VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

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Wed 1 Jul 2015 21:50

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - ah207

Rather than use my original thread from a few days a go, I thought I'd start a new one - for the sheer shock value.

After a thorough diagnostic, the garage informed me that ALL FOUR injectors need replacing. They cannot be cleaned, or otherwise salvaged. Total cost of replacing the injectors, plus a fuel filter, plus labour:

2250 Pounds

No idea how I have managed to fry fuel injectors after only 5.5 years of use and only 59K miles.

Even worse, no idea what to do next.

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Wed 1 Jul 2015 21:56

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - gordonbennet

Diesel specialist workshops beckons.

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Wed 1 Jul 2015 22:13

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - RobJP

Is that price from a VW main agent, or an independent ?

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Wed 1 Jul 2015 22:42

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - ah207

Its an independent - one I've used a number of times over the past 8 years for services, pre-MOT check-ups etc. The full quote was for 2450 pounds, but as I'm local+regular, I got the "discounted" quote. They won't do any work until I authorise it.

I'm still a bit shocked to be honest. Not only at the monetary amount, but the fact that a 5 and a half year old VW golf (a premium car - thus implying a high level of reliability) can just fail so catastrophically! Prior to this, I owned a Renault Clio for 7 years (2000-2007) - and apart from the annual servicing - had no problems.

Edited by ah207 on 01/07/2015 at 22:43

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Wed 1 Jul 2015 23:01

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - elekie&a/c doctor

As I replied to your original post,egr or injectors.You have had these done,so prepare for the next failure;egr valve,around £1000 fitted.Do you feel lucky??I am amazed you got to 60k miles without any major issues.

Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 01/07/2015 at 23:11

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Wed 1 Jul 2015 23:20

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - Peter.N.

Something doesn't seem right there. I have a Peugeot Hdi diesel with nearly 240,000 miles on it still with the original injectors, and a C5 using the same engine at 200,000 miles.

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Wed 1 Jul 2015 23:25

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - ah207

Nope - don't feel lucky at all. Numb maybe! OK - my dad's cars (Clapped out Cortina mark 3's, Hillman Hunters etc) from yesteryear seemed to break down almost every week (or so it seemed) - but somehow we still managed to patch them up without spending a small fortune. Happy days.

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Thu 16 Jul 2015 23:49

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - bernie123

The diaphragm in the EGR valve in my old VW Bora 1.9 TDI was perforated which caused the ECU to register an out of range fault and thus the engine management light would illuminate.

I bought a replacement off a supplier on ebay which cost just under £90, fitted it myself in about 30 minutes.

Where does the £1000 cost as quoted come from ??

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Thu 2 Jul 2015 10:51

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - ah207

At the risk of appearing to sound as if I'm milking for free advice (and sympathy) I have had a chance to reflect on things overnight. Managed to chat with the mechanic this morning before coming into work. He said he will phone around his various contacts to see if he can source used/refurbished injectors - but warned that there is no guarantee the same fault will not develop again. Ditto if I opted for new ones to be installed.

I am really left with 3 options:

1. Pay for the repair, get the car up and running again - and put it up for sale. Take the money and think seriously before buying again.

2. Pay for the repair, and get it part exchanged for something more in my league (i.e something less powerful, smaller, cheaper maintenace). The common or garden Renaults, Citroens, Peugeots spring to mind.

3. Pay for the repair...live with the car, and just accept the fact its going to hurt my pocket seriously once a year.

Option #3 is hard to justify as I don't use the car every day - and two and half thousand pounds buys a lot of holidays, pays for medical expenses - not to mention home repairs/upkeep.

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Thu 2 Jul 2015 14:34

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - Railroad.

May I ask exactly what did they say was wrong with your injectors?

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Thu 2 Jul 2015 14:47

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - slkfanboy

Search around and get them tested and may be recondition.

