Recent content by naturist

Sorry, nonsense. The composition of DEF is specified in the EPA regs. They are required to make it to spec, and they can't add any "special sauce," not even dye, to distinguish theirs from all the others. It is ONLY urea and distilled water, at a fixed ratio, and there are no variations allowed...

Thank you, all. That's what I thought: no "professional installation" required. I also have a 2012 BMW, which DOES require "professional installation," in that after replacing the battery, you need to do some programming to tell the computer about the new battery, lest the charge controller...

2001 Jetta TDI needed a new battery. Auto parts store guy's computer said the new battery needed professional installation. Hmmmm. I know this to be true for my 2012 BMW, which needs some programming to tell the computer about the new battery, but is anything like this needed for the TDI?

I don't buy it. Not unless the fuel in the tank is heated to at least the flash point of diesel, which if I recall correctly, is somewhere around 600 °F. I think the boom was the tank bursting, likely due to over pressurization, although I have no idea how that could come about, diesel being so...

Um, so let me get this straight: you think having fresh 507 oil contaminated with a small amount of garbage is better than having fresh 507 oil with a small amount of used 507 oil?

That combination is a prescription for a lot of such stories. Big galoot like me only gets accosted every half-dozen years or so.

Is there some reason for not keeping the right amount of oil in the engine? Or checking oil level with the dipstick (that's what it is for) before arbitrarily dumping more in? Would you dump another quart of water in a drinking glass on top of whatever was in there to start with, and not expect...

There are a couple considerations here. The first is the "black oil" bit. Virtually all diesels turn oil black as coal within 30 seconds of restart after fresh oil is installed. If your oil is black, it means absolutely nothing. I have a Jetta TDI of 2001 vintage, a BMW X5 diesel of 2012...

You need to realize that clutches do not wear AT ALL by miles traveled. They wear by number of revolutions of slippage at specified torque, an equation modified by heat, but completely unrelated to mileage. At one extreme, I knew a guy once who completely used up a clutch by one ill-advised...

I'm aware of the skimmers existence, thank you. I just prefer not to make it any easier for the bad guys if I can help it. It's one reason I can't wait for the 3rd generation of credit card systems (mag stripe = G1; chip set = G2; Applepay and similar near-field systems = G3) to come into...

I don't leave my card ANYWHERE. If it isn't IN MY SIGHT at all times, it is too vulnerable to fraud/theft. So, I'm really sorry when I find a station that asks me to leave my card, really sorry that they are in a location where they feel too vulnerable to drive-offs. When asked to leave my card...

BMW has just announced the EPA has cleared their 2017 diesel offerings, which will go into production shortly http://www.bmwblog.com/2017/01/16/bmw-is-set-to-start-production-of-its-2017-diesel-models/

It must surely be noted that a lot of people put a lot of off-spec oil in their cars and consider the "experiment" a success because the vehicle didn't immediately explode in flames. In most cases, you can get away with "the wrong oil" for a thousand miles or so. After that, the odds start...

I trust you've pointed out that although $200 poorer, they dodged a very much more expensive bullet. (Probably pointed out several times, I bet.)

I must be noted that 15w40 dino oil is not suitable for any TDI after '99 under any circumstances, let alone in extremely cold weather. And it is probably a bad idea for any TDI pre '99 as well, even in the summer.