Intro - I break stuff

Hello! I just picked up a 2013 Passat TDI SEL with DSG with 69k miles for $6k out the door at a small local dealership. I feel like I got a great deal on (hopefully) a pretty good car and I love it so far.

I am your worst nightmare. I like to work on my own vehicles, I know NOTHING about diesels (OK, next to nothing...), nothing about VW's, and I do a lot of, "I wonder what this do...oops!" when I'm fixing my cars.

However, I know that I don't know what I don't know and I like to learn, and I'll share what I learn on the forum as I learn it if it's not already covered. I know how to use "Search" and "FAQ's".

First error: I know. Intro's are in the 101 forum. Yuck. I expect to have more NMS specific interactions. Hope this is ok.

My car:
It's a salvaged title with all the recalls done and an emissions warranty good to 123k miles or fall of 2022. I got $500 knocked off the price for an inoperative stereo/maps unit, which I fixed with a YouTube video, 20 minutes of labor, and a $1 fuse. I don't think there's anything else wrong with it, other than it has too small tires on it from the dealership. I reset the TPMS (owner's manual works!) and will get new tires when these wear out.

My usage:
I've had it for a week and already put 1,000 miles on it...this has been an exceptional week. I expect to drive about 17,000 to 20,000 miles a year with a commute of 70 miles (round trip) a day and kids living out of state and going to college. I think I've experienced a DPF Regen already...fan was running when I got home one day. I am nervous about this aspect of ownership and have more to learn. I'll be buying an OBD2 dongle and use the VAG Link app (I think that's it...seems a little inappropriate...) to monitor going forward. I expect to get a minimum of 1 year of fairly trouble free use out of a vehicle (standard maintenance only) for every $2,000 I spend on it, including reconditioning costs.

My Resources:
I've got a friend that is a service writer at a VW dealership in SLC and another friend that is a certified master mechanic and instructor. He just bought a 2015 and we are planning to put this on his lift soon and go over it end to end together. All my work will be done in my driveway or by local mechanics unless I can persuade him to use his shop more often.

I'm a Land Cruiser guy and have learned a lot about mechanics by building and keeping old Cruiser's on the road. This is my first diesel and first "enthusiast" car I've owned outside Land Cruisers. I do consider it an enthusiast car because I am becoming an enthusiast, and I recognize it will require more than just oil changes and fill ups to keep it on the road. Ssoooo....there's that.

I've put an effort into sounding intelligent in this post, using abbreviations and acronyms I picked up on the forum today. Really, talk to me like I'm 4. I don't know what I'm doing, what to look for, and how to take care of this car so it doesn't end up costing me a fortune. All the VW stories, and even some posts on this forum, have me a little nervous that I just stepped in a bucket of turds. I'm counting on all of you to help me avoid some easily avoidable newbie mistakes. Thanks for reading!

Welcome! Congratulations on the new ride! I love my 14 passat tdi sel premium.

What was the reason for the salvage title?

Welcome aboard! You're in pretty good hands here. I think you'll find these forums to be a little more friendly and newbie-tolerant than others I can think of. That being said, please don't hesitate to search before asking- and civility goes a long way towards getting a helpful answer.

Best of luck with your car!

thundershorts said:

What was the reason for the salvage title?

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The dealer didn't have details on it, but there was a window sticker stating all official-like that the salvage repair work was performed by Volkswagen, not just an authorized repair shop or some guy in his garage. I drove it through it's paces and felt comfortable with it, so I rolled the dice.

I put a $500 deposit on it drove it 140 miles the first night I had it: Through twisties, up to 90+ MPH, and through town without issue. Paid for it the next day. Only time will tell.

There is a little vibration that comes and goes around 80MPH, but from reading threads on here I'm satisfied that it's either tires or lower control arm bushings. I'll let it go until it gets worse or I replace the tires this summer.

With all that said, is there anything you think I should be looking at specifically? Or have I made some bad assumptions?

How is your heat? Passenger side as compared to driver's side? There is an extended warranty available if you heater core becomes clogged, quite common on these cars.

Make sure you stock plenty of spare spark plugs.

