VW tdi jetta high pressure fuel pump problem

Jetta TDI Guy

New member
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Location
Derry Nh
TDI
2010 Jetta
AND...Here was my response:

Thank you for your prompt reply. I appreciate it.

I always purchase fuel from "brand name" sources such as Mobil, Shell and Hess and try to fill up at stations that have high volume. I will continue to save every sales receipt for the diesel fuel I purchase for this car and hope that I never experience the catastrophic problems that some owners have and that have been attributed to the HPFP. This is my 2nd Jetta TDI (1st was a 2004). My wife's current car is an '09 Jetta SE. We've owned 1 other (2004) Jetta GLI, 2 Passats, a Touareg, a Dasher and a Beetle. You can see that we've been very loyal to the VW brand. However, I have to tell you with all due respect that if the HPFP fails on my 2010 Jetta TDI, and I'm without warranty coverage on it due to "contaminated fuel" it will be the last VW we will own.

Assuming there is actually no design flaw in the HPFP, I sincerely hope and urge VWOA to look closely at the experiences that some customers have had related to "contaminated fuel" and the impact thereof on the HPFP. I suspect that anyone like myself could regularly purchase fuel only from brand name suppliers and still have this problem occur. And then what? Then I'm in a "tug of war" between VW and "big oil" ! At that point, not even the extended service contract you speak about is going to help me.

Assuming there is no design flaw in the HPFP, knowing that the HPFP is - at best - vulnerable to contaminated fuel, it would seem to me that VWOA would think about some type of fuel system modification that could be applied to my 2010 Jetta TDI that is relatively inexpensive and that could prevent the kind of significant engine damage caused by contaminated fuel and / or HPFP failure. I drove my 2004 Jetta TDI for nearly 200K miles and never had to worry about contaminated fuel or HPFP failure. I never had a problem! I seriously do not want to be driving my 2010 Jetta TDI past 60K miles with a concern that my next tank of Mobil, Shell or Hess diesel fuel could very well be my last tank full. With all due respect, I honestly don't know how to respond to your suggestion that a remedy for my concerns might be to purchase another VW automobile or an expensive extended service contract.

I sincerely appreciate your feedback on my comments (above). I understand that I'm speaking speculatively. However, when I purchased my $25K 2010 Jetta TDI, I purchased it for the longevity the car has been noted for and not for a mere 60,000 miles. Nor did I expect to buy a bag full of worry and concern that at any time or number of times during or after the warranty period I could be looking at a $8,000 repair bill.

NO reply from VW CS as yet !!
 

Harvieux

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Aug 15, 1998
Location
Whittier,CA-USA
TDI
06 A5 Pkg.2 w/navi & ASEP
I remember there was a very interesting post here awhile back which seemed to be credible and claimed Bosch recommended VW use a specific pump which was supposed to handle lesser lubricity fuels. This post also specified that the bean counters at VWAG elected to go with the inferior, less expensive unit we are all enjoying today. If this is truly the case, it would be an extremely powerful disclosure. Does anyone remember this post? Hopefully, it wasn't one of those many threads that were locked and/or removed by the admin. Later!
 

ZiggyTheHamster

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Location
Richmond, CA
TDI
2009 VW Jetta TDI
The Bosch executives won't ever see the letters you send. All their mail is screened, like other execs. It's a matter of policy and keeps them focused on the big picture.
I know - that's what I was saying in my previous messages :) Their secretary will write you back and tell you that they put lots of engineering in and there couldn't possibly be a problem besides the allowable failure rate they document somewhere.

Jetta TDI Guy said:
high performance fuel pump (HPFP)
I love when customer service has to modify their script to suit the concern and the customer service rep has no idea what you're talking about. It's a high pressure fuel pump. If it were high performance we wouldn't be having this conversation because nobody would be worried about it being broken :).

Also, I'm not sure that fuel receipts are going to help you. Perhaps it's because I have access to a receipt printer that I think this, but anyone can print a receipt. You need actual proof you purchased fuel from the retailer you have the receipt for. So always be sure that you use something traceable, like a credit card or debit card. My method is that when I log my mileage in Fuelly, I put which station I bought it at, and I pay with my card. If I have to ever prove that I bought from reputable retailers, I have that list and can get my bank to confirm it.
 

dzcad90

Rolex & gin
Joined
Mar 15, 1999
Location
Joliet, IL USA
TDI
Jetta - 97 (RIP), '03 (Sold), '09
Also, I'm not sure that fuel receipts are going to help you. Perhaps it's because I have access to a receipt printer that I think this, but anyone can print a receipt. You need actual proof you purchased fuel from the retailer you have the receipt for. So always be sure that you use something traceable, like a credit card or debit card. My method is that when I log my mileage in Fuelly, I put which station I bought it at, and I pay with my card. If I have to ever prove that I bought from reputable retailers, I have that list and can get my bank to confirm it.
:rolleyes:

I do believe a printed receipt from a retailer would be an acceptible form of proof that you purchased fuel from them - that's exactly what a receipt is. It contains a transaction number, etc.. Any court of law would deem a receipt as an acceptible form of proof that you made a purchase.. (That's what it's for..)

