Diesel Fuel System Problems of Volkswagen Golf - part 1

There were three separate stalling incidents within 1 year (9/2012-6/2013). After each incident, the vehicle was taken to a Volkswagen dealership for evaluation. The vehicle was within the 36,000 mile warranty during this time, and no problems were diagnosed or repaired by the technicians. Finally, on 1/7/2014, there was a complete failure of the high pressure fuel pump.

See all problems of the 2010 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

2010 Volkswagen Golf. Consumer writes in regards to fuel system malfunction. The consumer stated in July 2013, the vehicle unexpectedly stalled on the highway. When she took the vehicle to dealer, for a diagnoses, they informed her, the fuel system had completely malfunctioned and sent metal shards throughout the entire fuel system. A couple of months later, the ac wasn't functioning properly. It was taking 10-15 minutes to get cold. It was determined the air compressor was failing and needed to be replaced along with the receiver and expansion valve.

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.

See all problems of the 2012 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

We filled up the tank with diesel at gas station on the road and the car started stalling 3 days later. It would only start after an hour of "rest". After 3 of these incidents, we took it to the dealer to find out that the car had gasoline mixed with diesel, or "contaminated fuel". They flushed the car and changed the filters at a cost of $1275, but warn that it may require a full overhaul! (cost estimated at $8k). So I asked, how I am suppose to know what's good diesel or not? is there a test? some way of knowing? the dealer had no suggestions nor guidance on this regard. Now we find on the web forums, that this is not an isolated case and that there are many cases (in fact the dealer mentioned a few were in the shop for the same issue) escalating this issue from the random misuse of gas or contaminated gas. Net, there's an issue when you have a car you can't rely on because of the diesel supplies. I am very disappointed and concerned that this new car will stall again and leave us stranded.

See all problems of the 2011 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

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.

As I was entering the on ramp to get on the highway, under normal acceleration, there was a hissing sound and the car stalled in the middle of the highway lane where multiple cars were getting on and off the highway. I was forced to pull to the side of the exit ramp where I waited 45 min for a tow truck to get us while cars flew past my fiancee and I, putting our lives in danger. I had the car towed to the dealer where I purchased the car. Today, 11/26/2012, I was told that the hpfp(high pressure fuel pump) had failed and would be replaced under the warranty. I am waiting for further information as to whether there are any more malfunctions or not. This seems to be a common problem that vwoa has failed to acknowledge and is putting peoples lives in danger.

I have a 2010 vw Golf tdi. I was driving along at 25 mph when my glow plug & check engine lights started flashing, and my tachometer dropped to zero, indicating a stall. The power steering also started to cut out, but I was able to safely pull over. Tried starting the car again and got nothing. The car was towed to a vw dealership down the street, and on Monday 11/19 they informed me that my high-pressure fuel pump failed and sent metal fragments through the entire fuel system. The car is currently being repaired under warranty, but I was told that the bill would be at least $5,000 for this kind of fix. Oh yeah, this also completely ruined my travel plans for thanksgiving, as vw refused to give me a loaner car while this documented warranty issue was being dealt with. After doing some research, I found that there are several cases of 2009-10 tdi fuel pump failures with the same symptoms. Apparently, there have been three revisions of this pump since then, and I am due to get the newest one. But, there is also talk that ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel in the us is not providing the proper lubricity, and thus causing the pumps to fail (this is not an issue in europe). Nonetheless, further investigation by the NHTSA should result in vw doing a proper recall and redesign, rather than quietly fixing an inherent flaw on a case-by-case basis. Even with my car fixed, I'll still be wondering when this will happen again. Which also makes me wonder if I should just sell it and be done with vw. Very frustrating.

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.

Vehicle engine stopped while vehicle was stopped. Would not restart. Towed to dealer. Dealer service reported rust in fuel canister. Claims cause of failure was bad fueled. $7200 in parts and labor. Based on several blogs, I suspect hpfp failure was part malfunction but vw does not admit to this.

