VW TDI question...

[Dottore]

I'm asking this question on behalf of a good friend of mine who lives in a fairly remote town and is not very computer literate. He rang me yesterday, because he thinks I'm a car guy and can help him.

He has a 2003 VW Jetta that he wants to sell. The car has 110,000 miles on it and runs perfectly.

For the past 50,000 miles the engine warning light has been on. My buddy is sure this is because of an electrical glitch rather than because of an engine problem—because the car runs flawlessly.

He took it to the nearest VW dealer (200 km away) and was told the car needs new a "injector pump" and that this would cost $3,000.- My buddy thinks this is BS. (I guess he thinks if the injector pumps were gone, the car wouldn't run as perfectly as it does and has for 50K miles.)

Any advice from the brain trust? Clearly the car will be hard to sell with the engine light on. And he doesn't want to disconnect the light for obvious reasons. Anyone run across something similar???

[Britwrench]

The TDI needs running on a VW tester and the report printed out.

If there are numbers out of the accepted range, further diagnosis is called for.

Have a Jetta TDI that the light comes on intermittently, it's from the glow-plug system.
There is a update kit to allegedly fix this problem.

These cars also suffer from build up in the intake manifold causing starting and idling issues.

Need way more information before any diagnosis can be made on what the next step would be.

Look at the TDI club website.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by Britwrench

Have a Jetta TDI that the light comes on intermittently, it's from the glow-plug system.
There is a update kit to allegedly fix this problem.

These cars also suffer from build up in the intake manifold causing starting and idling issues.

OK. But if the car is and has been running perfectly (with no start up or idling issues)?

[peppy]

Dottore, unless the VW is a PD diesel instead of a TDI it only has one injector pump. The glow plug system is a big gremlin on these cars.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by peppy

Dottore, unless the VW is a PD diesel instead of a TDI it only has one injector pump. The glow plug system is a big gremlin on these cars.

Yes. He said "injector pump". Singular. Thanks.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by Dottore

Yes. He said "injector pump". Singular. Thanks.

OK, I would still think it is the glow plug circuit. I agree the car would not run well if the pump was bad.

[kaisen]

Check out TDIClub.com

The '03 was the last of the sought-after ALH motor (not the problematic PD). As peppy mentioned, it has a single mechanical fuel injection pump. The pump is expensive (about $1800 from VW, at cost). Many people believe that they cannot be rebuilt, which is BS. Any Bosch injection specialist can rebuild it. A good rebuild runs well under $1000, exchange. A good used pump runs $500-600. The pump is on the passenger side of the motor in plain view (once you remove the cosmetic engine cover). It is run by the timing belt, so usually they will recommend doing the belt when they change out the injection pump (IP). To do it right you replace the belt, rollers, tensioner, and water pump which is about $350 in parts. It is about a 4 hour job for the timing belt 'kit' and another 1-2 hours to R&R and time the IP.

VAG COM can tell you exactly what's up with the pump and what's going on with timing. The pump has several complex moving parts that can wear out. The pump may hold perfect timing but still have hard-part failures.

Has he ever run bio-diesel? Does he run a lubricating additive with ULSD? These pumps have been failing left and right lately due to the lower lubricating properties of the new fuels.

Let your friend know I'd be interested in the car as-is.

I have one now with 281K miles

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by peppy

OK, I would still think it is the glow plug circuit. I agree the car would not run well if the pump was bad.

A car will run great with a broken head stud or bad bearing too. Until it doesn't.

[Mericet]

One more thing about the people I have met from TDIClub. They are very helpful. I am sure there would be someone on there that would be close to you that would be willing to have a look at the car as well. Doubtful you are in Ohio as we have a few very good TDI techs around Columbus.

BTW, almost 170K on mine.

[porsche4life]

My mom had two and both had glow plug gremlins. One was a bug and one was a Jetta. Both ran like champs.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by kaisen

I have one now with 281K miles

Post when you hit 300K. I read somewhere that the odometer goes back to zero.

Mine just tripped 200K, so I have a ways to go.

[David McLaughlin]

Mu CEL has been on for over a year now. At first the dealer said it was due to the intake carboned up at which point they told me they couldn't get it off so they "did some stuff to clean it out". I don't have the bogging down problem as much any more but still have the light on. Now they tell me the ECU needs to be replaced (~$1000). I don't have any starting or idle problems and the car is still running fine for the most part. If I go above 70mph, I'll lose about 1/2 the horse power until I turn off the car and let it cool down. Being that the car needs 4 shocks and associated misc parts, new steering rack, rust repair, etc I'm not putting in any more money. When it comes time to get the car inspected again at the end of October, the Passat will be replaced.

[osidak]

Most likely the glow plugs -

they do not reset at 300,000. I have worked on a lot of these cars and the highest mileage one I have seen has 375,000 on it and still going strong.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by osidak

Most likely the glow plugs -

they do not reset at 300,000. I have worked on a lot of these cars and the highest mileage one I have seen has 375,000 on it and still going strong.

Thanks Dr., I had suspicion that it was BS about the odo resetting.