Metal shavings in fuel filter housing.
Discussion
Hi All,
I've been having recent power problems in my 1.6CR TDI Seat Leon that has been going back over and over again to SEAT to diagnose (that's another story).
Basically the car felt low on power, was slow picking up from low-ish revs and was getting harder to start on coldish mornings (below 5ºc, this is a 2010 car), I was advised to check the fuel filter for blockages. The filter was supposedly changed by a garage on my last service, approx 3k miles ago, however for all I know they might not have replaced it (although the filter looks pretty clean). Upon inspecting it when I took the fuel filter lid off, I could see small metal shavings on top of the filter, a fair amount of them actually, although all of them very small, like specks of dandruff.
Obviously, I don't know that when/if the fuel filter was changed by the garage, if they drained the housing before putting in the new filter or not, so these metal flakes could be build up from 30k miles worth of driving, or just 3k miles.
Googling this brings up a ton of doom and gloom about HPFP failures on VW CR engined cars, however these are all in America, and from what I understand it's not a common problem in Europe. Some other links suggest it is normal to find a few flakes floating around in the filter as 'normal' wear and tear stuff.
Do you guys think I should get this checked immediately, or is it something not to really to worry about? Or should I change the filter and drain the housing myself (car is now out of warranty by a week) and then see if the flakes reappear?
Even though the car is out of warranty, as the fault was reported to SEAT some 4 months ago, I'm still in contact with customer support about getting this fixed, so it's possible this will be their bill, so again, not sure whether to just take it to the garage or not.
Any advice appreciated
I've been having recent power problems in my 1.6CR TDI Seat Leon that has been going back over and over again to SEAT to diagnose (that's another story).
Basically the car felt low on power, was slow picking up from low-ish revs and was getting harder to start on coldish mornings (below 5ºc, this is a 2010 car), I was advised to check the fuel filter for blockages. The filter was supposedly changed by a garage on my last service, approx 3k miles ago, however for all I know they might not have replaced it (although the filter looks pretty clean). Upon inspecting it when I took the fuel filter lid off, I could see small metal shavings on top of the filter, a fair amount of them actually, although all of them very small, like specks of dandruff.
Obviously, I don't know that when/if the fuel filter was changed by the garage, if they drained the housing before putting in the new filter or not, so these metal flakes could be build up from 30k miles worth of driving, or just 3k miles.
Googling this brings up a ton of doom and gloom about HPFP failures on VW CR engined cars, however these are all in America, and from what I understand it's not a common problem in Europe. Some other links suggest it is normal to find a few flakes floating around in the filter as 'normal' wear and tear stuff.
Do you guys think I should get this checked immediately, or is it something not to really to worry about? Or should I change the filter and drain the housing myself (car is now out of warranty by a week) and then see if the flakes reappear?
Even though the car is out of warranty, as the fault was reported to SEAT some 4 months ago, I'm still in contact with customer support about getting this fixed, so it's possible this will be their bill, so again, not sure whether to just take it to the garage or not.
Any advice appreciated
Hard to say.
If you are getting metal bits large enough to see in the filter then i would guess the high pressure pump would be very very fooked.
To keep the goodwill i'd get SEAT to service the car and ensure they change the fuel filter and if the tech is half decent he will find the shavings
If you are getting metal bits large enough to see in the filter then i would guess the high pressure pump would be very very fooked.
To keep the goodwill i'd get SEAT to service the car and ensure they change the fuel filter and if the tech is half decent he will find the shavings
For the above, this image:
Shows where the filter lines go. In the USA the HPFP failure has been very common due to their lower quality fuel. The first sign of that failure is apparently metal shavings in the filter.
Here is a picture of the metal shavings:
Apologies for the sizes of the images.
Shows where the filter lines go. In the USA the HPFP failure has been very common due to their lower quality fuel. The first sign of that failure is apparently metal shavings in the filter.
Here is a picture of the metal shavings:
Apologies for the sizes of the images.
I'd say change the filter again. cleaning out as much as you can. As a word of general advice avoid supermarket diesel like the plague. I service Fuel tankers and get to see what they deliver. The cheaper brands resemble chip fat, we are led to believe it's imported lower grade fuel which is beefed up here. Bio diesel is causing headaches also. Modern common rail engines are intolerant of low quality fuel as i know from personal experience (Mondeo TDCI) i now run a petrol.
I've never seen it , not SEAT specific you understand. My experience is based on engines by the large commercial vehicle manufacturers. Particles/sediment in the filter, sure but metal is a new one . I'd be interested to see the outcome, this is after all just a VAG engine isn't it ?
v64paul said:
I've never seen it , not SEAT specific you understand. My experience is based on engines by the large commercial vehicle manufacturers. Particles/sediment in the filter, sure but metal is a new one . I'd be interested to see the outcome, this is after all just a VAG engine isn't it ?
Yeah it is.A couple of guys who've worked at VAG specialists have said on the owners club forum that it's common to see some, but it all depends on the amount, so I've posted the image over there to see what they say.
Like I say, some people I've spoken to say it can be normal depending on the amount, others say it's definitely not normal. Think I might take it in just to be on the safe side, as with my other symptoms, it sounds like a HPFP failure.
As I said, it was a very common problem in USA, it was investigated by their governing body because the pumps weren't good enough for their crap fuel. As the fuel is the only lubricant for the pump, they all failed. The first sign was finding metal bits in the filter.
Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff