A3 TDI Servicing
 

Hi all, I've not posted here before but am after some advice, our car
is a 2000 A3 1.9TDI sport 110 with 118000 miles and it's due a
service, which i'll be doing myself.

In the 10 months that we've had the car I think it's become a little
smokier under accelleration and the fuel economy doesn't seem to be
quite as good as it used to be, i'm sure we used to easily get 500+
miles from a tank (mostly commuter miles in traffic) whereas now we
seem to get around 400 miles. A month or so ago I ran a bottle of
injector cleaner through the fuel which might have improved the soot
issue a bit but I might have imagined that. I did wonder whether my
driving style of keeping the revs very low and just using the torque
could allow soot to build up in the exhaust, which then gets blown out
when I do occasionally accellerate more enthusiastically?

The question is are there any service parts/procedures which can
affect the economy? I was intending to change oil and filters, but are
there any sensors i should be checking etc? I'm well used to working
on petrol cars but this is the first diesel we've had.

Thanks for any advice!

Re: A3 TDI Servicing
 

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 03:56:40 -0800 (PST), Mark <mstrofton@googlemail.com>
wrote:

>Hi all, I've not posted here before but am after some advice, our car
>is a 2000 A3 1.9TDI sport 110 with 118000 miles and it's due a
>service, which i'll be doing myself.
>
>In the 10 months that we've had the car I think it's become a little
>smokier under accelleration and the fuel economy doesn't seem to be
>quite as good as it used to be, i'm sure we used to easily get 500+
>miles from a tank (mostly commuter miles in traffic) whereas now we
>seem to get around 400 miles. A month or so ago I ran a bottle of
>injector cleaner through the fuel which might have improved the soot
>issue a bit but I might have imagined that. I did wonder whether my
>driving style of keeping the revs very low and just using the torque
>could allow soot to build up in the exhaust, which then gets blown out
>when I do occasionally accellerate more enthusiastically?
>
>The question is are there any service parts/procedures which can
>affect the economy? I was intending to change oil and filters, but are
>there any sensors i should be checking etc? I'm well used to working
>on petrol cars but this is the first diesel we've had.
>
>Thanks for any advice!

fwiw, habitual driving with very low revs can contribute to carbon build-up in
the cylinder head. Audi has a fluid and associated procedure to remove such
carbon. Might be worth giving it a try...

/daytripper
'00 s4 6spd

Re: A3 TDI Servicing
 

> Hi all, I've not posted here before but am after some advice, our car
> is a 2000 A3 1.9TDI sport 110 with 118000 miles and it's due a
> service, which i'll be doing myself.
>
> In the 10 months that we've had the car I think it's become a little
> smokier under accelleration and the fuel economy doesn't seem to be
> quite as good as it used to be, i'm sure we used to easily get 500+
> miles from a tank (mostly commuter miles in traffic) whereas now we
> seem to get around 400 miles. A month or so ago I ran a bottle of
> injector cleaner through the fuel which might have improved the soot
> issue a bit but I might have imagined that. I did wonder whether my
> driving style of keeping the revs very low and just using the torque
> could allow soot to build up in the exhaust, which then gets blown out
> when I do occasionally accellerate more enthusiastically?
>
> The question is are there any service parts/procedures which can
> affect the economy? I was intending to change oil and filters, but are
> there any sensors i should be checking etc? I'm well used to working
> on petrol cars but this is the first diesel we've had.
>
> Thanks for any advice!

MAF sensor in the air intake after the filter? Coolant temp sender? Both are
known to go bad and give poorer running.

You EGR and turbo may also be clogged up. There are online guides on
cleaning both.

Not sure how long the injectors last on these but they may be due for
renewal.

How well does the car run otherwise i.e. same power as before or down a bit?

This won't affect the sooting but when was your timing belt last changed?
Audi are now recommending every 60k or 4/5 years so yours could be due very
soon.

HTH
Dave

Re: A3 TDI Servicing
 

Mark wrote:
> Hi all, I've not posted here before but am after some advice, our car
> is a 2000 A3 1.9TDI sport 110 with 118000 miles and it's due a
> service, which i'll be doing myself.
>
> In the 10 months that we've had the car I think it's become a little
> smokier under accelleration and the fuel economy doesn't seem to be
> quite as good as it used to be, i'm sure we used to easily get 500+
> miles from a tank (mostly commuter miles in traffic) whereas now we
> seem to get around 400 miles. A month or so ago I ran a bottle of
> injector cleaner through the fuel which might have improved the soot
> issue a bit but I might have imagined that. I did wonder whether my
> driving style of keeping the revs very low and just using the torque
> could allow soot to build up in the exhaust, which then gets blown out
> when I do occasionally accellerate more enthusiastically?
>
> The question is are there any service parts/procedures which can
> affect the economy? I was intending to change oil and filters, but are
> there any sensors i should be checking etc? I'm well used to working
> on petrol cars but this is the first diesel we've had.
>
> Thanks for any advice!
Take a look at TDIClub.com for good advice.

