Culprit of intermittent engine shut down on cold starts?

jesus_man

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
PNW
TDI
2005 Jetta (gone), 2002 Passat (gone), 2009 JSW (VW bought), 2010 JSW
Ahh, got some reading to do. Thanks!
 

jesus_man

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
PNW
TDI
2005 Jetta (gone), 2002 Passat (gone), 2009 JSW (VW bought), 2010 JSW
Ok, so as predicted my local VW dealer says that VW won't cover the install of the cold weather IC kit with the exception of 2 conditions:
1. The car comes to the shop on a flat bed because it won't start and it is determined that water in the pressure system is the issue.
2. If the engine ingests the water and makes parts come out of the engine block or heads (ok, perhaps that is a bit facetious, but a catastrophic failure nonetheless.)

Otherwise we are on our own for kit and install.

So I supposed I monitor it closely and perhaps there is someone making a part that can be manually operated to dump the water out without raising the car up and dropping the skid plate. I may look into that...
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yes, you'll have to get the kit yourself and install it. I have installed several for customers, they seem to help.
 

jesus_man

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
PNW
TDI
2005 Jetta (gone), 2002 Passat (gone), 2009 JSW (VW bought), 2010 JSW
Just a quick update. I installed a drain with a valve in my system. When the engine chuggs or stumbles, I pull over, open the valve, drive a couple miles (although it seems to only take one acceleration period) and the car straightens up. More here starting at post 412:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=431560&page=28
 

jesus_man

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
PNW
TDI
2005 Jetta (gone), 2002 Passat (gone), 2009 JSW (VW bought), 2010 JSW
An intercooler, a vacuum switching valve, and a few vacuum tubes.
Back to this, if you are still watching this thread...

How does it know when to purge the system? Reason I ask is I called my dealer today and they said that they would install this free of charge (not sure he realizes I am out of warranty). And they've had a new dpf I've been waiting on since Oct. but failed to notify me.

Anyway - in the condition I had today, where I drained the IC pipe just before I parked the car in the garage. 6 hrs later, car won't start and I end up getting nearly a cup of water out of the IC.

So if this "kit" requires a running engine (using vacuum) to operate, then it would not have helped and I am not even sure it's worth the effort and potential poor work for them to install. I can just see broken clips, misaligned bumper etc...
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
It changes the way the intercooler manages the air flow, and it does help, although post-fix cars will be running an even more aggressive low pressure EGR (which is the cause of the water in the charge air tract in the first place), so it stands to reason they may not only need the cold weather intercooler MORE, but it may not even do as much as it did prior.

I would advise anyone to find, download, and print the full TSB (the original one has been updated, the newest version is dated Jan. 22 2018) and look through it for a better understanding.

The TSB title is "Frozen Intercooler" and the number is 2025464 and covers all CBEA and CJAA equipped cars. The kit part number is 1K0-198-803-B. It is not cheap (over $500), and is pretty labor intensive to install (the intercooler is sandwiched between the condenser and radiator, and is held into the backside of the lock carrier, so the whole front of the car has to come completely apart to change it). But if it helps avoid bending rods, it is worth it. I have installed a few, and it does help.
 

jesus_man

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
PNW
TDI
2005 Jetta (gone), 2002 Passat (gone), 2009 JSW (VW bought), 2010 JSW
I will read up on the TSB and see if it seems like a reasonable risk, even for a free install.
Today was oil change day, so I decided to experiment with my drain I installed. I had the tubing routed along the bottom of the radiator and then up behind the drivers side headlight where there is a needle valve. The outlet of the valve goes to a short piece up tubing that I poked thru the lid of a gatorade bottle.

There is also a vent hole in the this lid. The trouble with that as stated earlier is that water won't drain uphill.
So I pulled the valve down below the car and opened the valve and to my surprise, more water drained out. Not enough to choke the car off as I had just driven it into the garage. But still 2oz or so... And this is a good thing for me as now I know the system will gravity drain.
I am now seeking advice on where to route my tube and valve: One idea I had was to drill a small hole in the air ducting in front of the drivers side tire mounting the valve in the air flow.


There is a small gap between the skid plate and that ducting further forward from the car, so perhaps I can just test my theory at least before I drill a hole.
My concern is it will freeze there, especially considering the following two winters will be spent in North Dakota. But I am not sure where I might be able to route it to prevent that. I'd love any ideas. Thanks!
 

jesus_man

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
PNW
TDI
2005 Jetta (gone), 2002 Passat (gone), 2009 JSW (VW bought), 2010 JSW
See here for an update:
 
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