Died while driving P1562

I'm pretty new to the TDI life and don't know a whole ton, so thanks in advance. Sorry for the long post I just figured the whole story might be important. I have a 2002 jetta with the ALH motor. I was driving and it lost power and then shut off. Nothing weird before this point had happened. Tried to restart it, would not start. Towed it home and figured it may be a clogged fuel filter. I change the filter and realize there is like a brownish nasty film in there. I think it might be algae? I figure there is more going on so I pull the pump and and see water at the bottom of the tank and in between the layers this nasty brown/yellow film again. I must have gotten bad fuel. I suck out all the water and the nasty stuff, fill it up with fresh diesel and clear the lines, pulling fresh diesel to the filter and pump. try to prime and start the car. Nothing, but I get a code. P1562, quantity adjuster upper limit reached. I figure there must be things going on in the pump. I pull the top of the IP and see its full of this nasty film. I clean it out the best I can. I Mark the center section and then pull that part off; the pump is full of this algae I think. I clean it all out the best I can while leaving the pump in the car. I pull the line and the injectors. they had some nasty stuff in them. I took them apart and cleaned them and Put them back in. Put everything back together, try to prime everything and bleed the injectors. Im only getting a little fuel to the injectors, never gets close to building enough pressure to start. I leave it for a few days and Im still getting the code and so I pull off the top of the IP again; it's dry, which I don't understand but anyway using OBDeleven in group 19 I'm getting .720 volts lower limit and stated .720 volts upper limit. Group 1 Im getting 4.7 volts when I manually sweep the quantity adjuster. I'm thinking about taking off the welds and going to clean the back side of the QA, Ive heard that it can get really dirty. But I don't really know what else to do. Is the pump shot? What's the next step?
other info, Tried looking for bad fuses, all good. checked voltage at Fuel shut off. seems good, heard it clicking open. Dummy check, timing belt is still on.

Prime your pump again and increase your fuel very slightly and try to start...the slightest movement makes massive fuel value changes. I use the mark and looks like it's dead nuts on but I always end up having to move the QA to get my fuel right again after it fires.

I just hope your pump or injectors aren't stopped up

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"Timing belt is still on"
But is it still properly tensioned and turning the cam when the crank sprocket is turned? Often the crank sprocket will shear off the "teeth" of the belt and it's difficult to see down there. Verify belt tension and condition.
Doubt the ugly stuff in the fuel system caused a sudden shutdown w/o any prior symptoms.

If as you say your'e new to tdi's then I'm assuming you just bought this car? With that in mind do you have any idea about it's history? Timing belt change, regular maintenance, how long it set etc?


Check and make sure the belt is still intact with all its teeth. You can do that by pulling the top TB cover and the passenger side front tire and turning the crank with a 19mm 12 point socket. Put a mark on the belt just before starting and turn the crank till you see the mark again. DO NOT turn the belt using the cam bolt or IP bolt.



This is what your'e looking for.



Notice how I'm missing about 8" of teeth.


When this happens it destroys your valves and sometimes bends a rod or 2.


If the TB is intact then reprime and keep trying.

First clean out your fuel tank, then clean forward, new filter, lines, pump, lines and cross your fingers, knock on wood and hope the injection pump is still good.
I had this years ago when my car sat for long periods due to a separate issue. I was able to clean the slime from the tank just using rags, the stuff will be suspended in the fuel. You want the tank to be below half full when you open it.
Since you've removed the IP, you'll need to set the mechanical timing, then fine tune with VCDS or equal. Don't try to just guess using marks.

Okay, first off thanks for the replies.

History of the car, I've owned it for a couple of years. Timing belt was replaced "Supposedly" 50k miles ago by a previous owner. I plan on replacing it if I can get this thing going again. one problem at a time. But i checked the teeth and put a mark on it to make sure it was going all the way around. It appears to be. I can't see any messed up teeth. Is there a way to make sure it hasn't skipped a tooth or something?

I tried to prime it again. This time I put the hose directly into a can of fresh fuel skipping the filter and tank etc. I used a clear tube so I can see whats going on. I primed it with a mighty vac and it pulled fuel from the can. after getting all the air out I went to start it and it sucked fuel from the can for a sec and then stopped. I then saw air push back into the line going to the can. Basically its starts to suck and then stops and air is getting in some how. i think Maybe i have an air leak in the pump? best way to figure that out?

I've primed this thing a year ago when I ran out of fuel but i've never had this hard of time. thanks in advance!

alayer said:

History of the car, I've owned it for a couple of years. Timing belt was replaced "Supposedly" 50k miles ago by a previous owner.

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Sometimes there will be a sticker that says when the tb was last done.

z14ben said:

Sometimes there will be a sticker that says when the tb was last done.

