11 Jetta TDI fuel failure

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2017 Alltrack SE; Totaled 2015 Passat SEL, BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat SE w/ Nav,
which warranty? extending the 36K to 48k? or getting the Power train up to 72K?
 

MayorDJQ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
TDI
'10 Golf 2dr 6m, sold.
I have only seen the ULSD sticker on pumps around here, I know the safeway on the westside of Olympia has B5. But other than that I think they are all straight diesel. We had only used the fuel from when the dealer filled it up, I threw $30 in it one day, then filled it. Both at two different 76 stations.

I wasn't asking the dealership for an extended warranty. That is us asking VWofA for something in lieu of total replacement. At this point I feel certain that every TDI '09 and up is going to go through this at some point or another, so I feel the repaired car might in fact be better than a new one.

I strongly urge everyone who has an issue, even if it is small with your fuel system to register the problem with www.safecar.gov This is the only way that we will get a recall developed.

I don't know about you, but I can't afford a $9,000 repair after the warranty is up. Let's force VW to make a product that is going to last like we all thought we put our hard earned money out for.
As unfortunate as your experience is, it is highly unlikely that every '09+ TDI will experience a fuel pump failure. There are many '09s out there now that have had no such failure. The statistics that we've seen indicate that less than 1% of '09+ TDI sales in the US have had a failure.

Sorry for the HPFP issue on your brand-new '11.

We were hoping that the latest HPFP redesign had addressed the failure issues once and for all, but that appears not to be the case.


Because of one failure? Beyond "contaminated fuel", there may have been a manufacturing defect in that particular HPFP, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every '11 TDI has a time bomb ticking under the hood.

Some of the young punks these dealers hire to clean and do basic tasks such as fill sold cars full of fuel are likely to blame in more cases than we will ever know. They're even less likely than the owner to be cognizant of the fact the car doesn't run on gasoline. This past winter these kids were clearing snow around the new vehicles on the lot. I was in utter disbelief watching them... First they pulled open the doors, tugging the doors through deep snow, then they would plow the front end of the car through the deep snow berms.. In several cases they made a couple runs at the berm to plow through! Finally they'd go to their business running a little tractor to clear away the snow... This process probably took 20-30 minutes, but here's the icing on the cake - They left the cars to idle that whole time in sub-freezing temps.
If the car were filled/topped off with gasoline by the dealer, it's highly unlikely that the OP would have gotten 1,300+ miles before having trouble.
 

planger

Member
Joined
May 19, 2011
Location
Olympia, WA
TDI
11 Jetta DSG W/nav
again?!@!?

Well here we are less than a year later. 18k more miles, just at over 20k and :mad: I received a frantic phone call from my now 3 month pregnant wife. :D By her accord the "curly que" light was flashing on the dash. This afternoon on her way home from work. I was working at the time, and she just informed me that she lost all power on the freeway and barely made it from the fast lane to the nearest freeway exit. :eek: I told her to call roadside assistance and within 40 minutes the tow truck was there and once again for the 2nd time in less than a year our car was out of commission. The dealership looked up our previous service history and all the service writer could say is wow, this car has had a lot of work done. :confused: So here we go again, down this lonely road I've been before..Has anybody ever had 2 hpfp failures!? or are we just lucky?
Has anyone ever had luck with VWoA buying cars back? not looking for people to tell me that's dumb, or good luck. I am however worried about the mother of my unborn child who commutes 100 miles a day being in a safe car. I just feel like we got rid of one POS for another.. :(
 

blownaway

Veteran Member
Joined
May 20, 2008
Location
Oregon
TDI
2002 TDI (waiting for my 02M conversion) 99.5 TDI(totalled) 2002 gasser wagon, 2012 Golf
Find a better place to buy fuel? I suggest Fast Fuels on Lily RD. Or their main location downtown. I've fueled my CR Dodge Cummins, CRD Liberty and a few different TDI's there with no issues. The new TDI's seem to be more sensitive though. Good luck!
 

cd_booth

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Location
Brighton, Michigan
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI DSG
Make sure to bring up your concerns for your wife's safety to the dealer. Also make sure that the dealer actually tests the fuel before they claim it was bad fuel. At this point, they should be giving you a brand new car. Sounds like a lemon.
 

planger

Member
Joined
May 19, 2011
Location
Olympia, WA
TDI
11 Jetta DSG W/nav
This is not a bad fuel issue. It is however a flawed design issue. If it was fuel, this catastrophe would not have occurred with less than a quarter tank.:confused: I know that fast fuel is a good place to go, however VW needs to make a product that I don't need to worry every time I put a pump into it that I am pulling the pin on a grenade.

It is not always feasible to fill up here in Lacey, My wife commutes 50 miles one way to work. We always fill the tank and only from high volume fuel stations. i.e. pilot, 76 Dupont and safeway on martin way.
 

planger

Member
Joined
May 19, 2011
Location
Olympia, WA
TDI
11 Jetta DSG W/nav
I will hear from them this morning. I just have a feeling that it is the hpfp, since it is showing the same signs as before. The glow plug light flashing and no start. I will update as soon as I hear from Larson VW this morning.
 

