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Volkswagen's cheating engines can't be easily fixed
Business Insider ^ | 09/25/2015 | Benjamin Zhang

Posted on 09/25/2015 8:08:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Volkswagen is confronted with a monumental challenge.

The company has admitted that 11 million of its cars used illegal software to cheat emissions standards.

Now, many owners are demanding that the offending cars be fixed.

That's easier said than done, and Volkswagen has already tried — and failed — twice.

Here's the issue, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency: Cars with Volkswagen's 2-liter TDI turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines include software that detects when the car is undergoing emissions testing and turns on a suite of pollution-control systems.

But as soon as the test ends, the controls switch off, leaving the engine free to emit up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, a highly polluting gas. According to the California Air Resources Board, Volkswagen admitted to using a defeat device during a September 3 meeting with the agency and the EPA.

The problem for Volkswagen is that getting the engine's emissions in line with pollution standards probably means sacrificing something else.

"Building an engine involves balancing four factors — performance, emissions, durability, and fuel economy," explained Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' director of automotive testing.

Right now, VW has sacrificed emissions to create a TDI engine that offers great performance, incredible fuel economy, and solid reliability.

"Whatever the fix is, it will likely sacrifice fuel economy and probably durability as well," Fisher said.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: automakers; pollution; volkswagen; vw
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To: Redbob

Lying to customers about your product is illegal.


101 posted on 09/25/2015 10:12:51 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

My question is how has the VW diesels on the road since 2009 have been passing state emission tests?


102 posted on 09/25/2015 10:15:24 AM PDT by VeniVidiVici (How Come Mexico Sends its Ugly Citizens Over the Border while the Beautiful Ones Stay on TV?)
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To: No Socialist

Lets do both. They are two separate issues. I dont like lying companies tricking people into buying what they think they are buying but arent, and i don’t like the epa either.

Separate issues. I am up for dealing with both of them.


103 posted on 09/25/2015 10:15:55 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: kingu
The EPA spot checks both the emissions and the fuel economy at the facility I linked to. The emissions and the fuel economy tests are conducted on a dyno. We don't know how VW programmed their engine control module to determine when it was being "tested." It could have been because a connector was plugged into the ODBII port, or it could be because the drive wheels were spinning but the non-drive wheels were not (as sensed by the antilock braking system) and the ECM decided it was on a dyno.

In either case, either the EPA has never spot checked a Volkswagen TDI since 2009, or else both spot checks of emissions and mileage were close enough to the numbers submitted by the factory.

Remember that it was not the EPA that caught VW.

104 posted on 09/25/2015 10:17:18 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag necessary?)
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To: VeniVidiVici

How far back does this go? I do not know.


105 posted on 09/25/2015 10:18:14 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: jneesy

I would have thought so, too, but I checked Craigs List and it didn’t seem like prices have come down.


106 posted on 09/25/2015 10:28:30 AM PDT by Defiant (I wouldn't have to mansplain if it weren't for all those wymidiots.)
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To: Yo-Yo

I think in all likelihood they’ll have to come up with a fix to make the car emissions cleaner. Then probably pass an exemption grandfathering the cars in while sticking VW with the largest fine ever issued.


107 posted on 09/25/2015 10:28:32 AM PDT by Bogey78O (We had a good run. Coulda been great still.)
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To: Mr. K

I think part of the programming was gaming the ppm by diluting it with extraneous airflow. Since that’s a cheat of sorts, there’s no programming solution.


108 posted on 09/25/2015 10:32:12 AM PDT by Bogey78O (We had a good run. Coulda been great still.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Yup. Less than 1% — that is because of the cash for clunkers program of a few years ago. Perfectly good well running cars and trucks were crushed in the compacter and engines destroyed all because of a freebie from the government. Very wasteful IMO.

People had a car that was paid for free and clear, now they have a car that isn’t paid for and probably a $20,000 loan.

I didn’t fall for the CforC scam and am still driving a 1993 vintage car — bought, paid for, and owned. A few scratches and dents but I OWN IT! It runs great too. We are still required to pass emissions and it seems to do okay. I think that the cut off was around 1969.

