Fuel pouring out inside engine bay

[JonnyW97]

Hi all,

I tried to turn my car on yesterday and after turning over for a while it stalled twice followed the smell of petrol.

The car does run but it absolutely pisses fuel out, the closest I could identify its coming out from is as below, the bottom of the photo is the radiator.

Does anyone have any idea where it might be coming from, or have a manual which shows where fuel goes in to the engine so I can identify which hose the problem one is.

 

[mty12345]

Follow the fuel lines from where they come into the engine compartment to the fuel rail/injectors.

 

[JonnyW97]

Follow the fuel lines from where they come into the engine compartment to the fuel rail/injectors.

I'm afraid I'm not sure which lines I'd be looking at for this. Or what the fuel rail looks like. I'm quite new in the process of trying to sort my own car issues and unfortunately I dont have anyone to teach me.

 

[mty12345]

I'm afraid I'm not sure which lines I'd be looking at for this. Or what the fuel rail looks like. I'm quite new in the process of trying to sort my own car issues and unfortunately I dont have anyone to teach me.

No worries, everyone has to start somewhere. What engine do you have?

 

[JonnyW97]

No worries, everyone has to start somewhere. What engine do you have?

Its the 1.4 tsi on the mk3.5 estate

 

[mty12345]

Cool, you have a high pressure fuel pump on that, so i would start around that area. Here's a video that shows a leak from one and where it's located.

If you get someone to crank the car while you look, you may be able to see the problem. Obvs be mindful of the fire risk, and if you're new to working on cars then make sure you keep your fingers and loose clothing away from the radiator fan and any belts and that kind of thing. If the leak isn't from that high pressure pump, you can follow the 2 fuel lines that come out of it. One is the supply pump from the tank, the other will be the outlet from the pump to the engine.
DO NOT put your hands anywhere near the pump when someone is cranking the engine or the engine is running. If the leak is on the output side of the pump, the pressure can be high enough to inject fuel through your skin into your bloodstream.

 

[mty12345]

Have a watch of this video too. Much easier to see the fuel rail with the manifold removed.

 

[RUM4MO]

Sorry, but it sounds like a high pressure rail securing bolt has had its head snap off, so not much that you can do about that, needs transporting to a proper VW Group Indie for them to strip down, replace any damaged injector seals and their retainers, replace all 4 bolts and torque them to the correct value.

This is not a wear and tear issue if it is a snapped bolt head, it is due entirely to the Skoda engine plant assembly equipment being faulty when that engine was initially built.

After the repair you really do need to report this on the DVSA reporting system online as VW Group marques in UK have told the UK Gov dept responsible for car safety that this is not a fire safe issue - and the dumb lazy UK Gov dept agreed with them.

 

[JonnyW97]

Thanks all, got it recovered to an independant nearby. As suspected it was the fuel rail.

Been quoted £360 all in for the recovery and repair which seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

[RUM4MO]

If I were you, I'd be reporting it via the DVSA website as see what response you get, they will respond and at some point, if enough people do this, VW Group will need to start recalling all the possible cars that have not suffered this failure and maybe do something in respect of handing out some cash for people that have had to pay to get this sorted.

I only completed/submitted a compliant as my wife has a car with this type of engine which was built close to or within the "worrying" production period, and I was concerned about the risk to her life or anyone in the car when this happened, I made this very clear to DVSA in their reporting system, ie it had not happened to me - yet, but should they not be considering that this is a fire safety issue - they did respond and said that they had been in touch with VW Group and the outcome was " the car's systems will cause a warning light to illuminate in the dashboard, and so the owner should stop immediately - this will mean that there is no fire risk". Take from that as you want, but it didn't sound like the correct response to me, but now I have it an email printed off - to get used if needed, if that helps. I think that DVSA did also say that if anything changed, they would review the decision in the light of developments.

Edit:- in some sales areas, there was a recall and a formal VW Group TSB raised to cover warranty action - or at least in this case, refunding dealers costs.

 

[JonnyW97]

If I were you, I'd be reporting it via the DVSA website as see what response you get, they will respond and at some point, if enough people do this, VW Group will need to start recalling all the possible cars that have not suffered this failure and maybe do something in respect of handing out some cash for people that have had to pay to get this sorted.

I only completed/submitted a compliant as my wife has a car with this type of engine which was built close to or within the "worrying" production period, and I was concerned about the risk to her life or anyone in the car when this happened, I made this very clear to DVSA in their reporting system, ie it had not happened to me - yet, but should they not be considering that this is a fire safety issue - they did respond and said that they had been in touch with VW Group and the outcome was " the car's systems will cause a warning light to illuminate in the dashboard, and so the owner should stop immediately - this will mean that there is no fire risk". Take from that as you want, but it didn't sound like the correct response to me, but now I have it an email printed off - to get used if needed, if that helps. I think that DVSA did also say that if anything changed, they would review the decision in the light of developments.

Edit:- in some sales areas, there was a recall and a formal VW Group TSB raised to cover warranty action - or at least in this case, refunding dealers costs.

I will definitely be doing this. I got no warning light on the dashboard, if the car hadn't stalled the first time it started I would have driven it with the fuel absolutely pissing everywhere.

The garage said they think Audi issued a recall for this fault but Seat hasn't. Its also apparently been recalled for this fault in the US according to another thread. Bizarre.

 

[mty12345]

Thanks all, got it recovered to an independant nearby. As suspected it was the fuel rail.

Been quoted £360 all in for the recovery and repair which seems pretty reasonable to me.

Glad you're getting it sorted. Sounds like a very fair price to me.