Sure, I guess you could print a fake receipt, however you can't input a fake transaction number into a fuel retailers systems. If you want to go this far, you might just as well take a full on HD video of you driving into the fuel station, getting out of the car, grabbing the pump handle, and fueling the car. Why stop there? Put a serialized tamper seal over the filler neck / fuel cap so that one can compare the number on the seal from the previous fill to the number on the video. That way you can be sure that nobody put anything foreign in your tank, unless of course they break into the car, remove the back seat, remove the lift pump, and pour some straight RUG into the tank...... :rolleyes:

Is there a real point to this thread, or at least the direction it's taken?
 

ZiggyTheHamster

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Location
Richmond, CA
TDI
2009 VW Jetta TDI
:rolleyes:

I do believe a printed receipt from a retailer would be an acceptible form of proof that you purchased fuel from them - that's exactly what a receipt is. It contains a transaction number, etc.. Any court of law would deem a receipt as an acceptible form of proof that you made a purchase.. (That's what it's for..)

Sure, I guess you could print a fake receipt, however you can't input a fake transaction number into a fuel retailers systems.
Good point, but your bank would have that transaction number to match it to the fuel retailer system, since it's the credit card terminal that assigns the transaction number. (Which is why I stopped caring about keeping receipts.)

Is there a real point to this thread, or at least the direction it's taken?
Not really. :)
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
May I mention that the paper receipts printed out by the gas pumps fade very rapidly and may become unreadable. If you are going to keep those for a permanent record, I suggest scanning them into .pdf files.
 

Zlartibartfast

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Location
Deep in the Heart of Texas
TDI
SOLD 2009 Jetta Sportwagen
I'd like to address the posts in this thread re: lubricity -

I just had my '09 TDI sportwagen die on the road yesterday. It was taken to the dealer on a flatbed just close to closing time, and I haven't had an official diagnosis from he service dept yet, but I've been reading on this topic all morning and I really suspect I have blown my HPFP based on the symptoms documented in this forum.

I was one of the early purchasers of the CR TDI in my region, and I was very keen on the BD issue. I bought BD from DieselGReenFuels to blend with the petro fuel I consistently buy from either Shell, Chevron, or Exxon (Shell is my first choice). I estimate my ratio of BD was about 7% average, where I might be as high as 10% for a few miles and as low as 4%. It ran super smooth and quiet, targeting the 5% that VW "allows" for.

The supply of good Bio in my region has been seriously restricted (see Jason's blog http://dieselgreenfuels.com/blog/) and I haven't splashed in any Bio for at least 6 months, so by now I'm certain it's 100% petro diesel in the system.

The car got it's 10K and 20K service right on time and checked out 100% on each visit.

Now it's 25.8K and whamo - "engine failure - time for service" apears on the display, along with the glow-plug icon, and as soon as I disengage the clutch to downshift for the turn-off, it's dead.

The hypothesis that ULSD doesn't have enough lubricity to keep the high pressure pump working properly sure makes a lot of sense to me, and when I get my car back I'm going to find a source of good BD and make certain I never have less than 4% blended in my tank!

Once I get the complete diagnosis, I'll post in the HPFP thread.
 

nhdoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Location
Nashua, NH
TDI
'01 GLS NB TDI 5 Speed
I'd like to address the posts in this thread re: lubricity -

I just had my '09 TDI sportwagen die on the road yesterday. It was taken to the dealer on a flatbed just close to closing time, and I haven't had an official diagnosis from he service dept yet, but I've been reading on this topic all morning and I really suspect I have blown my HPFP based on the symptoms documented in this forum.

I was one of the early purchasers of the CR TDI in my region, and I was very keen on the BD issue. I bought BD from DieselGReenFuels to blend with the petro fuel I consistently buy from either Shell, Chevron, or Exxon (Shell is my first choice). I estimate my ratio of BD was about 7% average, where I might be as high as 10% for a few miles and as low as 4%. It ran super smooth and quiet, targeting the 5% that VW "allows" for.

The supply of good Bio in my region has been seriously restricted (see Jason's blog http://dieselgreenfuels.com/blog/) and I haven't splashed in any Bio for at least 6 months, so by now I'm certain it's 100% petro diesel in the system.

