Table 1 shows one common diesel fuel system related problems of the 2013 Volkswagen Passat.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Diesel Fuel System problems |
The contact owns a 2013 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that shortly after refueling the vehicle and driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of automotive power. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over to the shoulder of the road and the vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact stated that the vehicle was diagnosed on scene by an independent mechanic with metal shavings inside the fuel lines. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that a high-pressure fuel pump and fuel system replacement was needed due to metal shavings. The vehicle was not repaired due to the costs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while driving at 65 mph, the "glow plug" warning light appeared on the instrument panel and the vehicle stalled. After several minutes, the contact was able to restart the vehicle and drove the vehicle home while in limp mode. The contact used a code reader which showed that there was a defect with the high-pressure fuel pump. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle decelerated inadvertently, failed to respond upon depressing the brake pedal, and lost motive power. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was unable to pull to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the dealer, where the egr valve was replaced; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed several times, to a second dealer, tracy Volkswagen (2605 auto plaza way, tracy, CA 95304), and an unknown turbocharger part, the fuel tank, and the battery were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure was approximately 40,000.
During my trip from city of chicago to my home my car lost power and stalled in the middle of the street leaving me stuck among moving traffic. I attempted to start my car without any success and finally was able to push the car off the street and onto nearby parking lot. I had to stop the incoming traffic so I could accomplish that. I attempted to start my car couple more times and still had no success. At this time it was almost 9pm and the temperature was dropping dramatically. I contacted my wife who made arrangements for a sitter and started to drive towards me. I was freezing at that point inside my car as there were no venues open around me. After my wife arrived with tools and other equipment we still had no success and decided to have our car towed to our home of residence. The next day I tried to troubleshoot the car due to no avail. I contacted the nearest vw dealership and had it towed there. The vw dealership diagnosed the car and concluded a complete high pressure fuel pump failure. They replaced the fuel pump as well as the fuel lines, fuel filter and its housing, fuel injectors and they flushed the fuel tank from any meral shrapnel and debris. The vw od America covered the repair without any questions. They are completely aware of high pressure fuel pumps failing regularly on these vehicles but no recall is made and cars are dealt with case by case basis. I received great customer service from the dealer as well as the corporate. But due to how common this problem is among vw tdi cars it is alarming that such risk of car loosing power as such in a middle of the traffic exists. I am concerned for my safety and for others safety because no guarantee was made by vw that this problem wont happen again.
Road test with less than 1/4 tank of fuel. On October 25 2013, I had my radio volume down from the night before and I was pulling out of my driveway. I heard a sloshing sound and could feel a slight bump as if something was loose in trunk or under the car. From then I kept my radio down and every time I came to a stop I could hear the sound and feel the slight bump. It became very clear that it was fluid and it was centered in the back of the car. On 10/28/2013 I called ourisman of rockville and Volkswagen and I told them about the sound. I brought the car in on 10/29/13. The dealer inspected the car and said the car is operating as designed. I told Volkswagen and they told me to go to another dealer for a second opinion. I went to darcars Volkswagen on 11/1/13 the dealer checked the car out and said the technician thinks it was coming from the add blue tank so the added add blue I told them I could still hear the sloshing sound. I was advised to return the car another day because the roads were wet . I went back on 11/5/13 and the service manager was in the car with me when I backed the car up and stepped on the brakes to duplicate the sloshing sound. When the manager heard the sound he said "mine doesn't do that, it sounds like something is loose". I went on a road test with him because of two other concerns a had. I was given a loaner which was a 2013 Volkswagen Passat se gasoline engine and at no time while driving this car I was able to hear the gas sloshing around in the tank. Darcars said they removed the fuel pump and make sure nothing was rolling around in the tank. They re-installed the fuel pump and confirmed it was the fuel in the tank that was making the noise and now the same manager who said it sound like soothing is loose is now saying it is a normal characteristic of the vehicle. They returned the car to me on 11/08/13. Still sloshing.
Was out of town in rush hour traffic and experienced a near complete loss of power. The do not operate vehicle indicator light came on. Was able to pull vehicle off to shoulder of the busy freeway and shut down the vehicle. After a few moments I re-started the vehicle. It still would not accelerate and the light came back on so I shut it down again. Was able to call the vw service center with cell phone and a tow truck dispatched. Got it to the local dealer. They said they could not help me because the service center was closed. Luckily a motel was close by. The next morning the service center advised there may be a bad fuel problem. It was shell diesel from a fairly large city station. Supposedly the fuel was "murky. " if it was fuel problem I told vw service advisor I wanted a sample of the fuel so I could recoup my repair expense from shell. Later I was told there were no metal shavings, and the parts and labor expense to drain the fuel, purge the lines, and replace the fuel filter was not charged to me per "good will" service. They did not save any fuel for me. I did incur motel and food expenses and am worried vw will not reimburs my trip interruption expenses because it is "bad fuel" and since I have no fuel I cannot prove to shell the fuel was bad. According to invoice the cause of my problem was a p0087 = fuel/system pressure too low. Seems vw vehicles are having this problem more than they should and the customer is kept in the dark. I am afraid this problem will happen again.