2012 GTi not able to restart while hot

[irex511]

Just a quick update. Dropped the car off at Stohlman VW in Tysons Corner, VA this morning, and am extremely impressed with them as a dealership so far. I know that I saw some badish reviews of their company from ~10 years ago on Vortex, and I'm very pleased to say that it seems they have turned this around. I met with my service advisor (Jack), the Service Director (Joe), and the Shop Foreman (Josh).

After explaining the issue and talking through the symptoms above, Jack/Josh said something along the lines of "Good grief, of course it's the fuel pump. Not sure which one. We'll test them to see if we can figure it out, and if not, we'll just replace them both."

Also, another interesting nugget was that apparently the MAF code gets tripped in the ECU any time there has been excessive cranking, and depending on the code is very likely not actually the MAF causing the problem.

I'll keep you all posted with any further updates. For now, I'm off to go enjoy some errands in my TDi loaner.

 

[Pooley]

Some encouraging news.

Good luck!

 

[benblake112]

@irex511 - Any update?? My 2011 GTI went into the dealer just this morning presenting similarly. Of course once I got it checked in, and hung out for 45 minutes to show them in person, they turned the key and it started right up!

I'm curious if the dealer came back with an accurate diagnostic, and hopefully a repair, on yours?

I've been reviewing others' experiences for a couple weeks, and see many were fixed by replacing ignition coils and/or sparks, both of which are done on mine. My list of suspects is... MAF sensor, fuel pumps, pump control module, ... but without being able to reproduce I'm afraid I'll pay the dealer their $175 diagnostic fee and be stalling out in the driveway again in no time.

Hope you got yours all patched up!

 

[irex511]

Sorry, totally meant to follow up on this earlier. Stohlman was awesome. They ran a pressure test on both pumps and found the Low Pressure Fuel Pump operating at approx. half of its normal pressure.

They fixed it all under warranty, and then let it run in the garage to test the LPFP controller (which apparently can be a cause to the LPFP failure). No problems since!

Two thumbs up for Stohlman and the guys there. Hope this helps in your diagnosis!

 

[zrickety]

Good news! Glad they stepped up on this.

 

[benblake112]

[...] Low Pressure Fuel Pump operating at approx. half of its normal pressure.

They fixed it all under warranty [...]

Fantastic, happy to hear it! I actually had the same thing happen a year ago yesterday. Startups sputtered a few times over the previous couple weeks, but started right up after. Finally it was just dead in its tracks, starter cranking strong but nobody home. Pressure tests revealed the LPFP pushing half pressure, and they replaced under CPO warranty.

It ran like a champ for about 11 months.

My recent troubles have been with warm starts and behave similar to many stories I've read out there including yours. Runs fine, whether a trip across town or hundreds of miles down the coast. Let it cool and it starts up again, nothing amiss. But let is sit in that 20-60 minute range, and it will repeatedly start, sputter, die. Starting with the throttle wide open can sometimes stabilize it. I replaced coils and sparks, as others with this behavior have had that fix it, but it persists...

I dropped it off at the dealer yesterday, and just got it back home after paying for the diagnostic but passing on the dealer doing the repair. No warranty anymore, and they quoted me $1,371 parts and labor. Good news is the low pressure pump they replaced last year is still running just fine. Bad news, they say I need to replace:
- High Pressure Fuel Pump (ECM stored code p0087 - fuel rail pressure too low -- check of measuring value blocks confirmed low fuel rail pressure)
- Cam Follower
- Fuel Pressure Sensor (Sensor's signal occasionally dropping while they were testing pressure on rail)
- Power Relay (ECM stored code p068a - power supply relay de-energize too early)

Sorry to gripe about my woes on your post! I'm glad you're is back in action, but would suggest keeping an eye on other fuel delivery components, especially if your warranty is up in the near future.

Cheers!