Piston Slap: Oil Burning and Carbon Cleaning (Part II)

Arley writes:

Dear Sanjeev, [Oh, come on!!! —SM]

I have a ’03 Jetta 1.9-liter TDI. Do you know if the emission controls were tampered with on these models? If they are not part of the recall, am I to assume everything is as it should be? Resale value has dropped noticeably.

After your (and reader) recommendations regarding carbon cleaning, the car runs noticeably better, even at 180k mikes.

Thanks. I read you every day.

You can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish.

Sajeev answers:

I have no information on emissions controls tampering on your Jetta, mostly because it’s not part of the VW TDI recall. That’s only for 2009-2015 VW diesels with the 2.0-liter engine. That model was known as the greenwashed TDI Clean Diesel.

Your diesel is then, by default, a dirty diesel. But at least it was honest!

Sorry to hear about the loss of resale value, but the court of public opinion is (slowly?) going against diesel engines for use in “clean” vehicles. Meaningless in the world of full-size trucks, where people regularly defeat the clean diesel particulate filters…but I digress.

While your ride may have the same steering angle sensor (and other in-vehicle monitors) as the later TDI Clean Diesels, they were only used for their intended purpose. Hell, even Martin Winterkorn, the CEO that allegedly set unattainable goals fostering VW’s Cheat Culture, wasn’t in a position of power when your Jetta TDI was designed.

Perhaps expecting any other outcome is like trying to “tune a fish.”

[Image: Shutterstock user sasha2109]

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.