TDI fuel filter
 

Has anyone changed the fuel filter on the new 3.0 TDI yet? I only took a quick look last night and I don't even see where it is. Any insight or recommendations on a good service manual would be very appreciated. TIA

Curious why the need to change fuel filter when the car is brand new?

No need to change it yet, but will probably take the car on a long road trip in a few weeks and I like to have a spare just in case. I've had numerous diesels over the years and a bad tank of fuel and no spare can leave you stuck in the middle of nowhere.

It's prudent to keep spare parts, but I wouldn't fret over it unless you're going to partake in the Baja or Dakar Rally. :)

I would not even think about fuel filter for the first 50K miles. Not even a bit. Even if I take a road trip from San Diego to NY and back. May get a quart of engine oil but thats it. Per Audi, C7 generation cars have fuel filters from factory for car lifetime.

Fuel filters on a diesel are good for about 20K miles.

Audi's maintenance schedule calls for fuel filter replacement @ 15k miles and every 20k miles thereafter. The DPF filter is to be checked/replaced if necessary @ 120k.

http://www.audiusa.com/content/dam/a...-Year-2013.pdf

Audi Care?
 

Thinking of getting a diesel next summer but have been reading about all this MAINTENANCE that is needed & was wondering if they have Audi Care for the TDI & if so does it cost more then for gas engines?
If no AudiCare it has got to be expensive for the maintenance work every 10K.
If they have it does it cover things like oil changes, fuel filters etc.?

Sure makes one wonder if a TDI is worth it in the long run.

Audi Care is available by car model and doesn't discriminate by engine type. AC for the U.S. A6 currently costs $820 and will cover all items included in the 15K, 25K, 35K and 45K mile scheduled services for that model/engine type as printed in the Warranty & Maintenance user guide.

Everything needs to be maintained. A gasoline engine is no different. The diesel fuel filter for the 20k intervals is located in the engine bay, normally on top of the engine for temperature purposes. The filter needs to be changed at 20k because the fuel is an oil and not a vaporizing solvent like gasoline. There could be instances where a crappy fuel station will have water in the fuel. If the fuel is really old, there may also be algae in the fuel as well. I have driven from coast to coast more than I can count on both hands and I have never come across contaminated fuel. I don't stop at crappy little towns with obscure fuel stations. I only stop at truck stops and places like Shell or QT. Because of the properties of the fuel, it can contain bio organic blends. The purpose of the fuel filter is two-fold: 1 it serves as a water separator, to extract water from the fuel; 2 it filters out algae and bio mass. Filters will begin to clog up and you can go past 20k miles but you risk constricting fuel delivery in a system designed to operate at ~20,000psi. The filter replacement is easy and the cost is not that high.

As for oil changes, this is every 10k, although the intervals are longer in Europe. The main reason for a 10k change is because the oil will break down over time if you are using B10 or higher fuels. There is no standard for fuel across the country, let alone among most brands. I have been to Love's truck stop in Arizona with a Jetta TDI that is allowed to run on B5. However, the pump had a sticker that said B10. I went inside and asked the clerk if they did in fact have B10 in the pump. She checked the invoice and it was B5. So the sticker on the pump was not accurate, but most likely a CYA moment. The only consistency for fuel in the US is the ULSD standard. All diesel must be ULSD. Beyond that, in some states, diesel is up to 20% bio-blend, B20. VW and Audi will honor warranty claims in the event of B20 use whereas Mercedes-Benz will void your warranty. If you live in Illinois, by all means, avoid a Mercedes diesel.

Also, part of the operation of a diesel engine's cleanliness is the ability to trap soot and particulate matter from the exhaust. The engine oil plays a roll in trapping soot. If you do an oil change on a car, you'll know that old oil is dark, and when you change the oil, you check your work with the dipstick. Well, in a diesel, you can pour in golden fresh oil, run the engine for 20 seconds and when you check the dipstick, the oil is not going to be golden, it will be dark brown and almost black. Why? Because the oil is trapping carbon and sooty material.

In summary, yes, maintenance on a diesel is imperative, just as it is on a gasoline engine. However, if you adhere to the 10k/20k intervals, you will have an efficient and powerful engine that never requires a tune-up. No spark plugs, no ignition coils, and no carbon build-up on intake valves at 15k miles (ALL direct injection gasoline engines have this problem) mean that it's imperative to know more about a diesel engine before you make assumptions as to "how much it's going to cost me" when you don't have all the facts.

Oil changes can be DIY with a top-side extractor. Fuel filter changes are $120 with parts at the dealer. I tried a fuel filter change myself once but I was sloppy and didn't have a way to dispose of the .5L of fuel that sits in the filter housing. In total, in ownership up to 99k miles, you've looking at 4 fuel filter changes.

I've gone 15k once prior to an oil change on a TDI. I wouldn't go past 12k merely because the engine oil also plays a key role in turbo lubrication. Most gasoline engines now use tubos as well and I'd suspect that if owners SKIMP OUT on proper oil change intervals, then their turbos will fail prematurely.

The line between gas and diesel is slowly getting blurred as they both have direct injection and turbo chargers. It's only a matter of time before you realize the diesel is more reliable compared to a gasoline engine running the same direct injected turbo charged format.

Rant over.