Check engine light went on a few seconds after I had merged a few lanes over on the freeway (101s @holly during rush hour). Glow plug light flashed once or twice. Within 60 seconds, the car had died while traffic was speeding up on both sides of me. Put on emergency flashers. I could not get the car started again, nor did I have enough time to merge to the side of the road (I had 2 lanes on my right, 2 on my left). After trying to start it for a minute or so, called 911. After 10 - 15 minutes, chp came and stopped all traffic, pushed me to the side of the road with his car. Car still would not start. Tow truck came a while later, towed me to vw dealer (boardwalk) which was nearby. Dealer: boardwalk Volkswagen, redwood city, CA status: fixed under warranty. Provided me rental car. Took 1 week. All in all, gave me good service. They replaced the entire fuel system. Here is what they did under warranty (per the receipt): * replaced high pressure fuel pump * replaced auxiliary fuel pump * replaced fuel filter housing and filter * replaced all injector lines * replaced 4 injectors * replaced fuel rail * removed and reinstalled fuel pump inside gas tank * drain and refill diesel * road tested recheck ok * vendor code (bosch) and (cbf) not a very opportune time for a catastrophic failure, while cruising on the busy rush-hour highway, and it happened very fast. Nevertheless, no one was injured, and the car is now back on the road. I know several people with these cars of this vintage, and I will encourage them to contact vw to try and replace the pump before it fails. On the triclub forum, there are examples of this same thing happening 100s of times to these cars. . Read more...

Entering the freeway and a high speed, engine light and ignition coil light appeared when I reached the end of the on-ramp. Lost all propulsion 30 seconds later; the vehicle would not accelerate. Vehicle coasted to a stop on the shoulder, but barely made it since I had to move several lanes over and avoid traffic going around me. If I was moving slower, I would have been stranded on one of the lanes. There have been many other cases of the high pressure fuel pump failure for the turbo diesel engine, my vehicle is just another one.

I was on a road trip for vacation when my car died. I was driving about 35 mph one evening when I heard a light metallic ping and, a few seconds later, the engine shut off and many lights in the dash cluster came on. The car coasted to a stop. I had it towed to the nearest mechanic the next day and, after they weren't able to find the root cause, I had it towed to the nearest vw dealership. The next day they informed me that the suspected problem was fuel contamination (gas in a diesel tank), which caused the fuel pump to fail and metal particles were found in the fuel pump/lines. This charge of fuel contamination came as quite a bit of a surprise, since the last fuel I?d purchased was at a fuel station near my home town (and a receipt confirms that this was a diesel pump, in case there is any doubt). I had traveled over 600 miles on a single tank. The list of parts replaced was nearly 20 parts long and included a diesel injection pump, 4 diesel injection lines, fuel rail, etc. Fortunately, vw covered the repairs under warranty (though others with this problem haven't been so lucky). After the repairs were completed and I traveled back to retrieve my car, I began searching online and found that there were quite a few other vw tdi owners from 2009 onward, that experienced the same type of issue. All appeared to be related to failure of the high pressure fuel pump (hpfp), all were very expensive repairs, only some were covered under vw warranty and many were blamed on fuel contamination.

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...

I got into my car as normal, and began to drive. After about 5 minutes of driving, I came to a red light on a busy street. My check engine light came on and the glow plug light began to flash, the car immediately died and would not restart. I was told the high pressure fuel pump failed, and the entire fuel system has to be replaced. . . After I got home, I quickly google searched the issue and appears to be a common problem on a bad design by Volkswagen and bosch. . .

My high pressure fuel pump (hpfp) failed while driving on the highway. I was able safely get off the highway, but barely and was left stranded in an intersection. I had to push the car out of the intersection. I read online that many Volkswagen tdi owners experience the same thing. Please force vw to address this issue. I did not pump gasoline into my tank. That is ludicrous.

2011 vw Golf tdi 6-speed manual. My car was at the vw dealership to have an intercooler kit installed (TSB 2025464). On dealer's test drive, car abruptly stalled and would not restart. All power lost, car had to be towed off of roadway. Finally diagnosed as a malfunctioning high pressure fuel pump. 03l-130-851-ax was the replacement part number. Repair description stated that the common rail fuel pressure was too low, so the car's ecm would not allow injection - even in a limp-home mode. This left the one-year-old car with under 14,000 miles dead on the roadway.

