[T3] Defeat Device? (Jim Adney)

[Phil Hof]

Good sleuthing, Jim.  You got my interest, so I googled it and these articles came up quickly:

https://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/VW%20Defeat%20Device%20EPA%20Prosecution%207-23-73%20Pr.pdf <https://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/VW%20Defeat%20Device%20EPA%20Prosecution%207-23-73%20Pr.pdf>

https://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/VW%20Defeat%20Device%20$120,00%20fine%203-12-74%20Pr.pdf <https://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/VW%20Defeat%20Device%20$120,00%20fine%203-12-74%20Pr.pdf>

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Fkg0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=nmYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7202%2C25644 <https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Fkg0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=nmYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7202,25644>

Interesting that it was not just VW who had essentially identical issues of cold-temperature EGR and spark advance.  The third article makes this clear.  It also makes clear it was not an excess pollution violation, but a reporting violation.

With all seven of the major automakers having the same issue, it sounds more like a lack of clarity in the EPA requirements than cheating automakers.

Unless you think this was part of a massive collusion involving VW, GM, Ford, Chrysler, AMC, Nissan, and Toyota!

A side note… this kind of problem came at the end of the line for the Type 3, perhaps the final blow that soon afterwords ended sales in the USA, and elsewhere.

-Phil

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2017 08:23:13 -0500
> From: "Jim Adney" <jadney at vwtype3.org>
> To: Type3 at vwtype3.org
> Subject: [T3] Defeat Device?
> Message-ID: <59C7B1C1.3936.3B3A3E7C at jadney.vwtype3.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
> 
> Many of you are probably aware that I also own a late Jetta Sportwagon 
> (modern Squareback, as Dave Hall refers to it) which has one of those 
> offending Diesel engines. It's a great car, and I'm very happy with it, but now 
> VW has offered to either fix or buy back the car.
> 
> While watching all the news accounts of this unfortunate action on VW's 
> part, I cut out an article that talked about how this TDi (VW Diesel) problem 
> was not the first time VW had tried to get away with a "Defeat Device" on 
> one of their models.
> 
> Apparently, one of the very first Defeat Devices caught by the EPA was on 
> the '73 FI Squarebacks and Fastbacks. After some Googling this week, I 
> found that those came with a temperature switch that disabled the EGR 
> (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) below a certain temperature. The EPA required 
> VW to remove this switch on future cars sold, but did not require VW to 
> remove it on the cars already out there.  
> 
> This may explain the extra temp switch that's mounted right on the brain of 
> my daily driver '73. I'm always surprised to see it there, and I've never known 
> what it was for. Until this past week, I didn't have a clue what it was for, 
> because I'd never seen anything that mentioned it. I still need to look thru my 
> literature to see if I can find it in the EGR circuit somewhere, but I'm 
> confident that this explains that switch.
> 
> Anyone else out there got one of these? Does your car still have that switch 
> mounted there?
> 
> -- 
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************

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