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Which, unless placed there by a dealership (who probably replaced "only" the belt) or a very reputable shop, a sticker means next to nothing.
If you buy a vehicle with an interference type engine and don't have stellar documentation (or other solid proof) as to when the service was performed, who did it, what was replaced, and where the parts were sourced (lots of cheap crap parts out there) you get the job done properly. Then you know and have a benchmark.
Almost every VW I see for sale has had the TB "recently" replaced, they say. Most not. If they were done it has been botched procedure wise or cheapest parts available.

I understand, I plan on doing the timing belt/water pump etc the right way here in the future but I want to get it running again first. I triple checked the entire belt, no missing teeth, everything is turning as it should. I tried priming it again for a couple hours. I isolated the pump to where is it gravity feeding into the pump no restrictions and a constant vacuum on the return line coming out of the pump. I pulled so much air out of it Im convinced there is a major air leak. where could that be? the gaskets between the sections?

After getting "most" of the air out, i tried bleeding from the injectors and the air never stops in injector 3 and 4. It's unreal. injector 1 and 2 stopped spitting out air but not spraying fuel. just a dribble at best.

suggestions? thanks

jettawreck said:

Which, unless placed there by a dealership (who probably replaced "only" the belt) or a very reputable shop, a sticker means next to nothing.
If you buy a vehicle with an interference type engine and don't have stellar documentation (or other solid proof) as to when the service was performed, who did it, what was replaced, and where the parts were sourced (lots of cheap crap parts out there) you get the job done properly. Then you know and have a benchmark.
Almost every VW I see for sale has had the TB "recently" replaced, they say. Most not. If they were done it has been botched procedure wise or cheapest parts available.

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My first TDI had a water pump failure I assume was caused by only belt replacement...the bearing support had failed and was canted over sideways and luckily didn't skip time and wasn't overheated so I was forced to learn how to do a timing belt.

I always approach used TDIs as they need a belt immediately. The last one I bought had a "new" belt but one glance and it was obvious that it was old and at 297k you do the math. It was a 1 owner 2000 model and lots of dealer maintenance.

It's just cheap insurance and absolutely a bench mark and something you don't have to worry about. I have driven between Arkansas and Virginia many times and the last thing I want is a broke belt somewhere in between

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alayer said:

I understand, I plan on doing the timing belt/water pump etc the right way here in the future but I want to get it running again first. I triple checked the entire belt, no missing teeth, everything is turning as it should. I tried priming it again for a couple hours. I isolated the pump to where is it gravity feeding into the pump no restrictions and a constant vacuum on the return line coming out of the pump. I pulled so much air out of it Im convinced there is a major air leak. where could that be? the gaskets between the sections?

After getting "most" of the air out, i tried bleeding from the injectors and the air never stops in injector 3 and 4. It's unreal. injector 1 and 2 stopped spitting out air but not spraying fuel. just a dribble at best.

suggestions? thanks

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Are your injector lines tight when your pulling through the pump? Assuming they were, start at the top of the pump and work your way down. QA seals first, hopefully not pump head seal but if you do then you do. I recently had the 3 point plug seal leak on one of mine. 15/16 socket with every other point ground off worked like a charm.



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I got a the seal kit in. I replaced the top two seals around the QA, then shut off valve o ring, the pump head o ring, and a few of the copper washers. I primed it and went to start it, but as soon as it cranks over it introduces all kinds of air. There has to be another leak somewhere, I can prime it and get all the air out but when it cranks, tons of air gets in. Reminder that I have the pump feeding from a bottle of diesel and know thats not where the air is coming from. It does do this weird thing when i crank it, the fluid in the diesel inlet moves maybe four or five inches in the pump and then back and just kind of goes back and forth. when i'm cranking it doesn't really draw from the can. What other seal failures are common? thanks.

You need to install an over-head fuel feed like when doing a diesel purge. With that set-up, you never have to worry as to whether there is ample fuel flowing into the IP body.

The IP moves a lot of fuel. When everything is working properly, there is a constant flow from the return fuel hose.......... an amazing amount!

Take a look at this half gallon jar receiving return flow..... the IP would fill it in about 35 to 40 seconds with the engine at idle.



I suspect that it's possible that a previous owner has used home-brew bio-diesel and maybe some filtered waste vegetable oil.

I doubt any junk made it through the filter but possibly some broke off internal of the IP.

I'd be inclined to remove the injector hard pipes from the IP and observe there while someone cranks the engine over. It will be a messy endeavor. Do not expect a fire hose volume of fuel. The amount will be quite smaller than you might be thinking. Once fuel is coming out there, then re-install the hard lines and bleed then at the injectors. But, if you never get fuel directly out the IP, likely its days are over!