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Thu 2 Jul 2015 15:23

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - RobJP

I'm with railroad and slk on this one - I'd be astonished if all 4 injectors had failed on a 5.5 year old car with moderate mileage. If they had such reliability issues, then you'd expect these forums to be full of people with that problem (like we've seen for DSG gearboxes, BMW timing chains, etc)

So either you're incredibly unlucky, or the garage diagnosis isn't correct. If the former then there's not much you can do about it. However, you may be best getting a second opinion. The potential savings if another garage can refurbish injectors (or only replace 1 or 2) make it worth considering, at least.

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Thu 2 Jul 2015 16:11

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - ah207

Thanks for everyone's input - it does soften the blow (a little). On my way home this evening, I will pop into the garage again and ask the mechanic to give me a better description of what's happened to the injectors -and how could all 4 have simultaneously failed. I don't drive hard - always been the safty-first, take it easy type of driver on the road. So no thrashing the engine/boy racer or hitting speed bumps hard etc.

Will post update later tonight or tomorrow morning.

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Thu 2 Jul 2015 23:42

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - Stillnotsure

2. Pay for the repair, and get it part exchanged for something more in my league (i.e something less powerful, smaller, cheaper maintenace). The common or garden Renaults, Citroens, Peugeots spring to mind.

I would be very careful doing this. My wifes Clio 1.5 DCI failed spectacularly at 5 years old and 36K miles when the fuel pump broke up and fed metal swarf through the system.

The resultant bill was about the same as what you have been quoted to repair your Golf.

We sold the car to WBAC and bought a cheap petrol Panda which has given several years reliable service (touch wood).

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Thu 2 Jul 2015 23:53

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - Avant

As you'll understandably have lost confidence in the car, I suggest you get it into a saleable condition as cheaply as you can and then flog it.

Don't get another diesel: a petrol Golf would be fine but a Toyota Yaris or Auris of similar age, or perhaps a Kia Ceed, would be cheaper.

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Fri 3 Jul 2015 10:25

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - ah207

UPDATE: Had a longer chat with the mechanic last night. He explained that a full electronic diagnostic had found no errors with the EGR valve, or fuel pump function. The fuel pump itself was in good condition, but the fuel filter needed replacing (it hadn't been replaced at all from new). Errors were found with all four injectors. There was "no fuel delivery pressure" from any of them - and the nature of their construction meant that there is no way to look inside them, or clean them. He said he can continue phoning aorund his contacts waiting for for refurbished, or used VW injectors (salvaged from accidents) - but there would be no guarantees. Or he can fit new VW injectors and give us 6 month guarantee of the work. So I caved in - and decided the best course of action would be to get the work done with new injectors - and just cough up the cash. Just means I´ll have to tighten the belt a little bit on other things - and chalk this up to experience.

Regarding the next course of action after I get the car back - both the wife and I agree that we perhaps we bit off more than we could chew when we purchased the 1.6L TDi Golf - knowing it would only ever see moderate use. So if nothing else, we learnt the hard way how to choose your car based on your actual practical needs (and not wants). We will visit dealers in due course with a view to a part-exchange for something that suits our needs and budgets more. But we'll take someone a bit more car-savvy with us to make sure we (a) make a rational choice, and (b) don't get ripped off.

Thanks to everyone - stillnotsure, Avant, Rob, Sil, railroad for chiming in.

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Fri 3 Jul 2015 12:59

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - dieselnut

Your mechanic said " There was "no fuel delivery pressure" from any of them", I take it he has tried to restart the engine after changing the fuel filter.

The only fuel pressure sensor is on the common rail that feed all 4 injectors, so there is no way to check individule injectors without removing them.

It only need one injector to be leaking badly to kill the pressure to all 4 of them which obviously also stops the engine.

Has your mech done a spill test on all 4 injectors.

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Fri 3 Jul 2015 16:49

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - Andrew-T

I would have thought that if you decide to invest that much, you would probably intend to keep the car? Not throw good money after bad?

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Thu 16 Jul 2015 22:29

VW Golf 1.6 TDi - Ouch!! Expensive! - mark999

I would try to get a 2nd opinion, cant see all 4 injectors failing at the same time, especially if the fuel pump is ok.

If all else fails try selling it as a non runner.

Mark

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