Here Is The Fix For Volkswagens In Europe: A Mesh Air Pipe and Software

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Volkswagen in Germany announced Wednesday its fix for millions of its 1.6- and 2-liter diesel engines in Europe that are illegally spewing nitrogen oxides and have cost the company billions in a massive worldwide scandal.

According to the automaker, a small “flow transformer” would be fitted in front of the air mass sensor in 1.6-liter, EA189 engines. The small transformer will calm air leaving the air filter before reaching the sensor. Volkswagen says the calmer air will allow the sensor to more accurately measure airflow for combustion. The fix would take less than an hour. For 2-liter engines, the proposed fix would be a software update and would take 30 minutes. Both plans have been approved by the German transportation authority.

Both fixes may be headed to cars in the U.S. However, the announced plan was in Germany for engines only on sale in most of Europe. Volkswagen submitted its U.S. plan last week to the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board, but details of that plan haven’t been released.

Volkswagen said it would begin recalling cars in Europe in January, and that the recall would take roughly one year to complete.

According to the automaker, the performance of the affected cars would remain the same after the fix, but that testing had not yet been completed on those cars.

Volkswagen will submit next month its plan to fix 1.2-liter, three-cylinder engines fitted into its cars in Europe. The fix announced Wednesday will also apply to SEAT, Audi and Skoda vehicles fitted with the 1.6- and 2-liter engines.

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Jthorner Jthorner on Nov 25, 2015

    This device is strangely similar to the kind of automotive miracle cure devices which used to fill the back pages of a JC Whitney catalog.

  • APaGttH APaGttH on Nov 25, 2015

    It remains mind blowing to me the free ride that Takata is getting in the media compared to other automotive scandals. http://www.leftlanenews.com/report-takata-workers-falsified-data-for-years-90333.html ..."There have been instances in the past when Takata provided inflater validation testing reports to automotive customers that contained selective, incomplete or inaccurate data," a Takata spokesperson admitted. "These lapses were and are totally incompatible with Takata's engineering standards and protocols, and we sincerely apologize to our customers, our regulators and the driving public..." Last count I saw was up to 34 million vehicles impacted worldwide with a failure rate pushing 2%. That means there are 680,000 Claymore mines in the dashboards and/or steering wheels of cars out there. I can take out the floor mat in a Toyota - problem solved. I can remove all the crap hanging off my ignition switch key in a GM product - problem solved. I can inflate the tires properly in my Ford - older historical problem solved. I can't fix my diesel VW - but it isn't going to directly potentially kill me while driving. I can't fix my Takata equipped vehicle, and I can't deactivate the airbag, and if it goes off in an accident - a 1.5% to 2% chance it will actually kill me. Ya I know, suppliers fleeing them and they will likely go out of business, which bodes so well for the victims when no one is around to payout the settlements. Bankruptcy restructuring and a company name change makes the liability go away, and keeps the leaders making airbags.

  • Pdl2dmtl Pdl2dmtl on Nov 25, 2015

    What a load of BS.... "Oh look, Zir, ve have fixed it like it vasn't broken." That tells you who runs Europe. Guten Tag.

  • Jasper2 Jasper2 on Nov 26, 2015

    Translation from Winterkornese into English is as follows: A Mesh Air-pipe & Software = no fix at all VW has some set of tailpipes offering this BS up as a fix.

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