HPFP failure in common rail TDIs: Should I roll the dice with 1k left in warranty?

[DSG-TDI]

Not sure how much TCL knows about this, but apparently the high pressure fuel pumps in the common rail TDIs have a tendency to tear itself apart and scatter metal shards all over the fuel system whenever contaminated diesel fuel or regular gasoline is put into the car. This is a $10k repair if and when it happens.

My TDI is at 35k; warranty expires at 36k. I've been on the fence on what to do now for a few months. Basically I can:

- Roll the dice and keep the car. I actually really like my JSW; Tons of space and can't beat the mpg in a non-hybrid platform. HPFP failures have occurred in only a very small percentage of CR TDIs sold in the U.S. So the chances that this will happen to me is very slim, but when/if it does, it's a giant sized headache. Plus, I don't have $10k laying around that I want to slam into my car if this does happen.

I've been reading a lot of conflicting reports that A) this repair IS covered under the 60k powertrain warranty B) other parts related to the HPFP has nothing to do with powertrain, so it's only covered by the 36k warranty, so I'm screwed if this happens at 36,001 miles.

- Get a hybrid/EV. I've test driven the Lexus CT200h, the Prius 3rd Gen and the Prius C. The Lexus was cramped on the inside and just sluggish; and I couldn't get over how ghastly and cheap the Prii interiors are. And before you say Jetta Hybrid, something about a VW hybrid scares me. But diesel is $4.20 and rising in my area and getting 55mpg + with regular gas is very tempting. Plus, I get to use the tolled HOV lanes for free during the morning and evening rush hour traffic in South Florida, a HUGE plus for me.

- Get a fun gasser. My last two cars have been more practical than fun. My wife and I have no kids and 80% of the time, I'm by myself in the car. This is a huge unknown for me. Something small, fun and relatively efficient for $25-30k? GTI? Mustang GT? Mini?

From TDIClub:

[Brendan@bwalkauto]

Just asked a service writer, and our warranty clerk. Covered under the 5/60k powertrain. We've seen a few come through, and that's how they're getting covered.

[2.0T_Convert]

CR-Z

[fixmy59bug]

Yup, My service dept confirms the same.

Fuel pump (and anything contaminated by a failure) is covered until 5yr/60k miles under the pwoertrain warranty.

[pknopp]

They don't have a "tendancy". There is a very small chance of one going bad which does cause collateral damage but the odds are very slim.

[b0mb3r]

From what I read, is that as long as you buy good gas, i.e. not contaminated with water; the TDI will be fine.

[vwguru714]

Just did one last week on an 09 sportwagen with 140k MILES under warranty....the pump is order blocked by VW... Technician has to call VW to get pump released and VW tracks the repair to ensure it is covered regardless of mileage or situation.. Go ahead and put gas in it and they WILL cover it

Sent from my SPH-D600 using Tapatalk

[Mosbius Designs]

From what I read, is that as long as you buy good gas, i.e. not contaminated with water; the TDI will be fine.

If you buy gas, you're guaranteeing it will happen.

[dubjager]

If you buy gas, you're guaranteeing it will happen.

What you did there.... I see it!

[urbancynic]

Keep the tdi, or trade it for another tdi since u seem to enjoy it.

[03GTI4Me]

Just did one last week on an 09 sportwagen with 140k MILES under warranty....the pump is order blocked by VW... Technician has to call VW to get pump released and VW tracks the repair to ensure it is covered regardless of mileage or situation.. Go ahead and put gas in it and they WILL cover it

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If true, this is interesting..

[jddaigle]

If you go by TDICLub's forums you'd think that half the TDIs are suffering from HPFP failures (and those that aren't are getting frozen intercoolers), but I think there's a bit of a confirmation bias effect going on over there. The NHTSA has had an open investigation into this for over a year now with no recall ordered and the TDIs continue to fly off the lots (and command ridiculous resale value), so I think it's safe to say that failures are rare, however much they suck for the individuals who experience them. Keep it, use quality fuel and a good lubricity additive, stay on top of maintenance and enjoy it!

[vwguru714]

Its true... Call a dealer and try to order the pump....when I call the tech hotline they release the pump and give me a list of required parts...with the pump I get a hazmat kit to send back a,fuel sample...they have never said what the sample is for or what the findings are.. And I have told them, hey this one is full of gasoline and their reply is... Doesnt matter we are covering it. I was told they dont want this to affect ownership or insurance costs.

