60+ days in the shop, still no diagnosis

Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Stafford Virginia 22556
TDI
96 glx variant tdi
The "d" suffix is the cold weather upgrade used to mitigate the check valve gelling. At least he got that right, although that part still doesn't have a pump in it. Of course, charging $380 for a $100 part is a bit much though.
 
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Rrusse11

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Location
PA Deutsch Country
TDI
2002 Golf, 5spd; 05 Jeep CRD
Well cowgirl,
You're clearly being taken for a long and expensive ride. And your ride still doesn't work.
Pull the plug if you can, you really need an honest mechanic/guru, sadly in short supply.
My condolences, waaaay too far away to be of any help personally. At least you've found
this forum, it's a good start. Grit your teeth and keep on asking questions, you ARE
getting straight answers here.
All the best!
 

gearheadgrrrl

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2002
Location
Buffalo Ridge (southwest Minnesota)
TDI
'15 Golf DSG, '13 JSW DSG surrendered to VW, '03 Golf 2 door manual
Sounds like even the VW dealer techs can't fix VWs in your area, so if you keep the car your only choice is to fix it yourself. Buy a manual and decent tools if you don't have them already, and get parts from a trusted supplier like ID Parts or a VW dealer. If you get stumped or just need advice ask here, there's so real TDI experts on this list and they freely share their hard earned knowledge. I've been on this forum for around 20 years now and the folks here have helped me keep 3 TDIs running for over 250,000 Miles.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Sounds like even the VW dealer techs can't fix VWs in your area, so if you keep the car your only choice is to fix it yourself. Buy a manual and decent tools if you don't have them already, and get parts from a trusted supplier like ID Parts or a VW dealer. If you get stumped or just need advice ask here, there's so real TDI experts on this list and they freely share their hard earned knowledge. I've been on this forum for around 20 years now and the folks here have helped me keep 3 TDIs running for over 250,000 Miles.

Gearheadgrrrl is correct, I seem to remember several years ago she did her own cam replacement or head replacement, I don’t remember right off, but I do remember her tackling some kind of major job like that and accomplishing the task and keeping her car on the road, I was impressed.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Haven't had to open a TDI engine up yet, but with the help of a manual and the good advice here I was able to DIY the timing belt, brake jobs, shocks & struts, etc..

I was thinking you did a cam several years ago. It must have been another of our lady members.

Even doing a timing belt is no small task and something to be proud of.
 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
Congrats on accomplishing that……
 

tdidieselbobny

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Location
Stafford,NY (WNY)
TDI
'03 Galactic Blue Jetta TDI, '15 Silk Blue Golf Sportwagen TDI
I truly wish one of the veteran West Coast members would help this poor lady out. Truly disgusting that it seems to be she's been screwed over on car work time and again because she's female. I'm just wondering if one of the fuel lines coming from sender to front of car has a crack somewhere. Don't those lines have a check valve somewhere?
 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
If it hasn’t been drilled out it’s on the fuel sender unit
 

Shenandoah

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Location
Shenandoah Valley, VA
TDI
2005 Jetta Wagon; 2005 Beetle; 2004 Jetta; 2002 Golf (three of them); 2002 Jetta Wagon; 2000 Audi TT->TDI; 1999 Beetle
I'm not sure I'm following everything on this thread? A couple of things don't seem right:

1) If a gas fuel pump was installed and wired to power the pump (if it was a gas unit), the pressure to the injection pump is too high. An ALH only has two wires for the fuel level sending unit. A BEW/BRM has four wires (two for the fuel level, two for the lift pump)

2) I read that the fuel lines were cut when the fuel level sending unit was replaced? How did they "splice" the fuel lines to connect to the new fuel level sending unit? I would start with those "splices" for air in the system.

3) It's your car. The mechanic/dealer can't keep it if you want it back.

Eric
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
I think the mechanic put the correct sending unit in and called it a lift pump, maybe to justify the $300+ price tag
 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
Depending on where you bought it yes….I looked real quick around….. cheapest I saw was $65.00 with vw p/n‘s on the pump. The highest was $285.00. So with a mark up it’s conceivable….not right….. but conceivable…..
 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
So what was done to it now?
 

