TrackJunke

I have a 2016 Cayenne Diesel and it has been a great car but has spent > 2-3 months in the shop over the past 6 months at only 65k miles. Once for ad blue system failure, once for going into limp mode and once for CEL that required a new DPF and various sensors. > 6-10k worth of parts/labor etc according to dealer. Luckily it all was covered under the extended emission warranty. According to them, they are seeing a lot of issues with the diesels and do not really know how to trouble shoot them (involving PCNA).

However, with that coming up at the end of the year and do not want to deal with this type of issue going forward. I am assuming this is all from the emissions fix running outside of originally designed tolerances. But not sure…

Is there a known/tested pathway at this point for defeating the trouble making systems without significant compromise (smoking, smell, etc) and what is required? This is my wife’s car so not sure she will enjoy the experience if it’s significantly compromised from current. I have talked to some of the tuners but they seems to say things like “off-road only” and cant guarantee any results which makes me a bit less confident in just tuning it out and running bypass pipes/EGR bypass like some have reported. Will a Malone tune + bypass really defeat these systems to the extent that reliability will improve? What are others planning as the emissions warranty runs out?

I do know this has been discussed previously in threads but it seems that doing these modifications are currently uncommon at best and there are various “versions” that are a bit confusing…. DPF delete, bypass pipes or not, EGR defeat or not, Ad blue delete etc. Just looking for some real world experience to determine if its worth tackling this and keeping the car or cutting my losses…

chassis

Emissions settlement should solve all of this. I ran a diesel Touareg of this generation to 238k miles and loved it.

Read clubtouareg for your questions, it will have more people on it with high mileage 3.0L TDI units.

lml999

I bought a 4/48 Fidelity warranty for my '13 Q7 TDi with 162K miles, won't worry about it for another few years. In the meantime, the warranty will cover a water pump and rear main seal, and will have just (mostly) paid for itself.

Buy an extended warranty when your dieselgate warranty expires and just drive it for a while.

My concern about disabling the emissions equipment, other than the potential of increased emissions, is the reduced serviceability. You'll need to have a good private mechanic who can sort their way through your unique configuration when an issue occurs and a CEL lights. Is it due to a new issue? Missing hardware? Who knows....

Newegg

I did the Malone tune, EGR, DPF and add blue delete. I did these to an avoid the problems you had and improve my reliability. With those systems gone the car become extremely reliable and easier to fix.

Understand your wife doesn’t want some smelly cayenne rolling coal at every stop light. I get a puff of smoke on cold starts. As far as regular driving you see or smell nothing. If she drives around with her foot on the floor it will smoke. Overall I am really impressed with how clean the tune is. The drivability is night and day better.

I did this to my old Touareg TDI as well.

cwheeler

I did the Malone stage 1 with all deletes. I get no smoke. Little bit smelly at stop lights with window down and occasionally with the fresh air recirc. But otherwise fine.

100% would do it again.

Cw

PJP13

I am curious to learn more about this.

is the full delete just software, or did you remove hardware too?

I have a 2016 and will be looking into this in 2.5 yrs once my dieselgate warranty is up.
Thx!

oz968

I am just about to load the Malone Stage 1 tune with EGR turn off.
Leaving all hardware in place

KBell

I'm at 115,000 miles. Warranty for 5,000 more miles.

Subscribed. Very interested in any information OP's topic.

Newegg

I removed the DPF and replaced it with the Rawtek delete pipe. That is the only hardware. The tune is done via a laptop and a “Tunezzilla” that you buy from Malone. The EGR is shut off electronically as well as the add blue, then I simply drained the add blue tank. The three problem areas with this motor are now gone, DPF,EGR Add Blue.

Vegas993

The timing chain cover and upper oil pan leaks are fairly common and covered under warranty.

I have 94k on mine, Dieselgate Warranty expires in February. I had the engine out oil leak service back in the Spring and a clean bill of health on my most recent oil change.

I had a bad experience at one dealership charging me for work that wasn't even performed so I decided to go to another one and they immediately diagnosed the leaks and took care of it under warranty.

That being said, I assume there is another dealer close to you? I might try having an oil change done at a different store, these engines have been on the road for quite awhile now and most dealers know the drill, the fact they are having trouble figuring issues out would raise a flag for me.

Just my .02¢ but I worked at an Audi store for 10 years and we pretty much always had a Q7 in for the oil leak fix. In fact, I visited over Thanksgiving and they were in the middle of one.

reneeweiss

My car is going to the dealer next week for oil leak. What other issues could come up with my 2013 diesel. The 10 year warranty expires this month. What are people paying for extended warranties on the diesels? What are the best insurers ? Thanks,

kevinlui

Hi PJP13, did you end up doing the EGR delete? I'm looking to buy a 2016 CD and learning about the EGR delete and tune, and I'm in the Seattle WA area. So I'd like to hear any experience you have such as any shop around here that can carry out that work. THanks

Rectorbill

I'm interested in what you did. The last visit to Porsche, they said they had a "strong exhaust smell" in the interior of the car. We never smelled it until we picked up the car. They say the "likely" culprit is the flange weld at the catalytic converter and wanted to replace that for over $4200. So, I was thinking to remove that as well?? Any suggestions?

PJP13

My diesel gate warranty goes through 8/2025... I will be doing the hardware and software after that.... Having the warranty has come in handy and with the reading I have done about oil leaks I want to keep it in place for the full duration.
Good Luck!

soundaround

PJP13, What hardware will you use to do the hardware portion of the delete — apparently RawTek cannot ship to the US anymore due to regulatory issues. Does anyone have a hardware supplies Stateside that is able to provide parts?