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[pknopp]

Its true... Call a dealer and try to order the pump....when I call the tech hotline they release the pump and give me a list of required parts...with the pump I get a hazmat kit to send back a,fuel sample...they have never said what the sample is for or what the findings are.. And I have told them, hey this one is full of gasoline and their reply is... Doesnt matter we are covering it. I was told they dont want this to affect ownership or insurance costs.

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Put your flame suit on and tell this story over at the TDI forum. It would make for a good time.

[GoFaster]

So there is a secret warranty on these? Interesting.

[Mosbius Designs]

And I have told them, hey this one is full of gasoline and their reply is... Doesnt matter we are covering it. I was told they dont want this to affect ownership or insurance costs.

Yeah, that didn't happen.

[vwguru714]

Yeah, that didn't happen.

Actually it did happen....one more than 1 occasion. My dealer has repaired a dozen or so of the 2.0 tdis and 1 3.0...ALL under warranty. Funny thing is we also have audi and havent had a single failure on thier side.

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[jetta71]

Its true... Call a dealer and try to order the pump....when I call the tech hotline they release the pump and give me a list of required parts...with the pump I get a hazmat kit to send back a,fuel sample...they have never said what the sample is for or what the findings are.. And I have told them, hey this one is full of gasoline and their reply is... Doesnt matter we are covering it. I was told they dont want this to affect ownership or insurance costs.

Sent from my SPH-D600 using Tapatalk

This is a HUGE relief. I think I'm going to be buying a 2011 TDI in a few weeks and I really didn't want to have to worry about this. But I have spent a lot of time reading hpfp failure posts at tdiclub and I think it has made me paranoid.

[jetta71]

Its true... Call a dealer and try to order the pump....when I call the tech hotline they release the pump and give me a list of required parts...with the pump I get a hazmat kit to send back a,fuel sample...they have never said what the sample is for or what the findings are.. And I have told them, hey this one is full of gasoline and their reply is... Doesnt matter we are covering it. I was told they dont want this to affect ownership or insurance costs.

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And this is how I'd expect a multi-national brand to react. What's a few dozen $10,000 engines to a multi billion-dollar company vs millions of dollars in (global?) bad PR (especially with the Toyota recalls only a few years ago).

[2.0T_Convert]

Actually it did happen....one more than 1 occasion. My dealer has repaired a dozen or so of the 2.0 tdis and 1 3.0...ALL under warranty. Funny thing is we also have audi and havent had a single failure on thier side.

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I thought the HPFP failures is an overblown issue and hardly ever ever happens

[jetta71]

Ok, now you're just f-ing with me. : )

[feels_road]

I thought the HPFP failures is an overblown issue and hardly ever ever happens

It is bound to happen 100% of the time when someone fills up with gasoline - even just a little bit.

[IdontOwnAVW]

I want to get back into a TDI pretty badly, I traded my 2010 Jetta in for my TBSS...I'd keep the current car you have and roll with it.

I have been browsing over on VWs website for a passat TDI but don't feel like dropping $30k on a car just yet.

[jetta71]

That's why I am going to look for one of those gas caps that lock so I'm reminded every time I stop to fuel up that I need to fill it with diesel.

[IdontOwnAVW]

That's why I am going to look for one of those gas caps that lock so I'm reminded every time I stop to fuel up that I need to fill it with diesel.

There is no need, it says it on the dash, and about four times once you pop the fuel door.

[ANSAracingb]

Our dealership has done about ten to twelve of these jobs as well. We actually stock all the parts needed except for the high pressure pump, which has to be released by techline (as stated somewhere above).
So far, all have been covered under warranty, even the ones where customers put gasoline in the tank.

[jetta71]

Our dealership has done about ten to twelve of these jobs as well. We actually stock all the parts needed except for the high pressure pump, which has to be released by techline (as stated somewhere above).
So far, all have been covered under warranty, even the ones where customers put gasoline in the tank.

ANSAracingb - Have they been covered on cars with more than 60k miles?

[BRealistic]

It doesn't sound like an tiny percentage of random failures, it sounds like the system is not designed to allow for diesel fuel contaminated with water. All the HD diesel trucks I have looked at have a large fuel filter to capture the water in the diesel. Does the TDI VW not have this technology?
EDIT
googles.

