1 degree outside and P0087 code

First time I ever got this code - P0087 from low fuel pressure.

For what it's worth, I filled up at a place I've never been before yesterday (not a brand station) and I was fine while I was traveling yesterday.

This morning it is 1 degree in New Jersey. I started the car up fine. It idled just fine for a few moments then stumbled and stalled. When I would start again, it would start only to stall immediately. Now when I crank it only cranks. The error code is P0087.

I was wondering if the fuel gelled somehow? We have been in a cold snap for two weeks now and have been below freezing since Christmas Day. Tomorrow's forecast calls for a high of 31, with 34 the following two days and breaking 50 by Friday. Although this would definitely fix any freezing fuel, it's a long time to wait.

I have a manual 2013 passat and have recently decided to pursue the buyback feature. I'm not looking to make any more repairs to this vehicle but I need it to last about 3 more months. I'll assume this is just an extreme weather scenario mixed with perhaps a poor batch of fuel?

Was your last purchase at a local station? Why not phone their mgmt and tell them your issue? They might have a bad load of fuel, in which case you won't be the only victim.
How old is your fuel filter? It's easy to pull and examine/replace if it's plugged up.

I'm sure the manager is basically non-existant. It's probably 1 guy who owns five stores and is impossible to reach.

The fuel filter is probably original. I never changed it and unless it came with the 10, 20, 30, 40, or 80k services then it wasn't changed. I'm going to be selling this car back with the non-fix being announced last month for manual transmission people. My registration runs through 4/30 and the car I've determined I'm going to target, the 2018 accord hybrid, hasn't gotten to the dealerships yet so I need to survive about 100 days.

Is it just the fuel filter that gets plugged up or is it more complicated than that? Will warmer air self-remedy the problem? It appears later this week we'll be moving away from this ridiculous cold problem.

If your maintenance (dealership???) is up to date, FF should have been replaced at 20, 40, 60k miles, IIRC. How many miles since the last service?

I understand about the "manager is basically non-existent" at most filling stations. I'd still phone, or visit, because you might not be alone. If it's bad fuel, they are still responsible.

Of course, the car's issue might be totally unrelated to a clogged FF...that's just a starting point.

I did the 80k service at 90k miles with the goodwill credit card... that was 40-45k ago.

I will see what happens with the warmer temperatures coming. Unfortunately, I might have to break out the trans am in the interim.

If this is diesel gelling up, at what temperature does it ungel?

I think diesel gelling is a red herring in these discussions. There wouldn't be solitary occurrences, would there?

40-45k miles on a FF might be the problem, combined with colder temps.

my freezer is set to 0F and when I tested diesel back in 2014 by pouring 4 stations samples into glass jars and freezing them overnight, 2 stations turned into a instant candle and were so solid I was able to press in a candle wick and light em up! The others just got a little cloudy- this confirmed a rumor that Many Stations around here are sneaking in 20-50% bio diesel and getting the huge tax credit while charging non bio prices, plus they were not winterizing it or labeling the pumps as being bio. I sent a video of this to our state and within a month the stations that I suspected of being shady all had new Biodiesel signage. Get some power service white bottle, about 8oz should free ya up!

The air temperature moved up to 14-16 degrees an hour ago and I was able to get it started.. here are some strange observations:

My car reported only 7 degrees outside. I still could not get the car started. OBD2 reported my electrical system was only 9 volts (usually 11-12) which is understandable from fiddling with the car earlier.

Other warnings started to come on such as low oil pressure and brake failure. I figured this was because of the low electrical charge in the car that the systems did not receive the proper power.

I dug out my other car and then used it to "jump" or really just provide additional power for the Passat to start. Once I did this the Passat started up immediately with a small stumble. The glow plug light came on and was flashing when I did this. After I let the car run for about a minute or two, I turned it off and restarted it on its own power. There were no more brake, oil pressure, or glow plug light errors...

I took it for a ride, got a cup of coffee, and topped off at a station I use regularly (Wawa). Since the forecasted temperatures do not go below what we have now (16 degrees) for the rest of the entire week, I believe this was an isolated incident.

I truly do believe the gas station I used had poor quality fuel and led to the root cause of this problem.

"I truly do believe the gas station I used had poor quality fuel and led to the root cause of this problem."