The car got it's 10K and 20K service right on time and checked out 100% on each visit.

Now it's 25.8K and whamo - "engine failure - time for service" apears on the display, along with the glow-plug icon, and as soon as I disengage the clutch to downshift for the turn-off, it's dead.

The hypothesis that ULSD doesn't have enough lubricity to keep the high pressure pump working properly sure makes a lot of sense to me, and when I get my car back I'm going to find a source of good BD and make certain I never have less than 4% blended in my tank!

Once I get the complete diagnosis, I'll post in the HPFP thread.
I really wish people wouldn't post these "my car died and I think it is a HPFP failure" posts, they are totally useless. Nothing personal, it is just that more often than not it is NOT an HPFP issue and all it does is take up bandwidth with nothing of use to anyone and makes it look like there are more failures than there actually are. Wait until the dealer actually diagnose the problem and then you will know for sure.
 

ZiggyTheHamster

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Location
Richmond, CA
TDI
2009 VW Jetta TDI
I doubt switching to B0 from ~B10 is going to cause a pump to explode. Plenty of us run B0 year-round (with or without additives).

It has been known for other parts of the fuel system (lift pump) to fail in 09s. It might not be the HPFP.

Your Sportwagen died on the road. Report this to the NHTSA. You don't know why it died on the road yet, but I'd at least give them a call to see what they want you to do. They can't force VW to do anything until they have sufficient data.
 

2X TDI

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Location
PA
TDI
09 JSW; 11 Golf
There is so much chatter about this issue here and on the MkVI site it is hard to keep track of everything! In the end, I see it like this:

I am the buyer of a vehicle. As such, I am responsible for the proper care and maintenance of said vehicle. I am not required, as part of this role, to add ANYTHING to the fuel tank other than approved ULSD to fulfill my obligation.

VW is the manufacturer of a vehicle. As such, they are responsible to produce a vehicle that is capable of operating as expected if the owner fulfills his/her obligations as stated above. If they introduce a car to a market that requires a fuel that is beyond what is the regulatory compliance minimum, then they should re-engineer the vehicle to have a great tolerance level. Introducing a vehicle that has a critical component on the edge of operating tolerance is a recipe for disaster.

I will continue to fulfill my obligation as an owner, and as such, will continue to add nothing but ULSD to my car.
 

I love my Jetta

New member
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Location
Green Bay Wi
TDI
2010 Jetta sedan 2.0
Brad

After reading this thread I put in a call to Chris at ABC news. Waiting now for his reply. I recently bought a used 2010 Jetta TDI with 33K on it. After driving it for about 1 day my MIL light came on showing an error code for the fuel pump and took it to my dealer and they replaced it with a new HPFP about 2 days later after the dealer checked it over for 2 days with the new HPFP installed the MIL light came on again and now it is in the dealership again this time for about a week to see what the problem is. The initial call from the current visit was that a secondary pump failure was picked up and now they have ordered another part and will have to keep it for about a week and drive it to see if the MIL comes back on. The dealership stated that the additional miles will be added back to my warrenty so I will still maintain my mileage. But what I wanted to know since my problem was picked up only by the MIL light without any mechanical symptoms does this mean that my car is not as badly affected as those listed in the previous threads?

Thanks
 

TDIbythesea

New member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Location
Bandon by the Sea
TDI
2010 Jetta Sedan Blue Graphite Metallic
Hpfp

I'm currently having my HPFP and whole fuel system replaced @ the dealership under warranty and I was told it was due to contaiminated fuel. Two days before that the Glow plug light was flashing and my vehicle went into a limp mode the warning message came on to service now and and I had it towed to the dealer. Service told me that the problem was a sensor (fuel pressure sensor) and that they would have the part overnight which was replaced the next day. After picking up my vehicle and driving it, just about 5 miles from home the MIL came on, I called the dealership the next morning and service told me to have it towed back it in and not to drive it. I asked if my engine had been damaged and I was told no and that they had caught the problem in time .. Warranty work to start this week - at this point I have no idea what to expect and what's really going on after reading all these posts about HPFP! Certainly not contaiminated fuel -

Can someone tell me how I would know if the engine was damaged and is it necessary to replace the entire fuel system when replacing the HPFP?

