Looking after a TDi
 

Just bought an 8 year old Audi A6 TDi130. It's a mear toddler in A6 terms, with just 97k. apart from regular services, is there anying else I should do to look after it? I know TDs tend to suffer from clogged pipes and valves etc.

I can't remember who on here suggested an Audi, but it's a stonking car.

they can mate, just use the right oil. 505.1 5w/40 im sure it is
fitted with the pd 130. good cars never the less

i have a golf with the slightly older pd 115, do which i fully rebuilt.
keep it regually serviced and you'll be fine

give it a regular italian tune up, they dont like to tootle about as the variable vain turbos start to stick, then you get issues,
Always use the correct oil as that makes a difference too.

Injectors tend to be a problem after 100k, I just redex my astra every 10k, known the odd VW tdi go pop for no reason :( think they also have issues with the emissions? something to do with idle control valve? clogging and thats not good :(
Probably better off on an audi/vw forum ;)
I know they are sensitive to the oil that they use, thats already been mentioned though.

Tony:)

if i remember the problem is with the size of the oil pickup in the sump -- it is quite small in diameter

coupled with the long oil change intervals specced by Audi - this can apparently lead to sludge build up and oil starvation = bearing failure etc etc

i think Audi say that sludge is only and issue if you do not use the recommended long life oil

the pump duse injectors are quite good
again, maintain the engine fuel filter ect, there fine.
good engines, the injectors are a bleeder to set. and you need to take part of the engine apart when repairing the injectors

but still reliable

My lass has a fab VRS which i assume is the same engine??? It currently has 125k and clocks up 2.5-3k a month. The service book stipulates 10k services but we use long life oil and do it every 15k or so. Other than than, it has no special treatment. It feels as tight now as it did when we collected it with 30k on :thumb:

chuck a tin of BG244 in.

http://www.powerenhancer.co.uk/produ...4--for-diesel-

She must do her pelvic floor exercises! :thumb:

:lol1:

I assume it's the same as the PD130 in my Passat so not a lot goes wrong if looked after. Mine's on 10K servicing rather than the 'long life' mode. Make sure the oil is to the proper spec. (505.01 or whatever has superseded this). Service bits from GSF or ECP. The EGR valve can clog up/act up but I got rid of mine with an Allard EGR deletion pipe. Seemed to spool up better afterwards. But check first as some ECUs flag up the removal and cause problems - as it thinks there's a problem ....

Then get the cat removal pipe (on my list) and a remap ..... :thumb:

Dave

service intervals are quite short, shich suits me - 20k just feels too risk on anything with a turbo.
Currently I on'y do about 3k / year, which may double (have to drive to my new job, all of 3 miles away!), so an annual service should be fine.

thanks for the tips

hmmmm....remap...

im sure the service light is set to 6k
the egr valve do clog up, but easy sorted

yep, decat it. and nothing difference to the mot :)
again, as i & many others have put. 505.1 grade 5w/40 is recemended as as a rule, min type oil you should use.

this just mimiks whats been put really.
also, the water pumps are rubbish. easy to change on some models. the a6/passat, you need to take the front end off which aint as hard as it sounds

Forgot about that. Not sure they're rubbish but when doing the cambelt then do the waterpump and make sure the one you get has a metal impellor. 'Fraid you'll have to check the various forums to find out which one though. Can't remember which I got but I'm sure ECP or GSF have this on their website.

Cheers

Dave

i always go to vw direct for them. there more reliable
the metak ones are better in one way, but its not that what you really wont to look for, its the impellor size. there 2 types, and its always better for the larger type.

