Diesel exhaust smell in the cabin?

Hello all. I used to drive with my windows down, but got into a relationship and started to roll up the windows. I noticed there is a huge whiff of diesel exhaust when I'm at a stop light and notice it more when the car is on a regen cycle. I let my girlfriend drive my car one day and the smell is severe in the passenger seat. My girlfriend thought it was normal and didnt say anything. I do a lot of nightime driving because I work night shift and there aren't many cars out, I'm 99% sure it is from my car. I'm currently driving an A7 3.0 TDI with emissions fix and recent DPF recall. The exhaust small was there before the recent DPF recall.

Is this issue the same with everyone else?

For a car with DPF and emissions equipment intact it's certainly not normal. Should be a faint scent of ammonia at the tailpipe, nothing else. Must be a leak of some kind in the engine bay

I am having the exact same issue just got this 2009 Touareg TDI 3.0L love the vehicle but knew I’d probably be dealing with a few issues of a used vehicle at 135k, I know very little about the VW’s diesel motors but had many 1.8T’s and had the same issue with exhaust that turned out to be cracked/broken EGR hoses. I found some good aftermarket hoses made by Eurojet and was able to fix that issue. Anyone have any recommendations on upgrading hose kits for these TDI’s or can recommend what direction to go with this? I’m also 100% willing to do the delete options if it’s worth doing. I love this vehicle and am willing to put work into it.

Drkir471 said:

I am having the exact same issue just got this 2009 Touareg TDI 3.0L love the vehicle but knew I’d probably be dealing with a few issues of a used vehicle at 135k, I know very little about the VW’s diesel motors but had many 1.8T’s and had the same issue with exhaust that turned out to be cracked/broken EGR hoses. I found some good aftermarket hoses made by Eurojet and was able to fix that issue. Anyone have any recommendations on upgrading hose kits for these TDI’s or can recommend what direction to go with this? I’m also 100% willing to do the delete options if it’s worth doing. I love this vehicle and am willing to put work into it.

Click to expand...

Just Get blockoff plates for the EGR and call it a day. This is a $20-30 solution. You will need a tune as well.