2009 HPFP Failure - Contained with 2Micron Kits

MacBuckeye said:

The two metal fuel rods that are part of the fuel pump (the fuel pump in the tank) are rusting. This is a contributing factor to rust in the fuel filter and/or fuel system. Why VW used metal vs. stainless steel is beyond reason. One would hope the various fuel filters would trap the rust particles before they reach the HPFP. If your don't believe me or want to see what rusted "fuel rods" look like, take a gander at these photos....



How easy is it to install the 2 micron filter? DIY? Cost? I'm interested.

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There have been others who have posted similar photos. Past membe Dweisel was even fabricating rods out of stainless that he sold to members here.

What has me baffled is that after I pulled the rust-colored particles out of my FF canister at 10k miles, and a few more at 20k, I've not seen any rust ever since.
Makes me wonder if the initial Mexican-sourced fuel fill was compromised with water (initial engine start-up at the plant, and the amount they put in for moving the vehicles around in transit), and the new cars sitting around w/o full tanks of fuel, causes an initial rusting problem that subsequently sloughs off with time.

redbarron55 said:

It looks like rust on the worn part of the roller to me. If it was recent wear it would be polished and not rusty looking.
There seems to be a lot of rust in the system and then the rusty look on the worn roller makes me wonder what is really going on with this thing.

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That isn't rust, it's heat marking... Black heated metal. I took a couple more pictures last night (after looking at them a little closer, I think I have the roller in there flipped 180°, but hopefully you get the point...) :













And a vague picture of the head... It looks shiny and new from what I can tell...


The inner tube of the head is really smooth, but didn't turn out very well in this picture, not sure if this means anything. I was hoping the head would have shown a reason why the roller got twisted at a 45° angle:

It appears that the 2 Micron filtration system is not available any more. I sent a PM to the vendor but no response. Anyone help?

maybe installing the filter left air in the fuel lines that caused the pump to run dry for a certain amount of time

DogParkGuy said:

It appears that the 2 Micron filtration system is not available any more. I sent a PM to the vendor but no response. Anyone help?

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Check out his thread on the kits. Since VWoA has been covering all repairs, Andrew is trying to determine the feasibility of producing these kits. He is also concerned that the installation of these kits will void the warranty if the HPFP fails.

Rust in the FF canister or any part of the fuel system indicates WATER in fuel. Free water in fuel can destroy a HPFP in no time at all and is to be avoided at ALL costs. This is the other reason why I regularly use an additive in addition to helping provide lubricity.

Good luck.

Kriesel said:

That isn't rust, it's heat marking... Black heated metal. I took a couple more pictures last night (after looking at them a little closer, I think I have the roller in there flipped 180°, but hopefully you get the point...) :

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Didn't look like rust to me, heat scoring makes sense. It amazes me that VW doesn't replace the camshaft also. It's quite scored, and I can't imagine it doesn't cause quicker wear for the next HPFP.

Kriesel said:

The camshaft was inspected as best as possible in its resting position, showing major wear, gouging and most likely no lobe lift. Once the camshaft can be removed, the full extent of wear will be seen.

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ticketed2much said:

Didn't look like rust to me, heat scoring makes sense. It amazes me that VW doesn't replace the camshaft also. It's quite scored, and I can't imagine it doesn't cause quicker wear for the next HPFP.

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That can shaft mentioned is the HPFP cam shaft not the valve train cam shaft. It is part of the HPFP and is new when a new pump is installed.

psrumors said:

That can shaft mentioned is the HPFP cam shaft not the valve train cam shaft. It is part of the HPFP and is new when a new pump is installed.

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Oh that's right. I get mixed up because the gas engines use the engine cam.

Thanks to the OP for the pics. Don't get to see this since VW keeps all the parts!

I wonder that the 2 Micron kit let the engine keep running (at reduced power with low pressure codes) because the metal did not foul the injectors and the rest of the fuel system?
I see more pulsations in the return gauge at idle that I think I saw when I installed the system and I wonder if this is normal (anybody with one?) (2009 JSW DSG with 211,000 miles)
It would be another feature if the system gave more warning than just quitting on the highway.
2 Micron, do you have an opinion on more pulsatinos or what is about normal for the system?
I think the steadiness of the gauge might well relate more to the lift pumps than the HPFP since it is on the return side of the pump.

Thanks,

tdiatlast said:

What has me baffled is that after I pulled the rust-colored particles out of my FF canister at 10k miles, and a few more at 20k, I've not seen any rust ever since.
Makes me wonder if the initial Mexican-sourced fuel fill was compromised with water (initial engine start-up at the plant, and the amount they put in for moving the vehicles around in transit), and the new cars sitting around w/o full tanks of fuel, causes an initial rusting problem that subsequently sloughs off with time.

