SEAT Ibiza, diesel injector trouble

rugbyman · 12-08-2019 1:46pm #1

Right chaps.

Need advice, i recently bought a 2010 seat ibiza diesel. it has been lying up for a year. I drove it 100 miles and was happy enough with it. My son has started using it, did another 200 miles until it broke down 50 miles from home.

150€ spent on a tow truck, went to a good independent garage who diagnosed faulty injector, apparently these are electronic and cannot be reconditioned.

We have got a working second hand one for 150€ car is now driving fine. Unfortunately, it went 300 miles to Kerry and has now broken down there.

It's the exact same symptoms as before, it will start and limp down the road, but seems to be the same problem, whether it is the same injector or not i do not know.

I am going to have to go and rescue it in Kerry, from Dundalk. Because if i have it here i will have some control over it's repairs.

What's the story with these bloody injectors, apparently they cannot be tested, they either work or don't work. I don't mind spending money if I knew it would fix the car. Any suggestions welcomed.

rugbyman · 12-08-2019 1:49pm

second question, i was not present at either breakdown, i am reasonably knowledgeable .. if one injector is off, could limp home at 50 mph on three cylinders

Toyotafanboi · 12-08-2019 4:03pm

Is it 1.2, 1.4 or 1.6 diesel? Has is had the diesel emissions update?

Afaik the injectors cannot be recon'd. Was the first replacement injector coded to the car or just plugged in and ran? It should be coded to the car and after coding you can do a smooth operation procedure to balance the injectors as best as possible.

This is sometimes good and actually helps and the car runs better with less diesel knock. Other times it will bring down another injector or show that one cannot be brought into tolerance. Better it happening on the workshop floor though than in the back of Kerry.

You wouldn't really drive one more than a few hundred meters with an injector down.

rugbyman · 12-08-2019 5:35pm

Thank you toyota fan boy. i was beginning to wonder if there were no helpful people out there

the car came from the UK two years ago and has lain about all this time

has it had the diesel emissions update, ? i dont know, prob unlikely.. could that have a downside....like my current problems

i dont know if it was coded in or not. until today i had never heard of this, saw a mention of this on a UK website earlier. The ind garage who fitted it are top class. is there a significant downside to not doing so? e.g if it was not coded in, might i find its the same injector giving trouble now? if so can this be rectified

Regards,....

Dial Hard · 12-08-2019 5:37pm

Injectors are a known fault on that model and there was a recall done for them a few years back. Get on to SEAT Ireland and check whether your car was part of the affected batch. As it's an import use your chassis number rather than the reg.

Toyotafanboi · 12-08-2019 5:42pm

They were prone to injectors anyway, but if it had the diesel emissions update, you'd often get "goodwill" on a failed injector afterwards.

It's a little unlikely that it wasnt coded but the engine will run on an uncoded injector, it just wont run as well as it otherwise would.

I'd find out if it's the same injector, if it isn't, fit another and do the smooth running procedure and see how that goes. It's not an everyday occurrence but it wouldn't be unheard of with these either that they end up failing in sequence and you end up doing all the injectors in a short space of time.

13-08-2019 8:33am

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

They were prone to injectors anyway, but if it had the diesel emissions update, you'd often get "goodwill" on a failed injector afterwards.
e.

Did they not offer a 2 year warranty on the injectors injection pump and egr after completeing the emission update ?

Toyotafanboi · 13-08-2019 9:04am

They did, with a few criteria attached, but by and large I'd expect them to be covered.

13-08-2019 9:56am

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

They did, with a few criteria attached, but by and large I'd expect them to be covered.

I have 210k miles on my car and was told that was too high.
I was considering getting it done to get that warranty .

If i was the op id find out if the recall was done.
Get the car running . If the recall wasnt done , do the recall and if there was more issues he would have them covered tgat way

rugbyman · 04-09-2019 11:59am

thank you all for advice. got the car home to base, 290 to a nice tow truck operator,recommended on Boards. he fetched it to his depot and tied it in with another job. Must be an early starter, arrived from Cork at 7 a.m.

Diagnosis is, its another injector. am looking for another one, but am fearful of another event.
Do I gather,Toyota fan boy, that if I get the smooth running procedure done ,that that process can see if the other two(or indeed the two replaced ones ) are performing ok. If they are ,does that leave further failures unlikely

in the whole world of VAG, Seat injector failures , did the replacement injectors live happy ever after

Thanks in advance for any info, trying to educate myself, don't want to be a know all to the garage man, but doctors differ....

rugbyman · 28-10-2019 10:35pm

Right chaps, still in the same position.

The car has been lying here , these injectors are in big demand in breakers yards.