**************note: this is a diesel issue. ******************** diesel high pressure pump failed (hpfs) at 39,793 miles. The car stalled on the highway and would not restart. Dealer found metal shavings inside fuel filter. Entire fuel system had to be replaced. Replaced the high pressure fuel pump (hpfs), 4 fuel injectors, aux fuel pump, tank pump, all rubber/plastic lines in fuel system, all metal lines in fuel system and fuel tank. Despite being out of warranty, vw paid for the repair (over $6000 dollars in parts not including labor. ) was told that, if the problem recurs the car is covered for 12 months / 12000 miles. After that, I am on my own. **************note: this is a diesel issue. ********************.

Immediately after the 40k service on my 2010 vw Golf tdi with 39,300 miles, the diesel glow plug warning light came on and the engine started running roughly. Approximately 10 seconds later, the engine stalled. The car would not restart and had to be towed to the dealership. The dealership found fragments of metal in the fuel system and replaced the entire fuel system (approximately $5000 in parts not including labor). Vw agreed to pay for the repair but there is no guarantee they will pay for this repair if it happens again. Also, vw was unable to tell me if the replacement high pressure fuel pump is the same design as the original one that failed. I am concerned the fuel pump could fail again and this time cause an accident it the car were to stall on the interstate. I am also concerned that, should the high pressure fuel pump fail again, it could cost between $8000 and $10,000 to repair. It appears that vw is repairing cars, with a fix that offes no assurance that the problem wont recur and, the NHTSA may getting an accurate report on the actual number of high pressure fuel pump failures.

Golf stalled while driving only filled with correct fuel diesel only shell, arco, chevron have gas receipts to show the high pressure pump failed. Part numbers are for reference only, please consult etka by VIN for most current information. Please replace the following: 03l 130 755a (high pressure pump), 03l 130 321 (line), 03l 130 301 (line), 03l 130 301r (line), 03l 130 301b (line) , 03l 130 301c (line), 03l 130 089 (rail), 5n0 130 307j (line), 1k0 127 400f (filter complete), 03l 130 235s (return line), 03l 130 277a (injectors qty 4), 1k0 201 060 gp (tank), 5n0 906 129b (aux pump), 1k0 919 050 j (in tank pump), 059-13 0-216-c (plate qty 4), wht-000-884 (seal qty 4), 03l 201 360g (fuel line), 1k0 130 307bj (fuel hose), 1k0 130 307bg (fuel line), 1k0 130 295ab (fuel line), 1k0 200 059bh (fuel line), 1k0 201 293d (supply line), 1k0 201 294c (return line). Any line that is not replaced in this procedure must be thoroughly cleaned. If you cannot adequately clean the line/fitting, please replace it also. Please follow elsa web's procedure for priming the fuel system. Be sure not to swap the connections in the fuel system. It is very easy to swap a fuel feed line for a fuel return line. The connections at the fuel tank, bulkhead, fuel filter, and high pressure pump can be switched. If you hear a humming noise from the aux fuel pump, it is likely that a fuel line was installed incorrectly. If the gf test pla n does not show up, go into vsd, engine electronics, basic settings, 35 and run this test 3 times. A vwoa representative will be contacting the dealer within 48 hours to determine if a fuel sample is necessary. Until then, do not drain the fuel in the vehicle until confirmation is received. If you do not receive a call within the 48 hours please continue with repairs and a fuel sample will not be necessary.

2011 Golf tdi automatic (dsg) transmission. Cold start, stalled while pulling onto main road, no accident only because oncoming traffic stopped.

