Filler Neck.

I know this has been discussed in depth, but has anyone heard any proposed changes by VW to fix the problem with the fuel filler neck of the A5 Jetta not accepting big-rig fuel nozzles. I told my dealer; he was not aware of the problem, but said that he forwarded the issue to VW.

I know members are dealing with this problem and was wondering if anything new is on the front--since I have just ordered a 2006.

I went through this with VW. They are not doing anything about it.PERIOD.... END OF STORY. I tried and tried. I even had one VWoa rep tell me they would do it only to have VWoa of America tell me that the dealer told them nothing is worng with the filler. ARGH. ROTS OF RUCK! Bottom line is they have no plans to change this as they claim they would have to change the whole tank. Yadda Yadda Yadda. I am going north this summer. I will advise you all of my fuel stop woes with my FLA. to NJ trip in about 1 month.

I have raised this issue with vw of America. As I am new to diesel, my first fill up was at a truck stop with only the mega nozzle available (not just the big nozzle... the one with a rim) as an option.... it wasnt pretty getting four gallons in with only 15 miles left on the trip computer.

I am fabricating a couple of adapters and will let you know how it goes. It may be a couple of weeks to test... this mpg is great and the gauge goes down pretty slowly.

By the way, Thanks to all who take the time to participate in the forums. I found the comments very helpful before getting a tdi, and continue to get alot of good info... its a different [in a good way] group.

All,
I have picks of the entire filler neck system (for those that have not seen them). I will post them shortly.

Okay as promised...
The narrowness of the filler neck and the lack of being able to vent has been major topic of discussion in this forum. While installing the H&R springs, I took the opportunity to get shots of the filler assembly.



Above you can clearly see the silver heat/FOD shield. All the major components have been labled. There appears to be no way of removing the narrow filler neck and retro fitting one from an A4 without major fabrication. The good news is we have a vent. I have not been able to determine how to best actuate it, but have had success with getting foam to subside by pulling up on the fuel handle.





Here the pics can be confusing. The vent line crosses over the fill tube and is wrapped in the anti-chaffe cover.

Nice pics! Now hopefully some engineering guru can figure out some way to do that "ventectomy" thing....LOL

Since we have roadside assistance, maybe we could use this to our advantage. Find a place that is a long way away from a small nossel and run out of fuel there. Call for help and tell the opperator you need 10 galons of fuel to get home. Do this multiple times. This might get VW's attention.

This is got to be the biggest problem with the car by far. To design a car that takes fuel that you can't fuel up in a traditional way, and the company wants to act as if the problem doesn't exist. They might as well have made the ignition defective and make it where you have to use a hand crank to start them.

I honestly think that they didn't realize what they had done until production had started or when we started complaining, and now they know it would be very costly to fix.

I think we should report it as a health/safety concern, because one could spill diesel fuel on your skin or clothes and everyone knows diesel is toxic. Then VW would be forced to recall. Not a big chance of getting this done, but--hey--its worth a try. I don't think anything else will work.

On the A4 cars, the button is pressed in when you install the cap on the filler. What does the cap look like on your cars? Does it look like it presses anything?

-J

I think we should report it as a health/safety concern, because one could spill diesel fuel on your skin or clothes and everyone knows diesel is toxic. Then VW would be forced to recall. Not a big chance of getting this done, but--hey--its worth a try. I don't think anything else will work.

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Hey, what if you are on your way to the airport and need to fuel up. Well the only place you can find has large nozzels. If you get sprayed with diesel, won't the airport security go crazy thinking you have a bomb? This is a national security concer. I can see the headlines now...


"Man Sprayed with Fuel While Refueling VW TDI Closes Airport"

I wonder if anyone at VW actually visits these sites. For the Navy's Surface Warfare Community, we have SWONET. Many of the top brass lurk there, keeping an ear to the deckplates (kinda like the boss bugging the watercooler to get a better idea of the office scuttlebutt and moral.)

On the A4 cars, the button is pressed in when you install the cap on the filler. What does the cap look like on your cars? Does it look like it presses anything?

-J

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Cap is a self-venting cap, with a pressure sensitive diaphram built in.

Re: Filler Neck. **Fuel everywhere**

Coming home from vacation. My first experience with trying to fuel up with the LARGE truck fuel nozzle wasn't pretty.

