Looking for some opinions here about whether or not a preemptive fuel pump replacement is warranted. The vehicle in question is my 2007 Jetta 2.5- At about 40K miles I replaced the fuel filter with an OEM replacement from the dealership parts counter. These particular filters have the built-in pressure regulator, and the 2.5L motor uses a lower pressure regulator than the 2.0 turbo. After he rolled his eyes at the annoying guy questioning his expertise, the parts man assured me that OF COURSE this is the correct filter for the 2.5L, it says so right here in the computer. I bet most of you know what happened next, right?
The new (wrong) filter caused the pump to make an awful continuous screeching sound, and I knew right away what the problem was. I drove back down to the dealership smelling like gas and mad as [censored]. Anyway, I bought and installed correct filter and the fuel pump stopped screeching- problem solved.
I should note here that this car has an odd electronic feature related to the fuel pump: When you open the driver's door after the car has been sitting for a while (ie, fuel rail pressure has bled down) the fuel pump will run for a second or two. It allows for full fuel pressure on start-up even if you don't pause in the 'run' position, I guess. Anyway, this gives me a pretty good opportunity to hear the pump without any other noises, especially in a silent garage in the morning. Ever since the fuel filter mix-up (20K miles ago now), the pump is noticeably noisier with kind of an inconsistent squeal sound. It's not loud enough to hear with the car running, but it's certainly not the normal quiet buzz it should be.
The noise isn't affected by tank level (head pressure) or the PEA I run once in a while to keep things clean. One thing I did not do after the filter change was bleed the lines of air as recommended by the service manual. Now I'm wondering if a little bubble of air could be trapped somewhere near the impeller (but still, after 20K miles??). I'm also wondering if I should be a little suspicious of that pump in general, maybe the improper pressure regulator damaged the pump and it's a failure waiting to happen until I'm in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I think a new one is like $200 and I could swap it out pretty easily on a Saturday morning... What do you guys think, what would you do? Thanks!
The new (wrong) filter caused the pump to make an awful continuous screeching sound, and I knew right away what the problem was. I drove back down to the dealership smelling like gas and mad as [censored]. Anyway, I bought and installed correct filter and the fuel pump stopped screeching- problem solved.
I should note here that this car has an odd electronic feature related to the fuel pump: When you open the driver's door after the car has been sitting for a while (ie, fuel rail pressure has bled down) the fuel pump will run for a second or two. It allows for full fuel pressure on start-up even if you don't pause in the 'run' position, I guess. Anyway, this gives me a pretty good opportunity to hear the pump without any other noises, especially in a silent garage in the morning. Ever since the fuel filter mix-up (20K miles ago now), the pump is noticeably noisier with kind of an inconsistent squeal sound. It's not loud enough to hear with the car running, but it's certainly not the normal quiet buzz it should be.
The noise isn't affected by tank level (head pressure) or the PEA I run once in a while to keep things clean. One thing I did not do after the filter change was bleed the lines of air as recommended by the service manual. Now I'm wondering if a little bubble of air could be trapped somewhere near the impeller (but still, after 20K miles??). I'm also wondering if I should be a little suspicious of that pump in general, maybe the improper pressure regulator damaged the pump and it's a failure waiting to happen until I'm in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I think a new one is like $200 and I could swap it out pretty easily on a Saturday morning... What do you guys think, what would you do? Thanks!
