T3 Touareg

[kleinbus]

Good to know as I bought the small (0.5 gal) and large jug (2 gal) of AdBlue from my dealer so I top it off myself and don't need to drive 60 miles to dealer to be unsure did they check it or not.

Once I empty the small (which haves thread on its neck and is screwed on to the neck of AdBlue tank), I will cut off the bottom and us it as funnel for the larger jug.

[bby356]

After adding the urea, it is important to turn the ignition to "on" without starting the vehicle and wait for at least 30 seconds. This enables the computer to recognize the urea level in the tank. I wonder if the service folks follow this procedure.

Excellent question, I sent them an email, after reading the thread regarding an Ad Blue upgrade, and the response came back that they already did the upgrade. I will ask them however my confidence factor that I'll get a staright answer is slim to none. I would think that after an engine shutdown it would reset just like the other computer monitored sensors. The appooinmtnet isnt until mid week, mean time the ad blue milage count down continues... less then 800 remaining,, wonder what happens if she gets to "Zero"... NEXUS... 5th dimension... Dark Matter Inversion...tiime travel... end of time as we know it?...Stay Tuned...

[kleinbus]

Once AdBlue tank is completely empty and as without AdBlue the vehicle can't meet the emission requirements, it will keep going as long as engine is kept running but WILL NOT start again untill it's filled up so it means you either better have jug of AdBlue or get flatbed to take the car to dealer.

This is on all vehicles, passenger car, vans / pickups and 18-wheelers (as design engineer I spend last year working with urea based emission control systems for 18-wheelers)

I guess the 30 sec is common "reset" activator for VW's as when I did reset the transmission, it also needed the 30 seconds procedure (keep pedal floored).

If someone needs to fill the AdBlue, its under the spare wheel so take the wheel off and you will see the fill neck...

[kleinbus]

2011-2012 owners with amber tail blinkers (probably ROW folks), please post or PM me the vag-com scan from your car so I could see the coding difference and what it would need to convert the NA brakelight blinkers to amber.

The housing and base haves the own reflector and bulb holder so who knows....

[ssato]

2011-2012 owners with amber tail blinkers (probably ROW folks), please post or PM me the vag-com scan from your car so I could see the coding difference and what it would need to convert the NA brakelight blinkers to amber.

The housing and base haves the own reflector and bulb holder so who knows....

Been curious about this as well. I don't have a VAG-COM or I would help here. I was hoping for just an LED swap but did take off my drivers rear taillight and saw the blinker housing with reflector though there looks to be some plastic that will need to be cut out of the reflector since it blocks the bulb hole.

I'll take pics the next time i'm in there.

Have you tested voltage on the terminals when the blinker is on? That was my next step next time I was in there.

[kleinbus]

I doubt there is sparkie as the blinker is still active on brake light.

With right coding the computer should change the brakelight blinker to own bulb and then there should be power...

[kleinbus]

Preparing for winter



Found Oem 18" Manhattan rims from ebay and these will be have the Blizzaks on one of these days


The backside is suppose to be silver as well it would be nice it people would actually handwash the car's (and rims) and not use the darn car wash at gas station

[kleinbus]

The hitch rattle was driving me nuts on my old Audi Q5 so I created a solution...





Well, the steel drawbar doesn't match the Touareg tow rating as the steel was just 6000 lbs so I found 10,000 lbs forged aluminum towbar.

The pin hole distance to ball didn't match the Touareg "requirement" so I cut the tail shorter and then machined new pinhole closer to ball.





and as I didn't want to drill the hole through the shank, I bought the hitch "anti-rattle" thingie from etrailer




etrailer shows the thingie opposite way (pulling up) which doesn't make sense to me as the trailer is pushing it down?

[Tregger]

Looking at your front grill it looks like you have the parking sensors? Did you add them ?

I thought those only came on Exec's ?

[kleinbus]

I thought front and rear parking sensors are standard on North America models. The Exe is suppose to have camera but Japan tsunami screwed everything up and most of car manufacturers were short of cameras.

[grohgreg]

I thought front and rear parking sensors are standard on North America models.