Tom in PT said:

How is your heat? Passenger side as compared to driver's side? There is an extended warranty available if you heater core becomes clogged, quite common on these cars.

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That warranty extension is probably void due to the salvage title.

Tom in PT said:

How is your heat? Passenger side as compared to driver's side? There is an extended warranty available if you heater core becomes clogged, quite common on these cars.

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Seems ok. It would be good if wore out before the extended warranty does, though.

c3kTDi said:

Make sure you stock plenty of spare spark plugs.

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Ha! I know better than that! But I am about to run a tank of unleaded through it to clean the injectors and the rest of the system. Once every 70,000 miles, right?

06bluebeetletdi said:

That warranty extension is probably void due to the salvage title.

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I wondered about that. I called the dealer to check the recalls on it before buying and he's the one that gave me the 123k miles or 2022 info. I didn't mention the salvaged title though. It would make sense that it might be voided.

Woops! I just read back through. Different warranty. I do need to check to see what VAG will do for me since I have a salvaged title.

If i remember correctly, the salvage title voids warranty extensions (except diesel emissions) and recalls except for safety. I ran into the situation with a cc with a software update and a gas beetle with the intake manifold warranty extension, both were void due to salvage titles.

Thanks. At the price I'm not counting on warranties to keep it on the road, but I'll take what I can get.

I'd like some recommendations on topics I should search to prepare me for TDI ownership. I've been through the FAQ's, what else should I be looking out for or add to my preventative maintenance and scheduled maintenance?

Follow the maintenance schedule, especially the DSG transmission service (every 40K miles).

In my car I was getting buildup of gunk in the intercooler which fouled the air temp sensor at the top of the intercooler. There is a thread on cleaning the intercooler without removing it. Search for that. I clean it every oil change, in addition to cleaning the sensor.

Keep your sunroof drains clear, especially if you park outside or in area with lots of pine needles.

Use the correct oil per the manual and change on schedule.

There is generally no need to ever use any fuel additives. I don't use any and never would use 2 cylce or other lubricity enhancer.

Tom in PT said:

Follow the maintenance schedule, especially the DSG transmission service (every 40K miles).

In my car I was getting buildup of gunk in the intercooler which fouled the air temp sensor at the top of the intercooler. There is a thread on cleaning the intercooler without removing it. Search for that. I clean it every oil change, in addition to cleaning the sensor.

Keep your sunroof drains clear, especially if you park outside or in area with lots of pine needles.

Use the correct oil per the manual and change on schedule.

There is generally no need to ever use any fuel additives. I don't use any and never would use 2 cylce or other lubricity enhancer.

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Thanks Tom in PT! That's the kind of info I'm looking for!

Without a known service history I'm considering doing the transmission service as PM. It's expensive, isn't it like $800-ish?

Does the VAG share service records across the dealership network? I'm assuming if it was done there I could get a history.

Don't use your sunroof

iamatt said:

Don't use your sunroof

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Uh-oh....already done....

For the dsg service, some dealers are close to $400. I had mine done with an independent for $100, i supplied the fluid and filter ($125 for oem on sale on ebay). Vw dealers do not share records for non warranty service, some do report to carfax.

06bluebeetletdi said:

For the dsg service, some dealers are close to $400. I had mine done with an independent for $100, i supplied the fluid and filter ($125 for oem on sale on ebay). Vw dealers do not share records for non warranty service, some do report to carfax.

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Thanks!

Tom in PT said:

There is generally no need to ever use any fuel additives. I don't use any and never would use 2 cylce or other lubricity enhancer.

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Fuel additives are kind of a touchy subject around here. LOL. It's a little bit of a personal opinion. I dont think there is any proof that it is really protecting our system, but there is plenty of proof that our system is borderline inadequate.

I copy-pasted this from another discussion about fuel additives as I believe it has important information that OP should read in order to make his own informed decision.

I agree that fresh fuel should be enough to keep the vehicle running. I'm not sure that I agree that it is enough to ensure long life of vital components like the HPFP. Our fuel lubricity rating is right on the cusp of being inadequate.

