99.5 Jetta TDI Troubles

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 04:44:10 GMT, hyubso > wrote:

>Erik Dillenkofer wrote:
> The pump will run you between $2,000 and $3,000
>> to replace (and that buys a lot of $50 filters).

>wow!
>
>.. that is a lot of money to fix a new jetta diesel..
>
>I htink i'll keep my old faithful 1984 jetta a few more years before
>buying one of those pretty new things!

That's nothing to do with the age of the car. I had a 1984 Jetta TD,
and I remember being at the dealership when somebody was told the
injection pump on their TD was toast. It was outrageously expensive
in those days too.

The bottom line is that with a diesel it's worth the cost to replace
the fuel filter according to the maintenance schedule, and to drain
the water separator with every oil change.

--
Remove preceding and trailing X from username for replies
(Sorry, but I'm SICK of spam...)

Thanks again for all the replies.
Eric, an answer to your question, I bought the car with 99k miles on
it. I changed the timing belt at 100k since I wasn't sure of the
vehicle maintenance history. I also drained the filter/water
separator and which there wasn't any water in it. Then about 15k
miles later I changed the fuel and air filters. We didn't check for
loose bolts on the pump but I will look at that this weekend.

As for Peter Parker's response, I sold my 88 Cherokee with 220k miles
on it and bought this Jetta. I like the way the Jetta drives and the
fuel economy but as you said, that inline 6 in the Jeeps can't be
beat. I never had to sink any money into my Jeep except for brakes,
tires and routing maintenance items. When I sold it, the dude that
bought it was going to use it as a snowplow. Sounded good to me.
Believe me, I've been contemplating fixing and selling the Jetta to
make some room in my driveway for a Wrangler. I'm beginning to wonder
if I should have kept on driving the jeep.

Back to the Jetta, I am going to try to rule out any other
possibilities before I sink the money into a fuel injector pump. I've
been postponing the repair job temporarily since the weather has been
cold and my garage has been a deep freeze. Now that it's starting to
warm up, it's time to go to work.

I would have replied sooner but I have had so much stuff going on that
I didn't have time to check the newsgroup. I drove the car these past
couple of days and it seemed to drive fine unless I shut it off and
drove somewhere else a few minutes later. Then it would start to run
rough and smoke again. The engine light and glow plug light continue
to come on after about 10 seconds of run time. I did discover my EGR
control was sticking so I freed it up and cleaned out some of the gunk
inside. It would idle after that but still has issues.

Thanks again for everyones input.

Dave


On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 05:54:15 -0500, "Erik Dillenkofer"
> wrote:

>Was that the first filter change (at 115,000 miles)? Or did you change the filter every 20,000 miles like you're supposed to? If you
>didn't change the filter every 20,000 ... then it's very likely your pump is shot. The pump will run you between $2,000 and $3,000
>to replace (and that buys a lot of $50 filters).
>
>Also, did the mechanic check the bolts that hold the pump? If one loosened and the pump moved (even a very small amount) the
>injection timing will be off and you'll have clouds of white smoke.
>
>"Dave" > wrote in message news:1110719618.a49294d987a8bc536bacaf4c69bb0674@t eranews...
>> Thanks for everyone's input. I changed the fuel filter about 10000
>> miles ago. I'm not quite convinced that it's the injection pump. At
>> least I wan't to check out all options before I sink money into a new
>> pump.
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 20:16:30 -0500, "Erik Dillenkofer"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>How often did you change the fuel filter (routine maintenance)?
>>>
>>>"Dave" > wrote in message news:1110502015.6683db5bdf67a943c704bab011c49670@t eranews...
>>>> Has any TDI owners had a problem like this one? Any advice or inputs
>>>> would be most appreciated. Is an injection pump replacement a common
>>>> occurence? The car has 125,000 miles and I changed the fuel filter
>>>> about 10,000 miles ago. If I have no other option but to replace the
>>>> injection pump, is there a good place to get a used pump? Where would
>>>> be the best place to buy a new pump?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Story:
>>>>
>>>> I recently took my 99.5 Jetta TDI on a road trip. Two days driving
>>>> down to FL and two days back to OH.
>>>>
>>>> The trip down was uneventful but the trip back was another story!
>>>>
>>>> The trip back day 1:
>>>> On the way back, after I crossed the GA border (cheaper fuel prices)
>>>> I topped off the tank with diesel. The engine light came on almost
>>>> immediatly after starting the engine and the glo-plug light also
>>>> started blinking. The car was running fine until I stopped for lunch
>>>> in SC. Upon starting the car and leaving the parking lot, it started
>>>> bucking and running like crap. At highway speeds it seemed to do ok
>>>> but I could still feel it "missing" and when I got off the interstate,
>>>> in NC it seemed to run rougher at lower speeds. Finally reached my
>>>> overnight destination.
>>>>
>>>> Day 2:
>>>> I drove to a VW dealer where my brother-in-law works as a mechanic.
>>>> On the way there, the car continued to buck and carry on while at the
>>>> same time sending out a James Bond smoke screen from the tail pipe.
>>>> He hooked up the computer and it had a code for the quantity adjuster.
>>>> The code could not be erased either. He seemed to think it was the
>>>> injection pump going bad. He also said it should make it back to OH.
>>>> To make a long story not as long, the car finally gave out 3 hours
>>>> from home. Just before it died, the idle was very erratic and it
>>>> didn't like the slower stop and go traffic in the small town I was
>>>> passing through. Once it finally decided that it could no longer
>>>> maintain the engine rpm enough to continue, it quit. I couldn't get
>>>> it to start after that. Had a friend pick me up from my home town and
>>>> finally got back. What a long day.
>>>>
>>>> Day 3:
>>>> Let it sit on the side of the road all day in disgust.
>>>>
>>>> Day 4:
>>>> Loaded it on a flat bed trailer. The car actually started and ran
>>>> just enough to get halfway up the ramps onto the trailer and it looked
>>>> like a smoke grenade went off around us. Towed it home and put it in
>>>> the garage where it sits, unable to start.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Ok, then we don't know the maintenance history so we can't rule out a bad pump, but here's some other things to look for:

1) Check all the intake hoses starting at the turbo, down to the intercooler, and up to the manifold to make sure none of the
connections have come apart.
2) Remove the intake hoses from the intercooler, remove it from the vehicle. Make sure it hasn't filled with oil and gotten so
clogged that it's not passing air. Drain it, clean it, reinstall it.
3) Check the snow screen in the intake snorkle (located between the battery and the sidewall of the engine compartment) to make sure
it's not blocked with debris.
4) Remove the EGR valve and check the intake manifold for blockage (the oil vapor from the CCV and the soot from the EGR combine to
clog the intake manifold)

I wouldn't bother checking the pump bolts, because if they are loose and the pump moved you'll need to find someone with a VagCom in
order to reset the timing anyway. Go here www.tdiclub.com and ask if there's anyone that lives near you that can help you
troubleshoot. Others on the site that had this problem had one of the causes above ... or bad injectors ... or a bad pump.

"Dave" > wrote in message news:1111113772.193abadd25929beade745901dc197707@t eranews...
> Thanks again for all the replies.
> Eric, an answer to your question, I bought the car with 99k miles on
> it. I changed the timing belt at 100k since I wasn't sure of the
> vehicle maintenance history. I also drained the filter/water
> separator and which there wasn't any water in it. Then about 15k
> miles later I changed the fuel and air filters. We didn't check for
> loose bolts on the pump but I will look at that this weekend.
>
> As for Peter Parker's response, I sold my 88 Cherokee with 220k miles
> on it and bought this Jetta. I like the way the Jetta drives and the
> fuel economy but as you said, that inline 6 in the Jeeps can't be
> beat. I never had to sink any money into my Jeep except for brakes,
> tires and routing maintenance items. When I sold it, the dude that
> bought it was going to use it as a snowplow. Sounded good to me.
> Believe me, I've been contemplating fixing and selling the Jetta to
> make some room in my driveway for a Wrangler. I'm beginning to wonder
> if I should have kept on driving the jeep.
>
> Back to the Jetta, I am going to try to rule out any other
> possibilities before I sink the money into a fuel injector pump. I've
> been postponing the repair job temporarily since the weather has been
> cold and my garage has been a deep freeze. Now that it's starting to
> warm up, it's time to go to work.
>
> I would have replied sooner but I have had so much stuff going on that
> I didn't have time to check the newsgroup. I drove the car these past
> couple of days and it seemed to drive fine unless I shut it off and
> drove somewhere else a few minutes later. Then it would start to run
> rough and smoke again. The engine light and glow plug light continue
> to come on after about 10 seconds of run time. I did discover my EGR
> control was sticking so I freed it up and cleaned out some of the gunk
> inside. It would idle after that but still has issues.
>
> Thanks again for everyones input.
>
> Dave
>
>
> On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 05:54:15 -0500, "Erik Dillenkofer"
> > wrote:
>
>>Was that the first filter change (at 115,000 miles)? Or did you change the filter every 20,000 miles like you're supposed to? If
>>you
>>didn't change the filter every 20,000 ... then it's very likely your pump is shot. The pump will run you between $2,000 and $3,000
>>to replace (and that buys a lot of $50 filters).
>>
>>Also, did the mechanic check the bolts that hold the pump? If one loosened and the pump moved (even a very small amount) the
>>injection timing will be off and you'll have clouds of white smoke.
>>
>>"Dave" > wrote in message news:1110719618.a49294d987a8bc536bacaf4c69bb0674@t eranews...
>>> Thanks for everyone's input. I changed the fuel filter about 10000
>>> miles ago. I'm not quite convinced that it's the injection pump. At
>>> least I wan't to check out all options before I sink money into a new
>>> pump.
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 20:16:30 -0500, "Erik Dillenkofer"
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>>How often did you change the fuel filter (routine maintenance)?
>>>>
>>>>"Dave" > wrote in message news:1110502015.6683db5bdf67a943c704bab011c49670@t eranews...
>>>>> Has any TDI owners had a problem like this one? Any advice or inputs
>>>>> would be most appreciated. Is an injection pump replacement a common
>>>>> occurence? The car has 125,000 miles and I changed the fuel filter
>>>>> about 10,000 miles ago. If I have no other option but to replace the
>>>>> injection pump, is there a good place to get a used pump? Where would
>>>>> be the best place to buy a new pump?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The Story:
>>>>>
>>>>> I recently took my 99.5 Jetta TDI on a road trip. Two days driving
>>>>> down to FL and two days back to OH.
>>>>>
>>>>> The trip down was uneventful but the trip back was another story!
>>>>>
>>>>> The trip back day 1:
>>>>> On the way back, after I crossed the GA border (cheaper fuel prices)
>>>>> I topped off the tank with diesel. The engine light came on almost
>>>>> immediatly after starting the engine and the glo-plug light also
>>>>> started blinking. The car was running fine until I stopped for lunch
>>>>> in SC. Upon starting the car and leaving the parking lot, it started
>>>>> bucking and running like crap. At highway speeds it seemed to do ok
>>>>> but I could still feel it "missing" and when I got off the interstate,
>>>>> in NC it seemed to run rougher at lower speeds. Finally reached my
>>>>> overnight destination.
>>>>>
>>>>> Day 2:
>>>>> I drove to a VW dealer where my brother-in-law works as a mechanic.
>>>>> On the way there, the car continued to buck and carry on while at the
>>>>> same time sending out a James Bond smoke screen from the tail pipe.
>>>>> He hooked up the computer and it had a code for the quantity adjuster.
>>>>> The code could not be erased either. He seemed to think it was the
>>>>> injection pump going bad. He also said it should make it back to OH.
>>>>> To make a long story not as long, the car finally gave out 3 hours
>>>>> from home. Just before it died, the idle was very erratic and it
>>>>> didn't like the slower stop and go traffic in the small town I was
>>>>> passing through. Once it finally decided that it could no longer
>>>>> maintain the engine rpm enough to continue, it quit. I couldn't get
>>>>> it to start after that. Had a friend pick me up from my home town and
>>>>> finally got back. What a long day.
>>>>>
>>>>> Day 3:
>>>>> Let it sit on the side of the road all day in disgust.
>>>>>
>>>>> Day 4:
>>>>> Loaded it on a flat bed trailer. The car actually started and ran
>>>>> just enough to get halfway up the ramps onto the trailer and it looked
>>>>> like a smoke grenade went off around us. Towed it home and put it in
>>>>> the garage where it sits, unable to start.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

Oh ... and a warning ... if the intake manifold IS blocked ... DO NOT attempt to clean it with it installed on the engine. If you do
you will dislodge carbon which will get into the cylinders and since carbon is not compressible ... it will lock up your engine,
requiring major disassembly of the top end of the engine. The manifold MUST be removed if it needs to be cleaned out.

