— Bosch CP4 fuel pump failures have caused a lawsuit that alleges General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Bosch conspired to equip diesel vehicles with pumps the companies knew would fail.
The lawsuit alleges the CP4 pump is not compatible with American diesel fuel, something that causes the pump to run dry and destroy itself, further destroying the fuel injection system and engine.
Diesel fuel used in American vehicles is cleaner and allegedly provides less lubrication compared to European diesel fuel, something the plaintiffs claim makes American diesel fuel incompatible with the Bosch fuel pumps.
The proposed class-action lawsuit includes Texas consumers who are current and former lessees and owners of Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler (FCA US) vehicles "fitted with (or fitted with at the point of sale) a Bosch CP4 fuel pump."
According to the lawsuit, the CP4 pump failures occur when diesel fuel is run through the high pressure pumps that are already struggling to maintain enough lubrication. The cleaner diesel fuel allegedly allows air pockets to form inside the pumps, causing metal to rub against metal and sending metal shavings throughout the fuel systems.
The plaintiffs claim the CP4 fuel pump failures typically occur when vehicles head toward 100,000 miles and will end up costing customers $8,000 to $15,000 to replace the fuel systems.
Based on court documents, the plaintiffs argue Texas customers are entitled to be reimbursed billions of dollars as compensation, even if their vehicles haven't yet suffered pump failures.
Bosch, Ford, FCA and GM allegedly equipped the vehicles with the Bosch pumps to make money from consumers after the CP4 fuel injection systems did a good job in European diesel vehicles.
The plaintiffs claim Bosch and the automakers promised U.S. consumers improvements in torque, fuel economy and horsepower if customers purchased vehicles equipped with the CP4 fuel pumps.
However, the plaintiffs claim the automakers faced widespread fuel injection pump failures when cleaner diesel fuel was introduced in the 1990s. But the automakers allegedly concealed from consumers how the CP4 pumps couldn't function properly with diesel fuel used in American vehicles.
The lawsuit alleges the automakers blamed customers for using contaminated fuel that caused the fuel pumps to fail, even though the automakers knew the real facts.
The Bosch CP4 pump problems are allegedly so bad that certain automakers have “disaster preventer kits” or “bypass kits” used as fuel bypass systems, but the lawsuit says the kits don't prevent the pump failures or the need to remove metal shavings from the fuel systems.
The kits are allegedly used to redirect the lubricating fuel for the CP4 back to the fuel tank to be filtered before it returns to the engine. However, the plaintiffs claim metal debris is transferred right along with the diesel fuel.
The class-action lawsuit further alleges the automakers refuse to cover the damage even when the vehicles are covered by warranties because damage from contaminated fuel isn't covered.
Although there are 30 named plaintiffs, the lawsuit doesn't claim any of the plaintiffs experienced direct problems with their fuel pumps that caused dealership visits. Instead, each plaintiff claims they suffered a "concrete injury" and would not have purchased their vehicle, or would have paid less for it, if they would have known about the fuel pumps.
The named plaintiffs say their loses include:
"Paying a high premium for the engine compared to what they would have paid for a gas-powered engine, out-of-pocket losses by overpaying for the vehicles at the time of purchase, and future attempted repairs, future additional fuel costs, decreased performance of the vehicles, and diminished value of the vehicles."
The Bosch CP4 fuel pump lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division - Berry, et al., v. Robert Bosch GmbH et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by Hilliard, Martinez, Gonzales LLP, and Morgan & Morgan, P.A.
