Diesel engines and gasoline don’t usually play well together and Volkswagen has caught some flack from North American owners about the costly repairs that aren’t covered under warranty when a diesel vehicle is filled with gasoline.
So to prevent any future misfueling issues, VW plans to retrofit any 2009-2012 Jetta and 2010-2012 Golf with TDI engines with fuel fillers what won’t accept a gasoline fuel pump nozzle. The retrofit includes 209,500 cars in the U.S. and 51,600 cars in Canada.
“As diesel engine passenger vehicles become more popular, auto manufacturers have seen an increase in the number of misfueling cases where diesel engine vehicles are mistakenly fueled with gasoline,” Volkswagen said in a statement about the retrofit. “The resulting fuel system contamination can lead to costly repairs that are not covered under warranty.”
The current batch of 2013 VW diesels already have updated fuel fillers that only accept diesel fuel nozzles. Gasoline nozzles are smaller than diesel nozzles and won’t actuate the internal fuel tank gate, thus preventing any gasoline from entering the diesel fuel tank.
VW is covering the retrofit cost and will begin notifying owners later this month.