"Erik Dillenkofer" > wrote in message ...
> Ok, then we don't know the maintenance history so we can't rule out a bad pump, but here's some other things to look for:
>
> 1) Check all the intake hoses starting at the turbo, down to the intercooler, and up to the manifold to make sure none of the
> connections have come apart.
> 2) Remove the intake hoses from the intercooler, remove it from the vehicle. Make sure it hasn't filled with oil and gotten so
> clogged that it's not passing air. Drain it, clean it, reinstall it.
> 3) Check the snow screen in the intake snorkle (located between the battery and the sidewall of the engine compartment) to make
> sure it's not blocked with debris.
> 4) Remove the EGR valve and check the intake manifold for blockage (the oil vapor from the CCV and the soot from the EGR combine
> to clog the intake manifold)
>
> I wouldn't bother checking the pump bolts, because if they are loose and the pump moved you'll need to find someone with a VagCom
> in order to reset the timing anyway. Go here www.tdiclub.com and ask if there's anyone that lives near you that can help you
> troubleshoot. Others on the site that had this problem had one of the causes above ... or bad injectors ... or a bad pump.
>
> "Dave" > wrote in message news:1111113772.193abadd25929beade745901dc197707@t eranews...
>> Thanks again for all the replies.
>> Eric, an answer to your question, I bought the car with 99k miles on
>> it. I changed the timing belt at 100k since I wasn't sure of the
>> vehicle maintenance history. I also drained the filter/water
>> separator and which there wasn't any water in it. Then about 15k
>> miles later I changed the fuel and air filters. We didn't check for
>> loose bolts on the pump but I will look at that this weekend.
>>
>> As for Peter Parker's response, I sold my 88 Cherokee with 220k miles
>> on it and bought this Jetta. I like the way the Jetta drives and the
>> fuel economy but as you said, that inline 6 in the Jeeps can't be
>> beat. I never had to sink any money into my Jeep except for brakes,
>> tires and routing maintenance items. When I sold it, the dude that
>> bought it was going to use it as a snowplow. Sounded good to me.
>> Believe me, I've been contemplating fixing and selling the Jetta to
>> make some room in my driveway for a Wrangler. I'm beginning to wonder
>> if I should have kept on driving the jeep.
>>
>> Back to the Jetta, I am going to try to rule out any other
>> possibilities before I sink the money into a fuel injector pump. I've
>> been postponing the repair job temporarily since the weather has been
>> cold and my garage has been a deep freeze. Now that it's starting to
>> warm up, it's time to go to work.
>>
>> I would have replied sooner but I have had so much stuff going on that
>> I didn't have time to check the newsgroup. I drove the car these past
>> couple of days and it seemed to drive fine unless I shut it off and
>> drove somewhere else a few minutes later. Then it would start to run
>> rough and smoke again. The engine light and glow plug light continue
>> to come on after about 10 seconds of run time. I did discover my EGR
>> control was sticking so I freed it up and cleaned out some of the gunk
>> inside. It would idle after that but still has issues.
>>
>> Thanks again for everyones input.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 05:54:15 -0500, "Erik Dillenkofer"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>Was that the first filter change (at 115,000 miles)? Or did you change the filter every 20,000 miles like you're supposed to? If
>>>you
>>>didn't change the filter every 20,000 ... then it's very likely your pump is shot. The pump will run you between $2,000 and
>>>$3,000
>>>to replace (and that buys a lot of $50 filters).
>>>
>>>Also, did the mechanic check the bolts that hold the pump? If one loosened and the pump moved (even a very small amount) the
>>>injection timing will be off and you'll have clouds of white smoke.
>>>
>>>"Dave" > wrote in message news:1110719618.a49294d987a8bc536bacaf4c69bb0674@t eranews...
>>>> Thanks for everyone's input. I changed the fuel filter about 10000
>>>> miles ago. I'm not quite convinced that it's the injection pump. At
>>>> least I wan't to check out all options before I sink money into a new
