brutus23079

Hi folks. Trying to think ahead on DIY maintenance for my 3.0 TDI. Can't find the fuel filter in the engine bay for the life of me. All the previous posts of earlier Audi/VW TDI versions showed a cylindrical housing sitting on top of the engine bay with four obvious fuel lines going in/out. Very easy to find. Even the CR 2011 3.0 TDI Q7 (pix from myturbodiesel.com) showed it to the extreme right, as you're looking at it in the engine bay. I understand VW/Audi doesn't want people doing post-2009 CR TDI fuel filter changes without properly priming the pumps (to prevent the $7000ish HPFP-failure repair), but to purposely hide the filter (or filters, are there two?) seems odd. Thanks in advance for any input!

Buckaroo

Took a quick look at our 2014 as well. Didn't look like it was anywhere in the engine compartment.

Could it be behind the wheel well's on the front passenger side? Followed the lines and it looks like went "that a way".

Hope someday to find a manual. Enjoy the DIY'ing as well.

Wonderful vehicle so far.

spijun

The fuel filter is located on the chassis from the bottom right side.
You must remove the plastic protector

Coolieman1220

yeah my 335d is in the same spot, under the chassis under the driver door.

I'm gonna guess you'll need a vagcom tool to tell the car to pressurize the fuel system when changing it as to not get air in the fuel lines.

brutus23079

Thanks guys! As always, this forum (and its devoted members) come through!

Buckaroo

I second that! Thank you gentlemen.
(you wouldn't know where to get that repair manual would you...)

Buckaroo

I'd guess that this would be a suitable method to prime the HP pump

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index...CR_TDI_Engines

brutus23079

Yup, should work. I do plan to verify with Ross-Tech (before I buy) that the VCDS I'd get will work for the 2014 TDI and include the important maintenance functions (priming fuel pumps and "Resetting Learned Values" when adding AdBlue fluid.)
This video: shows how to prime the pumps using the VCDS cable. And (for his vehicle at least) you can hear the fuel pumps running to give that "warm fuzzy" that it's actually working.

Buckaroo

Nice video.

So far our 2007 VAG-COM (now VCDS) talks fine with the 2014 Q5. Used it to adjust the display to show which gear the tranny was in (rather than just S or D). Ran the automated system check and it seemed to work just as well as on our 2006 Jetta TDI. Made a nice readable log file for the "Q".

I'd imagine it should work fine for priming but never hurts to double check.

brutus23079

I figured as much. Glad to hear it's working for you. Like you said, it doesn't hurt to double-check, especially given the extremely high price of repairing a shredded HPFP.

I did send an email to Ross-Tech asking if their VCDS would cycle the 2014 TDI fuel pumps and accomplish the "Reset learned values" part of adding AdBlue fluid. Got the expected answer:

"Thank you for your email. VCDS will give you the ability to do the basic maintenance as you have described. Since we use the same terminology as the factory, you would simply follow the procedures found on the erwin.audi website."

Will be getting my cable at some point. On a larger scale, I hope we can get more DIY threads on here and group them together someday.

Only had my Q5 a few months, but after talking with the local Audi service guys, one thing is apparent: Maintenance should (ideally) either be done by the dealer, or DIY (after ALOT of research). Be wary of independent shops, especially those who claim to specialize in European vehicles. VW/Audi change things so much year-to-year that if a shop doesn't continually get the latest training (at significant cost to them), they can (and do) screw things up. The lead Audi mechanic here relayed several stories of cars going to indy shops, getting severely messed up, and then towed to the dealer to properly fix them. (Sounds like lawsuit territory, but better not to end up there in the first place.) Doesn't mean every shop is bad. Just gotta be careful and ask a lot of questions. Like the famous Hill Street Blues line, "Let's be careful out there"...