New Beetle TDI fuel injection replacement

Power/Fuel
1

My 1998 TDI beetle has been diagnosed with a fuel leak at the injector by my trusted mechanic. He says it will cost ~$1700 to replace this part. Ouch! $1300 is the part cost, the rest is labor. The stealer price is similar.



I inquired about rebuilding it. He said most people aren’t doing it because it is complex.



At the Bosch website I can search for the fuel replacement part for a '98 TDI beetle. The part I find is #69736 “fuel pump assembly” which is available at Autozone for $160. Also a seal kit is sold at dieselgeek.com for $21.



These much cheaper parts I located seem to conflict with the appraisal by my trusted mechanic. Am I talking about apples and oranges here, or is my mechanic missing some relevant information?



Thanks!!

2 
I see a fuel injector kit for about $31.00 at http://www.worldimpex.com 

Stop by the TDI Club at http://www.tdiclub.com/   They have a lot of people in information just about TDI's They can give you step by step instructions or maybe someone close to you will even offer to stop buy and give you a hand.
3

There are three parts here that I think are getting confused. There’s the fuel injector, which is the nozzle that sprays the diesel into the cylinder, which should be pretty cheap. There’s the fuel pump, that generates the fuel pressure, which should be pricier, but not too bad. What I think your mechanic is talking about is the injector pump, which is what controls when and how much diesel gets sent to the injectors. It’s a very complicated and important part and they are generally very expensive. And they are very complicated and I’d imagine it’d be a nightmare to rebuild.

So off-hand, I’m guessing what you found for $160 is the fuel pump, the $21 thing is a fuel injector repair kit, and the $1,300 is for the injector pump, which is unfortunately what you need. If your independent mechanics price is similar to the dealer price, chances are that’s pretty much what it costs. Your one way to cheap out on this repair would be to try to find a used one, but you’d be getting an unknown and your mechanic won’t warranty it.

4

GreasyJack,
thank you very much. That is the kind of information I was hoping to retrieve.
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.