Last night I was watching the news on Hartford's NBC channel, and a story came on about a woman who had recently had a CEL come on in her '09 TDI. So she took it into her dealer (Bob Valenti's Old Saybrook VW) who reported that she had algae forming in her tank, which moved through the rest of the system and destroyed the fuel system/engine. I tried to find the film online but was unable to. I don't know how she did it, but the owner didn't seem pissed off at all. She was in disbelief, and just wanted to sell it and get a new car. It must be a combination of her being a very happy person, and the story the dealer gave her about it being a one-in-a-million event.
They took the film crew to a shop that does work on diesels, especially marine diesels since this is on the coastline. The guy there said that he had seen this in vehicles and boats (especially, since they sit in a wet environment next to the shore) that sit for a long time. The guy also said that a good additive, like the Standyne he had on his workbench, would prevent this. Not a mention of HPFP failure by anyone on the report.
The puzzling thing is that the woman drove this car all the time; high mileage was one of the reasons she bought it-so how did the large amount of algae develop in a car that is driven routinely?
I know that algae must mess up the lubricity of the fuel, but how long would you have so let the car sit for this to develop. Tha only thing I can think of is that she brought in a HPFP failure, and to avoid a warranty claim someone at the dealership went over to a marsh behind the shop and picked up a jar full to dump into the tank (or drained fuel).
I'm not on the forum that much, so maybe I've missed something, but this doesn't seem right. :dunno
They took the film crew to a shop that does work on diesels, especially marine diesels since this is on the coastline. The guy there said that he had seen this in vehicles and boats (especially, since they sit in a wet environment next to the shore) that sit for a long time. The guy also said that a good additive, like the Standyne he had on his workbench, would prevent this. Not a mention of HPFP failure by anyone on the report.
The puzzling thing is that the woman drove this car all the time; high mileage was one of the reasons she bought it-so how did the large amount of algae develop in a car that is driven routinely?
I know that algae must mess up the lubricity of the fuel, but how long would you have so let the car sit for this to develop. Tha only thing I can think of is that she brought in a HPFP failure, and to avoid a warranty claim someone at the dealership went over to a marsh behind the shop and picked up a jar full to dump into the tank (or drained fuel).
I'm not on the forum that much, so maybe I've missed something, but this doesn't seem right. :dunno
