Pro for coding, it works well for troubleshooting codes, deleting codes once item is repaired etc. and showing your engine data you desire, and can be used for all your vehicles, not only the vw. I use it as well on my F350 and sons and daughters cars to diagnose codes. There the VDCS is useless, you get what you pay for, wow that's a lot...

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VCDS works with many OBDII vehicles too....But works best on VW group vehicles. VCDS can also display parameters while you drive like torque does as well as record them which Torque does not, but a full size laptop is a bit clumsy. A tablet running a full version of windows would be more convenient for everyday VCDS use.
Bill

Back on topic, please. You can discuss the pros and cons of various OBD scanners in the OBD scanners forum.

TURBO: 2012+ Passat turbo failures [discussion thread]

Okay, question that kind of has something to do with the topic: boost.

At approx what rpm range would boost be at max, while NOT in WOT and NOT in a DPF warm-up mode?

And what rpm would be low enough to say you're "lugging" the engine? I'm used to gassers but I realize diesels don't need as much to get going good. So I usually shift casually between 2k and 2,300, usually try to cruise somewhere between 1,700 and 2,100. I always use the manual shift because to me it feels like the DSG is upshift-happy, likes to keep RPM below 1,700, for what I assume is fuel efficiency purposes.

EfinTDI said:

You don't buy Torque Pro for coding, it works well for troubleshooting codes, deleting codes once item is repaired etc. and showing your engine data you desire, and can be used for all your vehicles, not only the vw. I use it as well on my F350 and sons and daughters cars to diagnose codes. There the VDCS is useless, you get what you pay for, wow that's a lot...

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TouchScan dwarfs Dorque on all that . . . gauges, PID plotting, readiness tests, etc. No native VAG support, but that wasn't my point . . .

- Tim

tadawson said:

TouchScan dwarfs Dorque on all that . . . gauges, PID plotting, readiness tests, etc. No native VAG support, but that wasn't my point . . .

- Tim

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Thanks Tim, point made.
Good question Justin, I'd like to know too.

Justinw303 said:

Okay, question that kind of has something to do with the topic: boost.

At approx what rpm range would boost be at max, while NOT in WOT and NOT in a DPF warm-up mode?

And what rpm would be low enough to say you're "lugging" the engine? I'm used to gassers but I realize diesels don't need as much to get going good. So I usually shift casually between 2k and 2,300, usually try to cruise somewhere between 1,700 and 2,100. I always use the manual shift because to me it feels like the DSG is upshift-happy, likes to keep RPM below 1,700, for what I assume is fuel efficiency purposes.

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Full boost pressure can be developed at as little as 1600 RPMs on this engine. At sea level, boost starts to drop as you go beyond 3000 RPMs. At high altitude, boost starts to drop at as little as 2400 RPMs.

I'd say that significant load under 1600 RPMs would be considered lugging. The lower RPMs, the less load it takes to be considered lugging. You can still fart around town on level streets at 1100 RPM in 6th gear without lugging as long as there isn't much load on the engine (this usually results in about 5 psi boost pressure). So the DSG's upshift happiness is actually okay in most situations, and yes, it does improve fuel economy.

This particular engine is definitely much happier at low RPMs than previous TDIs, mostly due to the smaller turbo.