Got a rear camera, but no parking sensors

//greg//

[kleinbus]

I would rather have rear camera than front/rear sensors but it is what it is.

I met fellow member and his 2012 TDI is same as mine, both cars have front/rear sensors.

[jonmacs22]

I'm interested in the issue of VAG-COM coding as it relates to trailering. My 2011 TDI had the tow package but not the socket. I installed the Pollack unit without issue and have now used it a few times. I never took it to the dealer nor asked the dealer when I purchased to alter any coding. The trailer brakes have worked properly since the first use, as well as all of the other functions associated with having a trailer connected.

what is the re-coding supposed to accomplish?

[kleinbus]

Depends what you mean with "recoding".

In engine, central electronics and trailer control modules is bit (zero or one) depending is hitch installed or not.

Some says theirs didn't need coding (Jon and few other members).

My dealer said they had to take mine in for coding so I'm not sure did they BS or did it need the coding as I didn't have my Ross-Tech cable nor laptop nor time to goof around with it as next day Sunday we were heading to 1100 miles trip with trailer so it had to work.

I have already had my lesson about dealers so I wonder why I ever bother trusting them....

Who knows if the factory installed hitch is already activated (coded)?

For sure who ever does the hitch structure installation by themselves and install the trailer module (like I did on my Audi Q5), in such case it will need coding.

[grohgreg]

I would rather have rear camera than front/rear sensors but it is what it is.
I met fellow member and his 2012 TDI is same as mine, both cars have front/rear sensors.

Agreed.
Mine is a pre-earthquake car. It's my understanding that the parking sensors represented a gapfiller solution until such time as Japanese camera production once again satisfied the global demand.

//greg//

[jonmacs22]

Agreed.
Mine is a pre-earthquake car. It's my understanding that the parking sensors represented a gapfiller solution until such time as Japanese camera production once again satisfied the demand.

//greg//

That is correct. Cameras started to appear on vehicles again about 12/18/11 delivery time. So likely build dates from 10/25 on.

[kleinbus]

Met fellow Touareg member ....

[kleinbus]

and another.....

[Harv2002]

etrailer shows the thingie opposite way (pulling up) which doesn't make sense to me as the trailer is pushing it down?

When you hit the brakes it will want to push up but I don't think it makes a difference in what way it goes. I'd put it nuts down for a cleaner look.

John

[ssato]

I doubt there is sparkie as the blinker is still active on brake light.

With right coding the computer should change the brakelight blinker to own bulb and then there should be power...

First thanks to kleinbus for some help on some tested bulbs, saved me some cash!

Tonight I was able to install LED taillight bulbs, in the outer housings thanks to your recommendation. In addition to the rear running/brake/turn bulb housing I did what I said I was going to do. I ran a multimeter on the turn socket and found a small current though it could have been a ghost. I then took leads from the + and - off the stock running/brake/turn socket and bridged onto the corresponding + / - on the turn socket. I was able to get power to it and found that there is a tab that is bend downward that completes a circuit between the working running/brake/turn socket and the turn socket. When bridging this I was able to get the turn socket to function in an identical manner as the stock running/brake/turn socket on our US spec 12' touareg.

It's late and I will get a series of pictures together however knowing this I had ordered 2 of each of these:
1156-R18-T: Red - stock US spec running/brake/turn
BAU15S-R18-T: Red - non functional US spec turn

plugging it in and testing resulted in success however now, if you've looked at the housing you'd see this, the reflector for the US spec turn has no hole to allow for a bulb to be inserted once it is seated on the socket. So I routed out a hole and perfect! only problem is some shavings/dust have collected on the inside of the housing and I can't get it out without heating up the lens and getting it out that way.

with regard to the small tab that was turned downward, once it was bent up I soldered it to prevent it from shaking loose.

I am getting no errors and have tested all combinations of the rear taillights. running off, brake, brake/turn, hazard, running on, etc.

A couple of notes, the led bulbs are red and so the red on the outer housings is a bit "reder" than the inner housings which are still stock bulbs, ok by me. I've tried an led bulbs in there for kicks and it wants to stay on the bright or brake setting, add to the fact that it seems like the bulb is closer to the diffuser and it becomes almost the intensity of rear fogs. I said forget about the inner housings at that point. also the now functioning turn signal area is a tad bit brighter since there is no diffuser.