:lol:

corse if youd had a mondeo you could a forgotten about the cambelt


:thumb: ;)

Got one :thumb:

if it was a mondao, id have said thats the first thing to check.
and again, servicing is important on any of the newer deisels
fords dont seem to have the low down torque as the vw/audi motors.
the ride feels better too.

had the Modeo TDCI before - horrible thing. Badly made, unreliable, noisy, rough, terrrible gear change. not a patch on the Audi, Only good thing was you could change a headlight bulb in 2 minutes.
Also eat tyres - 7 in about 30k
Pretty good handling though, but it depreciated so fast - evan at 5 years old, an Audi would have cost less to run overall.

i have an Audi A4 - and can change a headlight bulb in two mins (whilst till at the petrol pump)

you just need the right tools - specifically a long magnetic torx screwdiver (can't remember the size)

just undo three screws -- you dont need to remove the one at rear as it just clamps down on a plastic collar

easy peasy

That's final then - the Mondeo is uttelry useless! :thumb:

Depends on what headlights you have ;) if you have the xeons then your screwed (and vw/audi's suffer badly with these going for some reason), then its 500 quid each, so the mondeo is cheaper ;)

If your comparing the older shape mondeo (pre 04 before the mk2 was facelifed and they added several improvements), then there wasnt much in it, unless you bought a dog (you get lots of dog audi's out there too you know ;) you would be amazed what issues they have for a "quality" car!)

German reliability is a myth, if you look at it this way first then you know your going to have to cough up quite a bit, because you will :(

Tony:)

I travel 30 miles up the M1 to work every day. In the 300 miles i spend on the M1 every week the most common make of car i see broken down at the side of the road is Audi. No word of a lie :eek:

So do I Brun, normally the most common car is a vw/audi that I see on a 200 mile drive, a little scary!
Best one was a brand spanking new audi last year (was a 59 plate convertable), broken down at a set of lights :eek: bet the owner wasnt happy!

Anyway, some owners reviews are in store ;)

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews11040.html
Audi
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews2900.html
Ford

Tony:)

PS, I had to giggle at the ford mondeo guy who was complaining about black smoke out of the exhaust, dont think he'd ever owned a diesel before :lol1:

Well that could just be that Marm (esses ) has forgotten to pack her compact ! :D

if you look at reliability services, modern exec cars do suffer badly due to the number of electric toys, sensors etc. Engines rarely seem to go these days, is little switches and immobilisers which cause the problem.

Fords seem ok if you buy them at 3 years old, one the worst of the depreciation has gone, and sell at about 5, before they start failing. I went wrong and dared to keep my latest one till it was 7, when it started falling apart. Most cars I've had were twice that old with fewer problems.

I only do about 4k pa now, so I don't really expect many issues from any car, but I needed about 1500kg+ and a massive boot, the choice is limited!

Yep - seen a 59 plate and even a 10 plate. The latter's owner looked about ready to top himself too :eek:

I always though Jap cars were the best for reliability, but my wife's low mileage 3 year old Nissan has more problems than I'd expect, my Mitsubishi was the only car I've ever had to have towed home twice, and as for the Scoob...

Then you hear of people with Renaults which have done a million faultless miles and they would have anything else. Luck of the draw I guess.

I think there's a tendancy to notice nice cars broken down. I've seem plently of 911s, but I don't suppose they actually break that often. If you saw a Citreon C2 on a tow truck would you actually notice?

TBh the reason I chose the Audi rather than saving a grand on say a Vectra, was that I've workwed hard all my life, now work at least 6 days a week, and at 36, get completely fed up having to drive old vehicles I don't like. So I chose something I do like, which would make me feel like I was actually acheiving something working my arse off.
(I also bought a very nice Triumph earlier this year, otherwise I'd have been looking at a much newer car (And a Ducati race bike :cool:)).

On a slightly different note, I came across an article by Parkers, comparing the advertised cost of 2009 cars with their new prices. A3s (which I'd always considered highly overpriced) lost a staggering 7% in a year (asuming they reach advertised price of course). The last model Vectra lost over 50%! Even the Insignia lost over 30%, and that's a new model.

It'd be interesting to see a list of actual runnings costs - if there one about?

I hear what you're saying but seeing cars broken down at the side of the road isn't a daily thing. If i saw as many C2's broken down as i do Audi's, then i would notice. As it happens, the last car i saw broken down was last thursday and it was a green escort van which i guess ain't nice?, but i noticed.