What to Know - Cold Weather and Diesel Operation?

In case this is a commonly asked question, please forgive me. I did look in old posts for an answer first.

I just took the leap of faith and ordered a 2005 Passat TDI Wagon. The salesman tried to talk me out of it. Is there anything I should know about operating a Diesel in Winter in Ohio? If the temp goes below freezing, will this still be a useable car?

And is there a place to go to find locations/quality of Diesel Fuel and current prices?

Don't think Ohio weather is any worse than German weather. For diesel pricing, go to www.flyingj.com. I find local pricing to be in about the same range as flying j's price, ($2.03, today in St. Augustine, FL.) There is however a local independent with $1.79 diesel, located on San Marco Ave. next to the Ripley museum.

The salesman tried to talk me out of it.




Is there anything I should know about operating a Diesel in Winter in Ohio? If the temp goes below freezing, will this still be a useable car?

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I absolutely do not understand the inner workings of the mind of a VW salesman. One in the city where I work tried to talk a coworker out of a diesel and into a gasoline Jetta. Instead he talked her right into a Honda Civic, since a Civic got better mileage than a gasoline Jetta. But, back to the question, you should have no problems with a diesel in cold weather. It has to get really cold (below around 5F) before fuel gelling becomes a problem, and with winterized fuel, like you should get in Ohio, maybe even lower temperatures. And if you're still worried, use an anti-gelling additive that you can get at Wal-Mart.

Check the FAQ - for winter in Ohio, it has to be CONSIDERABLY colder than 5F for gelling

We have a pretty high percentage of members here from the Great White North and I seem to remember occasionally seeing posts from folks in Norway and Finland. Don't worry about winter operation... just educate yourself (read the FAQ) and enjoy the TDI! A Passat Wagon with 2.0L TDI is truly a vehicle to drool over... maybe the salesman wanted it for himself.

I live in Lakewood, Ohio and have never had a problem in 6.5 years of owning my Beetle TDI. I don't use any additives either. I do use Sunoco from a good station though.

You won't have any problems in the winter if you take the few common-sense precautions already mentioned in other replies. As for the salesmen, always remember that they work on commission, some makes/models pay higher commissions than others, and some makes/models get delivered quicker (and therefore the saleman gets paid quicker) than others. You can pretty well figure out which way they'll try to steer potential buyers........

Thanks for all the great replies. I really appreciate these.

Steve

In case this is a commonly asked question, please forgive me. I did look in old posts for an answer first.

I just took the leap of faith and ordered a 2005 Passat TDI Wagon. The salesman tried to talk me out of it. Is there anything I should know about operating a Diesel in Winter in Ohio? If the temp goes below freezing, will this still be a useable car?

And is there a place to go to find locations/quality of Diesel Fuel and current prices?

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If you use fuel with a higher cetane number I expect you'll find the car easier to start, smoother running, and "warm up" easier esp in cold weather.
If you dont have that fuel choice in your area, use an additive to boost the cetane.
Low cetane fuel is detectable by observing white smoke (unburnt vapourised fuel) at a cold start up, and particularly noticeable diesel clatter.

hth

One thing to know is that heated seats are not a luxury in a TDI, but a necessity!! (I wish I had them!!!)

Also, if you're hair is wet and the windows fog up, try to defrost or dry at least the windshield before you park it in cold weather, otherwise you'll have to scrape the inside of the windows, like an old Beetle.

I just took the leap of faith and ordered a 2005 Passat TDI Wagon. If the temp goes below freezing, will this still be a useable car?

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I would bet that you are going to love that Passat!
Winter is a non-issue, really, unless you plan to move to Alaska or northern Canada (and there are TDIs up there, too!).

Common sense:
- as the previous posters said, be more picky about fuel quality in the winter. There may be better "Ohio" specific info in the fuel forum on this site;
I would think that Sunoco Gold Diesel and Shell Ultra Diesel (where it still exists) are possible choices. Once you find a good supplier, stick with it for the winter. When you travel, fill up at stations that have a noticeable turnover of Diesel, such as truck stops. You do not want to end up with leftover summer fuel when it gets cold. Unlikely, but...

- fuel filter: a dirty filter past the change interval is not a good thing to have in the winter. Make sure that you change the fuel filter before it gets cold when the change interval is coming up.

- while not necessary, a heater ( TDIHEATER) or DIY (search forum) provide creature comfort and a toasty warm engine on startup.
Having said that: the TDI starts happily in temperatures where going outside is becoming cruel. It has glow plugs, I do not!

- Diesel additives: there are some around; Stanadyne (winter) is one of them, LubeCorp is another. They further lower the clouding point of the fuel (where particles fall out of the solution and potentially clog the fuel filter or fuel pickup etc.)

I am in Vermont where in the dead of winter temperatures of 40 below zero arent uncommon, and i have never had a problem more than about 3 seconds of cranking before it fires....just use an additive..

There are lots of VW TDIs here in Alaska. Both in Anchorage where I live (-20F) and in the interior (-50F) where it gets much colder. No problem with cold weather here if you play it smart. Your interior will take a while to warm up so heated seats are nice. It is also useful the have a TDIHeater, but I don't think that will work on your new Passat .

Look here for AAA Ohio fuel prices:

OH Metro Averages

T.D.

hey steve! great name! its mine too! hahaha!
congrats on you new car! just have a question for ya, why did the sales man try to talk you out of it???

I live in northern Nh and have driven my Jetta many times in way subzero weather. Jelled up twice in four years. One reason was both times the temp was below -20F. The other reason was my fault. Remember to change your fuel filter before the real cold stuff. Up here that means in mid November. Also a good fresh bottle of additive like power service, or any of the brands that are discussed in this club that prevent gelling, can save you the headache and a tow charge. Also I've never had a block heater in my car, though I might do that this year. A true block heater I found out can't be put in a TDI due to lack of freeze plugs. But there are a couple of options on this website that I've seen. In the event you do gell up a night in a warm garage will thaw it out. There is a thread around this site that discusses drilling out the sending unit in the tank to make the orifice larger to prevent icing up there. With your 2005 I believe VW has addressed the problem.
My opinion buy it. It can't be as cold in Ohio as it gets here In NH and I love mine. By the way put 4 good snow tires on and the car drives like a tank through the snow. I like to drive my Jetta in the snow more than my 4wd Blazer.

- fuel filter: a dirty filter past the change interval is not a good thing to have in the winter. Make sure that you change the fuel filter before it gets cold when the change interval is coming up.

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This, IMHO, is the best piece of advice given.

If you start the winter with a new fuel filter, it is very unlikely that you will have any fuel problems. The fuel companies blend fuel seasonally and the manufacturers are providing electrically heated fuel filters (I think VW does this; can someone confirm?), so the days of gelling are pretty much gone. I haven't used any winterizing additives for years and have had no problems.