Is your battery the original battery? If so, based on your latest post, I believe your 5-year-old battery needs replacing, and is the root of your problem...challenged by the extreme cold, of course.

jrm: Thanks for the post. Comparing Oregon diesel to NJ diesel is probably a stretch, but you make a good point.

I've forgotten in this discussion that we're not talking about additized petro diesel, but possibly/probably varying percentages of added bio. This sure complicates the issue.

tdiatlast said:

"I truly do believe the gas station I used had poor quality fuel and led to the root cause of this problem."

Is your battery the original battery? If so, based on your latest post, I believe your 5-year-old battery needs replacing, and is the root of your problem...challenged by the extreme cold, of course.

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I do not believe this is the issue at all. If it was the issue, then the car would not have started up immediately without any type of issue in the 2 degree weather. The car started like a champ, then stalled out after about 10-15 seconds of idling.

The battery became weak from numerous attempts to start the car over a few hours in the very cold weather. The car has since performed flawlessly and the temperature has remained around 16 degrees. I put about 2 gallons of diesel in from my regular station. This station sees a lot of traffic not only from diesel passenger vehicles, but also medium duty commercial vehicles (i see a lot of dump trucks come by) and who knows what other types of vehicles use it as a fueling station. Diesel in the area happened to jump up over the past week and I spotted a far less expensive price; I guess I shouldn't have taken up that offer.

After reading all this, that is why Power Service produces the winter formula. It prevents fuel waxing and keeps the water from freezing in your filter. Do you just lock your front door or do you have a deadbolt too? A little bit of informed prevention sometimes goes a long way. Many here if you follow the forums swear by PS White. I am not a fuel additive advocate but when the weather slams us with extreme cold a dollars worth of PS white goes along way.
When I was fueling up last week I watched many truckers add PS white bottle to their tanks. Many non ethenol blend gasoline users also add fuel deicer when such weather conditions dictate.

If we have another cold snap of 0 degrees coming, I’ll be sure to invest in an additive. Until then, I think I’m doing ok. I guess I got lucky this time with the temperature rising.

Also, I’ll be avoiding that station moving on. It was a first, and probably only, time going there.

inthered said:

Also, I'll be avoiding that station moving on. It was a first, and probably only, time going there.

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Well, that is your choice and maybe a good one. I always buy my fuel from the same station here where I live unless that can't be avoided because I'm out of town.

MichaelB said:

Well, that is your choice and maybe a good one. I always buy my fuel from the same station here where I live unless that can't be avoided because I'm out of town.

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I typically stick to the same station or three depending on where I need to fuel up. Almost all of my fillups come from Wawa (convenience store). Sometimes I deviate for price reasons, but I've never deviated in extreme cold. The last time it was this cold, my commute was half of what it is currently and I had no issues with any car starts.

I think I'll be ok from here on out as this morning was our bottoming out with temperatures on the rise to eventually 50+ by Friday.

Based on the other thread re: gelling, sounds like you've found your problem, inthered. Hope you can avoid the gelling in the future.

PS: My advice on your battery stands. If it's an original, consider swapping it out before it leaves you stranded. These cars give virtually no warning before a battery's voltage drops and electrical anomalies occur.

tdiatlast said:

Based on the other thread re: gelling, sounds like you've found your problem, inthered. Hope you can avoid the gelling in the future.

PS: My advice on your battery stands. If it's an original, consider swapping it out before it leaves you stranded. These cars give virtually no warning before a battery's voltage drops and electrical anomalies occur.

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I appreciate your concern but considering I am going to go through the buyback in about 100 days when my inspection and registration lapse I see no need to invest any money in this car.

For what it’s worth, I have not had to replace a battery in any of my Volkswagen cars...

2004 Jetta TDI owned from 10/30/04 - 04/03/13 nor this Passat TDI 04/03/13 - current. The battery got slightly weak from repeatedly trying to start the car. I never had one of these cars not start within a few seconds.

^^^sounds like a plan. 10 years on an OEM battery? Definitely not normal!
Good luck. Hope pulling down the battery didn't affect the next 100 days!

We are seeing lots of reports of gelled fuel this year. I recommend that everyone in the mid-Atlantic, New England, and mid-west regions use Power Service WHITE (silver for summer, white for winter) fuel additive. It will likely save you a trip to the dealer or a breakdown on the road.