I will of course break it down again and take pics of all of the noteworthy steps for those that want to duplicate this for now here is a clip of the lights on and the brake being tapped. The frame rate on my cell phone does not do this mod justice. it is instant as you would expect from any LED, it's bright, and the color is spot on. Don't mind the flicker when the lights are dim, it's just the camera.

[kleinbus]

Tail wind effect





no tricks and I didn't reset on fly, the wind was just right direction...

[kleinbus]

Found from other forum (Audi) but not sure have this been shared here in Vortex...


http://www.youtube.com/embed/nd5WGLWNllA?rel=0

I would say the transparent factory is form of art...

[bby356]

This was very cool, really makes me think about that custom built for us T3! Of coursre tiffany just wants to go to europe,, forget the special car

[R32USN]

Dang I wish I knew about this before, I would have visited, I spent 2 years in Germany

[pdot]

kleinbus and ssato, thanks for all the information you have provided on this page, i find it very useful. I will try the LED interior bulb modification - the stock reading lights are dim and nasty

I am working on my US model Touareg to change the rear turn lamps to amber because I feel they are much safer than red.

Did anyone ever get them actually working on a US T3? If so then I request video of rear turn signal

From what I understand, i need to
a) flip a tab in cluster to provide power to a currently unused turn socket on the US T3
b) plug in amber bulbs into turn socket - (what is the correct bulb specification to use?)
c) cut hole/space in outer trim to accommodate turn bulb
d) make unknown change in vag-com to make these bulbs flash instead of the red brake bulb when signalling.

Does this sound correct?

Alternative but more expensive option is to purchase euro/row rear clusters i guess, there must be a part number for this. but d) vag-com change probably necessary.

[KPSII]

kleinbus and ssato, thanks for all the information you have provided on this page, i find it very useful. I will try the LED interior bulb modification - the stock reading lights are dim and nasty

I am working on my US model Touareg to change the rear turn lamps to amber because I feel they are much safer than red.

Did anyone ever get them actually working on a US T3? If so then I request video of rear turn signal

From what I understand, i need to
a) flip a tab in cluster to provide power to a currently unused turn socket on the US T3
b) plug in amber bulbs into turn socket - (what is the correct bulb specification to use?)
c) cut hole/space in outer trim to accommodate turn bulb
d) make unknown change in vag-com to make these bulbs flash instead of the red brake bulb when signalling.

Does this sound correct?

Alternative but more expensive option is to purchase euro/row rear clusters i guess, there must be a part number for this. but d) vag-com change probably necessary.

I totally agree w/you on the AMBER rear-tail light turn signal - and am very interested...

[kleinbus]

Yes it will need vag-com work as the computer have to be changed from North America (same brake/blinker) to probably ROW (with red brake and amber blinker).

This may lead to trailer light issue as it would change the trailer lights to individual brake and blinker lights so American brake/blinker combo doesn't work anymore.

[ssato]

I totally agree w/you on the AMBER rear-tail light turn signal - and am very interested...

I agree too on the amber however without VAG coding I settled for the added bulb.

however if we could just get the rear turn function to completely turn off and on when the parking lights are on we would be in a much better situation.

I found that swapping out LEDs didn't do much in terms of noticeability since the wattage difference between parking and brake(or turn) is still the same. the difference is just not that noticeable.

test: go out at night, turn a signal on. compare that to having the parking lights on while signaling. you'll notice now noticeable it is completely off and then on vs. parking/turn(brake). it's terrible in my opinion and almost all current VW's suffer from this.

I'd buy a VAG-COM solely for this mod simply for safety!

[KSpider]

New 2012 TDI TReg owner here! thanks to this thread I got the VIM, LED brightness and Convenience windows activated.

