Blown out fuel injectors

ThunderstundAnchor

New member
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
Location
Europe
TDI
Golf 6 1.6
I thought I’d post here and ask for advice. Earlier tonight I got stranded on the highway with two fuel injectors blown out of their holes.

I’ll try and tell the full story.

I bought a Golf 6, 1.6l 2011 model 3 months ago. Drove it and saw that the fuel economy was quite poor, and it would make a ticking noise at low rpm. Living in Kosovo we are used to having poor diesel quality and I left it at that. However it became a concern why my Particle Filter started getting clogged up and the warning light coming on at least once a week. In addition to that occasionally white smoke would come out of the tail pipe (unburned diesel).

I sent the car for a check up when the range displayed for full tank was just 520km. I had a Golf 5, 1.9 and I’d get easily 900km in a full tank. The mechanic diagnosed the problem as being a faulty injector. I sent the injector for a checkup/cleanup and it came back fine. Later on the mechanic advised me to put a type of oil to clean the injectors into the tank. I did that drove for 20km the engine starter ticking hard and then a bang sound came and I stopped the car seeing that I had blown an injector.

I did some research and the oil he put is a type of engine oil for chainsaws. I have used the same oil in all my previous cars with no fault, I had Golf 2, 1.6, Golf 4 - 1.9 and Golf 5 - 1.9.

Now the car is at the shop with a full tank of fuel mixed with 2L of that oil in it and the mechanic insisting that it wasn’t the oils fault!

Should I just go to another one and have the tank drained or should I trust him in fixing the car.

Links:
Oil: https://imgur.com/gallery/SnKVxBm
Blown fuel injectors: https://imgur.com/gallery/do4uSwH
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
I doubt the oil caused an injector to blow out of the head.

Who reinstalled it after the testing? I suspect he caused it to blow out. Either overtorqued the clamp and broke the bolt or left it loose.

Is the bolt broken or did it back out of the hole?
 

iluvmydiesels

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Location
phila area
TDI
AHU
idk, just a possible opinion, as an 'oil' in a newer model like this, along with seemingly faulty injector service, the oil can increase combustion pressures, helping to blow out an already mis-seated injector. i didnt think you could even still think of using an oil like that in newer diesels, thats an old IDI trick, usually for pump lube, even inj lube. thought that oil fouls mk3 systems and newer. im not 100% sure, for the new and newer diesels if you still use purge. i know we do. (a3).
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
If you put the 2 L of 2 cycle oil right in the tank, not empty, it's possible it did something odd running straight. I just don't know, lots of folks have used that oil as a fuel additive with no bad results.
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
The two stroke oil had nothing to do with the injectors blowing out. It could contribute to your clogged DPF though if you were using it for a long time.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
The two stroke oil had nothing to do with the injectors blowing out. It could contribute to your clogged DPF though if you were using it for a long time.
Agree 1000%. Also 2 stroke oil does nothing to clean injectors.
Improper injector installation and/or reuse of the TTY bolt caused the TTY bolt to break.
 

iluvmydiesels

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Location
phila area
TDI
AHU
it looks like OP put 2L of this oil in a ?full tank?, thats a hell a lot of this oil, i think for a full tank ~10gals it was ~2oz of oil. 2L is going to cause a lot of problems, and if you use it more than once.
 

ghohouston

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2013
Location
Lewisville, Texas
TDI
2001 Jetta Sedan TDI 5 Speed
Sounds like the cause has already been stated, either overtorqued (broken bolt, hold down, or both) or undertorqued injector hold down bolts that came lose. The ticking sound you heard was compression leaking past the injectors. Kind of hard to tell from the picture, but seems like the hold down on #2 is turned, but im not familiar with this particular engine, and how the injector hold downs are oriented.
 
Last edited:

ThunderstundAnchor

New member
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
Location
Europe
TDI
Golf 6 1.6
Follow up

I apologize for not replying earlier, I forgot to check with this forum ever since this happened (i'm fairly young and if I don't get a notification about something, I'll forget about it :) ).

I got a second opinion on the car and you guys were right the TTY bolt was reused/over torqued when the injectors were cleaned. The bolt was stuck in the engine head. Thankfully the injectors were not damaged just a fuel line and some pieces of rubber. Overall cost was 100 EUR to fix, 50 EUR for the towing and 50EUR to remove the bolt and for the other bits.

After getting the car back sent the car for an ECU update, they did that and an injectors update to an authorized dealer (nothing charged for this).
Then I went on a 300+km road trip driving the car hard in 3rd and 4th gear at 2500-3500rpm constantly since I was advised this would help clear up all the gunk in the internals.

4 months later the car is running perfectly, had it sent for a full service a couple of weeks ago. The fuel consumption now is simply astoundingly good. Went from 1.5-1.7 l/h at idle to 0.2-0.3 l/h. My range improved from 520km at full tank to 950+km. My average fuel consumption on the highway is 4.5-5 l/100 km and 6.5-7 l/100km in the city. Occasionally, I drive the car hard to help it with the DPF and that seems to be working since I haven't had the warning light come on at all since then.

The car does not rattle at all now and the ticking noise at low rpm is completely gone. I’m very happy with the car now.

Thank you to everyone for helping me, it was much appreciated!

Pre-update idling consumption: https://imgur.com/gallery/Uq281QB
After-update idling consumption: https://imgur.com/gallery/3Y9ap3S
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
I apologize for not replying earlier, I forgot to check with this forum ever since this happened (i'm fairly young and if I don't get a notification about something, I'll forget about it :) )...........................................https://imgur.com/gallery/3Y9ap3S
No, no no, that's what happens when you get OLD.
I've started to think of it as the Phonestupud generation. But you remembered.
Thanks so much for posting back solution!
 
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