Potential new VW diesel owner. Few q's (injectors)

[kaanage]

My car feels as good as the day I got it and I'm on 130,000km now. Just had the timing belt done.

I thought you sold yours last year

[transporterq]

To be honest, I do not know if there are any differences between a 06 to 07, may have to search the net to find the answers to that question. Lots of accessories out there to buy for it, I have lots of bits and pieces on the body, now starting to do things under the bonnet.

[PranK]

To be honest, I do not know if there are any differences between a 06 to 07, may have to search the net to find the answers to that question. Lots of accessories out there to buy for it, I have lots of bits and pieces on the body, now starting to do things under the bonnet.

Do you have a build thread? Would love to see what you are doing.

[Greg Roles]

I'd say the 103 will be a good buy. The number of 103 injectors failing is absolutely minute in comparison to the Siemens 125kw, and unlike the 125, if an injector goes, the engine doesn't necessarily shut down, as the Bosch in the 103 can detect each injector. The Siemens 125 cannot differentiate between injectors, so if there is a problem it shuts down completely.

ALL diesel injectors can play up, heck I'm even starting to hear about the very latest commion rail injectors failing, but again only in small numbers. There is now an official recall in the UK from Seat, Skoda, Audi and VW on specific years of the 125kw, so the VAG group know of the problem, and there is increasing levels of support. It would seem if you have a problem and go into a dealer with some knowledge, there is now apparently a 7 year warranty on them if you have specific VIN number - what those years and VINs actually are is anyones guess, VW is still obviously keen to keep this quiet. It's slowly getting better, and I'm glad I was part of this process.

In my opinion, and it's only an opinion based on incomplete data, the 103 fails due to bad fuel and carbon buildup in the injector nozzle itself, and the 125 fails due to oil ingress getting into the Piezo stack and shorting it out. In either car the good diesels are recommended - BP or Caltex - and regular fuel cleaner every 7-10k is a good precaution. In the 125 I recommend regular oil changes to make the piezo o-rings last as long as possible, and it would seem the "revised" 125 injector just has double o-ring sealing now. I'm at 100k and have yet to have an issue, but do changes at 7500. Perhaps I'm just lucky, heck I drive around taking note of cars around me in the fast lane should it happen!

I'd recommend a 103 anyday, a 125 with caution. It seems the loom is done purley because its easy to break oil hardened clips ( as I did ) more than anything else. Will be great when the truth finally comes out, and we can all stop guessing!

[PranK]

Great post Greg, thanks.

One of the injectors did go on the car, but it wasn't a catastrophic failure as the car still ran. I'm ok with the prospect of having problems, hell we cant expect our cars to run forever with no broken bits, but this is good news to me and I'm more excited than ever now to get into it.

I'm a bit of a sucker for good fuel. Having owned a few GTR's in my time, it was always imperative that they got the fuel they needed, or they'd ping like crazy.

Again, thanks for the post, I cant wait to get it now.

[Greg Roles]

I run mine on BP ultimate diesel, every tank.

I put Fuel Doctor from supercheap through it every 7500, and it's a wicked green colour.

Given the kms would be a good idea for an inlet cleanout, and definately, do a search on here about installing a Provent 200, a serious oil catchcan. Keeps a lot of grunge out of the inlet, and you can restrict the EGR circulation too by installing a plate with a 10mm hole in it to further reduce grunge ingress, but all in good time.

Other than that, enjoy it, and you can easily pick any of the tunes and make it a 125/ 410nm monster quite safely for the grand or less, which makes it even bigger fun : )

Welcome to the oiler clan.

[PranK]

I run mine on BP ultimate diesel, every tank.

I put Fuel Doctor from supercheap through it every 7500, and it's a wicked green colour.

Given the kms would be a good idea for an inlet cleanout, and definately, do a search on here about installing a Provent 200, a serious oil catchcan. Keeps a lot of grunge out of the inlet, and you can restrict the EGR circulation too by installing a plate with a 10mm hole in it to further reduce grunge ingress, but all in good time.

Other than that, enjoy it, and you can easily pick any of the tunes and make it a 125/ 410nm monster quite safely for the grand or less, which makes it even bigger fun : )

Welcome to the oiler clan.

Argh, my wife is going to hate you for this!

Was reading about the EGR yesterday, looks like there are several decent gains to be made for very little outlay.

I'm excited!!

[OilBurna]

Only one of mine failed 103 tdi but car stalled and would not restart i thought if the ecu detects a fault in one it shuts down can't be good running on 3 cylinders

[PranK]

Only one of mine failed 103 tdi but car stalled and would not restart i thought if the ecu detects a fault in one it shuts down can't be good running on 3 cylinders

Yeah but 'limp home' mode would be better than nothing at all.