Volkswagen confirms US vehicle safety agency probing engine problem

Feb 12, 2011, 15:42 GMT

Wolfsburg, Germany - Volkswagen confirmed Saturday that US authorities have stepped up an inquiry involving diesel engines in nearly 100,000 US-registered Volkswagen and Audi vehicles.

A 'preliminary investigation' that began this month had been upgraded, the Detroit News reported, but there has been no move yet for a recall.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said 160 motorists complained about the engines' fuel pumps. In about half the complaints, the engines had stalled while driving.

'Yes, there is an investigation,' Peter Thul, head of product communications at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg told the German Press Agency dpa. There were no other details, 'nor can we say yet if this will lead to a recall.'

Thul denied there had been any such problems with the equivalent engines on cars running in Germany.

US Volkswagen executives said earlier the problem seemed to come from accidentally putting petrol in the tanks of the diesel-powered cars. Unlike oily diesel, petrol does not keep the pumps lubricated.

NHTSA suspects that even a tiny amount of contamination makes the fuel pump seize up. The 2.0-litre TDI Clean Diesel engine is fitted to 97,272 late-model Volkswagen Jetta, Golf and Audi A3 vehicles in the United States.

The Detroit News said the stalling had led to one minor, fender- bender accident. It said Volkswagen warned dealers in May about the problem. In December, Europe's biggest carmaker recalled 377,000 cars in the US to correct a fuel line.

Read more about Germany Automotive

Read more about US