Lift Pump longevity??

classy_gene

Active member
Joined
Jan 18, 2016
Location
East Central KS
TDI
2002 Jetta
I have a 02 ALH Bettle and I'm starting to get nervous about how long the lift pump is going to last. I'm the 3rd owner. The previous owner had the car from 120-320K miles, the car currently has 343K miles and the pump has not been replaced yet. Should I be concerned or do they last a really long time? Thanks for your input.
 

Vince Waldon

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Location
Edmonton AB Canada
TDI
2001 ALH Jetta, 2003 ALH Wagon, 2005 BEW Wagon
Here's the good news: your ALH Beetle has no lift pump to wear out. :):)

The injection pump does all the fuel delivery work, including lifting fuel all the way from the fuel tank. And (if treated to the odd fuel filter change and not fed watery fuel for long periods of time) will last many hundreds of thousands of miles.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Here's the good news: your ALH Beetle has no lift pump to wear out. :):)
But here is the bad news: the injection pump itself can wear out, get noisy, or more commonly, leak and ruin hoses and such underneath.

Not too many ALH pumps left that have not been rebuilt or replaced anymore it seems. I did both of mine this year, and so far we've done a half dozen others. Which is down from years past because there are fewer of these on the road and/or most have already been done.

If the car runs OK, and the pump makes no clicky sounds, and is not leaking, then motor on. Just be sure it gets checked periodically at least at every service.

If your 16 year old car, at 343k miles, has its original pump intact and working with no issues, it did good, and if it would need attention soon it would not at all be a surprise.
 
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classy_gene

Active member
Joined
Jan 18, 2016
Location
East Central KS
TDI
2002 Jetta
That is great!! Thanks for all the info. I saw some lift pumps for sale so I was somewhat concerned with 343K miles. I recently had the "rebuilt" injection pump replaced since the advance mechanism quit working. Yes I have changed the fuel filter a couple of times, cheap piece of mind in my book. I'm trying to go for 500K miles on the girl. Still trying to get the power and fuel mileage optimized.
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
I would like to chime in here regarding the advance mechanism: sometimes the CEL will list the error code "start of injection..." sometimes it is the pump, and sometimes the problem is the wires on the #3 injector that have gotten frayed due to age. I recently had my IP rebuilt (it was toast) but I still kept getting the "start of injection..." error after replacing it and I then needed to replace my #3 injector to resolve the problem.
So I would say yes, the problem is likely the pump, but it may be the #3 injector also.
 
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