I was down very low and took and exit off of the New Jersey Turnpike that also had decent food. It is a regualr 24 hour Big Rig truck facility near an Air Force Base, and I knew that it should have fresh fuel due to high traffic.

After being really carefull, after about 2 gallons, the foaming and high velocity was just too much to modulate. I HAD SO MUCH FUEL THAT BACKSPLASHED OUT OF THE TANK AND ONTO THE SIDE OF THE CAR, taht another guy quickly came to my aide with a rag. No matter how paitient I was, after a few seconds, it splashed back again, leaving a nice mess for the oil-dri guy to clean up. Not to mention eating away at my new paint!

This is a major problem....

Did I also mention that it was a Mobil station selling at only $2.25 a gallon. So Instead of filling up at a great savings, I was forced to limp home and pay $2.65 a gallon at a station with a small fuel nozzle.

Really liking the car otherwise, except for the side mirror noise.

-Mike 2005 A5 Jetta TDI 5m

Re: Filler Neck. **Fuel everywhere**

If you guys think this is bad, the superduty trucks have this standard too.

My 2001 F350 powerstroke diesel can't even take the big nozzle. Yes. 35 gallons of SLOW pumping diesel. Now that is stupid engineering. I had to fill up with a big nozzle once. It sucked.

Here is my theory. Big rigs fill up at the big rig section. Superduty and passenger diesel vehicles fill up in the commuter car section.

It might have something to do with slowing truckers down. Not that it would be a problem, but just a though.

VM made it this way for our own good, see what they say.
http://www.vw.com/vwcom/content/objects/pdf/service_maint/VW_DIESEL_FUEL_Eng.pdf

Doc

What a crock! Some one briefed that there were a high number of calls regarding the crappy filler neck at some meeting, and the result was to issue the equivalent of a public service announcement to decrease the call volume concerning the piss poor design. This was done for the simple reason that it is cheaper to issue than recommend that the engineers re-think the filler neck.

My response, "KEEP CALLING!"

Notice page 2 shows a car being fueled by AN UNLEADED GAS FUEL NOZZLE!
They can't even show a 'real' photo of a BIG diesel fuel nozzle trying to be stuffed in the filler neck?
How stupid do they think we are?

Also, does anyone know what will happen to the paint if a spill happens?

-Mike 2005 A5 Jetta TDI 5m

Think of what happens when you let brake fluid sit on a painted surface. The paint comes off.

Maybe its time we complain to some institutions outside VW to give them a little external pressure. I hate to go to such extremes, but you would think that VW would at least be willing to design an adapter. Motorist clubs, auto magazines, and other press agencies might be interested to know we have to drive around to find a place to fuel up with a brand new car.

I sent VWoA an email, and warned them that if they don't do something more some owners would start complaining to parties outside their organization. I told them that we are reasonable people. We just want the problem fixed. Only 40% of all fuel stations have diesel. Now, we can only fuel up at a third of those.

I have not received a response, but they'll probably send me a pdf file like the one referenced on this topic.

I wonder if the new Passat will have a small filler neck as well.

...and then the Golf is next.

I thought it interesting that their announcement mentions not letting the vehicle run out of fuel and about wiping fuel off the paint as quickly as possible. Their blaming the problems we're having on us, and wanting us to go out of the way to deal with it.

Clean-up the spill ASAP. It will damage the paint and everything else(clothes etc.)... So far I am lucky. In our area, nozzles are available for cars and BIG rigs. In fact the guy that owns the station near me had put a warning on the BIG rig pump warning cars NOT to use this pump as he had problems with Ford Pickups getting splash back from them pump. Just a thought.

I wonder if the new Passat will have a small filler neck as well.

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I test drove a B6 2.0T and noticed two things:

<ul type="square"> [*]1. A high flow filler neck would not likely fit [*]2. I would rather have a A5 new jetta unless they fix the trim (Much lower quality) [/list]

I'm searching the remnants of the B5's and incoming 2006 A5s for a new ride.

Still haven't found the right options. Hopefully soon.

I know this has been discussed in depth, but has anyone heard any proposed changes by VW to fix the problem with the fuel filler neck of the A5 Jetta not accepting big-rig fuel nozzles.

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I don't think this is a problem VW needs to solve. The previous generations of VW diesels were not designed for the large-diameter high-flow-rate nozzles, either.