Since I first bought the tdi Golf it has been easy to stall, sometimes stalling while still in motion going down the road. At approximately 20k miles stalling became sometimes unavoidable no matter how much gas you gave it from a stop. This caused the car to pull out into traffic and stall, leaving me dead in the water in dangerous traffic!! no matter how much gas I gave the car or how much I slipped the clutch it would still sometimes stall after propelling me into oncoming traffic. I have driven a manual transmission my entire life and I know how to work a clutch. . . This problem is not normal and many friends who I have had drive the car agree with me. At approximately 19,000 miles the glow plug light illuminated and blinked after starting the engine. The car wouldn't go above 20mph. I turned off the ignition and restarted with no further problem. At approx. 23,000 miles the car stalled 4 times in a row after cranking the engine and attempting to pull straight forward out of a parking lot. At this point the check engine light came on and the glow plug light also came back on and blinked. The car perfornance now is terrible and it is going into the dealership for repair. I am concerned about safety and the possibility of continuing expensive issues I may have that exceed the warranty period with this car. Please help!!!.

2010 Volkswagen Golf tdi; on multiple occasions very noticible loss of power lasting 2-5 seconds usually while accelerating; no stall noted but very disconcerting. Has occurred more than 20 times. Also, has very sensitive clutch with easy stalls from start in 1st gear, have driven manual-transmission cars for 20+ years and have never stalled a car with such ease as the tdi Golf. Has created multiple dangerous situations but no accidents. Car has 8k miles on it so far.

Vehicle is a 6-speed manual transmission Golf tdi. Began sputtering and hesitating at 70mph in top gear on the highway. Continued for about a minute, then evened out but the hesitation and jerking happened a few more times in the next 30 minutes. Dealer could not replicate the condition, applied an available software update for driveability issues. Same thing happened the next time the car was taken on the highway. Did not stall, but seemed very close. Tach and speedometer remained constant @ ~2000rpm and 70mph. Suspect the high pressure fuel pump.

Model year 2011 make Volkswagen model Golf tdi diesel component high presure fuel pump vehicle identification number (VIN) wvwdm9aj4bw066200 * component failure of high presure fuel pump June 21, 2011, my vw Golf tdi quite running while driving in city traffic in san francisco, CA. This occurred in moderate traffic conditions of morning rush hour. Definitely a safety issue. Car could not be restarted and had to be towed to royal motors, san francisco. Subsequently told by service manager that the high pressure fuel pump had failed and would have to be replaced along with fuel injectors. 2 days later was told fuel tank would also have to be replaced due to metal filings having contaminated the fuel system. I subsequently learned that the fuel pump had catastrophically failed resulting in metal filings contaminating the fuel system. Also told may take up to 3+ weeks for repair depending on availability of parts. This incident occurred while driving in rush hour traffic at approximately 30 miles per hour in san francisco, CA.

Vw Golf tdi, 2010. I have 12,000 miles in it. Manual transmission. Stalling problem and occasional decrease of power for seconds. Never put a drop of gasoline instead of diesel fuel. Stalling only occurs upon shifts from 1st into 2nd gear at slow speeds and only occasionally, I have to be unusually careful when doing it. I have been driving only manual transmission cars the past 20 years, this is not a driver mistake or inexperience with manual trans. No other car gave me problem like this. Test-driving the 2010 jetta gave me the same trouble.

The high pressure fuel pump failed on my 2010 vw Golf tdi while driving. It caused the car to shut off in an intersection. The car then had to be pushed out of the intersection and towed to the dealership. The fuel pump damaged the entire fuel system once it failed. The entire fuel system had to be replaced. The dealership was kind enough to do it under warranty.

I was on a 350 mile trip, and I stopped and filled up with diesel at a chevron station about 60 miles into the trip. I have the receipt that says "diesel" on it. The car started fine and drove fine until I stopped about 200 miles later. Then the car would not restart right away. After trying it a few times it started. I finished driving the last 90 miles without problems and stopped the car and shut it off. Then the car would not restart at all. The next morning the car started and ran roughly for 30 seconds, then smoothed out and ran fine. I drove to the dealer. I had read about high pressure fuel pump (hpfp) problems with these cars and told them to check it out. They called the next day and said the pump was fine but that they were still investigating. Two more days later they said the hpfp was bad due to contaminated fuel and it needed $8,000 in repairs. They said they tried to burn a sample of the fuel and it burned, and they said that diesel won't burn, so therefore they said there was gas in the tank. They told me to call my insurance since it wasn't covered under warranty. I called the chevron station where I bought the fuel, and to my amazement they talked to their distributor who agreed to pay the charges. I feel very lucky. I think this is Volkswagen's problem with these pumps, given all the other complaints and no complaints from chevy and Ford diesel pickup truck drivers about "contaminated fuel" since we all buy fuel at the same places. Now I'm scared that I'll be paying the bill the next time this happens. The car is a 2010 vw Golf with only 19,000 miles. The dealer took 3 weeks to fix the car.

