In-Tank Fuel Pump Replacement "How To" Article

Gretta_the_Jetta

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 16, 2003
Location
Doylestown, PA
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GLS Spice Red
All,

Last weekend I undertook the fuel pump swap on my 2004 A4 Jetta. My in-tank fuel pump was on the way out and it was time to replace it. I've read a bunch about the procedure on the forums and found the posts extremely helpful. I figured I won't be the last to go through this so I decided to document the swap with pictures and create a "How To" PDF. I hope others will find it useful. If there are any suggestions/improvements I can make, let me know and I will update it.

This site and community has and continues to be extremely helpful to me since I joined the TDI clan back in late 2003. I hope others will find this information useful. Enjoy! :D

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/517/Fuel_Pump_Replacement_for_2004_Jetta.pdf
 

osesu96

Veteran Member
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
Mooresville, NC
TDI
2004 Jetta GLS TDI - Platinum Gray
Very nice write-up. Glad to see someone close by has tackled this potential issue just in case I need supervision. So far so good on the pump but you never know. :)
 

Nocky

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2006
Location
Iowa
TDI
2003 Jetta wagon
I just saw the TV show (How It's Made) and they were building fuel pumps Cool:)
 

Gretta_the_Jetta

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 16, 2003
Location
Doylestown, PA
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GLS Spice Red
Osesu96 - If you need a hand when the time comes, let me know. Id be happy to assist. It's a pretty straight forward swap out. Hopefully you can avoud the 250 expense though.

Nocky - Yeah I saw that episode a few weeks back. It was interesting that as I toook apart the pump it looked just like what they did on the show...only in reverse and a little more dirty. :)
 

Hyates

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 27, 1999
Location
Canada
TDI
SOLD
Excellent write-up! I missed your post on this when I replaced my pump today! I could have saved some time by using your write-up as I tried to install the gasket. Oh well.. ;)

Harry.
 

Gretta_the_Jetta

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 16, 2003
Location
Doylestown, PA
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GLS Spice Red
Hyates,

No worries mate. At least you were able to fix the problem yourself. My dealer wanted to charge me $550US for the pump replacements. Thanks to Kerma, $225 and 1 hour and I was done.

I had the same challenges you did with the gasket. Once you do it once though it's a piece of cake after that. If I had to do it again, I could probably pull it off in 15 minutes on the side of the road somewhere.

My 04 was also one fo the first in the US. It was built in late September and I took delivery in October of 2003. Nice to hear that you experienced the exact same symptoms I did and were lucky enough that it did not fail without warning like others have noted.

Lets hope we get more than 40 or 50K miles out of the new ones. Even though it's a DIY job, I don't think these things should fail and any money saved is money in the bank.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Nice PDF. I added it to the How-To sticky thread in TDI 101. :)
 

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
Hyates,

No worries mate. At least you were able to fix the problem yourself. My dealer wanted to charge me $550US for the pump replacements. Thanks to Kerma, $225 and 1 hour and I was done.

I had the same challenges you did with the gasket. Once you do it once though it's a piece of cake after that. If I had to do it again, I could probably pull it off in 15 minutes on the side of the road somewhere.

My 04 was also one fo the first in the US. It was built in late September and I took delivery in October of 2003. Nice to hear that you experienced the exact same symptoms I did and were lucky enough that it did not fail without warning like others have noted.

Lets hope we get more than 40 or 50K miles out of the new ones. Even though it's a DIY job, I don't think these things should fail and any money saved is money in the bank.
Your '04 is older than mine. Mine was built in October 2003 and I bought it in November 2003. My lift pump failed at 46,000 miles and VW repalced it under warranty. The VW dealer sourced replacement pump is the same grey-top VDO pump the aftermarket vendors sell, but the VW logo and part numbers are on the dealer sourced pump. I bought a VDO spare from a vendor. It's the same pump that the dealer installed, less the VW logo and part number!

--Nate
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
This is an excellent write-up. My biggest nuisance was the rigid fuel lines getting in the way, but otherwise pretty straight forward. Someone here does sell the Bosch replacement pump motors if anybody cares to take apart their old pump assembly.
 

JettAXELtdi

New member
Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Location
SoAZ
TDI
2004 Jetta
Great write-up. I did the pump easily with your help, but now a few days later, I have a strong diesel smell in the cabin. I removed the cover and find pump dry and no sign of diesel at all. Any ideas or remedies? I must have a leak or a seal not sealing. Thanks.
 
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