Botched fuel filter replacement - 2010 Jetta TDI

Hi all, I'm a new member, any advice would be much appreciated. I recently took my 2010 Jetta TDI with 40,000 miles to the dealer to get a fuel filter replaced.

A couple days after I had the service done I took a 150 mile trip to visit my in-laws. I noticed a big puddle accumulate underneath my car's front end after letting it sit for a couple hours. I opened the hood and found that half of my engine bay was covered in diesel fuel. I walked around my car and noticed that I had a lot of greasy black soot covering my rear end and the passenger side of my car that was not present prior to the trip. I did not set off any sensors during the trip.

I tried to find the cause of the leak and discovered that my fuel filter housing was dripping diesel from the top when I idled my car. I opened up the fuel filter housing and I saw that the top black o-ring was frayed and not making a good seal causing the leak. I left my car parked and drove my in-laws car to a nearby VW dealership and bought a whole new fuel filter kit and replaced the broken o-ring. I idled the car a little bit to make sure the leak was fixed and then tried to drive back home to the VW dealer that serviced my vehicle to get them to look at the fuel filter problem.

After driving about 30 minutes with the new o-ring installed the car shudders, stalls, and I end up having to call a tow truck to get it the rest of the way to the original dealership. The dealership said that my serpentine belt failed and it will need to be replaced which would be covered under warranty.

This has been a trouble free car for the past 40K miles and I am in disbelief how I could have a serpentine belt failure this early on.

Is it possible that my serpentine belt failed because of fuel spraying inside of my engine bay or was this just a coincidence?

Should I worry about anything failing inside my engine bay that's in close proximity to the fuel filter?

What are potential implications for the hpfp?

What kind of recourse should I seek from the dealership that changed the fuel filter?

Thanks for the help.

I would think that diesel fuel would not be good for rubber belts.
I would also think that diesel fuel leaking and spraying out under the hood would leave such a mess that when you showed this to the dealer, after getting the fuel filter serviced, would be evidence enough.
You might want to contact vw customer care.
I would want the engine compartment wiped clean of the fuel.

just like many folks here who have changed their own fuel filters, part of the job is starting the engine and checking for leaks and a test drive to make sure everything is OK.

Serpentine belt isn't pure rubber at all. As far as I have seen one it looked to be made of several components.
Serpentine belt failure might be because of the fuel leak.
Also, watch out for alternator failure in the near future.

Welcome to TDICLUB

I would also check the timing belt. There is removable cover piece by the camshaft sprocket. And look at coolant hoses for next few weeks. Ask the dealer to clean the engine compartment and give the car a wash with an underbody flush.

How frigging irritating. A fuel filter is so easy peasy to do correctly. I have done 3 or 4 on my BRM with zero problems. I wouldn't trust that dealer to do ANYTHING to my car. Most likely they will deny, deny, deny they did anything wrong.

I would wash down the engine ASAP. Diesel fuel has a way of deteriorating things made of rubber.

Hey all, thanks for the replies. So I just got off the phone with the service adviser and he says that in addition to the serpentine belt failing, the timing belt also failed and the car will be in the shop for another week. I was told there was damage to the cylinder head and that needs to be replaced. Luckily this is all covered under warranty.

Should I be keeping an eye out for anything else in regards to my engine due to the timing belt failure?

Now I'm thinking about trading in the car when I get it back, you guys think that is a wise decision considering all that has happened?

Thanks.

There was a similar post about this not long ago. The dealer that changed the filter is responsible. Unfortunately something routine and simple has now become a nightmare for you. Each and every time I consider letting the dealer perform my "care-free" maintenance I come across these. It's just not worth the headache to me. Anyway, the diesel fuel has most likely deteriorated the rubber components under the hood. (Belts/hoses). Keep in touch with customer care and make sure they make things right. Sorry to hear of your bad experience. Best of luck on your decision to keep or trade. If you keep it, I'd try to push them to extend the powertrain warranty as they caused the leak and the belt failures that resulted from that. Some here may also chime in that you should have also regularly checked for leaks, etc. but not everybody does regularly. People assume the dealer did everything correctly. Sometimes they do, sometimes not so much. Sadly you'll always end up paying for it. In time spent without the use of the vehicle, and/or cash as well.

You could explain to the dealer your worry about rubber deteriorating, and see if he will spring for an extended warranty.

might not help. once it is back together, you may end up ok. (but what do I know?)

you only have 40k on it. have to do the math if you want another, and how much you would loose in trade. trade in value curve is not that favorable for first few years.

That's an awful story, and all of that damage caused by not properly installing an o-ring...

When you replaced your filter cartridge yourself after the botched dealer replacement, I am assuming you did not have a VCDS to prime the fuel system? Did you at least fill the canister full of fuel with the filter element? If not, you could be running a serious risk of a high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) failure. This pump is very sensitive to any air in it and can literally disintegrate, sending metal throughout your fuel system. Not trying to pile it on you here, but you asked for any other concerns other than what has already happened. I hope this will not be the case for you. Take this one up with VoA and express your concerns.

Yikes, What a nightmare.

I had my share of dealer @#$% ups myself.
There seems to be a great deal of luck involved when getting service. You get the guy who is not paying attention at the shop, you pay dearly.

So now you are letting the people that couldn't fix a paper cut do the equivalent of brain surgery. Best of luck to you.

Would anyone else consider a trade-in at this point? or risk going out of warranty with such major work on the engine?