'09 jsw need help to pass smog CA

[mike dbf]

have a '09 jsw tdi with 166,000 miles can't get the nox monitor to clear. have vag-com. is there a procedure i can use to get it to clear ?
thanks for any help

 

[oilhammer]

Check the coolant temp, needs to maintain 90+C.

 

[lemoncurd]

Check the coolant temp, needs to maintain 90+C.

to expand on this, use VCDS to monitor the temp. the cluster wont give you an accurate representation of coolant temp

 

[x1800MODMY360x]

to expand on this, use VCDS to monitor the temp. the cluster wont give you an accurate representation of coolant temp

Yes because 166F-230F is VW 190F

A tool that can read coolant temp, even a cheap elm327 would work.

 

[oilhammer]

Guys, pretty much every car does an 'average' for the temp gauge display. Otherwise, the gauge needle would constantly be moving back and forth. This is normal. This is why a scan tool is needed to see the actual temps.

You'd be shocked at some of the coolant temp mapping strategies of a lot of newer cars. No wonder so many of them have the engines worn out before 100k miles now, or have blown headgaskets or warped heads or cracked blocks, or.... They run them at the very edge of overheating normally, and if ANYTHING goes the least bit wrong, they're toasted.

Those miserable little penalty box first gen Chevy Trax (the blue hair version was called the Buick Encore) were about 3 cups of coolant away from overheating and doing engine damage as they left the factory.... so when (not if) the coolant gets low, the piston rings become one with the pistons. Plastic coolant flanges and thermostat housings, along with a pressurized vented non-recovery coolant tank (just like our Volkswagens have... but withOUT any low coolant warning sensor!!!) means if you do not keep an eagle eye on them...... boom! This engine was also optional in the older Cruze and the Sonic. The early 1.4L turbo.

 

[d24tdi]

Almost as good as the '90s and '00s Ford oil pressure "gauges" that had only two positions...... Zero, or happy middle. Run by a switch, rather than a sensor. Lol.

Give the customer what they want! Everyone loves to look down and see a needle resting perfectly in the middle of a gauge. Regardless of whatever the underlying reality may be......

My folks' last two Subaru Foresters haven't even had a temperature gauge -- just a light that runs blue when the engine is stone cold, then goes off, and would theoretically come on in an overheat condition. I was put off by the lack of a gauge the first time I drove the first one, until I thought about it and realized that most modern gauges are really no different than a light anyway...... by the time you see it move off the middle mark, you've only got seconds to act, if you aren't already screwed.

Come to think of it, weren't the original New Beetles just the same way? No temp gauge, just a cold/hot lamp?

 

[Lightflyer1]

My Beetle has digital gauges, oil and water temp, IIRC. I like the displays and dash mounted gauge pod. Plain old 2015 Beetle.

 

[oilhammer]

The NB just has the blue (cold) light in the cluster, and it goes to flashing red if overheating. The outside temp display is up by the mirror, along with the clock.

The NB uses the same temp sensor as the G/J, too. Once again, the cluster decides what it wants to display based on that input.

There are quite a few newer cars that do not have temp gauges, but instead employ the light strategy. Which is fine, you really only need to know if there is a problem, and a gauge creeping up may not grab your attention like a light would (and in many cases, if a gauge goes somewhere it normally doesn't, a light will come on anyway, or some alert, or something).