Re: [T3] FI fuel pump ordeal

[Constantino Tobio <ctobio@gmail.com>]

I just disassembled the failed pump in my '03 Passat (stranded me 32
miles from home, had the car towed to the house). There's a bunch of
people on the Passat forums reporting that the '03s are having a
higher-than-normal failure rate, and I'm the latest victim. Since the
car's off warranty (58k miles in 2.5 years) I did the work myself, and
of course I autopsied the old pump.

My findings:

The brushes were excessively worn, easily to 1/3 their original size.
The commutator may be out of round (half the commutator is dull
brown/black like an old penny, not shiny like a new one, so when the
brushes got worn down to a point, I'm guessing the brushes were no
longer pressing hard enough on one side of the commutator)
The fuel filter has an excess of brown residue that is suspiciously
brush-colored.

Here's a photo of the dissected pump:

http://www.tobio.info/passat/images/PumpFailure007.jpg

To bring it back to the subject at hand, it just goes to show how well
our little cars are engineered- my Fasty still has its original pump, a
mere 32 years and 95000 miles later.

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