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2011 TDI Blue Tech System Issues

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froggy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
We bought our Touareg in March of this year. Within 13 days I got notification on the driver display that the bluetech was low and needed to be refilled. I thought, ok, the dealership didn't fill it up before we left. I made an appointment and took it in to get filled.

Turns out it wasn't the level. It was full! I was told it was the sensor and they recalibrated it. Then, two hours later, they come back out and tell me that the pump is faulty. Two days... I will get my car back all fixed up in two days.

Well, they had to order the part from Germany. The part was on back order. Basically, two days turned into two weeks. They had my car for 15 days.

Then, on Wed of this week, that SAME notification came back on!!!! I am taking the Touareg back to the dealership tomorrow.

Has anyone else had a problem like this???? I love my car but I don't want to deal with it having so many problems!!! It only has 3,400 miles on it!
 
#2 ·
You'll find other threads with drivers having had this same type of problem. I got a warning when driving off the lot, but in my case, it appears that it was a case of the dealer not topping off the ad blue. One more warning much later, and another refill with no incidents.

When did you purchase the car? One theory I have is that the early 2011's were more subject to this issue.
 
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Discussion starter · #4 ·
Mythdoc - I bought the car March 30 of this year. I haven't been able to find any other threads dealing with this issue.

Sam Trooper - The reservoir was full when I took it in for this repair in March/April. They also checked the fluids when I took it in for a mysterious noise in June. There are only 3,400 miles on the vehicle.
 
#5 ·
So much for my theory, then. I purchased mine in early February, and so far, so good. Looking at the lemon thread, it seems that several of the cars with Ad Blue issues were bought in the March-May time frame. It's a shame, because Treg TDI's have been scarce as hens teeth, and problems among those that are out there become prominent. Hopefully, yours will resolve and drive fine. Don't discount the short in the wiring possibility, which turned out to be the fix for bsnook's Ad Blue problems.
 
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#6 ·
As far as people having problems with the Urea injection system..its not as uncommon as VW and the others using the system would make you believe...it seems to be a problem with VW/Audi/BMW/MB. My V6 TDI had the same issues and they basically replaced the whole Urea system to solve the problem.

I have no idea why this system seems to fail so much on vehicles that are so new!
 
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#7 ·
Many of us on tdiclub, a couple years ago, predicted that the urea debacle would prove to be a semi disaster the first couple of years.

Right on the mark now in retrospect.

Teething problems have been plaguing any marque that dares marches on with avant garde technology, just like the Germans always have done. The stats were to strong and almost in your face to ignore. This urea thing was doomed to hiccup its way to life.



 
#8 ·
GMC had same major SCR problems with their urea injection systems, the majority of their SCR systems needing a software update through the ECU. I wouldn't call the Vw one a disaster yet...maybe a hiccup. At least the Cp4.2 HPFP's on our v6 tdi's aren't grenading like the Cp4.1 pumps are on the 2.0 tdi's... Time will only tell....
 
#9 ·
SamTrooper said:
GMC had same major SCR problems with their urea injection systems, the majority of their SCR systems needing a software update through the ECU. I wouldn't call the Vw one a disaster yet...maybe a hiccup. At least the Cp4.2 HPFP's on our v6 tdi's aren't grenading like the Cp4.1 pumps are on the 2.0 tdi's... Time will only tell....
Click to expand...

Good point, ford and gm are having issues with their urea systems...this is the first model year for them on the HD pickups.

This isn't a "VW sucks so I'll buy a BMW/MB and solve the issue"...they all use the same system so everyone is in the same boat.
 
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
Right now I am of the position that if it is the Urea system, they replace the entire thing. Then - they give me a free extended warranty.

I LOVE my Touareg. There is not another car that I would rather be driving right now. We spent sixth months test driving and comparing vehicles. I picked the Touareg for a reason! Well, many reasons. (One of which was VW reliability - jokes on me!)

My husband is of the mind that if they can't get it right then we get a gas model of the Touareg.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
The thing I don't understand is that when we bought the car, the salesperson at the dealership addressed the urea system. We asked about its reliability being the first year off the line. He told us that Porsche and Audi were running the same system for the past few years. That both manufacturers had had problems with the urea system and fixed them. This led us to believe that VW had taken a hint from Porsche and Audi and had figured out the issue and would not be going down the same path. So much for listening to a salesperson!!!
 
#12 ·
The dealer saying that "porsche and audi" have used the system for years is BS. When I say they all use the same system I meant it quite literally..the urea injection was co-developed by MB and VAG as an emissions technology. So the system in use by BMW, Mercedes, VW, Audi and Porsche is literally identical. They were also ALL being introduced at the same time...2009 was the first model year for everyone, this wasn't a phased in approach or anything.

Almost all diesels on the road now run this technology, all the way up to the big rigs...its still not perfect, but legislation that requires the vehicle to shut down in cases where urea runs out seems to be the culprit that is causing all the issues.

At any rate, mine was completely replaced and its been hassle free since then...I think you'll find the diesel (despite this hiccup) is FAR superior to the gas version.
 
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Discussion starter · #13 ·
I called the dealership today (they hadn't called me yet!). The service rep I talked to said that the issue is with the heater unit in the AdBlue system. Apparently it isn't heating up the urea properly.

