NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE11-023: Diesel Fuel Injector Line Leakage
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE11-023 on August 2, 2011 and closed it on December 2, 2011. NHTSA's investigations file lists 3 models from 2 makes for it and links recall 11V-490 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE11-023 (also written PE11023)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed December 2, 2011
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
- Component
- Fuel System, Diesel
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 11V-490: DIESEL FUEL INJECTION LINES, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- 3 models from 2 makes, including the Audi A3 and Volkswagen Golf
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE11-023.
By letter dated October 3, 2011, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VW) notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it will conduct a safety recall to address a defect in approximately 168,275 model year (MY) 2009-2012 Volkswagen Jetta, Jetta Sportwagen, Golf, and Audi A3 vehicles equipped with the 2.0L TDI Common Rail Clean Diesel engine (NHTSA Recall No. 11V-490).
The recalled Jetta and Jetta Sportwagen vehicles were built from May 2008 through September 2011, the Golf vehicles were built from May 2009 through September 2011, and the Audi A3 vehicles were built from September 2009 through September 2011.
According to Volkswagen, in U.S. applications of the above cited TDI vehicles including engine codes CJAA and CBEA, the fuel injection pulses could coincide with the natural frequency of the injector line #2 in specific load and RPM conditions.
This resonance creates additional stress on the fuel line which a small number of parts (based on the statistic spread of line strength) cannot withstand over its lifetime.
As a contributing factor, VW indicated that a supplier used tube material with scratch marks from a grinding process during certain production periods.
Lines manufactured in these periods were installed in vehicles produced in the following 10 months:December 2008, January-February 2009, October 2009, March-April 2010 and September-December 2010.
Injector lines using this material exhibit a significantly higher failure rate.
Dealers will replace injector line #2 in all vehicles built in these months.
In addition, as a precautionary measure, all recalled vehicles will have vibration dampers installed on all four fuel injector lines.
Analysis of NHTSA complaints, VW complaints, VW field reports and warranty claims found allegations of injector line leakage in 443 subject vehicles.
The leaking line was not identified in 62 of the vehicles.
For the 381 that did provide information about which injector lines were leaking and/or replaced, 358 (94%) involved an injector line #2 leak/repair.
Almost three-quarters of the injector line #2 leak/repair incident vehicles were built in the 10 months identified by VW, which accounted for approximately one-quarter of the recalled vehicles.
The failure rate for injector line #2 in vehicles built in the 10 months affected by the supplier line scratching issue is 6.0 incidents per thousand vehicles (IPTV).
The failure rate for injector line #2 in other production months of recalled vehicles is 0.8 IPTV.The leak/repair rates for the other injector lines are all well under 1 IPTV.The action taken by Volkswagen is sufficient to resolve the issues raised by this investigation. The agency will continue to monitor this issue and reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances. Accordingly, this investigation is closed.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE11-023. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE11-023
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.