I spoke to a long serving injector reconditioner. he says the problem with these is the electronic part. the injection part does not givebother. I hope to go there tomorrow , he can test the electronic part of each injector while in the car.

he told me really good ones should show a reading of 200(I am assuming it is rsistance he measures) down to 160 is acceptable, below that dodgy

he was not aware of a "smooth running procedure" but perhaps I did not remember the exact words ye have used.

So hopefully tomorrow he can give me a verdict on all four.

A new one from him(ex UK) is 330, this compares to 260 to 280 pounds on ebay .Uk.. also on ebay are supposedly reconditioned ones for 125 pounds. with a warranty.
I am told that e bay do a terrific money back system if goods are faulty

Any opinions on these ones chaps?

Regards

PukkaStukka · 29-10-2019 3:04am

Are they Siemens injectors by any chance?

cournioni · 29-10-2019 6:23am

rugbyman wrote: »

Right chaps, still in the same position.

The car has been lying here , these injectors are in big demand in breakers yards.

I spoke to a long serving injector reconditioner. he says the problem with these is the electronic part. the injection part does not givebother. I hope to go there tomorrow , he can test the electronic part of each injector while in the car.

he told me really good ones should show a reading of 200(I am assuming it is rsistance he measures) down to 160 is acceptable, below that dodgy

he was not aware of a "smooth running procedure" but perhaps I did not remember the exact words ye have used.

So hopefully tomorrow he can give me a verdict on all four.

A new one from him(ex UK) is 330, this compares to 260 to 280 pounds on ebay .Uk.. also on ebay are supposedly reconditioned ones for 125 pounds. with a warranty.
I am told that e bay do a terrific money back system if goods are faulty

Any opinions on these ones chaps?

Regards

Wouldn’t go “reconditioned” as the part that commonly fails on the injector isn’t available to replace. Would be wary of anybody advertising reconditioned for this particular injector.

They are €270 inc VAT from Continental agents here:
https://www.des.ie/product/diesel-injector-continental-vdo-a2c9626040080/

rugbyman · 29-10-2019 9:07am

PukkaStukka wrote: »

Are they Siemens injectors by any chance?

Sorry, don't know

Tzardine · 29-10-2019 9:10am

I am having the same trouble with my car. A Seat Leon 1.6 tdi. 2016 model with just 60k on it. Injectors gone bad. Car runs rough as hell when cold.

Got a quote of €1400 from a local indy to change them. Apparently you need to do all 4 (not sure this is true).

Have to wait another month or two anyway due to funds. But seems to be a very common thing.

cournioni · 29-10-2019 10:07am

Tzardine wrote: »

I am having the same trouble with my car. A Seat Leon 1.6 tdi. 2016 model with just 60k on it. Injectors gone bad. Car runs rough as hell when cold.

Got a quote of €1400 from a local indy to change them. Apparently you need to do all 4 (not sure this is true).

Have to wait another month or two anyway due to funds. But seems to be a very common thing.

Would be recommended to do the four but they usually go down one by one. Usually important to replace the bolt(s) while you’re at it as they have a tendency to pop out of the head. Price wise I’d do a bit of shopping around.

Toyotafanboi · 29-10-2019 10:44am

Tzardine wrote: »

I am having the same trouble with my car. A Seat Leon 1.6 tdi. 2016 model with just 60k on it. Injectors gone bad. Car runs rough as hell when cold.

Got a quote of €1400 from a local indy to change them. Apparently you need to do all 4 (not sure this is true).

Have to wait another month or two anyway due to funds. But seems to be a very common thing.

That's a different issue with those injectors where the injector tip suffers from carbon build up in certain driving patterns and affects the spray pattern, gives a bad idle and a lot of knock iirc.

VW sell a particular fuel additive cleaner for that issue before resorting to replacing the injectors. The part number is G 001 790, it's only around a tenner a bottle. Add a bottle to a full tank, drive to empty then do the same again. Usually helps unless they are fairly far gone. Any good diesel injector cleaner is probably worth a shout though, not just VW branded stuff.

Tzardine · 29-10-2019 11:14am

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

That's a different issue with those injectors where the injector tip suffers from carbon build up in certain driving patterns and affects the spray pattern, gives a bad idle and a lot of knock iirc.

VW sell a particular fuel additive cleaner for that issue before resorting to replacing the injectors. The part number is G 001 790, it's only around a tenner a bottle. Add a bottle to a full tank, drive to empty then do the same again. Usually helps unless they are fairly far gone. Any good diesel injector cleaner is probably worth a shout though, not just VW branded stuff.