Last time the car was there they replaced: heater unit, pump module, delivery tubes/hoses, and the ground wire. This was back in April.

Since this part has already been replaced, the techs called VW Corporate for advice. VWC is sending out an engineer sometime over the next few days to look at my car.

I asked how long this was all going to take and I was told 1 week.

Guess I will post in a week and let you all know what's going on then!
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
So I got a call from the VW Corp. They told me that the engineer would be out to look at my car on Monday. That is 10 days after I took them my vehicle. I have figured out that on August 28th, between last time and this time, they will have had my car for the required thirty days under California Lemon Law.

What has set me on the course to just turning in the car is VWC. The lady I have been dealing with since the first time I took my car in admitted that she has no idea what is going on. She only knows what corporate tells her to tell me. I want to know what the point of her calling me all of the time is if she doesn't know what she is saying!!!! If I wanted to speak with a parrot I would go buy a damn bird.
 
#16 ·
froggy said:
We bought our Touareg in March of this year. Within 13 days I got notification on the driver display that the bluetech was low and needed to be refilled. I thought, ok, the dealership didn't fill it up before we left. I made an appointment and took it in to get filled.

Turns out it wasn't the level. It was full! I was told it was the sensor and they recalibrated it. Then, two hours later, they come back out and tell me that the pump is faulty. Two days... I will get my car back all fixed up in two days.

Well, they had to order the part from Germany. The part was on back order. Basically, two days turned into two weeks. They had my car for 15 days.

Then, on Wed of this week, that SAME notification came back on!!!! I am taking the Touareg back to the dealership tomorrow.

Has anyone else had a problem like this???? I love my car but I don't want to deal with it having so many problems!!! It only has 3,400 miles on it!
Click to expand...
It looks like I'm experiencing a similar problem. My 2011 tdi was ordered in January and delivered in June.
Yesterday morning when starting the adblue warning came on and I had intended to make a service appointment today. Last night I went for a 20 minute drive, avg 60 km/h, light traffic, no hills and about 3 stop lights. When I got out of the vehicle, it smelled really hot, and sounded like a hot car that had just been shut of. The fans were still running and I could hear the 'tinging' of hot metal. I started it up again and was almost horrified to see the temp at the 120 mark. There were no other warning signs. Being that it was only 18 degrees Celsius out, I found this very puzzling.
This morning VW sent a flat deck truck to me and carted it off to the dealer. After a full day with it they have no idea what is wrong.
Any ideas anyone?
TIA
 
#17 ·
It sounds like your Treg was just going through a regeneration cycle where the temps go up to burn off the particulates...engine fans will run and such and you'll definitely smell the heat if you turn it off prior to the end of the regen cycle. Don't know about the adblue light in the am until you have fault codes checked. However, I know on my Non-adblue V10 DPF system, if I take repeated short trips the DPF's don't get hot enough for passive or active regeneration. The DPF warning light has come on a couple of times to warn me of this...I did the same thing you did and took a deliberate longer ride making sure to keep the RPM's around 2K for the 10-15 miles. This definitely gave my V10 a much needed passive regeneration...the warning light stayed off and then I made sure to do the same thing if I didn't drive it extended distances.

fletcher said:
It looks like I'm experiencing a similar problem. My 2011 tdi was ordered in January and delivered in June.
Yesterday morning when starting the adblue warning came on and I had intended to make a service appointment today. Last night I went for a 20 minute drive, avg 60 km/h, light traffic, no hills and about 3 stop lights. When I got out of the vehicle, it smelled really hot, and sounded like a hot car that had just been shut of. The fans were still running and I could hear the 'tinging' of hot metal. I started it up again and was almost horrified to see the temp at the 120 mark. There were no other warning signs. Being that it was only 18 degrees Celsius out, I found this very puzzling.
This morning VW sent a flat deck truck to me and carted it off to the dealer. After a full day with it they have no idea what is wrong.
Any ideas anyone?
TIA
Click to expand...
 
#18 ·
In active regeneration, the vehicle basically dumps fuel into the exhaust system and ignites it...the desired effect is to heat up the DPF(s) and cause them to burn off the trapped soot by turning it into ash.

ALL dpf systems from all manufacturers work this way...so all to say YES its perfectly normal to get out of a vehicle that just had a regen and have an absolutely smokin hot exhaust system.

My Fords exhaust pings for a good 1/2 hour after regen, the VW is not as dramatic...
 
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#19 ·
fletcher said:
I started it up again and was almost horrified to see the temp at the 120 mark. There were no other warning signs. Being that it was only 18 degrees Celsius out, I found this very puzzling.
This morning VW sent a flat deck truck to me and carted it off to the dealer. After a full day with it they have no idea what is wrong.
Any ideas anyone?
TIA
Click to expand...

everything sounds like a normal regen... except the coolant temp, sounds like either a faulty thermostat or a coolant temperature sensor..
 
#20 ·
SamTrooper said:
everything sounds like a normal regen... except the coolant temp, sounds like either a faulty thermostat or a coolant temperature sensor..
Click to expand...
Thanks for all your helpful advice guys! I spoke to the service manager when I picked up the truck today, who confirmed all the great advice I received here. There was also a fault code for the adblue sensor that happened at approx the exact mileage I experienced the issue.
VW Canada is going to be monitoring everything now, so far so good.

Thanks again to all who replied!
 
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