Wednesday, Jun 20, 2018 at 14:46
Here's an interesting video (below), showing the design of the VW, V6 3.0L TDI engine.
The video following it, shows the engine being built in an Audi factory.
The same V6 3.0L TDI engine is used in a range of Audis, the Porsche Cayenne, and the VW Touareg - as
well as the Amarok. It was first introduced in 2004 and it was "upgraded" in 2014.
The engine "upgrade" appears to have largely been the addition of a substantial amount of increased emission-control equipment, to meet the newest EURO-6 engine emission requirements.
VW group - list of engines
The engine is one of the most complex designs I have ever examined.
It runs quad camshafts, 24 valves, a balance shaft (because all 90 deg V6's are basically unbalanced), a variable-geometry turbocharger, two separate high pressure fuel injection pumps (one for each bank), two intercoolers, water-cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), catalytic converter, and diesel particulate filter.
There are recurrent VW/Audi/Porsche V6 TDI problems mentioned on forums, review sites, and mechanical repair sites.
Those problems revolve around the following common complaints;
1. The multiple timing chain arrangement is prone to noise caused by chain slap, caused by premature wear of the plastic chain tensioners.
These plastic tensioners don't last the expected life of the engine pistons/rings/cylinders.
The timing chains are apparently also prone to premature wear.
Premature wear of the plastic chain tensioners is going to create premature timing chain wear.
2. The poor build quality and lack of reliability of the electronic components on VW engines is a recurring feature in VW complaints.
It appears a lot of VW electronic components are built in
places such as Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, for the cheaper labour.
The wage rates in these former Communist countries, are half the wage rates of Germany.
But underpaid employees are unhappy employees, and they are also working under poor employment conditions.
Eastern European car workers striking for higher wages - 2017
3. Problems with the DPF feature regularly. I personally regard all DPF's as a needlessly complex engineering design failure.
They are simply a constant source of problems, and they increase fuel consumption.
In the diesel industry, there are two terms used to describe diesel engines reliability.
Those terms are respectively, "high-tolerance engine" and "low tolerance engine".
In essence, those terms describe the difference between todays diesels and yesterdays diesels.
The old diesels were simple, they would tolerate a wide discrepancy in operating conditions, by way of poor-quality fuels, out-of-adjustment components, levels of wear, poor or delayed maintenance - and they would still start and run happily.
These are the "high-tolerance engines".
Todays diesels - and particularly the European diesels - are intolerant of wear, intolerant of poor fuel quality or cleanliness, intolerant of carbon buildup, intolerant of harsh working conditions, and intolerant of poor maintenance.
As a result, these engines fall into the "low-tolerance engine" description.
Unfortunately, I have never yet come across a European-manufactured product that can brag about low parts costs, low maintenance costs, and low running costs.
Yes, you can buy a lot of aftermarket European parts and components that are more reasonably priced - but then you're back to dealing with "non-authorised" repairers, "non-authorised" parts or components - and the manufacturer will then disown you, and your vehicle.
Cheers, Ron.
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