Broken Injector Bolt - what to do now?

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Driving to Toronto, just before we reached the house, we heard a loud bang, and... the bolt to injector # 2 broke - almost flush with the cylinder head...


Now what to do? We can get into the garage on 3 cylinders, but... obviously can't drive much farther than that....


 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
I don't have the capability of doing any welding... I'll have to phone around tomorrow or the next day to see who can do this... then to worry about how to get the car to them... I went back out to the country (in a neighbor's car) to bring back some parts that could be needed - spare injector, holder, bolt, hard injector lines... I wonder if anyone's ever figured out a way to drive one of these ALHs with one injector disabled...


Y.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I would not attempt to run the engine at all, I would tow it. Worst case (very worst), the head will need to come off. But I would try a few things first (like welding something on as mentioned above). You hopefully have the means to tow the car to someone that can fix it. Uhaul rents a tow dolly, and they'll even rent you a pickup to pull it if need be.
 

imo000

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Location
Cambridge
TDI
2009 M-B ML320 Diesel & '05 Passat TDI Manual 5-Speed
If you don't have the means to weld a nut on it (borrow a cheap MIG welder and give it a try) then the worst case scenario is to drill out the bolt and try re tapping it or put in an threaded insert.
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
...and a big shoutout to Amin@Salim's Auto Repairs... took almost no time at all... (helped that I brought along a box of "spare" parts... they used the hard injection line, as the original one was bent...)


Y.
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
He didn't volunteer any info, and I didn't feel like interrogating him... for all I know, he could have just persuaded the 1/8 inch-or-so to turn with a long chisel... in any case, I got the feeling he's seen this sort of thing before - many times...
 

Wingnut

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Location
Toronto & Whitby
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta Wagon
Sorry I didn't see this sooner. It happened to me a couple times over the years. Both times I was able to simply use a dremel to grind a slot in the bolt and turn it out with a big flat head screwdriver. The tension is off the bolt with the clamp broken, so very little resistance to get it to spin out.

Having said that, each time it happened to me was shortly after an injector swap, so the bolt was not corroded into place. I know they can be hard to break loose and do so with a loud crack when they have been in there a while. But some good penetrating fluid overnight may have helped.
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
This was our "extra" TDI wagon that we have no idea what has been modified... We've had it for about 3 years...) I don't think the injectors have been replaced... but who knows... it just went... as we were about to get off the DVP... in any case, the local garage had it out in no time...
 
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