tdi died

[Satnam]

there is no tech section here so I'll post in performance

Today my TDI finally died (idling in a parking lot waiting for a car to pull out)

there was diesel leaked on the ground, I got the parking spot - pushed it in

Saw diesel in the engine compartment by the water seperator, undid the water seperator and the drain valve was broken on the bottom if it, maybe because I didn't drain it.

Strange failure - is this common.

replaced the seperator, took forever to start, cranked and cranked the engine. It finally started after probably putting a few thousand KM of wear (assuming poor lubrication during cranking)
there must be some sort of pre-priming the seperator so you don't have to crank the motor so much to start the first time???




edit : now I know
http://pics2.tdiclub.com/video/cincitdi/fuelfilter.html

[Stampfan]

Re: tdi died

The plastic drain on the bottom of the fuel filter is quite cheaply made (plastic, fragile), no matter whether you get the VW fuel filter or an aftermarket brand. Chances are the thing broke BECAUSE somebody tried to drain water from it and either broke it, undertightened it, overtightened it, etc.

Consensus on TDIclub is that water almost never accumulates in the bottom. It certainly didn't *cause* your problem there.

You can either prime the fuel filter with a pump, or simply fill it full with either diesel or a fuel treatment (powerservice, etc.) and then crank until it starts.

[Stonewall]

Re: tdi died

Wow that is a new one for me, I have never had that happen. You should really be changing it every year or so anyways so you shouldn't have that problem again. I have the cat fuel filter mod I still have to put back in since I took it out after the accident. It is a really nice setup since the filters are only about $10.

[B5]

Re: tdi died

What? The plastic knob broke. I wonder how many will brake like that. What a POS.

Glad you found out and stop the car. Otherwise you can make your own a ‘Burn TDI Burn’ video.