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I experienced the same thing. Around 20-30K miles I had to "clean" my fuel filter canister. Sides of it looked like they were starting to rust along with the "dirt" or rust in the bottom of the fuel filter canister. Since then each fuel filter change has looked good. BTW... I have the DWIESEL stainless fuel rods. Just haven't had time to make the change.

My parents just bought a 2014 Passat. I took a quick look under the hood and quickly noticed the fuel filter has been re-designed. I have picts I'll post. I wonder why VW changed the design of the fuel filter??? Notice the top hoses/lines and then take a look at what we have. What model year did this change and why? Are the new Jettas using this same fuel filter design?

MacBuckeye said:

My parents just bought a 2014 Passat. I took a quick look under the hood and quickly noticed the fuel filter has been re-designed. I have picts I'll post. I wonder why VW changed the design of the fuel filter???

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The Passat uses a different version (CKRA) compared to 2009-2014 Golfs/Jettas (CBEA/CJAA).

2015+ TDIs all have the CRBC (EA288).

redbarron55 said:

I wonder that the 2 Micron kit let the engine keep running (at reduced power with low pressure codes) because the metal did not foul the injectors and the rest of the fuel system?
I see more pulsations in the return gauge at idle that I think I saw when I installed the system and I wonder if this is normal (anybody with one?) (2009 JSW DSG with 211,000 miles)
It would be another feature if the system gave more warning than just quitting on the highway.
2 Micron, do you have an opinion on more pulsation's or what is about normal for the system?
I think the steadiness of the gauge might well relate more to the lift pumps than the HPFP since it is on the return side of the pump.

Thanks,

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Yes, the car was still running, yet sluggishly for the last few miles, into the ~200 mile "Grind down" of the pump. Amazing the car was still running when the Pump Head was removed.
Expect the Pump camshaft (eccentric shaft) to have virtually no lift, most likely ground down to 1/2 of the lift that it should have, once Kriesel can remove it and we will all see the lift.
Certainly a better scenario than the car stopping dead.
One note to mention was the gauge on this car was still in the "Green" zone, probably still in the 9 psi range.
The filter has been cut open and we can all see the insides soon. .

redbarron, as long as your gauge is still on the low side of the green (5-9psi) the slight pulsation (3-4psi) is very common. A few members have sourced better quality, liquid filled gauges, dampening the needle pulses.
Expect the needle to raise a couple psi as the temps get colder.
Andrew

2micron said:

Yes, the car was still running, yet sluggishly for the last few miles, into the ~200 mile "Grind down" of the pump. Amazing the car was still running when the Pump Head was removed.
Expect the Pump camshaft (eccentric shaft) to have virtually no lift, most likely ground down to 1/2 of the lift that it should have, once Kriesel can remove it and we will all see the lift.
Certainly a better scenario than the car stopping dead.
One note to mention was the gauge on this car was still in the "Green" zone, probably still in the 9 psi range.
The filter has been cut open and we can all see the insides soon. .

redbarron, as long as your gauge is still on the low side of the green (5-9psi) the slight pulsation (3-4psi) is very common. A few members have sourced better quality, liquid filled gauges, dampening the needle pulses.
Expect the needle to raise a couple psi as the temps get colder.
Andrew

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Great info Andrew. Now release the kits....please

JM Popaleetus said:

The Passat uses a different version (CKRA) compared to 2009-2014 Golfs/Jettas (CBEA/CJAA).
2015+ TDIs all have the CRBC (EA288).

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So why the design change? Ours (older models) have 4 lines going to it. The newer version only 3. What changed and why? Is one better than the other?
I didn't look closely at all the fuel lines, so perhaps two of the fuel lines combine (merge) together before the filter?

MacBuckeye said:

So why the design change? Ours (older models) have 4 lines going to it. The newer version only 3. What changed and why? Is one better than the other?
I didn't look closely at all the fuel lines, so perhaps two of the fuel lines combine (merge) together before the filter?

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There's no auxillary pump in the Passats. One of the 4 lines in the canister goes to it.

Got a PM today, the 2 Micron kits are not available at this time.

I opened up the 1-micron cimtek filter. I'm told that the filter element itself is normally white?





See a little metal on the yellow plastic at the bottom of the filter:


Cut open the filter housing more to get a better picture, the inside is supposed to be all black, and it looks very silver!

wow.....looks like between toe 30 or 40 micron (insert right number here) of the factory filter and the 1 micron cim tek there is some contamination lol. Side possibility is the heat of the pump failure caused some varnish or chemical modification of the diesel.

looks to me like Andrew's (2micron) filter did its job keeping the swarf isolated. Do you have an idea of how the roller and piston became so mis-aligned? I know based on the previous thread that you had the system open before, but do you think that was the cause/contributing factor? Clearly you did not cause "this" scenario solely by opening and not purging it properly.

waltzconmigo said:

looks to me like Andrew's (2micron) filter did its job keeping the swarf isolated.

