Volkswagen Diesel Dreams, Up in Smoke

My Joan Jetta, Diesel Dream or Pipe Dream?

I bought my Volkswagen TDI on September 11, 2010.  She was a sparkly silver, with a six-speed-manual gearbox and 236 ft-lbs of torque.  Four doors, three pedals, two headlights and one dream - to be thermodynamically superior to every car on the road.  It was the holy grail, a low emitting vehicle with 44MPG highway (actual results averaged closer to 50MPG), and no lithium ion or nickel-metal hydride battery pack.  No open pit heavy metal mines here.

Battery Manufacturing, Not Something You Want Next Door

The promise was simple.  A car that did it all.  Faster and cooler than a Prius but just as good for the environment.  Better for the environment when the hybrid battery manufacturing process is taken into consideration.  This car did it, and admirably.  I once traveled from Detroit, MI to Valparaiso, IN to Indianapolis, IN and back to Detroit, MI on a single tank of diesel.  That's right, 683 miles on a single tank of fuel.  Incredible!  I was in love with Joan.  That was her, Joan Jetta.  I drove Joan across the country, north, south, east, west, and quickly racked up 24,000 miles a year - it was a blast.

683 Miles on a Single Tank of Fuel!

Then things started to fall apart.  The complicated diesel exhaust aftertreatment system began showing some troubling signs at 40,000 miles.  An electro-actuated backpressure valve in the exhaust, meant to ramp up exhaust backpressure to create high exhaust temperatures and allow for diesel particulate filter (DPF) regeneration stuck open, and I was past the 36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper powertrain warranty.  Whammy!  This meant that the DPF didn't regen when driving around town, which ultimately would have clogged the DPF with a thousand dollar price tag to replace.

An Electro-actuated Valve Exposed to Salt and Water Failed, Who Figured?

I called up VW of North America, "Yes sir, sorry sir, the 80,000 mile exhaust coverage only covers catalytic converters and mufflers.  What's that?  There is no catalytic converter on this car because it's a diesel?  Yeah, we know that.  Sorry!"  There goes a few hundred on a electro-actuated valve.  Another twenty thousand miles later, and it happened again.  Apparently placing an e-valve into the hellish environment of 800F exhaust with road salt is a bad idea.  Go figure.

The Backpressure E-Valve Comes Out, Again...

Eventually VW issued a recall on this electro-actuated valve, but only after I had already paid to replace one and rebuilt the second.  Gee, thanks.  Then the electro-actuated valve in the intake stuck open, meaning cold starts were awful.  Again, a few hundred dollars to replace it.

At 95,000 miles a turbo failure.  A bushing behind the compressor wheel gave up the ghost, split in half, and decided it wanted to burst free and take out the compressor spinning upwards of 100,000 RPM with it.  $1,200 for a new turbo and learning that the turbo comes out from underneath the car behind the engine later, she was back up and running.  That turbo shouldn't have failed in that manner, so soon.

Turbo Failure at 95,000 Miles

New Turbo, Old Turbo

Show it Who is in Charge - Mount it to a Board

So two electro-actuated exhaust valve failures, an intake electro-actuated valve failure, and a turbo failure.... and then, Diesel Gate: September 2015.

Diesel Gate - 47x Allowable NOx

As it turns out, my VW TDI had been equipped with a defeat device.  Meaning that the car's engine controller knew when it was being tested for emissions on a dyno and it switched to a low emitting (and low power) calibration to pass the test.  This left me, the driver, unwittingly pumping out the deadly NOx of 47 diesel engines, from one car.  NOx is a molecule, Nitric Oxide, it can be in a few varities, NO, NO2, and NO3.  All of these things can kill you in concentrations as low as 100 PPM, but prolonged exposure to even lower concentrations scars lung tissue, causes pulmonary health issues, and is responsible for asthma in children.  It's bad stuff.  Not only that, NOx reacts with light (photons) to create smog and ozone, again more nasty stuff.  NOx is the gift from hell that keeps on giving.

Smog - Primarily Produced by NOx - Thanks VW!

As of February 1, 2018 Joan is sitting in the driveway accumulating value as the VW buyback allows her to be worth more if not driven every subsequent 1st of the month, until the end of the buyback period in November 2018.

It's not that I miss her, it's that I miss what she could have been.

 -Axle


**Update Mar 3, 2018**

The starter failed. I pulled the starter to get it check out at AutoZone and yeah, it's dead.  A buddy helped push start the car, and I drove it back to my local VW dealer for the buyback.  Kept her running the whole time during the appointment.  I'm imagining they were pretty surprised when they tried to start the car again after I left, probably even more so when they popped the hood and found there wasn't even a starter in it.  So long, Joan Jetta. 

That's all, folks.