Like Dave said, the EGR/Turbo could be a little sooted- also the
intercooler could be clogged. Cleaning procedures are on TDIClub.com.
Cleaning the turbo is quite involved though- but you could just work the
VNT actuator back and forth a few times from under the car and see if
that frees it.

It's probably worth doing an italian tune-up as well- get the engine
warm and then drive it *hard* in 2nd/third. You might want to check that
cambelt first!

I'd would say MAF as a possibility for the smoke/economy issue, but when
my MAF failed on the 99 A3 110 sport I had, it was as ceonomical as
ever, just slower. A quick test is to unplug the MAF and see how
performance is then: it should be much worse. For a proper diagnosis,
you need to log output with VAG-COM.

What years/models run diesel?
 

Hi -

I'm in the market for a car. Not sure if I'll go new or used yet. If used,
not many years.
Is there a list out there of what years/models are diesel engines?
My goal is biodiesel conversion.

I'm posting this to three groups, including Audi & Volkswagen. I realize
Mercedez also makes diesel but that is a little out of my price range. If
someone wants to recommend other car brands that run diesel, please do.

Thanks!
Scott

Re: What years/models run diesel?
 

On Feb 6, 1:37 pm, "Scotter" <s...@spam.net> wrote:
> Hi -
>
> I'm in the market for a car. Not sure if I'll go new or used yet. If used,
> not many years.
> Is there a list out there of what years/models are diesel engines?
> My goal is biodiesel conversion.
>
> I'm posting this to three groups, including Audi & Volkswagen. I realize
> Mercedez also makes diesel but that is a little out of my price range. If
> someone wants to recommend other car brands that run diesel, please do.
>
> Thanks!
> Scott

Where are you from?

Re: What years/models run diesel?
 

Texas

<benteaches@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:febf767e-fb95-413c-928b-78b7c1dba755@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 6, 1:37 pm, "Scotter" <s...@spam.net> wrote:
>> Hi -
>>
>> I'm in the market for a car. Not sure if I'll go new or used yet. If
>> used,
>> not many years.
>> Is there a list out there of what years/models are diesel engines?
>> My goal is biodiesel conversion.
>>
>> I'm posting this to three groups, including Audi & Volkswagen. I realize
>> Mercedez also makes diesel but that is a little out of my price range. If
>> someone wants to recommend other car brands that run diesel, please do.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Scott
>
> Where are you from?

Re: What years/models run diesel?
 

On Feb 7, 8:54 am, "Scotter" <s...@spam.net> wrote:
> Texas
>
> <benteac...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:febf767e-fb95-413c-928b-78b7c1dba755@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > On Feb 6, 1:37 pm, "Scotter" <s...@spam.net> wrote:
> >> Hi -
>
> >> I'm in the market for a car. Not sure if I'll go new or used yet. If
> >> used,
> >> not many years.
> >> Is there a list out there of what years/models are diesel engines?
> >> My goal is biodiesel conversion.
>
> >> I'm posting this to three groups, including Audi & Volkswagen. I realize
> >> Mercedez also makes diesel but that is a little out of my price range. If
> >> someone wants to recommend other car brands that run diesel, please do.
>
> >> Thanks!
> >> Scott
>
> > Where are you from?

Older Mbz's are plentiful, reliable and take to bio and vegoil nicely.
I'd recommend an early 80's model 300td.
HTH
Ben

Re: What years/models run diesel?
 

On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 15:37:10 -0600, "Scotter" <spam@spam.net> wrote:

>Hi -
>
>I'm in the market for a car. Not sure if I'll go new or used yet. If used,
>not many years.
>Is there a list out there of what years/models are diesel engines?
>My goal is biodiesel conversion.
>
>I'm posting this to three groups, including Audi & Volkswagen. I realize
>Mercedez also makes diesel but that is a little out of my price range. If
>someone wants to recommend other car brands that run diesel, please do.
>
>Thanks!
>Scott

If you want new you'll have to wait to at least third quarter before
VW brings out the new 2.0L TDI(Merc's Blue Tec engine w/o the urea
filter). You have to be careful when running Biodiesel. The new
engines are designed for VLSF.( as seen at any Diesel pump)
For used cars if you want something modern and runs on Biodiesel, your
only choice is VW TDI's, 3rd or 4th Gen either Jetta, Golf
sedan-wagon-hatchback. Many 3rd and 4th Gen TDI's run on homemade bio.
For more info go to www.tdiclub.com . Google TDI and the second entry
is TDIClub, right behind the Texa Dept of Insurance. ;-)

If you want more choices you have to move outside of North America.