For example, the Shell diesel lubricity rating is 400μm. Chevron is 460μm. BP is between 400 and 460μm. The US maximum rating is 520μm whereas in the EU it is 460μm and Bosch says for long life it needs to be 460μm or better.

That's too close for comfort for me.

Louie710 said:

I thought i read somewhere there was a tbs where vw recommends stanadyne if you need an additive for cold temps i could be wrong tho

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There was a TSB back in the MkIV days that says you could/should use Stanadyne in cold weather. However, they also stated additives are not required/recommended for the Common Rail TDI's.

Personally, I use Opti-Lube XPD in mine. I have since day 1 and I will till the day I can no longer drive my TDI. Am I throwing my money away? Possibly. Am I extending the life of my HPFP? There's no way to absolutely know for sure. Is $60 every 6 months or so acceptable to me for my peace of mind? Yup.

Mdarius said:

Without a known service history I'm considering doing the transmission service as PM. It's expensive, isn't it like $800-ish?
Does the VAG share service records across the dealership network? I'm assuming if it was done there I could get a history.

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If you do the service, you can do it for less than $150 in parts.

If you have a dealer do the service, you are looking at between $250 and $350.

If the service was done, It should be posted on the carfax. If not, call the servicing dealer that will be on the car fax and ask if they have the service history. They can not send you the service history because it will have the previous owners information on it and that would be an invasion of their privacy. But they can tell you over the phone if it was done.

If you cant verify that the service was done, it is a good idea to go ahead and do it.

And No, VWoA does not have a centralized database of customer pay service history. They only keep track of warranty repairs in their central database.

Thanks! This is all good info. I've been looking for a thread about the steps for the diy dsg service. Any tips?

I've seen some pretty good YouTube videos on how to do the DSG service. I have not attempted it on mine, but it's about time for it.

Get an ELM327 BlueTooth OBD-II device, and an Android phone or tablet to run Torque and VAG-DPF. Both work great on my 2013 CKRA TDi Passat. You can monitor DPF regen status using VAG-DPF, and a bunch of other parameters with Torque.

A Ross-Tech Micro-CAN cable is an important addition as well. Get the legit cable, not a knock-off.

*EDIT* I see the Micro-CAN is no longer in production. I've had mine since 2011. So it looks like the one to get is
the HEX-V2 Enthusiast cable:

https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchv2_ent/

www.Ross-Tech.com

https://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Main_Page

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.applagapp.vagdpf&hl=en_US

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=VW+DSG+service


Welcome to the forum!

Welcome! I've driven a few TDIs, own a couple, and worked through some problems. I second bustNfuel's statement about the OBDII Bluetooth dongle and VAG-DPF and Torque, both worth paying for the full version (a few dollars each).

You can read up about the NMS platform problems, problems with the High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP), so on and so forth. Just drive and smile as you got a deal.

I've done a couple of DSG services myself, but then again I like doing them myself when I have time. There are good how-tos for the Jetta and Golf platforms that are great for the transmission service, the Passat may just need a few things different taken off to get to the filter on the top side.

Thanks for the links! I just watched a couple of the videos on the service. Now I understand why there's not a write up on it. Much easier to understand in a video. This looks like something I'll do myself. I don't love the process for setting the fluid level. It seems like there should be a spec for capacity.

"Fill it up, get it to temp, then drain it until it stops dripping" seems...inefficient? Messy? I dunno. I can certainly see the value in getting the VAG-DPF software!

Thanks again.

I'm pretty sure there is a way to service the transmission up on ramps by draining out the fluid and replacing exactly what you drained out ("drain and fill"). This method may not be exactly by the book. Check out the various threads on DIY DSG transmission service in this forum. This method does not require any software or special equipment. Just be sure you use the OEM fluid and a VW filter.

Also a great resource for parts is Idparts.com, they sell service kits for major service intervals, 10, 20 and 40K with 40k being the most intense (they toss in engine filters at 40K but not needed until 60K).

They also just sell Rowe DSG fluid as an option, I have no problem saving a few bucks with a non VW branded bottle if the fluid meets the spec (especially with 2 DSGs in the garage!).