oilhammer
Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
That's their "out". If they don't set readiness, they can say "well it wasn't for road use anyway".
ive been seeing more and more fleet owned deleted diesels myself, sadly also a lot of companies that exclusivly had diesel fleets slowly switching to gas....The thing is, that really isn't going to save them from litigation by the gov't should the EPA decide to go after them, or IF they are even able to. Because the "off road use only" clause doesn't work, because so long as the car was originally designed, spec'd, and sold for road use, then that's what it has to meet.
Therein lies the rub: the racing community was all up in arms over this, because if you really applied that rule, someone building a race car that started as a road car would have to keep all the equipment intact. Which of course, nobody does. I'm talking ALL motor sports with production-based vehicles/engines. Truck pulls, dirt track racers, drag strip racers... anything that was originally a road vehicle. Obviously this is an impossible rule to enforce, and it probably is hoped that the fear of consequences will dissuade the tuners from doing it. But so long as the draconian regulations force endlessly fragile and expensive equipment on to vehicles and machinery, the outcome is always going to be people trying to modify it.
When TDIs first came along, all we really had to deal with was the EGR system... and with the old 500ppm "low sulfur" fuel, the EGR was problematic, but it was fairly easy to deal with. Either you did a quick, simple, cheap, widely available software change (early ones this meant changing the PROMs in the ECU, hence the term "chipping"), or you just dealt with periodic intake cleaning. Neither was much of a nuisance in the grand scheme of things. You still enjoyed a car that had good driveability, unrivaled fuel economy, and whichever route you took to deal with the EGR was relatively easy and cheap. And even with EGR, we still had a car that was FAR simpler than ANY of its competitors of the time for engine management. The VE TDI is a dirt-simple engine. Its electronics are super simple, it is still a mechanical based fuel injection system that in 1996 was already two decades old in Volkswagens. Tried and true. Simple, tough, reliable. Then when ULSD eventually came along, the EGR issues largely went away, or at least lessened to a point that it is hardly worth mentioning.
But it has evolved and become simply too much to deal with. Volkswagen's answer was to try and cheat the system, they got caught, then got all butt-hurt and took their toys away. And it is sadly becoming clearer every day that the only realistic way to deal with these modern diesels in many instances is to do extensive modifications to them just to make them useable long term. I see 6.7L Ford trucks every day with sooty tailpipes, so you know those are deleted... because stock ones don't do that. I'm talking the ones with the double fluted pipes, not some brodozer guy that has a giant soccer ball sized pipe sticking out the back and a lifted suspension and rolling on Chinaspokes wrapped in no-name Chinapops displaying to the rest of the world just how small and useless his genitalia is. I'm talking about company trucks, vocational beds and boxes, livery on the side, that they have chosen to delete because sometimes they just need their damn equipment to WORK.
Of course, it also doesn't help (regarding the domestic pickups) that the diesel engine game has basically become a dick swinging contest to see just how much frame-twisting, slushbox-munching (because they're ALL automatics now), axle-punishing tire-smoking horsepower and torque they can squeeze out of these things. Does anyone really need an engine that belts out 1200 torque just to drive around mostly empty most of the time??? Because if you do, Ford will sell you one.... can't do much for your teeny peeny, though.
Yep.... gasoline ambulances were a thing of the past, but they're back. So are gasoline fueled school buses, tow trucks, and all kinds of other things.ive been seeing more and more fleet owned deleted diesels myself, sadly also a lot of companies that exclusivly had diesel fleets slowly switching to gas....
To your point about the diesel ambulances, I know I have posted this gem before. This was in my area:Yep.... gasoline ambulances were a thing of the past, but they're back. So are gasoline fueled school buses, tow trucks, and all kinds of other things.
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And a diesel F450 cab-chassis based ambulance doesn't make a lot of sense, unless you feel the need to have them drag your RV camper trailer, your cabin cruiser, and a couple personal water craft along with you to the hospital after you had your first heart attack (because trust me, that big 6.7L Powerstroke can do it... easily... won't even break a sweat). Or, the ambulance company could save TEN GRAND, and just get the more-than-capable 7.3L gas V8 and get you there just as quickly, and probably be far less likely to trip an MIL or go limp or something in the short ~50k miles they'll keep it in service anyway. So what it gets 3 MPG less?
Same here brothers, my DPF cracked. I got a 2014; figured it’s past the mid point of 2024 so I’d be SOL on the 10 year part. I called Niello VW in Sacramento, (btw: they are a great dealership), to ask for my original “in service” date and the let me know that my vehicle wasn’t first sold until March of 2015. So I got the DPF replaced and learned I still have roughly 8 months and 20k miles left. For everyone that is “close” on the 10 years, make sure you get your original “in service” date. If you’re over the 120k, well guess your outta luck on that part.I got lucky and my girlfriend's car has just a hair over 5,000 miles left. But yeah, I don't think that many people still have time on that extended warranty.
Ditto on my 2013.
Mine lasted 99k.@oilhammer ... On dieselgate tunes, what kind of miles are you seeing between changing DPF'S?
Go to Rawtek's website. They should have an installation PDF, which is pretty helpful on what you need to do to remove it.Is removing the DPF and EGR and replacing with pre-routed pipe something that is even discussed here? I'm having difficulty finding posts related to this. One of the main reasons I recently joined is to find information on this. I want to do the work myself, except the required tune. I live in Texas so emissions inspection isn't a problem.
I've heard those and 6.9's smoke like a frieght train on the highway, but you can't really kill 'em.I think if I needed an ambulance to get me to somewhere in an emergency, I'd want it to be reliable and not go into limp mode or light up a bunch of warning lamps on the dash. Just sayin...
We have a customer, an electrician, who uses an older E350 ambulance repurposed as his mobile shop and rolling toolbox. Old IDI non-turbo 7.3L. Reliable as the sun, we just put a new set of tires on it.
I can confirm that the CKRA when cold the High side EGR opens and the turbo is blasted with 1100F+ exhaust temperature. I say that is nuts especially when it's coldIf I had to SWAG it, I'd say that highway miles are always going to be easier on everything, including the DPF. Remember, the engine software does some pretty strange things to get the engine up to temp from cold. Like some really bad (for the exhaust) things. The CKRAs have a nasty "let's put the turbo in blow-torch mode" to get up to temp, probably why so many have suffered failed turbochargers.
Mine is; it’s a 2014 Beetle that just flipped 100k. Warranty is 10yr/120k from original “in service” date. Even though it’s a 2014, in service date wasn’t until 03/2015, so still have some time left. Fingers crossed anything else takes a ****, it is in this time period. Otherwise it will become deleted, and will be one of my Cousins kids cars, they live in Nevada.Are any of the affected / applicable cars still potentially under the dieselgate settlement warranty?