91clone

Hello everyone-

Just bought the boss a 2013 TDI Prestige with the S Line package. It, I believe, is the Atlantis Blue color and has the B&O system as well as headrest dvd. It has 76K miles on the clock. We have owned quite of few large SUVs over the years from Suburbans to Expeditions and a couple of Infiniti's. Last one to go was a 2014 QX80. That was nice one but didn't compare to the driving experience of this Audi. I haven't been it it more than just for the test drive due to the dealer having a few things to do to it before delivery but I can already tell it's gonna be nice! The TPMS and traction control lights were on even though the tires had correct pressure. It was late and their service department was closed. They are supposed to be having it checked out this week and we should get it delivered within a few days.

So, being new to this brand and platform what are the do's and don't's? What are things we should be aware of and any problems these are prone to?

One of my big questions has to do with the debacle with the diesel motors and emissions. Can I assume mine has been "fixed" or detuned? What are the details of that deal? There is a ton of info out there on it and I figured since it happened a long time ago it's been taken care of.

I always like to mod our vehicles a little. I think every truck I've owned for the past 6-7 years has been tuned with minor mods done. This is the bosse's daily so I can't get crazy but I know from other diesel guys and having my own experience with an Ecoboost TT truck what the potential is on a turbo motor with just a tune. So what's the best route to go if I am considering a tune?

Thanks in advance,
Eric

dreadlocks

You needa reset TMPS in the MMI Unit, there are no in-wheel sensors.. perhaps they put new tires on and didnt reset it, it works by measuring tire size so tha'd do it.

Fixes only became available in November 2017, it hasent been that long but there's a good chance your's has been fixed.. look for a new emissions sticker under the hood.

Aftermarket tunes and Delete Options: https://malonetuning.com/ecu-tuning/...tdi/30l-v6-tdi

@ 76k miles you should have the ATF Fluid Changed ASAP, You need new fuel filters every 20k miles, stay ontop of that.. and the HPFP should be replaced every ~120k miles, if you've been fixed pay out of pocket to have a fresh one installed right before the #dieselgate warranty expires.

Here's a short list of things I can think of:

• Do: Change ATF Every 65-70k miles,
• Do: Have Differentials Serviced every ~100k, or 2-3x as frequently if you tow a boat (not sealed, water can get in)
• Do: Change HPFP every 120k miles, Water Pump & Timing chains dont seem to be prone to failure, but past 160k miles the'd make me nervous personally.
• Do: Buy Diesel from High Turnover Stations like Truck Stops, Neighborhood fuel stations could have months old Diesel contaminated w/Water.
• Do: Run Diesel Fuel Additives to boost lubrication.
• Do: Only use OEM Fluids
• Do: Stay ontop of normal maintenance intervals.
• Do: Be prepared for constantly feeding the beast tires and brakes at most every ~20k miles, Do check these items regularly and before any long trips.
• Do: Consider buying a VCDS or ObdEleven Diagnostics tool, especially if you intend on performing maintenance your self.
• Dont: Idle engine expecting it to warm up, Do: Give it a few moments to get well lubricated then drive it to get up to Operating Temp quickly.
• Dont: Cheap out on brake jobs, stick w/OEM or better (You got a factory big brake kit)
• Dont: Spill your MegaGulp, all those MMI buttons or rear Climatronic will stop working
• Dont: Get Diesel all over your hands or paint, its a solvent tha'll mess up your steering wheel and clear coat.. Consider a box of disposable gloves, some Diesel pumps are just nasty
• Dont: Curb those giant wheels, they are attracted to curbs through quantum entanglement.
• Dont: Leave kids in the back and your keys in the car, the rear lock buttons do not have the ability to unlock the door, See: Murphy's law
• Dont: Abort a DPF Regen by turning off the engine, if you do (its hard to tell sometimes until you hear fans wont shut off) try to start it back up and let it idle for 2-3mins to keep oil moving through turbo while exhaust cools off, then make sure to drive it long enough next time it can complete.
• Dont: Add any off the shelf coolant, uses a special coolant virtually incompatible with everything else.

91clone

Thanks for the detailed list! That's exactly what I was hoping for. Any feedback on the best fluids for these? ATF, Diffs, Oil, and what type of additives do you recommend? We have a Mercedes Sprinter that's diesel and I use Howes in the winter. I also have some Howes Power Cleaner treatment. Will this work?

So when it comes to tuners do I need to purchase a device to load tunes on the ecu? I had a handheld for my Ecoboost and I would just get emailed custom tunes and load them on the device then onto the truck.

dreadlocks

I stick strictly to OEM fluids (Engine Oil rating is required for DPF), usually just get it from a VW Dealer because shipping costs usually make fluids about on par with their prices.. they carry the same stuff as Audi does, but usually at a better price (not always), just tell em its for a Diesel Touareg of same year, has the same drivetrain.. Beware Audi uses a coolant called G12/G13 that is virtually incompatible with anything you'll find off the shelf, Dont add any old off the shelf coolant to the system (i'll add it to the list heh)

You can use same treatment you use on your sprinter, additives are full of opinions but they should all do the job if they boost cetane and improve lubrication.. the goal is to keep the HPFP nice and lubricated, if it fails the entire fuel system from injectors to tank gets contaminated with tiny metal flakes.. Mechanically its the weakest link and you'll have a very bad day if it goes.. Water and Gasoline in the tank are very bad on HPFP and likely to void your fuel system warranty.

Malone does sell a tune loader, or you can take it to a Malone dealer and have em load it.. Loader costs more money and if you dont want to change back to stock or have a custom one you can do without it.. Check out: Malone Tuning - Stage 2 Tune 3.0L V6 TDI for mail-in and flash loaders, they also sell DPF/SCR deletes.

Canadian Lurker

91clone

Well we finally got the beast shipped to us Friday night. Didn't get a lot of time to play around with it but I think we figured out how most everything works. It will take a little getting used to not touching the screen for everything!

So after driving around 30 miles or so (all in town) here are my initial impressions - in Sport mode it is jumpy when driving slow. I noticed it most when driving out of a large parking lot multiple times (softball tournament). I love the low end grunt of the diesel but am pretty underwhelmed at the higher rpm power. I did put my foot in it a time or two to see how the passing power is and it seemed to be lacking. Guess it's time for that tune!

I did find the "fix" sticker under the hood. Is it safe to assume that we don't qualify for anything since it is already "fixed". Is there some way to check if we would qualify? Before the car arrived I filled out our info on the VW online claims page and it said it qualified for $8900?? Guess that was too good to be true, huh?

lentiman

I'm going to chime in and say this method is not that good. After doing both the funnel method and refill method I had too many bottles crack and break on me. I recently went all the way down to the 600 mile adblue warning and had to refill and was out of the Audi bottles as they'd all broken on me. Using the DEF cube sold at Home Depot and other stores was light years easier. It has a long expandable hose neck with a filler tube that fits fine. It was super easy to get 4 gallons of DEF into my adblue tank this way and would have taken considerably longer using the funnel or refill method. I'll just use the cubes from now on.

raj99

If you decide to tune the vehicle you might be flagged as TD1 and potentially void your warranty.

As for your eligibility for any reimbursement, what does it say here : https://www.audidiesellookup.com

91clone

It says "this VIN is not part of the settlement" Darn!

raj99

Hmmm are you in the US ? What's your vin... It should just say the vehicle has completed the modification