Most truckstops have separate diesel pumps for cars and small trucks/SUVs. Or alongside their regular pumps, they have secondary pumps with small nozzles for refrigeration units.

Even in the Mountain West, where fuel stations are farther apart, it's not that hard to plan your fuel stops so that you don't need to use the big nozzles.

The previous generations of VW diesels were not designed for the large-diameter high-flow-rate nozzles, either.

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However, the A4 filler neck did not exclude the ability to use the larger diameter/high flow nozzels. The new ones do. Being in SDGO have you had the opportunity to experience the inconvience to which the A5 TDI owners of have been subjected?

What states have you travelled through in a TDI? A couple years ago if you were driving in the SE you would have had to fill up using the larger nozzels on I-10 (I don't know if stations have been retro-fitted since May 2003.)

If it was not for the TDI I would be done with VW. Crap like this is one of them. Anybody else feel they are telling us there bad design is for our own good?

Since having to deal with my wife having to go out of her way to find diesel, (and the greef I receive for it) I have to install a diesel tank in my garage!

Seems to me like someone should design an adaptor to fit on the large nozzle , then neck it down to fit in the cars filler neck (but still leave enough room for the air to vent out). As long as the flow rate was not too high as to blow the adaptor off, it would seem to me that it would work.

For those of you who are cheap, (like me ) you could take an old funnel that was the right size of your filler neck, then cut the tail end of it off just below the air vent (so you have the least amount of resistance possible). When you fill up the car with the large nozzle, just make sure you hold the nozzle tight into the taper of the funnel and keep the flow at a lower rate until you are full.

Seems like a lot of hassle, but it would get you out of a jam, right!

I also think it is a poor choice for VW to force this smaller nozzle on us in the United States. I will be taking a trip from Florida to NJ and will see how much inconvenience I will endur. I could take my 2005 Passat TDI with the larger diameter fill area but I'd rather take the Jetta.

Being in SDGO have you had the opportunity to experience the inconvience to which the A5 TDI owners of have been subjected?

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I've been cross-country a few times. The Flying J in St George, Utah, doesn't have a dedicated pump for cars and pickups. Instead they have one for RV's and smaller, withe the big nozzle on one side and the small one on the other. You have to remove the big nozzle, lay it on the ground, then you can operate the small nozzle. But no, I've never used the big nozzle and hope I never have to. (There are other fuel stations in St George, but they charge more, and I'm a cheap bastard.)

...I'm a cheap bastard.

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Don't try to fool us, you're having to budget more for your mortgage payment in the SoCal, which requires you to be frugal about where you fill-up.

If I were going to guess, I would say that the little nipple that used to be on the left side of the filler for the A4 has been moved to the top of the A5 filler. Someone needs to take a closer look at the filler and get some pics.

If I were going to guess, I would say that the little nipple that used to be on the left side of the filler for the A4 has been moved to the top of the A5 filler. Someone needs to take a closer look at the filler and get some pics.

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That's right, you're guessing. Time to get down to your local dealer and look for yourself since the photos I already posted in this thread didn't do it for you. No filler neck difference between the '05.5 and '06 A5 TDI. There is no button behind the teeth, only a slit for the vent. There may be a pressure relief valve somewhere in the vent line, but I did not see or feel one when I took the pictures. As of right now there is no way to actuate this ghost valve, provided the valve even exists. The existence of such a valve does not make sense since the cap itself is a self venting cap. This is why we fill up until we see standing fuel in the mouth of the filler neck.

Am I being a tool? Probably, but no more than the guys in the two A4 fora that tell a poster to use the search tool. Guess I'm getting impatient with the A4 bubbas (not all by a good 90%) posting here that don't understand that the A5 has been redesigned and who aren't reading through the other threads and posts in this forum that explain the differences. Many of us A5ers have been over and under our vehicles and have discussed issues here thoroughly. I think it's time for an A5 FAQ sticky in the required reading. What do I need to do to make this happen?

Must be low blood sugar on my part, had to fast last night for a cholesterol test that didn't happen today.

Ya... if there were a button under the metal tabs... I guarentee the A5 guys would be posting about it

Is the problem the inability of the filler to receive the higher volume of fuel, or is the problem the protruding lugs preventing the large nozzle access to the filler? I wonder if it's possible to use a soldering gue and melt the lugs off without disassembling the filler, or getting debris into the tank?