Thanks for that. I tried an injector cleaner a while back, but it did not improve things, I think it was a Holtts one from Halfords. I will try the VW one. Cant seem to find it anywhere here. But found it on ebay in Belgium for £20 so will give it a shot.

PukkaStukka · 29-10-2019 11:18am

rugbyman wrote: »

Sorry, don't know

Just sent you a pm which might help you

Toyotafanboi · 29-10-2019 11:19am

Worth a shout before getting €1400 into it. The correct formatting of the part number is G 001 790, searching that way seems to get better results.

rugbyman · 02-11-2019 1:23pm

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

They were prone to injectors anyway, but if it had the diesel emissions update, you'd often get "goodwill" on a failed injector afterwards.

It's a little unlikely that it wasnt coded but the engine will run on an uncoded injector, it just wont run as well as it otherwise would.

I'd find out if it's the same injector, if it isn't, fit another and do the smooth running procedure and see how that goes. It's not an everyday occurrence but it wouldn't be unheard of with these either that they end up failing in sequence and you end up doing all the injectors in a short space of time.

hello Toyotafanboy,

Could you give me any more info on the "smooth running procedure", who can do this , what equipment does he need?

I had pushed this car to one side but the other day took it to a long time injector specialist. he had a meter that could test the injectors in place. he had previously told me that reading 200 was excellect, 160 and upwards good, below 160 2 iffy" and ,I think 120 no good.

so the other day he checked all four. obviously the last to go was knackered, the one replaced before that 9bought in a breakers for 150 euro was "iffy and the remaining two were excellect.

we have now bought two from an extremely trustable mechanic for 120 each

will get them tested (tenner each,maybe less) and inserted.

But this smooth running procedure, where should I go about that/

Thanks in advance

photosmart · 11-11-2019 10:01pm

Hi All

My 161 leon 1.6tdi just started giving problems this week - seriously pissed off.

Just came upon this thread. Local mechanic has told me that the slow start up and knocking is probably a failing injector but that he can't identify which one it is until it fails.

Rather than drive and wait until it fails and leaves me stranded or limping home - it there an injector specialist / garage anyone could recommend to get this issue fixed for reasonable money?

Cheers

P

Tzardine · 12-11-2019 9:03am

photosmart wrote: »

Hi All

My 161 leon 1.6tdi just started giving problems this week - seriously pissed off.

Just came upon this thread. Local mechanic has told me that the slow start up and knocking is probably a failing injector but that he can't identify which one it is until it fails.

Rather than drive and wait until it fails and leaves me stranded or limping home - it there an injector specialist / garage anyone could recommend to get this issue fixed for reasonable money?

Cheers

P

I posted earlier about my Leon with the same problem.

Any mechanic with decent diagnostic equipment will be able to tell which injector is failing. The problem I found is that they want to replace all 4 of them.

I did have an injector repair shop do one of mine. The price was reasonable at about 150 euro but the symptoms came back after about 800km, although it is possible that it is another injector that has now failed.

I had a quote of about €1400 to replace the 4 injectors, the frustrating thing is that the garage said they are replaced with the same injectors, (some Italian brand) and that there is no guarantee that they wont go again in a couple of years.

As another posted has suggested, I bought the VW fuel treatment. Only about 1/4 of a tank run through, so too early to tell for sure, but it does seem to be very slightly better. Time will tell though.

photosmart · 12-11-2019 9:28am

Thanks for that - could you (or anyone) point me to an injector repair shop. Im based in carlow but work in dublin.

P

Tzardine · 12-11-2019 9:39am

photosmart wrote: »

Thanks for that - could you (or anyone) point me to an injector repair shop. Im based in carlow but work in dublin.

P

This was the guy that did mine. Don't be put off by the location, it's in a run down industrial estate, but his own workshop is high tech.

http://www.dieselinjectorrepair.ie

photosmart · 12-11-2019 5:59pm

thanks

jimbobmalones · 14-11-2019 9:56am

Before you go down the injector route you could also check if its a glow plug issue. If its the issue is just on startup ie when cold but otherwise driving fine then that could be the issue

Tzardine · 14-11-2019 10:29am

Just an update, after running half a tank of the VW injector cleaner through the car there is definitely an improvement being noticed. The car is still a little lumpy at startup, but it does not last as long, and is not anywhere near as juddery when driving.

I will keep running it, and then maybe another tank to see how i get on.

photosmart · 18-11-2019 7:26pm

An update/rant

Unfortunately its the injectors (delphi ones). I'm getting all 4 done

with the diesel chap in Portlaoise.

I know this can happen with any car/brand - family members had the same engine in 4 of their cars (all skoda) and no probs. Maybe the skodas have different injectors? but very pissed off with the car - this was the newest car I ever bought (as a one year old) - car had no hardship - was on motorway mostly and serviced as per intervals.

