They need to include a lottery ticket with each gallon
DasTeknoViking: > Find a gasser Jetta and do your own swap, called a BKD...
I'm not equipped to do that. If I were, I'd have already put a 5-speed in my ALH and called it good. The regional guy who does this sort of work doesn't do the hunter-gatherer part (finding donor parts), and I don't have the time.
Meanwhile, back at the thread topic, I was just looking at the 2012-11 letter VW sent to NHTSA. Here's an interesting section, from page 30:
"827 diesel fuel samples have been acquired throughout the continental U.S.
In respect to viscosity, 203 samples were out of ASTM specification (below 1.9 cSt), 186 of those were below the HPFP’s nominal threshold of 1.5 cSt. Here the HPFP may not have been properly lubricated.
59 samples were detected with lower lubricity (greater HFRR/WSD value) than required. 22 of them exceeded the HPFP’s nominal tolerance of 570μm and may have caused increased wear.
4 samples were found to contain increased amounts of water more than 1.5 % / 1.8% / 2.5 % and one sample exceeding 10% of water, which was not detected in the fuel station and random vehicle surveys. Viscosity and lubricity are within specification, but water could cause rust and corrosion in the HPFP and damage the pump.
79 samples contained more than 5% biodiesel, 20 of those exceeded 10%. Biodiesel itself does not damage the HPFP, however, collapsed/deteriorated/aged biodiesel can cause deposits inside the HPFP and clog filters, interrupting the lubrication and leading to failure.
252 samples showed a flashpoint below ASTM specification, but this has no direct impact to the HPFP’s durability and may just be seen as an indicator for possible gasoline content."
Yes, US diesel, at the station pump, is frequently way out of spec and/or contaminated. What's unsaid, of course, is that TDIs prior to the CRs had, and still have, no problem running on this bilge.
The CR situation appears to be due to a perfect storm of:
a. tighter requirements on vehicles, compounded by
b. a market roll to ULSD, which included
c. having to add lubricity agent at the terminal, plus
d. some states mandating biodiesel, sometimes more than 5%
VW and Botch designed to the ASTM spec, and not the US reality.
4 years later, the problem still festers.