I had the same issue starting last night. My car sat all day Monday and all day yesterday, temperature was around 5 degrees here in Delaware all day yesterday. Fired up the car around 6pm and could hear the lift pump screaming. Instant CEL P0087 Low Fuel Rail Pressure code and flashing Glow Plug Indicator. Shut it down immediately and moved it into the garage. Added 8oz of Diesel 911. Let it sit for a couple hours and then retried and had no more symptoms or noises. I let it idle for 15 minutes last night. I cleared the codes and drove it 40 miles this morning. No more issues. I'm a little nervous about any possible damage caused by the the low pressure situation, but hopefully any issues should appear before the warranty runs out. It really doesn't get this cold in Delaware. Ever. I'm sure that the diesel tanks here do no have the proper winter additives.
Engine shuts off constantly plus a few other issues
- Thread starter Hawk60
- Start date
LokiWolf
Veteran Member
Delaware has winter treated fuel.
Good to know. I'm sure that the diesel tanks at the stations I fill up at aren't used as often as tanks where trucks fill up. I'm curious if I have a bad tank of fuel, or if the fuel pump is just weak and had trouble pumping the cold diesel. Has anyone else taken theirs to the dealer yet?
Just wanted to update the status of my car. Took it to the dealer and not to my surprise they can't figure it out. They just said they can't reproduce the noise so they had me take it home. I tried to show them the video that I took but they weren't really interested in watching. They hooked some machine up to the car and nothing came back.
So if their machine doesn't give them a cold then these guys can't do anything else. I use to know mechanics that can fix cars without a fancy diagnostic machine telling them everything.
Anyways I digress. So the weather warmed up a bit and I've been letting the car warm up before I drive and it seems to be acting normal now. Even with the temperature going down to -25 at night the car has been starting like a champ and running pretty good. I've talked to some people and they suspect that my fuel was gelling up in the cold. I'm not sure if that's it, but I've started to use an additive and the car like I mentioned is running well.
So hopefully this is the last time this issue rears it's ugly head.
Hopefully this post helps someone else out there with this same issue.
So if their machine doesn't give them a cold then these guys can't do anything else. I use to know mechanics that can fix cars without a fancy diagnostic machine telling them everything.
Anyways I digress. So the weather warmed up a bit and I've been letting the car warm up before I drive and it seems to be acting normal now. Even with the temperature going down to -25 at night the car has been starting like a champ and running pretty good. I've talked to some people and they suspect that my fuel was gelling up in the cold. I'm not sure if that's it, but I've started to use an additive and the car like I mentioned is running well.
So hopefully this is the last time this issue rears it's ugly head.
Hopefully this post helps someone else out there with this same issue.
Don't worry other brands are the same. I know first hand Ford is bad about it. No code no problem.
A nice analogy is if the fire dept had to hook up a diagnostic scanner to your home to check for codes before addressing the obvious fire.
A nice analogy is if the fire dept had to hook up a diagnostic scanner to your home to check for codes before addressing the obvious fire.
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Rico567
Top Post Dawg
An interesting analogy, but hardly exhaustive. While I don't relish the role of devil's advocate, let's say the dealer threw in a new lift pump under warranty, and the paperwork for reimbursement to VW includes the diagnostic codes. What would you write in? Would you fake it and write in the code for failed fuel pump when it had not in fact occurred?
I'd hardly call the vehicle's sensors exhaustive with respect to troubleshooting. They aren't going to add any more sensors than required to make the vehicle drive down the road and meet emission requirements.
In my line of work we have development instrumentation that comes out in production which is a loss of very detailed diagnostic data. I'm sure VW is no different.
I'm not saying that dealers should just throw parts at a problem. I'm just saying that instead of just looking for some code from a machine they should listen to what the customers had to say and do some diagnosis based that and their experiences. I even brought in a video which showed exactly what was happening but they just wanted to hook it up to a machine.
A monkey can hook a car up to a machine and see what the machine says. But a professional would not rely on just a few sensors on a car to tell them how to do their job. Just my opinion for what's it worth.
A monkey can hook a car up to a machine and see what the machine says. But a professional would not rely on just a few sensors on a car to tell them how to do their job. Just my opinion for what's it worth.
TDI2000Zim
Veteran Member
The real problem is that they have no TDI experts in most of the Dealerships' staff.
I find that dumb as a Dealership practice, given that 1/3 of Passats are TDI, if I'm not mistaken.
Then again, most Dealers sell other brands outside of VW, and they like to show it.