2010 vw Golf tdi loss of power and subsequent engine stall while driving on a highway. This happened on two separate occasions at 17500 miles and then again at 18800 miles. The vw dealership replaced the fuel pump under warranty after the second incident. I understand vw is having 2009-2010 hpfp problems and is claiming that 90% of the failures are due to fuel contamination. I have been driving diesel cars for 10 years now and I'm the sole driver of this car. There was no fuel contamination in this case.

Warning bell chimed; glow plug lights flashed and car lost power but kept driving. Took into dealer next day. Told on phone there was moisture on glow plugs but statement said low fuel pressure code p0087. Statement said fuel looked ok and car drove fine - sent home with no repair. Two days later same thing occurred except car went into limp mode and had to be towed to shop. In shop for 6 days - replaced aux fuel pump. Nine days later exact same occurrence - limp mode and towed to shop again. Car currently in dealer shop for the last 10 days. Last word from dealer is dropping fuel tank to check for debris.

2010 vw Golf tdi 2dr, 6 speed manual: loss of power occurs on occasion, typically under hard acceleration after shifting from 1st into 2nd and pushing down accelerator, car will lose all power, but not stall, for 2-5 seconds followed by regaining power. When it regains power there is a huge plume of white smoke out the tail pipe that quickly dissipates, leading me to believe fuel or water. Car also done exactly same even while attempting to pass a car: downshifting from 5th to 3rd gear, hitting the accelerator and exact same lag/loss of power. Car now has 15k miles and I have experienced this about 6-10 times over the past 6 months. Dealership mechanics claim they can not replicate or find any error codes plus claiming they've never heard of this type of complaint, also they claim/suggest this could be a poor fuel issue, suggesting going to another gas station. Salesperson who sold me car informed me, off the record, this is a common complaint and their is safety campaign currently going on with the 2009 jetta tdi, but clearly this is the same engine as the '09. This type of complaint is also all over the internet and found in numerous complaints on the 2009 jetta tdi on this same website, therefore it sure sounds like a cover-up when the mechanics tell me they've never heard of any complaints like this??? as a veteran law enforcement officer and accident investigator for the past 20 years, this is a very major safety concern.

New vehicle tdi fuel pump and full fuel system needs to be replaced!!!.

Upon making a lane change to merge into a faster moving traffic lane, the vehicle accelerated normally for one second then lost all engine power leaving me in a dangerous position. Upon depressing the clutch, the engine stalled. I was able to restart the engine after which it worked normally. This has happened approximately 20 times since. It usually creates a dangerous situation such as leaving the car without power in an oncoming traffic lane during a left turn or moving too slowly in a merging maneuver. Sometimes the check engine light will also come on and the glow plug warning light starts flashing. Clouds of white smoke always appear at the tail pipe during the power loss. The dealer has replaced a sensor 4 times which makes the warning lights go out, but the engine cutting out problem is never addressed. Vw simply state "cannot reproduce problem" and return the vehicle. The behavior is very dangerous.

Engine stalls, on starting from stop, sometimes when going down hill, or over a bump in the road. Seems to stall when rpm goes below 750. Commonly stalls in intersection, resulting in dangerous situation while one restarts car. Complained to dealer, but they were unable to fix problem. This is a recurring problem with stalls daily to once every several days. Has been doing it since I purchased the car.

The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen gulf tdi. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the vehicle suddenly stalled. There was no power steering when the failure occurred so the contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road and restarted it. The failure occurred two additional times and was towed to an authorized dealer. The dealer stated that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000 and the current mileage was approximately 6,700. Updated 01/06/lj updated 04/07/11.