Well due to an incompetent dealer service center I am now in the process of doing a DPF delete and EGR block on the new to us 2014 Jetta TDI. Had an exhaust temp sensor go bad and dealer drug their feet on lining up the repair and not returning my wifes calls for a couple weeks, she had it in to program a new key fob and the day before the check engine lite came on and they checked and said bad egt sensor and reset lite and sent her on her way and said let them know if it comes back on, well came on same day so she calls sets up another apt to supposedly repair but she shows up a week later and they do not even look at car say they have to order part, another week and still no word So I stop in inperson and ask what the issue is and they said they have never done one yet and had to order special tooling a couple times to get all the right stuff then still had not ordered sensor so they order sensor, there were a couple different ones so they order both to make sure they have right one. They come in and finally make another apt to have the sensor changed.

 

Note this car does not have warranty as it was deemed a total loss by the previous insurance company so it is on me for the repair.

 

Back to story, they start pulling car apart to change sensor and then bam wrong sensor need to order another to get the right one so a couple more days go by all the time my wife has put on roughly 2K miles since this has started with lites in dash on, I had no idea nor did the dealer tell us that having one of the several egt sensors go bad would prevent the regen system from functioning, come sensor change yesterday, get it done now they claim the DPF is sooted up past the cars ability to regen, it actually will not run a forced regen with their equipment.  

Tell me we need to replace the DPF, I said screw that going to delete it. They felt bad  and want to give me a break on the dpf replacement repair,  their lack of knowledge and wasting time is what caused it in the first place, they just took on the VW line last year and are incompetent from what I see in working on them, it is a crappy job and they were not afraid to show that each time my wife showed up too which is why I didn't do the repair, I looked it up on some other forums and saw what it took just to get to the sensor, so I let the dealer do it.

 

Had been researching the different options anyhow but wasn't planning on it until around 100K+ miles so will be ordering a dpf delete system and egr block this morning and then need to send the ecm in for tuning. All supposed to result in 5 mpg gains and a bit more power too. All for less than a replacement dpf alone. So I figure with 5 mpg gains it will pay back over time without the hassle of the emissions going forward eliminating several other potential issues going forward.

 

End of rant.

Man there is days I'm glad I've not updated to the newer diesel with DPF and EGR systems.

 

So are you going to write up your adventures of deleting all this stuff? I'm really curious of what you have to do to get over this problem.

There are 3 companies I have found that sell the DPF delete and EGR block off plates and both come highly recommended but one is a lot more reasonably priced which is the company I am going with. Since the DPF is coming off one has to eliminate the Cats as well as they claim they can't handle the added soot so the dpf delete also comes with what is called a mid pipe to fill the cat space but in my case of wanting to keep it as quiet as possible went with the resonator option in that space.

Then the EGR block off is the same as any other diesel to keep the intake from carboning up which I had to remove the intake on the 03 tdi and clean out once which was not fun.

 

The dpf delete I am going with with a resonator and egr block plate shipped for $615.

 

The more expensive dpf delete route

 

 

Another tdi dpf delete kit

 

 

Then as part of the dpf delete one has to send in the engine ecm to be reprogrammed to ignore the lack of dpf components as well as gain better running rig, there are several different tunes one can go with and there is only one company that is recommended for this called Malone tuning.

Question?

 

We all seen the EPA come down on the diesel part manufactures for creating delete kits for diesel trucks. Then like now they are back in production again. What's the deal? I thought this kind of stuff was illegal to buy any more?

North Dakata Oracle, if you haven't already purchased the exhaust system for your delete yet (going through Malone tuning we assume for the ecm bench flash?), let us know.  We have a brand new one sitting here with no usefulness to us (we do a lot of TDI upgrades, but no emissions deletes) that we will send to you for free if you'll pay the shipping. We paid about $900 for the exhaust to a small fabricator that specializes in them about 2 years ago. The price was high, even for stainless, but we wanted to look at one. It's basically just the downpipe and frontpipe. Not much to look at. We know it would fit a 2012 Jetta TDI, so it should fit the 2014 also. If you're interested, get back to us for more info and a picture of the part.

PM sent to you P-D-P.

 

I am going with Malone for the tuning. Just waiting to hear back from them to nail down details.

Well everything is rolling, parts for exhaust ordered and will get ecm off and sent in tomorrow, after talking with them they see the best economy with Malone stage 2, saying 5-10 mpg gains over stock with dpf delete.

Question?

 

We all seen the EPA come down on the diesel part manufactures for creating delete kits for diesel trucks. Then like now they are back in production again. What's the deal? I thought this kind of stuff was illegal to buy any more?

