The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 79 complaints and several TREAD (Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation) field reports alleging a fuel leak, refueling spit back, refueling shutoff, or fuel odor in model year (MY) 2015-2020 Audi A3 and Volkswagen Golf vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen (VW).?The complaints allege that these conditions are caused by the failure of the suction jet pump located in the fuel tank. Some consumers report puddles, pools, or spots of fuel in the rear right area of the vehicle, near the fuel tank filler door and rear right wheel well. The fuel tank either straddles the exhaust pipe leading to the muffler or is adjacent to this pipe in these vehicles. Fuel leaking near exhaust system components has a higher potential risk of fire as the components are operating at higher temperatures compared to other areas of the vehicle. No fires have been connected to this issue to date. VW issued recall 16V-647 on September 2, 2016, for the suction jet pump inside the fuel tank, which was designed to purge fuel from the evaporative emissions (EVAP) system and stated the suction jet pump may have been damaged during assembly. VW states that this damage could potentially allow fuel to flow directly into the EVAP system which may, over time, accumulate in and cause a leak from the charcoal canister filter element. This recall covered certain MY 2015-2016 Audi A3 and Volkswagen Golf vehicles. Repair in recall 16V-647 replaces the suction jet pump only. In October 2022, VW issued warranty extensions (AWA-22-12 & VWP-22-12) for the fuel tank suction jet pump in MY 2015-2020 Audi A3 / Volkswagen Golf and MY 2019-2020 Jetta GLI vehicles for 15 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first. Warranty extension repair is the replacement of the fuel tank. The new fuel tank includes an improved suction jet pump. Vehicles included within recall 16V-647 are included within the scope of the warranty extensions. Should the suction jet pump installed as the remedy for recall 16V-647 fail, these vehicles will receive an improved suction jet pump in the new fuel tank. The warranty extension only applies to vehicles that experience the subject failure. Consumers received notification of the warranty extensions via mail. ODI is opening this Recall Query (RQ) to assess the remedy repair effectiveness of recall 16V-647 and to fully assess the potential safety-related problems. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
