My wife's '99 Passat 1.8L w/ 21k miles developed a rough idle. The dealership cleaned the carbon f/ the throttle body and the car idles much better.
The service manager explained that this was typical for this engine and this frequency. I question whether VW ( or any other builder) would design an engine than required this service at this frequency.
If so, is there any remedies/preventative measures to reduce the service frequency?
Chip L
I first experienced this on a 1985 ford 150 pickup with 302cu in v8 years ago. The next car I had this problem on was a 89 vw fox. VW blamed it on poor quality fuel. Remember the gasoline ads claiming that their brand passed BMW's intake valve cleanleness requirements? My 93 Eurovan with modified Audi I5 does the same thing. It's a easy fix with a can of spray carb cleaner.
Joe R
It has nothing to do with the design. My opinion what causes the problem is the quality of the gas and change interval of the oil since the crankcase is a closed system all that vapor gets recycled to be reburnt in the engine. VW is not alone with this problem! Also it may not be a problem at all and should be considered a maintenance service. But then again having only 21k miles on a 4 year old car doesn't help with respect the engine never runs enough to "burn" all the moisture out of the oil and crankcase breather system.
Exactly - time for an "Italian tune-up"! (drive at > 3000rpm for >20 minutes at least once a week? These engines are built to drive at 5000 rpm all year long!)
- D.
Uh, none of the above. Try exhaust gas recirculation. All my cars with EGR get filthy intake passages from the throttle body on in. On the other hand, my non-EGR A1 was pretty much clean when I cracked it open after 170,000 miles. (Anyway, how's an "Italian tune-up" going to clean up the TB? Do you know how hot it has to get to clean that stuff off?) H2Only
Good suggestion, but the 1.8t here in the USA doesn't have EGR.
Are you talking about the Diesel engines?
At any rate, I was thinking preventive maintainance, not clean-up - which is a different story.
- D.
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