# Bosch Fuel Pump Recall



## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

Fuel pump failure potentially affecting 6,204 MQB vehicles (A3, GTI, Golf). From the VW press release on Autoblog (emphasis added):

CONSEQUENCE:
If the fuel pump fails, the vehicle will not start, or *if the engine is running, it will stop and the vehicle will stall*, increasing the risk of a crash.

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/27/vw-gti-audi-a3-bosch-fuel-pump-recall/

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM477490/RCLRPT-15V229-7826.PDF

My VIN seems to be clear according to the Audi Recall Services webpage ...

http://web.audiusa.com/recall

... but I am not sure whether the webpage has the latest information as the NHTSA submission is dated April 24, 2015.


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## ProjectA3 (Aug 12, 2005)

my VIN doesn't fall under the campaign but this happened to my car in January and i was trying to pass a semi truck when it happened. i was able to get to the roadside safely and call roadside assistance.
The car was fixed and back to me the next day.


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## reno15a3 (Apr 28, 2015)

ProjectA3 said:


> The car was fixed and back to me the next day.


What work was done? What parts were on the repair sheet? Scary.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

reno15a3 said:


> What work was done? What parts were on the repair sheet? Scary.


If ProjectA3 had the same issue as the recall, then his dealer should have replaced the high pressure fuel pump, which should not take more than a day if the part is in stock.


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## reno15a3 (Apr 28, 2015)

A3_yuppie said:


> If ProjectA3 had the same issue as the recall, then his dealer should have replaced the high pressure fuel pump


Yeah, that's what I figure. Although the quick turn around does surprise me. That is, it being diagnosed that quickly and presumably the fuel tank needs to be dropped to replace the fuel pump. But then again I haven't dug into those specifics with this car yet to know what the job entails.

Anyhow, I'm just looking for confirmation since my VIN also comes back as not affected. That doesn't mean the recall won't be expanded, of course. It started with BMW and Nissan, I think.

I found another source on the recall where Bosch mentions which dates the affected fuel pumps were manufactured: http://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2015/vw-audi-recalls-sunroof-fuel-pump-problems.shtml


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## Spoooolin (Mar 31, 2015)

high pressure fuel pumps are not located in the gas tank.


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## reno15a3 (Apr 28, 2015)

Spoooolin said:


> high pressure fuel pumps are not located in the gas tank.


I was not aware. This is my first car with a HPFP. Thanks! :thumbup:


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## reyoasian (Feb 22, 2015)

I have a 2015 8V S3 Sedan Technik (Canadian model), and unfortunately I was a victim of this issue.

On April, April 16th I picked up the car with 16KM (1 Mi = 1.6 KM)

On Sunday, April 19th with less than 350 KM on the odometer my car (engine) died while I was driving in the middle of the road. I was very close in getting rear ended by a Dodge Ram, however was able to quickly turn into a plaza entrance (very narrow entrance), and barely made it in.
Car was towed back to my dealership after waiting almost 2 hours for the flat bed to come.

Monday I received a call from the Service department that it was the fuel pump sensor.

Tuesday the fuel pump sensor was replaced, and a head mechanic from Audi Canada went to test the vehicle which drove fine until he pulled back into the dealership parking lot when the engine died yet again. Now they decided to replace the whole fuel pump.

Wednesday, they replaced the fuel pump however said the other sensor (in the fuel tank) faulted which needed to be replaced (not sure if this was a secondary concern or if it faulted due to repair of fuel pump). At this point they decided to replace the whole fuel tank.

Thursday, they replaced the fuel tank (I think at this point, the whole fuel system was replaced)

Friday I got the car back (finally)

I got the car back with about 400 KM. I'm at around 850 KM now and so far, the problem has not duplicated itself. 
I have not yet received a report from the dealership on all the repair done (this thread reminded me of it, and I will be calling the Service Adviser to send me one; I picked up the car Friday night as they were closing so they couldn't get me a printed copy)

My concern is now that this is a wide-spread problem and there is a recall being worked on, whatever parts that was replaced on my car must've been the same parts as what the car came with from factory. This means, there is the possibility of the parts failing again. Fingers crossed this is not the case as it was a very scary experience indeed.


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## reno15a3 (Apr 28, 2015)

Thanks for sharing, reyoasian. What a terrible experience. Interestingly the S3 is not mentioned in the recall but like you I expect that cars affected will be expanded.


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## roblove (Apr 18, 2014)

reno15a3 said:


> Thanks for sharing, reyoasian. What a terrible experience. Interestingly the S3 is not mentioned in the recall but like you I expect that cars affected will be expanded.


I thought this was interesting, too, as they went out of their way to call out the Golf GTI, which seems more of a "trim" than a distinct model, compared to the A3/S3.

They also listed only three manufacturing dates for the faulty fuel pump. Not sure how that translates to car builds.


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## reyoasian (Feb 22, 2015)

reno15a3 said:


> Thanks for sharing, reyoasian. What a terrible experience. Interestingly the S3 is not mentioned in the recall but like you I expect that cars affected will be expanded.


I've just received a report from the dealership on all the repair that was done. Will be posting it up once I get home tonight.

I did post the whole incident with updates on Audizine (I'm on there more than VWVortex).
Unfortunately, I've gotten flamed by a few folks who thought that the situation of an engine dying while in the middle of a drive *is not dangerous at all* and I was *overracting*. lol??


