Table 1 shows one common diesel fuel system related problems of the 2012 Volkswagen Golf.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Diesel Fuel System problems |
Fuel pump failure at 7200 miles (despite using diesel fuel) resulting in shards of metal in the fuel system and inability to drive car, had to be towed to dealer looking at the web, this is not the first time this has happened in a newer tdi engine.
I was driving down the road had just shifted into 4th gear came up to a red light. I pressing in the clutch and started to slow down still in 4th gear. The red light turned green before I could slow down much at all. I released the clutch when I did this the engine and rpm increased. I was still in 4th gear and hardly accelerating but it felt as though I was in second gear. I kinda freaked and looked to make sure I was in 4th and I was. The car began to run normal so I just brushed it off. I came to another red light and made a complete stop. This is when the car began to shake and flash the orange coil looking light. It completely shut off and I was unable to restart the car. My brother came and helped me push it to the side of the road. It had to be towed to the dealership.
The car is a 2012 vw Golf tdi, purchased around April of 2012. It had approximately 7500 miles at the time of the incident. I was on a short drive to the store and back (5 miles round trip from home). On the way back, I heard a metal grinding sound coming from the engine compartment and noticed a lack of power. I turned off the radio to confirm that the sound was coming from my new car and it was. At the next stop light, the car died and could not be restarted. I confirmed that I still had diesel fuel, and sure enough, I still had 1/4 tank. So I was not out of fuel. The engine would crank, but not start. Thankfully this happened at a stop light instead of on the hilly interstate I take to work 20 miles each day. Aside from hearing the metal grinding sound for approximately 30 seconds, I had no warning. The car had to be towed back to the dealer. The dealer took a few days to diagnose the problem as a faulty fuel pump. Apparently, the fuel pump malfunctioned and shot metal shards through my entire fuel system. It took the dealer well over a week to replace every component and the cost of labor and parts was over $10,000. Thankfully, vw covered the repair as being under warranty. A quick google search confirmed that hundreds of other vw diesel engines have had the same problem. Unfortunately, the dealer did not replace the fuel tank. Based on reports I have seen online, I can expect another failure any day. Please investigate this further and force vw to issue a recall. I have owned 5 Volkswagens in the past (own 2 right now) and love them, but I will never buy another one after this incident.
Fuel pump failure, random power cut out due to fault mode. System flashes a glow plug light instead of a check engine light not signaling a obvious failure.
At 6,519 miles, while about to enter the on-ramp of a local highway, the check engine light and glow plug indicator light began to flash. I was able to veer off the entrance ramp and continue down the down to the nearest safe parking lot area; as I pulled into the parking lot area, the vehicle shuddered and suddenly shut off. It would not re-start, and we had to arrange for a tow to a family members house through our insurance company. In the morning we had a tow to our dealer set up through Volkswagen roadside service, who would not cover the entire cost of the tow to our preferred dealer, so we paid the difference out of our own pocket. I was notified by the dealer that the fuel pump (commonly referred to as hpfp) basically imploded and sent metal throughout the entire fuel system, which now needs to be replaced. We own two Volkswagen diesel (tdi) vehicles; this one, a 2012 Golf tdi, and a 2010 jetta tdi. They are both filled up at the exact same pump from the exact same station about 99% of the time. At the time this incident occurred, the Golf had 281 miles on the current tank of diesel which was filled up on 08/03/2012. I filled up my jetta tdi at the same pump on 08/06/2012, currently have over 230 miles on that tank of diesel, and have not experienced any problems. We keep meticulous documentation of our diesel usage, cost, etc. With receipts and other logs, and can safely state that this was not due to a mistake on our part. Rather, this is a design failure and/or oversight on the part of both Volkswagen and bosch, the hpfp manufacturer. I am a veteran member of the tdiclub vw diesel online community, and there is extensive information and documentation there of these repeated failures. . Read more...