>>>> pump.
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 20:16:30 -0500, "Erik Dillenkofer"
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>How often did you change the fuel filter (routine maintenance)?
>>>>>
>>>>>"Dave" > wrote in message news:1110502015.6683db5bdf67a943c704bab011c49670@t eranews...
>>>>>> Has any TDI owners had a problem like this one? Any advice or inputs
>>>>>> would be most appreciated. Is an injection pump replacement a common
>>>>>> occurence? The car has 125,000 miles and I changed the fuel filter
>>>>>> about 10,000 miles ago. If I have no other option but to replace the
>>>>>> injection pump, is there a good place to get a used pump? Where would
>>>>>> be the best place to buy a new pump?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The Story:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I recently took my 99.5 Jetta TDI on a road trip. Two days driving
>>>>>> down to FL and two days back to OH.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The trip down was uneventful but the trip back was another story!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The trip back day 1:
>>>>>> On the way back, after I crossed the GA border (cheaper fuel prices)
>>>>>> I topped off the tank with diesel. The engine light came on almost
>>>>>> immediatly after starting the engine and the glo-plug light also
>>>>>> started blinking. The car was running fine until I stopped for lunch
>>>>>> in SC. Upon starting the car and leaving the parking lot, it started
>>>>>> bucking and running like crap. At highway speeds it seemed to do ok
>>>>>> but I could still feel it "missing" and when I got off the interstate,
>>>>>> in NC it seemed to run rougher at lower speeds. Finally reached my
>>>>>> overnight destination.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Day 2:
>>>>>> I drove to a VW dealer where my brother-in-law works as a mechanic.
>>>>>> On the way there, the car continued to buck and carry on while at the
>>>>>> same time sending out a James Bond smoke screen from the tail pipe.
>>>>>> He hooked up the computer and it had a code for the quantity adjuster.
>>>>>> The code could not be erased either. He seemed to think it was the
>>>>>> injection pump going bad. He also said it should make it back to OH.
>>>>>> To make a long story not as long, the car finally gave out 3 hours
>>>>>> from home. Just before it died, the idle was very erratic and it
>>>>>> didn't like the slower stop and go traffic in the small town I was
>>>>>> passing through. Once it finally decided that it could no longer
>>>>>> maintain the engine rpm enough to continue, it quit. I couldn't get
>>>>>> it to start after that. Had a friend pick me up from my home town and
>>>>>> finally got back. What a long day.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Day 3:
>>>>>> Let it sit on the side of the road all day in disgust.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Day 4:
>>>>>> Loaded it on a flat bed trailer. The car actually started and ran
>>>>>> just enough to get halfway up the ramps onto the trailer and it looked
>>>>>> like a smoke grenade went off around us. Towed it home and put it in
>>>>>> the garage where it sits, unable to start.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Update: I decided to check the resitance in the leads on the fuel
pump per the manual and everything checked out normal however when I
pulled apart the connector, there was some water in it. I don't know
how water got in there but I believe the contacts were making
intermittent contact. I sprayed some wd-40 to displace the water, put
it back together and the car ran fine. I found someone to help me out
with a VAG-COM and cleared the codes. The engine light and glow plug
lights didn't come back on and the car ran fine. Today I decided to
spray some contact cleaner on the contacts and put some dielectric
grease in the plug. When I took it for a test drive, the lights came
back on. I then pulled the plug again and cleaned the contacts with
the contact cleaner and put it back together. I will get the codes
cleared again and see if the lights stay off. I'll keep everyone
posted. I think the connector is the problem. Thanks again for
everyones input.
Dave

