Glow Plug Replacement 2011 Jetta TDI

benjimin

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2015
Location
Toronto Ontario Canada
TDI
Jetta Comfortline 2011 2Li TDI
A long thread with details, hope it helps. Just trying to give back for all the help this forum gave me.
This thread has information on Glow plug replacement, error codes P13D1 P13D3 P13D4 P13D6 and cylinder # location for Jetta 2011 TDI.

The vehicle is a Canadian 2011 Jetta TDI comfortline automatic at aprox 146K. The symptom was an engine light.

I did a quick code check with a Can Tire code reader resulted in two codes but no cause, P13D1 and P13D3.

I then did some internet research including this great forum which pointed to a bad glow plug in cyl #2. Note, lots of opinions on which cylinder is #2 and I understand some cars can be different.

Challenges; determine if it is a faulty glow plug (they are expensive $156 Can), confirm which is cylinder#2, and learn mistakes from internet instead of on my own car.

:rolleyes:One great suggestion from this forum was to switch the suspect glow plug with another plug and check if error code changes; this will determine if the plug is the problem and help to confirm the real cylinder. I started with the best knowledge found that cyl#1 on my car is on the passenger (alternator) side.

:rolleyes:Another suggestion was to clean the electrical connections and add anti seize to the glow plug thread, e.g. Deoxit. You may get lucky and fix your problem is just a bad connection that needed to be cleaned.

What I did
I switched #2(the suspected bad plug) with #3. This was an easy job but you should take some care to work really clean and not use brute force when removing the wire or the plug.

Some steps in how I did it.
I blew out the areas with compressed air and then removed the two wires, my trick was to use bent needle nose pliers as a fulcrum and gently push the connector straight up. I had to unfasten most of the clips in the wiring harness to get enough slack on the two wire boots so I could pull them out of the cavity without forcing the wire to bend. Next I blew the area out again. I then loosened the plugs 1/8 turn, the first 1/8 turn was nerve racking, a tip, do not oversize your socket wrench, less leverage is less dangerous, I used a 3/8 drive, a long extension so I could keep better control with my left hand and a 12mm deep socket. I then blew out the areas one last time (You don’t want dirt to get into the cylinder). Once I had the plug almost undone I added a tiny bit of masking tape to the socket to help grab hold it so I could lift it cleanly out of the deep cavity. I’m sure there are better ideas for this but I was improvising. Once I had the plugs out I used a felt marker to label #2 and #3, I strongly recommend this as it’s easy to get them mixed up. Once the plugs are out do not disturb the dirt anywhere near the holes.

I then cleaned the connections and added Dexit to the threads of the plugs, replaced the plugs in switched cylinders and gently started threading them in by hand with the socket extension. Once started, I stopped, and removed the masking tape from the socket before continuing tightening. Use a torque wrench for the final tightening. I replaced the wire boots and wire harness clips and started the engine. Next I turned the engine off and reset the code with the code reader.
All looked good with no engine light so I replaced the engine cover and cleaned up.

:cool:This is really a 20-30 minute job max for an experienced mechanic but took me 1-2 hrs to get organised, find my tools and make sure I had not forgotten anything.

:mad:Unfortunately after 5 minutes of driving, the engine light returned.
A quick check with the code reader showed the error code changed to P13D4 and P13D6.

;)My conclusion is the plug is bad and I believe it to now be in the 3rd cylinder from the passenger side.

Next steps
Replace the bad plug and see if the engine light comes back.
I purchased the plug at VW $156 Can$ before tax. The parts counter wanted my VIN# stating there were three potential plugs, I’m not sure I buy into that comment but I’m adding it here as an FYI, just in case there are several different ones for the same year/make/model.

I’ll get back to the forum, after replacing the plug.
 
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