Disclaimers all over everything as to "Offroad use only" and have to agree to knowing this is not legal for on road use ect ect, plus they are not selling add on programmers to do the delete programming which was what was being cracked down on IIRC, you have to send in your ECU for a bench tune reprogram which is probably another difference.

 

The delete Hard parts I do not think were ever the issue but I could be totally wrong on all of it just my  .

Kind of goes back to the thread about Copyrighting the ECM software so Joe Public can't rewrite the software for tuning. Also sell device design for deleting I thought was part of the whole problem too. K & S IIRC was slapped with a fine for creating EGR deletes. I'm trying to school up on some of the newer stuff from you and understand the limitations and what is working and not...

Anxious to hear how it comes out and net improvement.

Finally got all the parts and pulled it all apart tonight..........................       What a pain in the @#%$&*^%@ to get the dpf shoe horned out of the car. The rotten part was it got hooked on the brand new exhaust temp sensor I just paid the dealer 500 bucks to change and tore the wire out of the sensor so there was a $165 part ruined in a heart beat.   :mad:  

 

I think I taught myself about a dozen new swear words that didn't even exist until tonight.

 

So now I have to order another sensor but I will be able to get it all together tomorrow without it as it is now going to be easy to get to without the DPF installed and no special tools required now to get to it now. so that is one plus.

Like oxygen sensors I typically get the wire unplugged first thing then work on removing the sensor from the pipe. I did it this way in hopes of preventing the wiring from be damaged.

You have no idea, this is the sensor I took it to the dealer for do to needing a special tool to get to it and get it out, it is nearly impossible to get to with the DPF installed not to mention it is in the manifold and not the dpf, it got smashed against while twisting the dpf around to get it out.

 

It is truly amazing how much crrap was stuffed in that small space between the engine and firewall. The dpf alone has 2 pressure sensors, 2 EGT sensors, and an O2 sensor directly mounted in it, then add the piping mounted to it for the pressure sensors and then the EGR canister was mounted to it and then there was a third egt sensor mounted in the pipe directly below the dpf but still part of it. There are 4 egt sensors and 2 O2 sensors on this thing.

Had I seen it was going to be as close as it was I would have removed the egt sensor I damaged but it was on top and I was below and didn't realize it until I started looking at things that were holding me from turning it like it was supposed to to come out.

 

I wish I had snapped pics before removal, I will get some of the old and new part on the floor beside each other to see how much less mass is going to be in the car. I test fit the new pipe up in the spot the dpf came out of and it is still wide open with it in there plus I will be able to change the damaged sensor quite easily as well now that the bulk is gone.

So do you miss your old TDI yet?

Getting there real dang quick. I will reserve judgment for a bit until we get some miles on it and see the MPG and power gains from this ordeal and if any other issues pop up. If it does indeed pick up 5-10mpg with 35 extra hp with the tune it should pay back rather quick pending no other issues arise since we tend to hold on to vehicles for a while and the amount of miles my wife puts on. We are still ahead of the game with what we saved over book but this venture burned up about half that savings alone.

But I don't know that I would totally count it as I would have most likely done this delete anyhow down the road, just didn't plan on doing it @ under 8K miles on the car.

 

Time to go put things back together now, will get some pics to post later...........................................

Just to give an idea of what I was dealing with, a pic of the old and new systems side by side with different angles to see all the sensor bungs.

A couple shots of the engine and the back side from the top where the dpf was and from the underside with my hand in there to give an idea of the size of hole it had to come out of. Plus you can see the bright egr blocking plate under the turbo in the one pic as well. I ordered my kit with a resonator which is in the pic, didn't want a nice quiet car having drone with a straight pipe going to the factory mufflers with the dpf, cat, and factory resonator all removed.

I bet that runs so much better with the new exhaust system in it. Man... That a lot of junk hanging on the back of a engine.

 

I'm reminded of the pass every time we move forward. I remember the days of catalytic converters and the start of electronic vehicles. It was a mess back in the 80's. Here we are again with diesel vehicles going through the same phase of DPF and EGR just like back in the 80's. Eventually this will be sorted out.

Not to mention 25-30 pounds lighter and a lot less heat under the hood now too.

           

 

Got her all put back together and did a highly technical patch job on the damaged wires of the egt sensor as I just couldn't wait for a new one to see if it was going to work and I had total success!!!

 

Took her for a 25 mile test drive and ran her through the paces and she passed with flying colors. This thing runs awesome and has really nice smooth power and lays you back in the seat a bit now.

Wife has an ear to ear grin driving this thing around now with all the new found power and how fast it spools, she wants to hunt down and race all the young kids now.

I'm afraid my hands would not fit under the hood. Need a little Japanese woman to help.