2010 Volkswagen Golf: check engine light

Filed Nov 26, 2012 · Engine, Fuel system · 40,169 miles · CA

I have a 2010 vw golf tdi. I was driving along at 25 MPH when my glow plug & check engine lights started flashing, and my tachometer dropped to zero, indicating a stall. The power steering also started to cut out, but I was able to safely pull over. Tried starting the car again and got nothing. The car was towed to a vw dealership down the street, and on monday 11/19 they informed me that my high-pressure fuel pump failed and sent metal fragments through the entire fuel system. The car is currently being repaired under warranty, but I was told that the bill would be at least $5,000 for this kind of fix. Oh yeah, this also completely ruined my travel plans for thanksgiving, as vw refused to give me a loaner car while this documented warranty issue was being dealt with. After doing some research, I found that there are several cases of 2009-10 tdi fuel pump failures with the same symptoms. Apparently, there have been three revisions of this pump since then, and I am due to get the newest one. But, there is also talk that ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel in the us is not providing the proper lubricity, and thus causing the pumps to fail (this is not an issue in europe). Nonetheless, further investigation by the federal safety agency should result in vw doing a proper recall and redesign, rather than quietly fixing an inherent flaw on a case-by-case basis. Even with my car fixed, I'll still be wondering when this will happen again. Which also makes me wonder if I should just sell it and be done with vw. Very frustrating.

Filed Oct 28, 2012 · Fuel system · 29,545 miles · CA

Check engine light went on a few seconds after I had merged a few lanes over on the freeway (101s @holly during rush hour). Glow plug light flashed once or twice. Within 60 seconds, the car had died while traffic was speeding up on both sides of me. Put on emergency flashers. I could not get the car started again, nor did I have enough time to merge to the side of the road (I had 2 lanes on my right, 2 on my left). After trying to start it for a minute or so, called 911. After 10 - 15 minutes, chp came and stopped all traffic, pushed me to the side of the road with his car. Car still would not start. Tow truck came a while later, towed me to vw dealer (boardwalk) which was nearby. Dealer: boardwalk volkswagen, redwood city, ca status: fixed under warranty. Provided me rental car. Took 1 week. All in all, gave me good service. They replaced the entire fuel system. Here is what they did under warranty (per the receipt): * replaced high pressure fuel pump * replaced auxiliary fuel pump * replaced fuel filter housing and filter * replaced all injector lines * replaced 4 injectors * replaced fuel rail * removed and reinstalled fuel pump inside gas tank * drain and refill diesel * road tested recheck ok * vendor code (bosch) and (cbf) not a very opportune time for a catastrophic failure, while cruising on the busy rush-hour highway, and it happened very fast. Nevertheless, no one was injured, and the car is now back on the road. I know several people with these cars of this vintage, and I will encourage them to contact vw to try and replace the pump before it fails. On the triclub forum, there are examples of this same thing happening 100s of times to these cars. Here is my entry: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=3978779 someone on the forum encouraged me to file an incident with the federal safety agency, so I am doing that here.

Filed Oct 8, 2012 · Fuel system · 37,583 miles · CA

Entering the freeway and a high speed, engine light and ignition coil light appeared when I reached the end of the on-ramp. Lost all propulsion 30 seconds later; the vehicle would not accelerate. Vehicle coasted to a stop on the shoulder, but barely made it since I had to move several lanes over and avoid traffic going around me. If I was moving slower, I would have been stranded on one of the lanes. There have been many other cases of the high pressure fuel pump failure for the turbo diesel engine, my vehicle is just another one.

Filed Aug 2, 2012 · Engine, Fuel system · 53,000 miles · NY

I got into my car as normal, and began to drive. After about 5 minutes of driving, I came to a red light on a busy street. My check engine light came on and the glow plug light began to flash, the car immediately died and would not restart. I was told the high pressure fuel pump failed, and the entire fuel system has to be replaced... After I got home, I quickly google searched the issue and appears to be a common problem on a bad design by volkswagen and bosch...

Filed Feb 15, 2012 · Engine, Fuel system · 5,491 miles · CA

Upon making a lane change to merge into a faster moving traffic lane, the vehicle accelerated normally for one second then lost all engine power leaving me in a dangerous position. Upon depressing the clutch, the engine stalled. I was able to restart the engine after which it worked normally. This has happened approximately 20 times since. It usually creates a dangerous situation such as leaving the car without power in an oncoming traffic lane during a left turn or moving too slowly in a merging maneuver. Sometimes the check engine light will also come on and the glow plug warning light starts flashing. Clouds of white smoke always appear at the tail pipe during the power loss. The dealer has replaced a sensor 4 times which makes the warning lights go out, but the engine cutting out problem is never addressed. Vw simply state "cannot reproduce problem" and return the vehicle. The behavior is very dangerous.

Filed Aug 23, 2011 · Fuel system · 23,000 miles · CO

Since I first bought the tdi golf it has been easy to stall, sometimes stalling while still in motion going down the road. At approximately 20k miles stalling became sometimes unavoidable no matter how much gas you gave it from a stop. This caused the car to pull out into traffic and stall, leaving me dead in the water in dangerous traffic!! No matter how much gas I gave the car or how much I slipped the clutch it would still sometimes stall after propelling me into oncoming traffic. I have driven a manual transmission my entire life and I know how to work a clutch... This problem is not normal and many friends who I have had drive the car agree with me. At approximately 19,000 miles the glow plug light illuminated and blinked after starting the engine. The car wouldn't go above 20mph. I turned off the ignition and restarted with no further problem. At approx. 23,000 miles the car stalled 4 times in a row after cranking the engine and attempting to pull straight forward out of a parking lot. At this point the check engine light came on and the glow plug light also came back on and blinked. The car performance now is terrible and it is going into the dealership for repair. I am concerned about safety and the possibility of continuing expensive issues I may have that exceed the warranty period with this car. Please help!!!

Filed Aug 11, 2010 · Engine · 400 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns 2010 volkswagen golf. The contact stated that the engine light came on and off and the tire pressure light stayed on. The contact stated that all 20 roller lifters had to be replaced because of a ticking noise coming from the engine. The contact stated that the failure had been on going and that volkswagen had refused to work on the vehicle. The contact was concerned because the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact stated that there was also a high pitch sound coming from the vehicle. The failure mileage was 400 and the current mileage was 1600.