VAG 1.6TDi Engine injector failure, time to get rid?

I have an A1 with the 1.6TDi 105bhp motor in it, a couple of weeks ago it decided it didn’t want to go riding and died out in rural Northumnerland.

The RAC read the codes and found it had a fault on injector 4.

Car was taken to the local diesel fuel injection specialist who tested and found that the solenoid on injector 4 had indeed failed and new was required. Part from Audi was £600 however he managed to source a reconditioned unit for £300 so all in a repair bill of around £500

Car has 87,000 on it and i only did 1200 miles last year and 1500 the year before that however i’m now nervous that i’m on the way to another one failing and another repair bill and possibly long wait time for repair if they cant get the parts (guy says he was lucky to get one)

Question is, do i hand it back to the finance company (I’m well into VT territory now) but it would mean going down to one car for a while or would you crack on and hope it was a one off failure?

Cheers

Any car can chuck up a surprise bill now and again.

But on those kind of annual miles I’d definitely be running a petrol engined car (or EV if viable).

i’m now nervous that i’m on the way to another one failing

There’s no need to be. Remember that stuff does randomly fail, this is part of life, and the fact one has failed does not mean another is going to fail. They aren’t related components. Remember from an engineering point of view there is no such thing as ‘a car’, it’s a collection of components each of which has a life of its own, in most cases.

As said above – all cars have a chance of having a failure and needing a reasonable repair bill – some cars slightly higher than others. We had an injector failure on our Prius maybe 5 years ago. Cost £350 to fix, but it has been fine since.

But on those kind of annual miles I’d definitely be running a petrol engined car

Depends if it’s short trips or not. Changing cars for the sake of optimising 1500 miles a year is not worth it.

That engine will not like such low mileage…if those miles are on short trips, you definitely would be better with a petrol or EV.

Or keep it and give it a good weekly blast of at least 20 miles at a decent engine load.

It’s a common fault on some vw engines. A mate had an ex gas board van with the 1.6 engine and it kept on failing due to the injectors until all were replaced.
My own Renault based van was the same and I managed to get them replaced at trade but it still cost £1700. Annoyingly 1 year over the 7 year guarantee that was offered for the common fault.

It’s a known fault on 1.6 caddy engines (from 61 to 63 plates IIRC?) Which VAG ridiculously failed to acknowledge. Yours may have the same engine, what plate is it?.

Injector failure is a well known issue on the 1.6d VAG engines.

I know a lot of people with these in their Caddy’s use the AA membership that covers the 1st £500 of parts purely down the high chances of an injector letting go and the cost of a replacement – might be an option if you want to keep the car.

Chances are if 1 has gone the others will let go at some point too.

@nobeerinthefridge 61 plate so yup same.

@jamesfts could be an option i suppose yeah although it could be an excuse to get rid and buy a small van.

@mikertroid yeah car was purchased when i lived further away however i now work a maximum ride of 7min from the door, i do like the look of the vito EV or PHEV transits

Injector failure was a common fault on 09 to early 13 plate 1.6tdi engines due to insulation breakdown on the Siemens injector fitted to these engines, unfortunately they cannot be reconditioned due to the way they were manufactured.

Exactly the reason I bought AA parts and workshop cover or whatever it’s called.
Not had an injector go yet! 120,000 12 plate Vw caddy.

Could be an option i suppose yeah although it could be an excuse to get rid and buy a small van.

Just don’t buy a 1.6td Caddy! 😉

Yeppppp run away, far far away. Had one in the caddy I had, it binned one off while I owned it and then it played up again and another was obviously on its way out. Got rid of the van and about a month later the lady who bought it from me told me another injector had gone. I know someone else with one who had the whole set replaced and it still went again.

Common rail joy

@somafunk indeed that’s what the fuel injection specialist thought however he did indeed manage to find reconditioned ones at almost half the cost of the original and since then I have looked and have been able to find them from one supplier.

@FFJA may well be worth me looking into!

@timthetinyhorse mine is about £22 a month for the full breakdown package and the garage stuff. 5 claims a year I think with a £35 excess so injectors worth out £50-£60 quid.
It mentions in the policy about them checking service history but asking on VAG forums I’ve yet to meet anyone where they have actually asked!
I almost want it to break down now 😂

he did indeed manage to find reconditioned ones at almost half the cost of the original

May have changed in the 3 years since I had my Caddy, but I’m pretty sure they couldn’t be reconditioned.

Yep, that’s my understanding too. The part that fails on the injector is a non repairable or replaceable part and will likely fail again soon.

I’ve just done injector 4 on mine (caddy) and you can buy brand new genuine for less than £300. Luckily I also have vcds so can code in the new injector as that also needs doing

New injector