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As someone who has 2micron's mods installed, I find this thread very encouraging. However, what I am really waiting for it "the rest of the story". In other words, when the HPFP is replaced, the filters replaced, the fuel lines flushed, etc., what I really want to know about is how well it works for the next 10k miles? I would love it if everything worked perfectly and there was no swarf getting into other parts of the system and causing problems later. This (if it happens) will be the real acid test for the 2micron mods. I will patiently (and hopefully) wait to see what happens in the future with this engine.

waltzconmigo said:

Do you have an idea of how the roller and piston became so mis-aligned? I know based on the previous thread that you had the system open before, but do you think that was the cause/contributing factor? Clearly you did not cause "this" scenario solely by opening and not purging it properly.

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A good question and I do not know the answer, but if you read all of the threads about failed pumps, there are a number on mentions of that roller jumping out of position and getting sideways in there. I do not know why it happens but this is certainly not the first case of this happening.

Have Fun!

Don

Hey Don---Unfortunately we do no know if "the system in question" was already failing or if all of this happened within the last couple hundred miles. I have seen previous threads where the roller has become "off-center" but I have yet to see one that looked anywhere close to this as far as the amount of wear. It is amazing that the fuel system was still functioning. I agree with all of your other points.

Some various angles of the pump innards:
















42.5 mm:


36.5 mm:


42.5mm - 36.5mm = 6mm

6mm / 2 = 3mm lift on the cam

(batteries in the caliper were dead...)

The shaft feels rough while turning by hand inside the pump. But feels pretty tight still.

Plan now is wait for the new pump in the mail to show up on Monday, and re-install that along with a new timing belt kit while I'm at it. Also have a new cimtek filter coming soon, and a new oem filter already here as well.

MacBuckeye said:

So why the design change? Ours (older models) have 4 lines going to it. The newer version only 3. What changed and why? Is one better than the other?
I didn't look closely at all the fuel lines, so perhaps two of the fuel lines combine (merge) together before the filter?

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There is a great deal of info on the self study guide for the new engine.

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/517/820433_EA288.pdf

along with other changes, they made the lift pump in the tank much more complicated, so that it is variable speed and supplies all the fuel needed by the hpfp input directly without the need of an intermediate pump.

they also moved the return line back to the fuel tank so that it does not come from the filter.

This is not the engine in last year's passats, but it provides a clue as to why there are only three hoses on the fuel filter. (and I do not know a passat from my (middle of passat)

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/517/890113_12_Passat.pdf

now I know more about passats!

no intermediate pump, and the fuel filter has no direct return to the fuel tank.

looks like the lift pump is less sophisticated than the one for the EA288, but is beefier than the one in our older TDIs.

up for discussion if the intermediate pump was partly blamed for HPFP failures, or if it just made sense to build with fewer, but more complicated, parts.

meerschm-

Thanks for the info/data. Interesting read. I wonder if one "beefier" fuel pump is better or worse than having two smaller "less beefier" fuel pumps. Time will tell I guess.

Kriesel said:

Cut open the filter housing more to get a better picture, the inside is supposed to be all black, and it looks very silver!

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How did you cut that open? There is a proper way to do this without contaminating the filter with cuttings from cutting it open like that.

Lightflyer1 said:

How did you cut that open? There is a proper way to do this without contaminating the filter with cuttings from cutting it open like that.

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I figured someone would say something. I didn't have a large enough pipe cutter. Either way, my cutting method didn't induce that much metal as seen in the bottom of the filter housing... The filter isn't going under a microscope. Mainly wanted an idea of metal amounts inside it. Got that answered.

My best estimate is that the 2Micron system worked as advertized and the pump and injection system kept working because of it. While the pump was failing the metal was not contamminating the rest of the fuel system and as long as the lobe on the cam had enough lift to produce more fuel than reauired for the rail the pressure regulator just bypassed less fuel, but kept pumping.
When the wear was such that there was not enough flow at the pressure then the low pressure warning etc. occurred.
All in all it gives a warning before it quits completely.
They it is just a matter of cleaning the filter and replacing the pump.
Just why I bought my system from 2 Micron in the first place.

I also work on aircraft and we have thingys for cutting open filter canisters just to look at the swarf that may collect.Currently I am at 212,000 miles on the original pump with my fingers crossed.
My thoughts on the pump are that the initial start and running has a tremmendous effect on the life of the pump. If they run in amd mate well at startup then they will give long life. If not then the fox is in the henhouse.
I have used additive several times when the car was new, but not afterwards.
I run mostly Chevron and Shell, but it all is from whatever refiner is close to the station and whatever additive package the company adds at the rack.

New pump. New timing belt kit. Did a bunch of fuel filtering steps. Pump primed. Car starts. Drove around the block. Will continue to drive the crap out of it.

Goodnight.