VW TDI Jetta Sport Wagon fuel pump kabloooie

[otto_kretschmer]

So my 2011 jetta tdi fuel pump shredded itself on my way home from work last Friday. I was almost home, at my mailbox to be exact. I got out to get the mail and I heard this intermittent buzzing from the engine. Its one of those noises that gives you that "uh oh" feeling.

I open the hood and watch the engine shake and then die. The noise was coming from the area where the fuel pump is so I'm thinking this doesn't look good.

Saturday morning I call AAA and have the car taken to the dealer. They can't look at it that day so I call this morning. The problem was the high pressure fuel pump and I start looking at the TDI forums and finding a lot of very expensive failures

like $8000 repair bills

I was thinking why did I get rid of my 86 944. It was running fine and I could have put that Jetta money somewhere else.

I'm driving my Suburban to work ($50/day) and I stop by the dealer to chat with the service guy.

Good news is VW is picking up the tab for this problem. I got visions of 996 IMS demons dancing around my head but VW is owning up to their problem.

It looks like the entire fuel system has to be replaced. New pumps, injectors, fuel tank, and fuel lines.

that explains the high repair bills

should get the car back Friday or Saturday

[onewhippedpuppy]

Entirely too common with the TDi, I think someone else posted the same issue recently. Pretty incredibly big design flaw.

[aigel]

Uh-oh!

How many miles do you have on it? I hear on the boards that VW will pick up the tab even past the warranty periods.

Mine has around 65k. I do all my own work but do not touch the fuel system. Fuel filter is done by VW. That way if it blows, they can't blame me ...

G

[aigel]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Entirely too common with the TDi, I think someone else posted the same issue recently. Pretty incredibly big design flaw.

You are the one happily driving IMS cars. Failure rate of this pump is less than the prime years of those.

I think the US diesel kills them along with fueling mistakes. They updated all the filler necks which should help.

My math had me at 10k fillups per failure. At least some of those must be a user error ...

G

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by aigel

You are the one happily driving IMS cars. Failure rate of this pump is less than the prime years of those.

I think the US diesel kills them along with fueling mistakes. They updated all the filler necks which should help.

My math had me at 10k fillups per failure. At least some of those must be a user error ...

G

Less than 7%? The BMW N54 HPFP failures seem to be a much higher rate than that, I haven't done much research into the VW TDi failures. I know a guy locally that was stranded three times in 20k by his brand new 335i, eventually he traded it in on an NA X3.

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by aigel

Uh-oh!

How many miles do you have on it? I hear on the boards that VW will pick up the tab even past the warranty periods.

Mine has around 65k. I do all my own work but do not touch the fuel system. Fuel filter is done by VW. That way if it blows, they can't blame me ...

G

96k

I sometimes do the oil and filter changes and sometimes I have the dealer do it.

I brought the car in at 80k for the scheduled service and at 90k my AC evaporator took a rock and I had it in for that repair. I had them put a new fuel filter in at that time. That was about a month ago, so the dealer had the filter open and hopefully inspected.

the car is out of warranty but VW is covering it. I think they want to avoid a recall and the would require them to replace every HPFP and that's probably a lot more than fixing the once in a while entire fuel system.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Less than 7%? The BMW N54 HPFP failures seem to be a much higher rate than that, I haven't done much research into the VW TDi failures. I know a guy locally that was stranded three times in 20k by his brand new 335i, eventually he traded it in on an NA X3.

Last I checked it looked to be in the 3-4% range and that was before the did the filler neck recall. Now it is impossible to fit a gas nozzle.

I love my TDI but I have to admit, this makes me a bit uneasy.

G

[aigel]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

96k

I sometimes do the oil and filter changes and sometimes I have the dealer do it.

I brought the car in at 80k for the scheduled service and at 90k my AC evaporator took a rock and I had it in for that repair. I had them put a new fuel filter in at that time. That was about a month ago, so the dealer had the filter open and hopefully inspected.

the car is out of warranty but VW is covering it. I think they want to avoid a recall and the would require them to replace every HPFP and that's probably a lot more than fixing the once in a while entire fuel system.

Not cool on the a/c - pun intended. A modern A/C system should not go out in a quarter million miles. Sigh ...

Thanks for the additional background.

I keep all my fuel receipts. I read that VW does sample the fuel and if you got gas in it, may not cover. Of course your station may have contamination, so folks can get that sampled and the station insurance to cough up.

I just hope I won't have to deal with it. What am I going to do? Buy a Prius?

G

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by aigel

I just hope I won't have to deal with it. What am I going to do? Buy a Prius?

G

I was thinking of just buying a used Civic, which is still a lot better than a Prius

but if VW covers this I'll keep the jetta

I don't think there is anything you can do to prevent a failure

some people used diesel additives and they still got bit

you COULD replace the pump right now with the new updated pump and that will cost you a grand plus the labor

and someone sells some kind of micron filter to prevent all the shredded metal particulates from screwing anything else up

if you just put the filter in, if the pump went south all you would have to replace was the pump and some fuel line

food for though...

[aigel]

I did research it a few months back and could not find evidence of anyone who got stiffed by VW not picking up the tab. I am sure this is the marching order, even though they sure aren't publishing it.

G

[beepbeep]

Weird with all US VW TDI pumps grenading....I never heard of one failing here in EU. And streets are literally full of those cars. Bad fuel? People trying to fill them with petrol?

[sc_rufctr]

It's great that VW is covering this.

A friend owned a diesel Jag... Failed fuel pump and it cost him about 12k to get it fixed. It was just out of warranty and Jaguar didn't want to know.
It was never the same after being fixed so he sold it.

Also, a lady I know has had issue with her Hyundai "i something", diesel (the small one).
It's supposed to get under 6 litres per 100km but she'd be lucky to get 9 litres per 100km. Also has cold start issues.
That cars been back multiple times with lots of different components replaced and they just can't fix it.

[1990C4S]

Google the new TDi Passat turbo issue. They are failing at an unbelievable rate, fixing them, and then doubling the warranty.

VW's best diesel was the A4 engine. It is all downhill since then IMO.

The reality is, that given the current ratio of gas to diesel pricing, and the long life of decent gas engines, a four cylinder car is often the lowest cost commuting solution.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Google the new TDi Passat turbo issue. They are failing at an unbelievable rate, fixing them, and then doubling the warranty.

Is there a reason that the turbo in a Passat would fail more frequently than the same turbo in other VW's?

[beepbeep]

Originally Posted by pavulon

Is there a reason that the turbo in a Passat would fail more frequently than the same turbo in other VW's?

"" This "warm-up routine" blasts the turbocharger with high boost and extreme exhaust temperatures in 3rd gear and higher during the first minute or two. ""

TURBO: 2012+ Passat turbo failures [discussion thread] - TDIClub Forums

[1990C4S]

There's software update being rolled out. It is very odd, the same engine in the Jetta is (supposedly) fine. The Passat's are grenading all over. The intercooler (at a minimum) is full of turbo bits after a failure. It does appear that the further north you are the more likely your car is to fail. (i.e. more cold weather starts).

Two co-workers just went through this. The third complained (without a failure) and VW agreed to double his drive-train warranty. Then he sold the car.

[ckelly78z]

It sounds like you should keep the VW for awhile now because it has a new complete fuel system on it.