Volkswagen and Audi preliminary evaluation PE11023
Diesel Fuel Injector Line Leakage. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the fuel system, diesel on 12 model years (2009–2012). Opened Aug 2, 2011, closed Dec 2, 2011 after 4 months. It led to safety recall 11V490000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedBy 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.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2009 Audi A3; 2010 Audi A3; 2011 Audi A3; 2012 Audi A3; 2009 Volkswagen Golf; 2010 Volkswagen Golf; 2011 Volkswagen Golf; 2012 Volkswagen Golf; 2009 Volkswagen Jetta; 2010 Volkswagen Jetta; 2011 Volkswagen Jetta; 2012 Volkswagen Jetta.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE11023 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 11V490000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE11023 still open?
No. It closed on Dec 2, 2011 and led to recall 11V490000.
Which vehicles does PE11023 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 12 model years: 2009 Audi A3, 2010 Audi A3, 2011 Audi A3, 2012 Audi A3, 2009 Volkswagen Golf, 2010 Volkswagen Golf and more. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.