Do I Need To Tune??

[jcruse64]

2010 Jetta TDI sedan, currently @ 178K. Getting close to the end of my extended emissions warranty, after having the "fix" done.

Had a CEL, and the codes were p240f, p0401, and p2002, per my local, independent VW/Diesel mechanic. Also have a lot of soot on tailpipe. I had an appointment yesterday at a dealership, and they confirmed the codes thrown, and that it would need a new DPF, as well as a new turbo, and all covered under warranty. I asked about other items, like the intake manifold, being affected, and they said these 2 were the only items needing repair/replacement, at this point.

So, at 178K, and with not much warranty left on the "fix", and having read about the issues with the fix, I'm wondering how to best help my car out for the future. After reading around in here, I see that I'm not the "optimal" user type for these cars; 10 mile, 1-way daily work commute, small town driving, mixed in with a few 20-120 minute interstate runs every 4 weeks, and an occasional +300 mile run. When I bought this car in Dec '09, there was nothing but glowing reviews on these TDI's in car mags and places like Pop Mechanics, for a car that will make a great daily driver as a grocery getter and a road trip warrior. Now, it seems like "You bought the wrong car", if you're not getting it for anything but 60-200 mile daily trips. We've been extremely happy with the car in the last 11+ years, both as a daily driver for going to work and errands, and making long road trips. We're not looking to trade for something else if we don't have to, and I like having a car at 178K that I feel comfortable in loading up for a long-haul road trip at any time, with no worries.

So, how do I keep it that way? From some of the threads on tunes I've read on here, it would seem like tuning the car is in it's best interest, especially with a new DPF and turbo. We are not in a smog check state. I'm not necessarily looking for a high performance tune, just something that will help on the regens and keep the DPF and other stuff safe from what the "fix" has done, and maybe even get my MPG back into the 40MPG again.

Any opinions, ideas, user reviews?

Thank you,

Joe

 

[Bob S.]

From the outside looking in: If you have been happy with the car to date. Have it fixed under warranty. Once warranty runs out, then decide the next step. A tune might be appropriate. Various pros & cons that you have read about. But, then again, if you have made it 178K miles/11 years on this version... do you think will will still own the car in another 178K/11 years? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[jcruse64]

Probably will still have it, if it's still running, in 11 years; we tend to run 'em till dead, lol. Still have my wife's '94 Dodge Stealth @ 119K miles, though she did say she's ready to let it go. I get it, re: if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but, it IS broke right now, lol. Right now, it's under the "fix" warranty, but not for long. So, would putting, say, the Kerma non-delete tune, on be of benefit to the system?

 

[TurboABA]

Get free stuff thrown at it while under warranty.
Then drive as is UNTIL it starts acting up. Then delete as required. No point in deleting before you start having issues. You don't drive enough by the sounds of it to "benefit" from all the potential MPG increases, so you're only being a "fear monger" about all the problems you might have in the future.... and it might be another 150k before those surface again.... just sayin

 

[jcruse64]

You are probably correct, but the DPF issue didn't crop up until after the "fix". Would it still have happened w/o the "fix"? I don't feel particularly fearful on this, just looking to treat the car in the best possible manner to get another 10 years/178K miles out of it, whether it's leaving it as-is, doing a non-delete tune, or a full-on delete setup after the "fix" warranty is gone. Thanks!

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

DPFs have a finite life.

 

[jcruse64]

From what I read on on here, the least I need to do is pick up an ODBII dongle and a proper app, and start watching things a little closer to manage the regens myself, so I will do that shortly.

 

[TurboABA]

Tunes, deletes & respective mods will cost $$$$ (thousands).
Leaving it alone until it craps out (in 10k\100k\150k etc) is free.
The MPG increase and perceived (until something acts up, it is just perceived) reliability will take decades with your current driving pattern (in terms of milage being done) to outweigh the costs of all the aforementioned mods\parts.

DPFs have a finite life.

Everything does... including the rest of the vehicle\components. I don't rebuilt\replace my engines just because engines eventually blow up or seize.

 

[TurboABA]

For what it's worth, my 2010 is currently at 280+k kms, on its original DPF and has been "fixed" for about 3.5 years now. My daily one way commute is 18 miles and takes me about 30 min to complete (no freeway cruise.... drive across two cities with a mix of city\country roads). My DPF & Turbo have yet to fail, and I'd consider myself to be on the lower end of the "desirable driving pattern" scale for a fixed TDI with a DPF system.
Considering that you're about to get all fresh components under warranty, I'd guess you have quite a safety buffer before you issues start creeping up.

 

[borninabus]

i just got my car back from having the exact same CEL codes fixed. VW of course wants to do as little as possible to get your car repaired. it took me three trips to the dealership to get the EGR codes dealt with--which your car also has. press your service advisor to have the EGR codes repaired as well. when the EGR and its filter are clogged, it dumps into the exhaust pipe causing the sooty pipes.

after it's repaired, i would highly recommend having a tune done to keep the soot levels down. i had my malone stage 2 reinstalled after a long while without it (while it was in & out of the dealer) and couldn't be happier. it is really a blast to drive and i can see the economy increase immediately. i plan on riding out my new DPF & EGR system for many miles until they start acting up again and then will think about deleting them.

 

[jcruse64]

Got the warranty work finished yesterday and picked it up, from Volkswagen of Marion, IL. They did not replace the turbo. Service manager said they inspected closer, and thought the turbo was okay. May also have to do with the fact that they are having a hard time getting new turbos in. They replaced the DPF and also replaced the EGR filter. Reset ash load to Zero on the computer, and test drove, and all was well for them. I made the 1.25 hour drive back home with zero issues.

I DID ask the service manager what I could do, as a "short-tripper" to better view and manage the regen system, and help the car keep particulate levels down. He did not really give me any help, but did note that I had less than 30K left on my "fix warranty", and that I might consider a delete and tune, once the warranty was out. In our conversation, he did not hold back that he and his shop felt that the "fix" for the '09-'11 models was crap, as was the EGR/DPF system in these cars.

 

[oilhammer]

Some of the tuners are doing "rollback" software UN-updates, back to pre-fix levels. That will help, but the DPF cracking issue was a problem before even with that. It is just worse now. Much worse. As is the intercooler icing problem.

I honestly don't know how people can sleep at night having to depend on one of these cars to drive them to wherever they need to go every day.

A delete will fix it forever.

 

[jcruse64]

Was just reading the rest of the service report; Yikes! Bottom of page 2, DMF making noise at idle. Hadn't really picked up on this noise previously, but have been recently noticing vibration at highway speeds. My tires are not in great shape, and I'll be replacing very soon, and had figured that was the cause of the vibration, but this is not welcome news.