You see cars with the vintage/antique license plates that predate 1969. Vintage/antique? LOL. They are not antiques and are true clunkers but the owners don’t want to have to deal with the emissions tests. Don’t blame them, though.


109 posted on 09/25/2015 10:33:31 AM PDT by dhs12345
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To: Redbob

That NoX emission is tied to combustion temperature, which is related to fuel injection timing. Advance of injection timing relative to TDC increases peak temperature and pressures, which increases NoX quantities produced. A multi-step injection profile limits peak temperature and is a common NoX control avenue.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212540X14000248


110 posted on 09/25/2015 11:39:00 AM PDT by Ozark Tom
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To: MrB

This was my thought. If the cars meet the standards at time of testing,doesn’t that meet the letter of the law? The other thing is the oppressive ideas from the gov’t./EPA. Do these people have a clue what they are doing? They are supposed to be working for us,not the other way around.


111 posted on 09/25/2015 11:47:56 AM PDT by oldtech
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To: SeekAndFind
Volkswagen has been working for at least 15 years on a new version of an engine combustion technology called homogeneous charge compression-ignition (HCCI). HCCI engines fueled by gasoline promises diesel-like fuel economy but without the elevated NOx gas levels and particulates of diesel engine exhaust--in fact, HCCI engines have lower NOx emissions than even gasoline-fueled engines.

Maybe it's time for VW to be a world leader and get HCCI technology commercialized in the next few years, especially now that engine computers and pressurized direct fuel injection systems are very good indeed.

112 posted on 09/25/2015 11:54:28 AM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: Bogey78O

I am trying to guess how the car knew it was connected and being tested

It can only be through the electronic interface, and something in that interface says “I’m connected”

That would turn on/off the cheat.

I almost bought one of these things- I did a test drive over a weekend and I got nearly 80 MPH on the thruway. the dealership was a bit miffed that I put 400 miles on it


113 posted on 09/25/2015 11:54:37 AM PDT by Mr. K (If it is HilLIARy -vs- Jeb! then I am writing-in Palin/Cruz)
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To: TangibleDisgust
My big question: does VW pass the EUROPEAN pollution standards? Are the European standards for diesel substantially different than US standards? If US standards are stricter, what is the justification for that?

Is it mostly that the US wants to exclude diesel cars from the market?

114 posted on 09/25/2015 12:04:53 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: pepsionice
3. EPA then gets upset over people confronting them....so they order them to accept the swap or pay a yearly fine of $500. More than half of the owners will accept the $500 a year fine and just say OK, but take the EPA to court.


My prediction is that would not fly in some states, such as Kalifornia, and folks won't be able to re-register their cars.

115 posted on 09/25/2015 12:25:34 PM PDT by az_gila
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To: SeekAndFind
Volkswagen's cheating engines can't be easily fixed

I'm not buying that. Just about every engine and electronic parameter on these cars is software controlled. A firmware upgrade with new emissions programming will be an easy cheap fix for vw.

Performance and fuel economy will no doubt take a hit, but a programming fix is very doable and cheap.

116 posted on 09/25/2015 12:41:52 PM PDT by CodeJockey
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To: SeekAndFind
Right now, VW has sacrificed emissions to create a TDI engine that offers great performance, incredible fuel economy, and solid reliability.

And owners want that "fixed"?

117 posted on 09/25/2015 7:30:50 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy
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To: Redbob
"I suspect the test mode is not used for calculating the MPG." AND you would be wrong...

See post #78. If VW were running the tests, well we already know they are cheaters.

Talk about destroying a brand. What a fiasco.

My first (real) car was a used Scirroco:

It ran well, even though my friends said it was a 'beater' I loved it.

Sad.

118 posted on 09/25/2015 8:44:52 PM PDT by Jack Black ( Disarmament of a targeted group is one of the surest early warning signs of future genocide.)
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To: steve8714; oh8eleven

They did no such thing. They took a gasoline engine automotive block and made it into a diesel. They were complete POCs with terrible longevity.


119 posted on 09/26/2015 4:21:38 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: FreedomPoster

Even worse. Thanks for the memory flog. Gas engines aren’t built for that pressure, are they?


120 posted on 09/26/2015 4:45:01 AM PDT by steve8714 (Pumpkin spice is made of PEOPLE!)
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