STDOUBT

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Location
Portland, effing Oregon
TDI
dos jettas
It's still not fixed.
cowgirl, peterdaniel is only 400 miles north of you, straight shot up the coast. You should PM him IMO.
 

cowgirl007

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Location
Santa Ana, CA
TDI
2003 Jetta GL 143k miles Original Owner
He took it apart and checked the entire system for leaks. It's still getting air into the system but apparently it was stalling out while running because the leak was so bad. He says it's getting less air now and he ran it for an hour. He spent 2 days testing for leaks, replaced some of the hoses, replaced an o ring on the new fuel sending unit and now he's leaving it to sit overnight to see if it still has a rough start tomorrow. He seems pretty confident in the injection pump reseal he did but he says it seems to be getting air into the system or losing pressure from the tank. Something like that.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Sounds like it's time to find a new mechanic
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
He took it apart and checked the entire system for leaks. It's still getting air into the system but apparently it was stalling out while running because the leak was so bad. He says it's getting less air now and he ran it for an hour. He spent 2 days testing for leaks, replaced some of the hoses, replaced an o ring on the new fuel sending unit and now he's leaving it to sit overnight to see if it still has a rough start tomorrow. He seems pretty confident in the injection pump reseal he did but he says it seems to be getting air into the system or losing pressure from the tank. Something like that.

IF...he is confident in the reseal and IF he did get that right, one of the primary culprits for air getting into the fuel lines is the T on top of the fuel filter. They are plastic and can crack or there are two O rings on them one or both of which can get pinched and not seal properly.
 

Genesis

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 26, 2003
Location
Sevier County TN
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon
I've also had a filter that was out-of-spec (slightly out-of-round hole into which the "T" goes!) that appeared to be fine when first installed but quite-quickly proved to be a serious air infiltration problem that (obviously) couldn't be fixed with new O-rings on the "T". Once I figured out what was going on replacing the filter stopped it instantly, of course.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Call your insurance company, let them know that last day you drove the car. Ask for a refund.
3 mechanics, plus current $1000+. Best practice is to find an honest, competent mechanic and trust them.
I would file some complaints with BBB. What did dealer diagnosis report?I'm guessing "new fuel pump" was just a fuel sending unit, otherwise that's gross malpractice.
 

Johhny04

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Markham, Ontario
TDI
2003 Jetta TDi
As mentioned by Tdijarhead and Genesis, look at the 'Mickey Mouse' T connection top of fuel filter to see if cracked or allowing air into system.
 

cowgirl007

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Location
Santa Ana, CA
TDI
2003 Jetta GL 143k miles Original Owner
As of this morning, he says the air leak seems to be coming from the tank so he's taking it out and looking for hairline cracks. He also ordered a new sending unit to test and see if that is causing problems.
 

Mozambiquer

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Location
Versailles Missouri
TDI
2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
As of this morning, he says the air leak seems to be coming from the tank so he's taking it out and looking for hairline cracks. He also ordered a new sending unit to test and see if that is causing problems.
A crack in the tank will NOT cause air to be pulled in. That is complete baloney! He's lying through the teeth and is just sucking money from you. You need to report him to the BBB.
 

CleverUserName

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Location
NorCal
TDI
2014 OZ Cruze CTD & 2010 JSW 6MT & 2017 GMC Canyon CCLB ATX 2.8 Duramax
It's gotta be leaking from the lines, connections, fittings or the pump itself. Air is a smaller molecule than diesel so you wont see any telltale fuel drips but it can still let air in if there is a crack or loose fitting.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
I'm too confused and flabbergasted to enough offer advice on repair.
What was the original complaint?
Hard to believe an '03 with that few miles has much wrong with it. Unless of course it's been totally mistreated, which I doubt.
 

Diesel Fumes

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Location
Creston, bc
TDI
2003 alh tdi 5 speed
I'm too confused and flabbergasted to enough offer advice on repair.
What was the original complaint?
Hard to believe an '03 with that few miles has much wrong with it. Unless of course it's been totally mistreated, which I doubt.
Yea it's quite amazing. I've owned clapped out tdis with like 400k miles on mostly original parts, leaking and burning oil, etc. Yet they still start and run fine. And when there is an issue I pay a generic mechanic a couple hours worth of his time to fix things up and off I go. And this is an extreme climate which I think is harder on everything especially fuel lines, hoses etc getting salt and dirt on them half the year and freezing temps the other half of the year.

Its unfortunate for the original poster. These cars are not difficult to keep running though it definitely helps to have a basic understanding of how the car works. It sounds like she's being taken for a ride.
 
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