Concerned Newbie - 2010 Jetta TDi 34,800 miles
 
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waltzconmigo

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
chicagoland
TDI
none
bythesea---
since no one else has chimed in yet, i am sure someone more knowledgeable than i will be by shortly. your engine should be fine, i have never heard of anyone having their engine replaced because of a hpfp failure. you should be getting the 4th gen. pump. i do not know if any of these have failed or not. i believe some have e-mailed voa cc and that the hpfp is covered under the 5/60 warranty, i would do this and save the correspondence. there have been some with a second failure but this is even more rare than a first time failure. back to your questions, yes the whole fuel system needs to be replaced because small metal flakes make their way through out the whole system. it is good to see that you are reading about this issue, in the tdi news section above the 101 section there is a thread regarding the investigation into this failure. volkswagen was required to give information and some news should be coming in the next month or so(my guess).

good luck, keep reading and keep us informed. also, at the top of this section there is a thread going where tdi club members are tracking known failure here, please post there. one last thing, have you reported your failure to the nhtsa, this needs to be done.

ciao,
waltz
 

Kirk

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2000
Location
Redmond, Oregon
TDI
Y2K Jetta and 2013 Passat SE TDI manual
Doesn't Oregon mandate 5% biodiesel for road diesel? I had thought it would help lubricate the pump, but you still seem to have the problem. Is it possible that the "contaminated fuel" was a result of a bad batch of bio being added by the distributor? That would open up a whole can of worms...
 

TDIbythesea

New member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Location
Bandon by the Sea
TDI
2010 Jetta Sedan Blue Graphite Metallic
Waltz,

Thanks for responding to my questions and for the helpful info. Lots of reading on this site and helpful for sure! I have my car back and all seems to be running good. The entire fuel system was replaced except for the fuel tank.
 

giavid

New member
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Location
Fort Worth, TX
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI
Wow!!!!

I could have written some of these past posts. My 2010 Jetta TDI died on me while I was three hours away from my home. I was told it was due to bad fuel as well. We were on a road trip (8hrs one way) and had filled up that morning. I had driven about 5 hours before it died!!!They are replacing the entire fuel system too. How am I supposed to know what fuel station has good diesel? I know the fault was not mine. I can't afford to be without my car again for 2 to 3 weeks. As soon as I get my car back I will be trading it in even though I am upside down on my loan.
I loved my TDI but with this issue always being a threat I will not be able to recomend this car to anyone. VW needs to fix this issue.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
File a report with NHTSA.

Please post your details on the HPFP failure "sticky".

Sorry for your troubles!
 

megadraulico

New member
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Location
El Paso
TDI
2001, 2010 Jettas
I could have written some of these past posts

If you purchased your last tankful of diesel at a diesel truck stop (recommended), it is unlikely that the fuel was contaminated. Most of the late model big trucks on the highway have common rail fuel systems with similar high pressure gear type fuel pumps, so all the big truck stops filter the diesel before it gets to the pump. The car is equipped with a filter that traps most contaminants down to 10 microns, and separates and coalesces water. If the contaminants that screw up the pump are smaller, or If the problem is a lack of lubricity in the fuel, either way, this is VW’s problem to resolve if they want to sell these cars in the US. It is not clear if the dealer will fix your car under warranty, I hope they will, although they usually try to dump the blame on the owner.
Please post your woes, report the problem to NHTSA and write Vokswagen of America also, they should recall these vehicles.
 

amy1000

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Location
Doylestown PA
TDI
2010 jetta
High Pressure Fuel Pump

My 2010 TDI's glow plug started flashing two weeks ago and went into limp mode. Called dealer, they said to recycle (turn off and on) and it should be fine but bring in to check it out. Diagnostics didn't show any problem. Could be the fuel rail they said, no mention of HPFP problem. Then driving a week later after a quick acceleration to get on the highway, flashing light and limp mode. Pulled over, restarted and seemed fine. But sluggish. I took it back to the dealer. Yesterday they said they are trying to get VW to approve replacing the fuel pump ($1700) at no charge. Last nite read all the posts (horror stories), while my car never died, I am concerned about the same thing happening to me. I called dealer this morning and asked if they read the posts about HPFP and he said he didn't listen to hearsay. I asked if he was aware of the problem and he said yes. I asked if I had any metal shards in my fuel filter and he said no. I hope this new HPFP fixes the problem.