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:45:19 GMT, (Dave) wrote:

>Has any TDI owners had a problem like this one? Any advice or inputs
>would be most appreciated. Is an injection pump replacement a common
>occurence? The car has 125,000 miles and I changed the fuel filter
>about 10,000 miles ago. If I have no other option but to replace the
>injection pump, is there a good place to get a used pump? Where would
>be the best place to buy a new pump?
>
>
>The Story:
>
>I recently took my 99.5 Jetta TDI on a road trip. Two days driving
>down to FL and two days back to OH.
>
>The trip down was uneventful but the trip back was another story!
>
>The trip back day 1:
>On the way back, after I crossed the GA border (cheaper fuel prices)
>I topped off the tank with diesel. The engine light came on almost
>immediatly after starting the engine and the glo-plug light also
>started blinking. The car was running fine until I stopped for lunch
>in SC. Upon starting the car and leaving the parking lot, it started
>bucking and running like crap. At highway speeds it seemed to do ok
>but I could still feel it "missing" and when I got off the interstate,
>in NC it seemed to run rougher at lower speeds. Finally reached my
>overnight destination.
>
>Day 2:
>I drove to a VW dealer where my brother-in-law works as a mechanic.
>On the way there, the car continued to buck and carry on while at the
>same time sending out a James Bond smoke screen from the tail pipe.
>He hooked up the computer and it had a code for the quantity adjuster.
>The code could not be erased either. He seemed to think it was the
>injection pump going bad. He also said it should make it back to OH.
>To make a long story not as long, the car finally gave out 3 hours
>from home. Just before it died, the idle was very erratic and it
>didn't like the slower stop and go traffic in the small town I was
>passing through. Once it finally decided that it could no longer
>maintain the engine rpm enough to continue, it quit. I couldn't get
>it to start after that. Had a friend pick me up from my home town and
>finally got back. What a long day.
>
>Day 3:
>Let it sit on the side of the road all day in disgust.
>
>Day 4:
>Loaded it on a flat bed trailer. The car actually started and ran
>just enough to get halfway up the ramps onto the trailer and it looked
>like a smoke grenade went off around us. Towed it home and put it in
>the garage where it sits, unable to start.
>
>
>
>
>