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## TheLocNar (Apr 6, 2015)

reyoasian said:


> I've just received a report from the dealership on all the repair that was done. Will be posting it up once I get home tonight.
> 
> I did post the whole incident with updates on Audizine (I'm on there more than VWVortex).
> Unfortunately, I've gotten flamed by a few folks who thought that the situation of an engine dying while in the middle of a drive *is not dangerous at all* and I was *overracting*. lol??


I read through that post. Don't mind those people. Internet tough-guy fanboy syndrome.

Hopefully they fixed your car for good.


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## Evo-2-Quattro (Jul 9, 2014)

Thanks for posting this information.

Fortunately, my VIN does not fall into the recall category. :thumbup:


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## reyoasian (Feb 22, 2015)

Here's the report on the repair of my S3. It's split into two images hence the gap in between.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

reyoasian said:


> Here's the report on the repair of my S3. It's split into two images hence the gap in between.


I am no service advisor, but the above repairs appears to have been done to the fuel tank and the fuel sensors therein, while the recall I posted is of the high pressure fuel pump (under the hood) which handles the direct injection of fuel into the cylinders.

Also, in the last generation of the A3/S3 (8P), the A3 and S3 had different versions/revisions of the high pressure fuel pump, because the S3 version had to handle higher fuel pressure to support the bigger turbo. Assuming that this holds true for the current generation (8V), just because there is a recall for the A3/GTI/Golf does not mean the S3/Golf R would have the same issue.


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## reyoasian (Feb 22, 2015)

A3_yuppie said:


> I am no service advisor, but the above repairs appears to have been done to the fuel tank and the fuel sensors therein, while the recall I posted is of the high pressure fuel pump (under the hood) which handles the direct injection of fuel into the cylinders.
> 
> Also, in the last generation of the A3/S3 (8P), the A3 and S3 had different versions/revisions of the high pressure fuel pump, because the S3 version had to handle higher fuel pressure to support the bigger turbo. Assuming that this holds true for the current generation (8V), just because there is a recall for the A3/GTI/Golf does not mean the S3/Golf R would have the same issue.


I had fuel sensor to fuel pump to fuel tank all replaced. I've read the notice from Audi before seeing this thread and it indicates fuel delivery system.
Didn't read through in detail but it seems like a combination of fuel tank sensor and fuel pump together which is why they had to replace everything.


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## Spoooolin (Mar 31, 2015)

the low pressure fuel pump, sends fuel from the pump, into the engine bay where the high pressure fuel pump is mounted, then that produces high pressure and goes to the injectors, then straight into the cyl.


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## SleepyHeadN20 (Jul 7, 2014)

This is my first German car. It's a fun drive, but what's up with all these problems. First it was the turbo possibly dying, now this. Having the car install in the middle of the road is a pretty scary thought. 
And from the comments on Autoblog, it seems like VW/audi have crappy parts. Making me think really hard about getting my A3 tune. I wonder if people who got their car tuned just drive the car for a few years and trade it in.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

reyoasian said:


> I had fuel sensor to fuel pump to fuel tank all replaced. I've read the notice from Audi before seeing this thread and it indicates fuel delivery system.
> Didn't read through in detail but it seems like a combination of fuel tank sensor and fuel pump together which is why they had to replace everything.


As spooling said, there are at least two fuel pumps in the fuel system, and the service documentation seems to indicate only the rear, low-pressure one was replaced.


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## reno15a3 (Apr 28, 2015)

Spoooolin said:


> the low pressure fuel pump, sends fuel from the pump, into the engine bay where the high pressure fuel pump is mounted, then that produces high pressure and goes to the injectors, then straight into the cyl.


Well, that clarifies my confusion. I knew there had to be a fuel pump inside the tank. The recall notice doesn't mention the HPFP, but we know for sure that this is the one that's affected?

reyoasian, after reading your service report, I think your issue is unrelated. It looks like for some reason your fuel tank wasn't allowing fuel to drain from one side of the tank to the other. All that other stuff (bad level sensor, etc.) seems like a misdiagnosis due to that one issue.


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## link1305 (Jun 27, 2014)

Interesting that there are two sides to the fuel tank (or separate tanks)?


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## reyoasian (Feb 22, 2015)

reno15a3 said:


> Well, that clarifies my confusion. I knew there had to be a fuel pump inside the tank. The recall notice doesn't mention the HPFP, but we know for sure that this is the one that's affected?
> 
> reyoasian, after reading your service report, I think your issue is unrelated. It looks like for some reason your fuel tank wasn't allowing fuel to drain from one side of the tank to the other. All that other stuff (bad level sensor, etc.) seems like a misdiagnosis due to that one issue.


That could be possible. I didn't read through the report, just went with that they told me that was replaced (first fuel sensor, then hpfp, then fuel tank sensor, then fuel tank). I hope that's the end of it.


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

link1305 said:


> Interesting that there are two sides to the fuel tank (or separate tanks)?


Yep - in FWD MQB cars, there's just a normal tank. In AWD MQB cars, it straddles the prop shaft, with two deeper sides. The thing is, I thought there were two pumps (one per side). That's how the last gen was. (See, for example, the AWD beetle conversion someone did and documented online).

Edit: upon reading the above.. there are two pumps (senders) mentioned: driver and passenger side. I guess that the passenger side one is used just to get fuel from the passenger side to the driver's side, where the other pump sends it forward to the engine/HPFP.


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## Spoooolin (Mar 31, 2015)

itr_1211 said:


> When I brought my A3 last yr for my 8k service I asked the SA if hes seen any major issues with these cars. He mentioned a brand new A3s fuel pump already had to be replaced so its definitely a common issue with this car.


He was prob. talking about the High pressure fuel pump....we see A LOT of high pressure fuel pump failtures as well.


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