Range Anxiety on Passat TDI :(

[mnm2008]

"Range Anxiety on Passat " - Not really, But i ended up with an odd issue.

Over the weekend, I forgot to fill in and drove for quiet bit after the "Range 0" level.
> I ended up stranded on the road, and rather than waiting for AAA for help, I managed to pull over the car, go to the nearest gas station and bought in some diesel with the gas container. In a hurry i pushed in the gas container funnel little hard and i ended up leaving a red plastic thing in the tank.
> I tried to refill later but the pump would shut off as if the tank is full. Fuel Nozzle Reset @ the Pump would only let me fill in another 0.08 gal fuel. So to push in a gallon, it is a chore.
> Consulted with my local VW Service guys and i was told i could use this part "New OEM Volkswagen/VW and Audi TDI Diesel Fuel Nozzle Adapter" to fill in full tank and once i go through the full fill-in, I should hopefully be ok.
> I was able to fill in the tank with the adapter, drove for 100 miles and when i tried to top it off this morning, I still have the issue of pump "ticking" on me as if the tank is full.

Any direction?

 

[Mark SF]

Surely the key thing is to remove the "red plastic thing" that you left in the tank?

 

[mnm2008]

Iam not sure if its causing this.. In a dilemma, since the VW dealer asks me to leave the car with them to diagnose and scared of them saying - 'replace the tank'

 

[Softrockrenegade]

You could always remove the lift pump under the rear passengers seat when the tank is close to empty and retrieve the plastic.

 

[MikeS_18]

that's the best idea I can think of.

 

[tdiatlast]

^^^this. Useless to proceed w/o addressing/removing the obvious.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Remove red plastic thing, report back.

 

[Fixmy59bug]

You all are assuming the red plastic thingy even makes it into the tank. Depending on the size of it, and any bends or curves in the fuel filler neck it is possible it got stuck somewhere in the filler neck and is creating an obstruction.

However, I will agree that it is probably the root cause of the problem.

 

[MikeS_18]

an excuse to buy one of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-inspection-camera-61839.html

 

[VeeDubTDI]

You all are assuming the red plastic thingy even makes it into the tank. Depending on the size of it, and any bends or curves in the fuel filler neck it is possible it got stuck somewhere in the filler neck and is creating an obstruction.
However, I will agree that it is probably the root cause of the problem.

I agree. It's likely stuck somewhere in the filler neck and obstructing the flow of fuel.

 

[Tdijarhead]

I agree. It's likely stuck somewhere in the filler neck and obstructing the flow of fuel.

I agree. While I've never had a VW fuel tank dropped and apart, I did just pull the tank on my daughters Jeep. The end of the filler tube had a ball in a cage arrangement, I assume most fuel tanks are similar. Anything other than liquid would never make it past that ball. You may be able to fish it out with a wire, or you might have to drop the tank and fish/push it out from that end.

 

[psd1]

Pull up youtube videos on how modern fuel nozzles work. Once you have viewed the video, remove the obstruction from the filler neck where it is currently lodged.

 

[jrm]

couldn't he pull the mis-fuel guard and get a flexible claw grabber down the intake tube?

 

[psd1]

couldn't he pull the mis-fuel guard and get a flexible claw grabber down the intake tube?

I'd try that.

 

[LRTDI]

Good luck, report back with an image of the offending item.....

 

[MikeS_18]

Couldn't he get Antman to go in and get it?

 

[jetlagmech]

did I not understand his post? with the VW fuel adaptor he was able to fuel ok, but without it he cant fuel or only fuel very slow. that tells me the misfuel guard is damaged and not allowing him to fuel up. remove the misfuel guard and see if you can fuel ok. If you can then the red plastic piece is in the tank and pulling the lift pump should give you access to removing it.

 

[psd1]

did I not understand his post? with the VW fuel adaptor he was able to fuel ok, but without it he cant fuel or only fuel very slow. that tells me the misfuel guard is damaged and not allowing him to fuel up. remove the misfuel guard and see if you can fuel ok. If you can then the red plastic piece is in the tank and pulling the lift pump should give you access to removing it.

I would assume that the VW adaptor has to go in to the guard part of the misfiling portion for it to work, something like a funnel.

Its too bad that we haven't heard a report back yet, he must have plenty of fuel left. I'll bet breakfast that the red cap is in the neck, tripping the overflow on the pump. Using the VW adaptor moves the back up of air that stops the pump when its run traditionally. If that makes sense.