GTI low pressure fuel pump change

[mjmallia]

Well what started as a general investigation, ended up as project.

Decided to have a look into the LPFP to improve the cold starts and suspected I had a tired back flow valve that was bleeding fuel pressure. I also discovered i had an old style pump due to having an early GTI that was prone to overheating and was never changed.

I had already changed the pump controller to a new one as they too were prone to overheating and going pop.....my wife's golf did this on a journey and the car almost set on fire.

The new genuine pump was £270 + VAT so more than i wanted to spend since doing the cam chain job, a new VDO like genuine was out of stock everywhere  and far less so went for the next best thing......a genuine secondhand one.

The new part number is 1K0919051DB and got one off a 1.4TSI Scirroco 2018, so a lot newer than mine and far less miles done on it too for £31 BARGIN!

Disconnect the pump fuse. 15 amp number 27 started the car until it died, then disconnected the negative battery lead.



Removed the back seat and was amazed how dirty the top of the pump was



Removed the ring, pump and seal of which I noticed was pinched from factory. Old pump ended in AE so definitely original






New elring pump seal and also the new to me pump back in








While I was there i also changed the fuel filter

Fuse back in and started the car

[mjmallia]

Car started straight away and it felt like it did it with less effort. Yet to do a proper cold start, but happy with what has been achieved

[ZoliWorks]

I also cant find a VDO pump anywhere but I can get Pierburg or Bosch units. Any clue if these would be ok or does it have to be OEM?

Also do update on how it cold starts next time, since I'm having some issues and the pump is the next thing on my list.






Edit: Found this one on Autodoc. I've heard mixed reviews about Autodoc. Some say it's aight, other say they are knockoff parts. Price is 110 euros.

[mjmallia]

Autodoc is fine. Ordered a lot from them and it's def genuine stuff.

They were sold out of the VDO ones when I had looked the other day.

I was tempted by those brands but just decided to look for a newish genuine one with the latest PN. This one I got is 6 years old low miles compared to my 20 yr old one and 120k miles for £31......could not argue with that.

[TheBALDpuma]

I will never use Autodoc again. Ordered febi parts and they just changed the order to their own brand stuff, and sent it out. And when I complained I had to jump through an absolute ton of hoops to get a refund.  Never again.

Partsinmotion are my preferred online autofactors

[ZoliWorks]

I've heard that a few times, yeah. Quick dig through the forums, they own Ridex and one other brand and they will occasionally swap out whatever you order with those parts, claiming the part you ordered isn't available, even tho their website says it is. They also dont notify you of this apparently.

Well anyway, I'm in luck. 1K0919051DB comes back as a valid part number for VDO 2803580112302 which is in stock at a friend's parts dealer for 125 euros. Now hopefully this VDO unit is a new-ish one and not leftover stuff from the early 2006 stockpiles lol

The only thing the surprises me is that all pumps claim an output pressure of 4 bar while we run them through 6.6 bar filters, maintaining an average hpfp feed of 5.5 bar and occasionally spiking to 7. At least in my case..

[mjmallia]

The original pumps like what I took out were 6.6 but the newer ones were 6.4 from the TSI age but are backwards compatible with the TFSI.

First proper cold start at 7 degrees C this morning and no issue at all and a slightly faster start and a smoother initial drive from cold.