Fuel Filter Change, Metal Flakes

MF1160 · May 6th, 2012, 20:47

Just change my fuel filter at 16,000 miles.
Noticed a several small metal flakes, not exactly what I was hoping to see.

I could only find them at the top of the filter; bottom of filter housing was spotless.
Separated the pleats in the old filter and could not find any, however being as small as they are maybe its impossible to see them on the filter media.

I've own / maintained several different diesel powered vehicles / implements and all the ones I've been responsible for had a spin on canister filter and I never tore one apart to see exactly what was going thru the system.

Maybe I should not worry so much and just drive it.
I'm still considering emailing the photos to my dealer just to see what their take is on it.

Did not have a bit of trouble upon start up, I just filled the housing full of very very very clean diesel.

On the concern meter where should I be?

dweisel · May 7th, 2012, 02:51

You can call VW Customer Care to report and get on record as having metal in your fuel system. A dealer will tell you "its normal". IMO finding metal particles in a diesel fuel system is far from normal. Some owners have found metal in their fuel system and their cars are still running strong. Others have found metal and later had a hpfp failure. A few have reported to VW and had their complete fuel system changed. A lot seems to depend om the dealer. Lots of reading here on hpfp's.

Most here will want to know if you are or have run a percentage of biodiesel or used and additive.

JTC · May 7th, 2012, 05:22

I have metal flakes that fell in from the scratches made from prying the lid off. Could that contributed?

dweisel · May 7th, 2012, 06:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTC

I have metal flakes that fell in from the scratches made from prying the lid off. Could that contributed?

NO,that is not from scratching the fuel filter canister lid with a screw driver.. Just by looking at the pics you can tell its classic metal in the fuel filter.

Plus 3 Golfer · May 7th, 2012, 07:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTC

I have metal flakes that fell in from the scratches made from prying the lid off. Could that contributed?

I seriously doubt that prying contributed to any of the specks on top of the FF. A gasket seals the lid to the canister. Prying the lid off with a screwdriver would likely not "make" any metal flakes and secondly, the prying is external to the gasket seal and it's highly unlikely that if any metal happened to be shaved from the lid it would fall into the housing while lifting the lid out of the way.

To the OP, I had metal specks at 26k miles and HPFP failure at 44k miles. I took the car to the dealer and they inspected the metering valve and tank / pump for metal and said they found only a few flakes in the tank. I had inspected the metering valve also and found nothing. They replaced the FF, cleaned the housing, and reinspected at my 30k free service and said everything was normal. I inspected when I got home and saw a few specks and continued to see flakes but to a significantly lesser degree than your pic shows (maybe a 1-2 % of what your pic shows) upto when I changed my FF at 40k miles. I had hoped these specks were remnants of the original flakes in the system. But thinking about it, once the flakes appear, something has begun to wear and will likely continue to wear.

Like dweisel says, I'd get on record with VW about the metal contamination. I would have buttoned it back up and taken the car to the dealer. Now, I'd email the pics to the dealer and VWCC. My guess is they will ask you to take it to the dealer for inspection of other parts of the system.

Edit: Forgot to mention at 60k miles my FF top had no metal specks.

dweisel · May 7th, 2012, 08:53

MF1160, a few owners that have found metal particles in their fuel system have been able to get VW to replace the entire fuel system by expressing their concerns of safety for their family.

rotts4u · May 7th, 2012, 15:38

Not to hijack the topic but I just want to make sure I understand this correctly. You changed the filter and simply refilled the canister with diesel and restarted the engine without anything special to prime the pump etc?

I thought you had to have the cord to prime the pump first etc.

Can you fill us in?

Ted Hurst · May 7th, 2012, 16:50

The small amount of metal flakes you have does not really tell much. I had a similar situation on our 09 at 20K and it made it to 63k miles without failure.

On another note I would properly prime the pump when changing or inspecting the filter. This requires the VCDS software to activate the electric pumps and circulate the air out of the system. Some here think that an improperly primed fuel system could harm the HPFP.

MF1160 · May 7th, 2012, 19:31

Called the dealership today, left message.
Could not spend a lot of time on phone today as I had entire line down with a profibus issue.
I'll try and contact them tomorrow.

If they want me to bring it in that’s great.

For some reason I'm not getting warm fuzzies about the dealership, don’t want to go into the details, just a feeling.

Part of me is ok with checking it again it 10,000 miles or so.
The other part of me wants the darn thing perfect, pristine with absolutely no defects like metal flakes in the fuel system.

The thing that bugs me is I'll probably be doing some mulit state mileage for work and in the back of my head I know I'll keep thinking about those stupid metal flakes the whole time.

Yes I took the cheap and some may say risky route and just completely filled the canister with fuel and screwed the top back on and started it.

Yes its true, I'm a risk taker.

Ted Hurst · May 8th, 2012, 03:05

If it makes you feel any better there are some members here who have had their fuel systems replaced out of warranty. You have lots of miles to drive before you can start loosing sleep. By then we will have a better understanding of where these pumps are going after that.

detroitmike · May 8th, 2012, 08:56

I just changed my fuel filter this past weekend at 20k miles and found the same very small metal flakes, maybe a little less.

I will probably just keep on driving it until 40k and then have the fuel filter changed by a guru so I can have third party documentation if there is sufficient amount of metal debris in there to cause concern. Then I'll bring it up to VW.

I'm going to try and not think about it too much until then and ultimately decide what I'm going to do around 60k miles. Which will most likely be in about one year.

detroitmike · May 14th, 2012, 12:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by detroitmike

I just changed my fuel filter this past weekend at 20k miles and found the same very small metal flakes, maybe a little less.

I will probably just keep on driving it until 40k and then have the fuel filter changed by a guru so I can have third party documentation if there is sufficient amount of metal debris in there to cause concern. Then I'll bring it up to VW.

I'm going to try and not think about it too much until then and ultimately decide what I'm going to do around 60k miles. Which will most likely be in about one year.

Well, I tried not to think about it.

There's no way I can keep this car long term after finding shards of metal in my fuel filter after only 20k miles.

I'm taking this thing into the dealer tonight. What a piece of junk. This car has been an absolute headache since the beginning.

I can guess what the dealer will say, "That's perfectly normal sir, blah, blah."

detroitmike · May 14th, 2012, 15:30

At the dealer now. They are telling me that's normal wear from the multiple fuel pumps in the system. Talked with the actual mechanic, he seemed genuine about his opinion on what is causing the "aluminum" bits.

having them do my 20k over just to see if they find anything out of the ordinary. Also because, and I quote "vw looks to see if you had all your services done at the dealer before determining warranty coverage". What a scam.

Also reminded them about my IC kit I ordered this past winter. Still on back order they tell me. I think I'm gonna take a big hit when I sell this thing at 60k.

done ranting for today.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

Brian's96TDIPASSAT · May 14th, 2012, 16:01

Well, I had my first filter change done at the dealer at 20K, absolutely no metal and just did it myself over the weekend at 40K and absolutely no metal. I'm not sure in looking at posts with some people getting a little between services but I'd keep an eye on it. Watch, mine will show no metal and grenade out of the blue one day

53 willys · May 20th, 2012, 17:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian's96TDIPASSAT

Well, I had my first filter change done at the dealer at 20K, absolutely no metal and just did it myself over the weekend at 40K and absolutely no metal. I'm not sure in looking at posts with some people getting a little between services but I'd keep an eye on it. Watch, mine will show no metal and grenade out of the blue one day

mine was SPOTLESS at 40k........then completly full of metal at 47k...lol