A note on the VIM -on the last step; to reset the RNS 850 you hold down: Phone + Climate + Nav + Traffic + center knob button


My current wish list for modifications:
1. 5 blinks for auto blinker
2. Change Alt. Speed Display to read in mph instead of km/h
3. Ability to play video from iPhone on screen (via bluetooth or dock)

[Yeti35]

My current wish list for modifications:
1. 5 blinks for auto blinker
2. Change Alt. Speed Display to read in mph instead of km/h
3. Ability to play video from iPhone on screen (via bluetooth or dock)

1. Try the method for the previous Gen Touaregs for it may not be any different. Worst case is that is just does not work.
2. Try setting the language to UK English then just change all your units back to standard rather then metric. This worked on the previous gen Tregs as well. Nothing will be harmed and worst case again is it does nothing.
3. No idea on that one.

[KSpider]

1. Try the method for the previous Gen Touaregs for it may not be any different. Worst case is that is just does not work.
2. Try setting the language to UK English then just change all your units back to standard rather then metric. This worked on the previous gen Tregs as well. Nothing will be harmed and worst case again is it does nothing.
3. No idea on that one.

Thanks Ill try 1. next time I vag-com in, #2 ill try this morning...

[Eugene-Dave-1]

NHTSA says amber turn signals "may be 5.3% safer than red". I'm not sure I'd call that "Much Safer" but I personally prefer amber over red.

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...nal-color.html

[Audi5000tdi]

Eyeballing groovier tires and maybe slight suspension lift...


Nitto Terra Grappler is available on....



- 255/55 R18
- 255/60 R18




and the suspension lift is something I have to sort out. I know German SEIKEL makes new struts but I rather spend that 2k for power module to kick out more torque

Planning to order 25mm think aluminum plates and machine spacers between the shock and chassis

Time will show what comes out from this cooking

Oh, good find! would love to have some BF Goodrich All Terrain KO's in this size.

[Audi5000tdi]

Depends what you mean with "recoding".

In engine, central electronics and trailer control modules is bit (zero or one) depending is hitch installed or not.

Some says theirs didn't need coding (Jon and few other members).

My dealer said they had to take mine in for coding so I'm not sure did they BS or did it need the coding as I didn't have my Ross-Tech cable nor laptop nor time to goof around with it as next day Sunday we were heading to 1100 miles trip with trailer so it had to work.

I have already had my lesson about dealers so I wonder why I ever bother trusting them....

Who knows if the factory installed hitch is already activated (coded)?

For sure who ever does the hitch structure installation by themselves and install the trailer module (like I did on my Audi Q5), in such case it will need coding.

I bought mine with the trailer hitch package and the 7 pin $125 doodad worth $12 on Etrailer.com and my 2012 Sport TDI was already coded for brake lights in the 7 flat prong, here are the readings off of VCDS for factory.

Byte 18 bit 5 checked off.



Byte 1, bits 0, 2 and 3 are checked off. sorry for blurry photo.




And byte 0 bit 1 is checked.



This may or may not account for preventing the rear door from automatically opening when the trailer is engaged and lights plugged in the 7 blade electrical connector, so check it with your key fob for clearance after long coding before opening your rear hatch with the remote.

[Audi5000tdi]

Few VAG-COM mods...

Just to be clear, the codes I post may be my discovery or may not. This is not about taking credit from someone elses work as like the Q5 thread where I collected VAG-COM codes and part numbers and DIY service info, this thread is going to follow same structure.


Bytes have 8 digit counting from RIGHT SIDE (00000000), counting starts from zero, not from one (e.g. 012345... not 12345...) and with alphabets I have marked the individual digit to be changed.



Zeros and A,B,C etc are just to pinpoint digit itself, zero does not mean you have zero or 1 (different country different settings)
If VAG-COM does not have explanations on specific bytes then you have to manually overwrite byte.


Transmission coding updated 25 Feb 2012

Gear display next to D or S

Change C,B and A to 1
02-Auto Trans -> Byte 1: 00010101







After the coding, reset the transmission with following procedure...

On P -->
turn power on (don't start) -->
press accelerator all way down (to kick down) and keep it floored 30 seconds -->
release the pedal -->
turn the power off -->
get out and lock the doors -->
unlock the car -->
start the car and drive off like you normally drive so the transmission learns the drivers driving pattern.

My 2012 touareg TDI sport on this had a 001368 code on it from the factory... after the change, it showed a 001568 value showing in VCDS.