I have 54,000 miles on my not yet 2 year old Jetta...warranty up, but is it?
 

gerry100

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Location
NY Capital Region
TDI
2011 Jetta sedan MT
When we bought our '11 jetta tdi, I inquired and was told that the HPFP was covered under the 5yr/60k warranty
Reports of people w failures have supported this
I would think you'd be OK
 

Niner

duplicate account, banned
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
My 2010 TDI's glow plug started flashing two weeks ago and went into limp mode. Called dealer, they said to recycle (turn off and on) and it should be fine but bring in to check it out. Diagnostics didn't show any problem. Could be the fuel rail they said, no mention of HPFP problem. Then driving a week later after a quick acceleration to get on the highway, flashing light and limp mode. Pulled over, restarted and seemed fine. But sluggish. I took it back to the dealer. Yesterday they said they are trying to get VW to approve replacing the fuel pump ($1700) at no charge. Last nite read all the posts (horror stories), while my car never died, I am concerned about the same thing happening to me. I called dealer this morning and asked if they read the posts about HPFP and he said he didn't listen to hearsay. I asked if he was aware of the problem and he said yes. I asked if I had any metal shards in my fuel filter and he said no. I hope this new HPFP fixes the problem.


I have 54,000 miles on my not yet 2 year old Jetta...warranty up, but is it?
You have a 5 year /60,000 mile power train warranty, you are covered. See my other post on how to get this resolved.. You must file a NHTSA report online, as I specified in my other post.

That will get the ball rolling with VW that they can't play these types of games screwing unsuspecting customers on their faulty designed HPFP's by Bosch, and that they have to make it right.

Do you almost always fill up with diesel in PA? or where do you usually fill up, in what state?
 

MPGHog

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Location
Arlington, VA
TDI
2000 Jetta, 2010 Jetta
Hello All, I hope this is the right place to post.. I just bought a 2010 Jetta 6 spd TDI with 115,000 miles on it, great condition and all hwy miles, with all the service receipts from VW dealers. I didn't know about the HPFP problem till after I bought it, but love the car.

The car was one of the first made the owner said, produced in 7/09 in Mexico... which leads me to believe it could be an earlier model pumps, hence my worry that I bought a nightmare in the making. Now I wish I bought an 03-08 model...

Knowing that VWOA covers cars over the 60k hpfp warranty mark randomly... one here straightliner with 142,000 miles on his 09 and another user on tdiclub or somewhere else with 105,000 miles... My question is, now that I have it, should I sell it or wait till the 120k mark when I replace the timing belt and do a preventative hpfp replace with a newer "redesign" hpfp? Also is there a way to find out if my car has gone through a hpfp replacement already? I'd appreciate some opinions..

Now I'm afraid to drive it, and thinking about using my 2000 TDI only instead until I come up with a solution.
 

Plus 3 Golfer

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Location
ARIZONA
TDI
Und tschüss! 2009 Jetta 12/23/2012
....The car was one of the first made the owner said, produced in 7/09 in Mexico... which leads me to believe it could be an earlier model pumps, hence my worry that I bought a nightmare in the making. Now I wish I bought an 03-08 model...

Knowing that VWOA covers cars over the 60k hpfp warranty mark randomly... one here straightliner with 142,000 miles on his 09 and another user on tdiclub or somewhere else with 105,000 miles... My question is, now that I have it, should I sell it or wait till the 120k mark when I replace the timing belt and do a preventative hpfp replace with a newer "redesign" hpfp? Also is there a way to find out if my car has gone through a hpfp replacement already? I'd appreciate some opinions..

Now I'm afraid to drive it, and thinking about using my 2000 TDI only instead until I come up with a solution.
"Volkswagen implemented design changes for the HPFP in May 2008, September 2009 and November 2010 to improve the robustness of the pump when used with poor quality fuel." So, you do have one of the early pumps in your TDI if it hasn't been replaced.


Also, I'm not aware of VW honoring a HPFP claim out of warranty for the second owner. IIRC, they have denied several.


Take a picture of your HPFP tag and post the pic. It will show the date of manufacture.


IIRC, someone was able to get the latest rev. pump for around $760. The problem is that no one knows how well the latest rev. pump will hold up. Hopefully, better than the earlier versions. You'll have to decide what to do. Spending $760 isn't a lot if you know you'd be good for a long time.
 
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tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
Plus 3: $760? Do you recall where you heard/read that? The best price I've been quoted is $1100+, new, Czech Republice, from the dealer.

I'm thinking of proactively replacing my early production HPFP, but not at $1100!
 

Plus 3 Golfer

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Location
ARIZONA
TDI
Und tschüss! 2009 Jetta 12/23/2012
Plus 3: $760? Do you recall where you heard/read that? The best price I've been quoted is $1100+, new, Czech Republice, from the dealer.

I'm thinking of proactively replacing my early production HPFP, but not at $1100!
Here's the post. I did google Diesel Equipment Co. in NC and it it looks a distributor. So that may be a wholesale price. It wouldn't hurt to call.
 

TDIMeister

Phd of TDIClub Enthusiast, Moderator at Large
Joined
May 1, 1999
Location
Canada
TDI
TDI
Parts for cheap from North Carolina? I shudder at the thought............
 
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