Forum rules, faux pas, and tips

Dear Reader, welcome to the diesel mechanic community! If you have registered here, it is probably because of the technical level of this website. This level is a result of the contributions of all members and is not something that simply fell into our laps. To maintain it, you should also adhere to some rules, in addition to the usual politeness, which have proven to be beneficial for this community. VCDS or OBD support is only available for customers who have purchased items from the On-Board Diagnostics shop and used it when asking questions, or with a support key. Please note that this forum is funded by the Dieselschrauber shop. Using pirated copies of established products for diagnosis is not permitted and will result in the topic being deleted. It is important to ensure that the same email address is entered for both the shop account and the forum account, so that the corresponding extended user permissions are automatically activated. Every user can obtain extended rights by participating in the Blaumann test. Furthermore, when asking questions relevant to diagnosis, it is necessary to include a Autoscan or a KOBD2Check Scan or a similar diagnostic scan, as this contains all the necessary information about the installed control units and their coding. Please provide all necessary information about the exact problem that needs to be fixed, what has been done so far to solve the problem, and what work or modifications were performed on the vehicle before the error occurred. Please use the Upload Area to upload log files, images, videos, or audio files that are very large or that are used from multiple locations. Please upload regular files to the corresponding topic ("Select file / Upload selected file"). Please ensure that you own the copyrights to any uploaded files, meaning that, as a general rule, the images were created by you. Only externally linked files can lead to the situation where a particular topic becomes useless after some time, without the associated file attachments or information. Externally linked files are therefore ignored by the support team, as are the corresponding posts! Please note, you should: -> not expect any tutoring on the operating principles of a diesel engine, a turbocharger, or similar fundamentals, as this page is not intended for that, -> only write something if you can contribute something meaningful to the topic currently being discussed, -> only ask questions that have not already been addressed many times: see technical articles and search function. Meaningful search terms include, for example, Engine identification codes, error codes, etc.

Many questions from beginners are likely to be answered, especially with these technical articles and links:
The TDI principle
Common TDI Problems
Starting problems
Troubleshooting performance issues
VTG Turbocharger
Air mass sensor
No performance gain from increased boost pressure or a larger intercooler.
Chip tuning or power box?
Other issues with VAG vehicles (please check all pages!)
Recording and analyzing VCDS log files effectively
VCDS Vehicle Diagnostics - Instructions for working with VCDS

It is helpful for anyone who wants to assist you if you provide information about your vehicle, including at least the model and engine code (MKB, which can be found on the engine block or the production data label, e.g., in the trunk). You can enter this information (from the service booklet or other vehicle documents) in your signature (-> User profile).

If you want to quickly become unpopular and ensure the prompt termination of your membership, then step into the following pitfalls.
The more you do this and the more often you do it, the faster you will only be found as a "guest" (with your name written in black) in the forum.

1. Fill out the registration questions with the help of others, and then demonstrate through contributions lacking basic knowledge that you would actually be better off in other forums without access restrictions.

2. Ignore the specialized articles and the search function, and ask questions about topics that have already been extensively discussed here.

3. Write vague and meaningless titles such as "I urgently need help!" and get as upset as possible when the moderators give your topic a more descriptive title.

4. Describe your problem as imprecisely as possible, without providing vehicle- or engine-specific details. Ignore any suggestions for further tests or questions about the engine or vehicle type, but expect a psychic remote diagnosis. Instead of properly describing your problem, you're just linking directly to external pages.

5. Omit as much information as possible, things that we would eventually find out anyway. Because you're the ultimate expert with your secret car, secret tuning, and secret DPF removal, and we have nothing better to do than act important and painstakingly try to figure out the condition and modifications of your vehicle.

6. Insist especially as a newcomer on what you have "heard" before, and portray other members as "ignorant," even if they have been working with the subject matter for years or have been trained in it.

7. Write your posts in barely understandable, convoluted endless sentences, without punctuation, entirely in uppercase (THIS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING ON THE INTERNET), or exclusively in lowercase, or create many and as long !!!!! or ?????- chains as possible.

8. Please preferably address your problems to individual forum members (via private message or email), although the questions would perfectly fit within the forum.

9. Bring typical topics from spoiler, wide tire, and sports exhaust forums into this community.

10. Start discussions at a proletarian level without technical arguments or with the purpose of advertising. Normally, one greets the readers and introduces oneself by stating one's name, rather than simply vomiting out a question that requires a lot of effort to answer.

11. If you have been pointed out for errors or a major blunder, or if others have different opinions, defend your position stubbornly and become aggressive and offensive, preferably against the regular team here (these are the ones with one or more stars under their name).

The moderators, the forum administrator.