Dealership Offerring "Upper Air Intake Service" That's Not on Service Schedule ?

[Jondalar]

There was no mentioned of this when I had my 45k service done last month, but being a 140TDI and 50% highway running it's probably not building up too fast.

[T5Multivan]

I'd appreciate any advice or experience with dealerships offering an "upper air intake service" as an extra part of the 45K service schedule for the B8 Passat TDI. I live in regional NSW so I drive a balance of rural roads and the M1 motorway.

After leaving the vehicle for service, the dealership rang me and claimed they have found that the Passat TDI models build up "a lot of carbon" around the upper air intake and linkages that should be "cleaned out" every second service. They look at it as "preventative maintenance" for the customer at an extra $150. This added extra was never "offered" for my B7 Passat TDI

As I didn't have the service booklet at hand, I checked with VW Australia over the phone and they couldn't find any reference to this being part of the 45K service. So there seems to be no supplement for this extra maintenance under Australian conditions.

I'd be the last know about the inner workings of diesel motors. Maybe I'm missing something in keeping this vehicle running at its best ?

Hi,


I've just taken my car to a VW dealer in northern NSW, possibly the same that you went to, who offered the same clean for my Multivan. Same situation as you where I dropped the car & then about 5 minutes later got a phone call suggesting a upper air intake clean be performed.


Thing is they recommended, and completed, the same clean last time I had the car serviced. When I told them this time that the work had been done last time they were apologetic but, given it was on the job card under recently completed work when I delivered the car for today's service, it did make me wonder if this is just part of their upsell tactics rather than genuinely being required.


On a previous service the same dealer also tried to quote me $170 to charge my battery so I've become a little wary.

Cameron.

[JB's Dub]

This is a common practice among dealerships. The first VW dealer I worked for had a deal with Wynns. The advisors would try to upsell A/C deodorizes, Throttle body cleans, and fuel treatments. The more they sold, the more bonuses they earned from Wynns.

Yes, the TDI and FSI engines carbon up. In my experience, the best way to deal with it is to Strip the intake side of the engine down and clean it properly. Then I would be fitting a catch can to keep the oil mist out of the intake. The oil mist is what causes the exhaust soot to stick and build up everywhere.

[doc_777]

On the B8 Passat, the EGR takes 'cool' exhaust gas from after the DPF. It is mixed into a separate port in the head - not mixing with intake air until basically the back of the valves. The potential for any soot to make it into the intake system is greatly reduced compared to earlier designs of EGR systems. I'd be interested to see any pictures of a disassembled B8 diesel intake system that has carbon buildup.