Ok, it does. It must be too small then, or owners are ignoring the 10k mile drain/ 20k mile change intervals.


And I have personal experience that says the exact opposite.
You have any links to such stories?
The insurance is there for basic liability reasons- and you will only get a chance to access that insurance through a lawsuit.

[1972SS454]

I personally had the HPFP fail in my 09 TDI. Mine occurred at 60,149 miles and VW covered it under what they call a "Good will repair". I also asked for a rental vehicle to be supplied at no cost to me and they agreed. They replaced the HPFP, all injectors, fuel rail, fuel filter and housing, fuel tank, and the tank lift pump and auxiliary fuel pump (Yep, three fuel pumps).

I am the first owner of the vehicle and started running Stanadyne junior every tank when i first heard about the failures (30k miles). Gasoline also never went anywhere near my fuel tank.

There is quite the list of HPFP failures accumulating on TDI Club, some of which occurred as early as 5k miles. Also, some of the early failure victims weren't so lucky to have the repair covered by VW, as some had to pay out of pocket. Nowadays it seems VW is covering them all, from what i have read above.

[someguy123]

Not sure how much TCL knows about this, but apparently the high pressure fuel pumps in the common rail TDIs have a tendency to tear itself apart and scatter metal shards all over the fuel system whenever contaminated diesel fuel or regular gasoline is put into the car. This is a $10k repair if and when it happens.

VW CR TDI owners here seem to like to avoid this issue and the frozen intercooler, all while bragging TDI is most fun and fuel efficient car to drive+last over 300,000miles.

[eunos94]

Spent time on the TDI club had the poop scared out of me after reading hundreds of scary ass posts about how fragile the HPFP truly is.

Spent time reading other forums hearing nothing but praise about the TDI and how no one has had a real life failure. I relaxed and put a deposit down for a 2013 Beetle TDI

Got a call from a friend of mine that owns several TDI's and is a TDI Club "Tdi guru". He just had his HPFP disintergrate after the dealer did the "free service" and didn't prime the fuel filter after changing it. Sure Volkswagen paid for it but still I don't want to get caught out in the middle of nowhere like he did. Waiting 6 hours for a tow truck to show up at a mile marker next to a corn field some 15 miles from the nearest town and hours from home.

So I took my ass down to the dealer and bought a 2.5L instead. The $6000+ I saved now sure does buy a lot of gas and the peace of mind? Well that's priceless.

[feels_road]

Spent time reading other forums hearing nothing but praise about the TDI and how no one has had a real life failure. I relaxed and put a deposit down for a 2013 Beetle TDI

Got a call from a friend of mine that owns several TDI's and is a TDI Club "Tdi guru". He just had his HPFP disintergrate ...

That seems to be pretty much a requirement: only TDI Club members have had this problem.

Seriously, pretty much none of the regular and long-time TDI owners have had an issue on the vortex media MkVI board. We also checked twice on German boards, where the problem is completely unheard of. I'd say, if you never put gasoline in (and neither the dealer techs - used to be a huge problem), and get your fuel at a reputable station with decent throughput, and unlike TDI Club members don't use additives, you are fine. This engine by far outnumbers anything else in European Taxis, for a reason.

Congrats on the 2.5, though - it's a decent engine that gets way too much criticized, here.

[feels_road]

I am the first owner of the vehicle and started running Stanadyne junior every tank when i first heard about the failures (30k miles). Gasoline also never went anywhere near my fuel tank.

You probably would have been better off not using any ill-advised US additive. VW recommends not to use any additive, at all. I would have recommended 0.3 - 1.0 l or so per tank BioDiesel as little as a couple of years ago, but it seems that in most states, that's what the major Diesel providers do, anyway (or more). YMMV.

[rich!]

had our '11 fail at 3500 miles

'09 no problems

[Brett0712]

I'd say roll with it until the end of the power-train warranty at the very least, considering you aren't going to drive yourself mad from being paranoid about the HPFP destroying itself.

I had a 2010 TDI with 59k miles that I traded in for a GTI this past November for the simple reason that I didn’t want to deal with total HPFP meltdown. I started doing my own services after 36k miles and on the last fuel filter change I noticed metal flakes in the filter and based off what I’ve read (obviously on TDI club), that’s the precursor to pump destruction. Plus, I always wanted a GTI and no longer had the 50mi one-way commute, so it made sense for me to get a GTI.