G P R

Active member
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Location
Toano Virginia
TDI
2012 CW 6M Golf TDI
What a PITA!! If you want to be free of the vehicle, VWoA should oblige, if this is indeed your second HPFP failure. The bottom line is that these machines need to be able to run well on the fuel that is made available to the consumer. I try to fill up at a BP station that claims a cetane number of 45 and then add my PS and cross my fingers. I would run B5 every tank but the nearest biodiesel of any kind is 30 minutes away and not in a direction that I normally need to go. I am aware that the fuel that is available to me falls dramatically short of the minimum wear scar rating that the fuel pump designer recommends. I think this is an important bit of information! The machine was designed to run on DIESEL fuel. The consumer should be able to fill the tank with DIESEL fuel without worrying about causing 9,000.00 worth of damage. If the machine requires a better quality fuel then a better quality fuel needs to be available to the consumer. If a particular part of the machine needs to be redesigned to function properly on the fuel that is available then that redesign needs to be done. If this failure occurs to your average Joe and the machine is out of warranty...Joe is screwed! ? I wish I could "Drive more and worry less" but DAMN!
 

planger

Member
Joined
May 19, 2011
Location
Olympia, WA
TDI
11 Jetta DSG W/nav
I just received a phone message from the service writer. They seem to think that the fuel sending unit has gone bad. This was making the car think that it had less fuel than it actually did?! But wait! there was fuel in the car, so why the F did it shut down! at 65mph none the less. F this car...I am patiently awaiting his return call.
 

TDI_Timmy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Location
Seattle
TDI
2012 JSW, DSG, Pano
Hmmm - maybe the in tank fuel pump? That would not allow enough fuel to get to the HPFP and cause low fuel pressure in the rail correct? That might lead to a stall.

I hope it gets sorted quickly and correctly for you.
 

dweisel

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 28, 2006
Location
Wheeling, West Virginia
TDI
dweisel isn't diesel anymore!
I just received a phone message from the service writer. They seem to think that the fuel sending unit has gone bad. This was making the car think that it had less fuel than it actually did?! But wait! there was fuel in the car, so why the F did it shut down! at 65mph none the less. F this car...I am patiently awaiting his return call.[/QOTE]

It will be interesting to see what the dealer comes up with. The reading of the fuel level has nothing to do with the fuel sending unit pump. It pumps fuel regardless of fuel level. It will keep running even with an empty fuel tank.So,it doesn't mater "what the car thinks''

But if the fuel sending unit pump went bad the car would act as though it ran out of fuel even with a full tank of fuel.

Express your safety concerns about your wife and child to VW Customer Care and I'm sure they will work with you on a resolution.
 

whiplash willy

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Location
Portland Oregon
TDI
2012 4-Door Golf TDI 6MT w/NAV & Sunroof
It seems like there are a fair number of people reporting multiple HPFP failures, almost to the point where it seems if you have one, you are more likely to have another. I wounder why that is.
 

Niner

duplicate account, banned
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Well here we are less than a year later. 18k more miles, just at over 20k and :mad: I received a frantic phone call from my now 3 month pregnant wife. :D By her accord the "curly que" light was flashing on the dash. This afternoon on her way home from work. I was working at the time, and she just informed me that she lost all power on the freeway and barely made it from the fast lane to the nearest freeway exit. :eek: I told her to call roadside assistance and within 40 minutes the tow truck was there and once again for the 2nd time in less than a year our car was out of commission. The dealership looked up our previous service history and all the service writer could say is wow, this car has had a lot of work done. :confused: So here we go again, down this lonely road I've been before..Has anybody ever had 2 hpfp failures!? or are we just lucky?
Has anyone ever had luck with VWoA buying cars back? not looking for people to tell me that's dumb, or good luck. I am however worried about the mother of my unborn child who commutes 100 miles a day being in a safe car. I just feel like we got rid of one POS for another.. :(
File a complaint immediately with NHTSA, state that it's a safety hazard to your wife and your new unborn 3 month old fetus. State it is also your second HPFP failure on your car in your report.
 

n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
It seems like there are a fair number of people reporting multiple HPFP failures, almost to the point where it seems if you have one, you are more likely to have another. I wounder why that is.
I suspect these owners continue to fuel up at the same station(s) where they got their crappy fuel which took out their first HPFP, setting the stage for another HPFP failure. :eek: If they changed where they fuel up, things might be different. Regularly using an additive if not already doing so may help.

These people need to fuel up only at high volume / high turnover stations that do lots of diesel business. I look for truck stops and busy gas stations along major routes to find these stations. I basically try to get my fuel where everybody else does in my area. I go where the big rigs go. The fuel will be the freshest at these stations because it's constantly being replaced often and will be less likely to be contaminated with water and who knows what else. I specifically avoid stations out in the middle of nowhere that rarely get any diesel business. Water-contaminated fuel from condensation will kill a HPFP in no time at all. :eek:

Fuel quality is absolutely EVERYTHING when it comes to ensuring long pump life! The difference with the CR-TDIs is the HPFP appears to be more sensitive to fuel quality compared to older VE rotary injector pumps.
 
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dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
Why has the government not stepped in yet for a forced recall?!?


"It is essential that the lubricity of the fuel as measured by the HFRR test specified in ISO 12156-1 meets the requirement of a wear scar diameter not greater than 460 microns. In addition, it is recommended by the Diesel FIE manufacturers, that “first fill” of the fuel tank should be with fuel with good lubricity characteristics (HFRR < 400 μm) in order to guarantee good “run-in” of the injection system components. The US diesel specification (ASTM D 975-09) includes a lubricity value of 520 μm maximum (according to ASTM D 6079). It is expected that the useful operating lifetime of any mechanical component will be adversely affected by fuel with a lubricity exceeding 460 microns."
 

Sella Turcica

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Location
USA
TDI
none anymore
With probably three years worth of experience on this issue, you would think that IF there was a solution, they would have started to implement it (and could have thrown in a tidbit about it in some under-the-radar press release). It makes me concerned that they do not have a solution, or that the failure rate of <2% under warranty leads to them saying "eh, who cares". In other words, once the private party value of these cars hits about $10k, if there are no aftermarket HPFPs these cars will be virtually worthless to those who are informed on the matter.
 
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