I bought it based on my previously great history with a 1.9tdi golf that gave no trouble in 250kmiles bar one alternator. I think car engineering is going backwards!

If I buy VAG car again it won't be with that 1.6tdi POS engine

/rant

Tzardine · 18-11-2019 7:52pm

What kind of money did the lad in Portlaoise quote?

jimbobmalones · 19-11-2019 8:34am

Tzardine wrote: »

What kind of money did the lad in Portlaoise quote?

PM sent

CoBo55 · 19-11-2019 9:04am

jimbobmalones wrote: »

PM sent

Why the pm? I'm sure there are others here who'd like to know what you paid. It's a well known fact that diesel specialists are always cheaper to deal with than garages.

photosmart · 19-11-2019 10:37am

I thought it wasn't allowed to put figures up on boards? could be wrong

Toyotafanboi · 19-11-2019 11:03am

photosmart wrote: »

I thought it wasn't allowed to put figures up on boards? could be wrong

Work away.

photosmart · 19-11-2019 5:52pm

Cost €1100 which was to replace all four injectors and fuel filter. Delphi brand ones. Warranty for 1 year so here hoping...

Tzardine · 19-11-2019 6:50pm

Thank you for providing the info photosmart.

I seriously suggest that before you fork out for the replacement injectors that you try the VW fuel treatment.

I have just finished one tank of it, and the difference is night and day. My car (1.6 Seat Leon) also has Delphi injectors. The car would run lumpy when cold started, and it was getting so bad that i could not actually drive it for about 5 mins after start up. The car had no power and I could not drive it , it was chugging and almost sstalling. Once it was warm though there was no bother at all.

As another poster suggested, I picked up the VW fuel system cleaner. I am just coming to the end of the 1st tank, and the car is almost cured. When I start it up now the idle is very slightly off for about 10 seconds, but I can drive it straight away without any issue. I would expect that by the time I run the second tank through it will be 100%.

You can get it at any VW, Seat or Skoda garage. I ordered two bottles yesterday and I picked them up this morning from Skoda in Ballybrittas. €30 for the two of them. Call a garage, give them part number G 001 790 M3 and give it a try.

When I picked up the stuff today at Skoda, I was chatting to the parts guy. He said it is a very well known issue with the 1.6 tdi, and VW have issued a notification to them that if a car presents with the issues we are having, the first thing to do is run the fuel treatment through it.

For 30 euro, its worth a shot - I am glad I did.

photosmart · 20-11-2019 10:46am

Thats great info - hopefully it will help a few others with the same problem - unfortunately (I think) I've already had injectors done - its the main commuter car and I didn't have luxury of time.

Let us know how the car goes after the next bottle as I may buy some in
case this issue pops up again.

cheers

P

cournioni · 26-11-2019 11:35pm

The Delphi injectors definitely give different issues to the Continental ones. The ones we’ve seen have all given the same type of issue as Tzardine has listed. Rough running and knocking. Different from the continentals in the OP which generally is a misfire issue.

photosmart · 27-11-2019 1:54pm

Tzardine wrote: »

Thank you for providing the info photosmart.

I seriously suggest that before you fork out for the replacement injectors that you try the VW fuel treatment.

I have just finished one tank of it, and the difference is night and day. My car (1.6 Seat Leon) also has Delphi injectors. The car would run lumpy when cold started, and it was getting so bad that i could not actually drive it for about 5 mins after start up. The car had no power and I could not drive it , it was chugging and almost sstalling. Once it was warm though there was no bother at all.

As another poster suggested, I picked up the VW fuel system cleaner. I am just coming to the end of the 1st tank, and the car is almost cured. When I start it up now the idle is very slightly off for about 10 seconds, but I can drive it straight away without any issue. I would expect that by the time I run the second tank through it will be 100%.

You can get it at any VW, Seat or Skoda garage. I ordered two bottles yesterday and I picked them up this morning from Skoda in Ballybrittas. €30 for the two of them. Call a garage, give them part number G 001 790 M3 and give it a try.

When I picked up the stuff today at Skoda, I was chatting to the parts guy. He said it is a very well known issue with the 1.6 tdi, and VW have issued a notification to them that if a car presents with the issues we are having, the first thing to do is run the fuel treatment through it.

For 30 euro, its worth a shot - I am glad I did.

Any update on the additive - is it still working?

Tzardine · 27-11-2019 6:14pm

photosmart wrote: »

Any update on the additive - is it still working?

Only done about 50km since the last post. but still going good.

SEAT Ibiza, diesel injector trouble

Comments