Fuel Pump Failure: Check Fuel Shut-Off Valve

Hello everyone!!!

I know it's impolite to ask a question in my first post, but my knowledge of motorcycles far outweighs my limited basic understanding of diesel engines.

For some time now, my 1.9 TDI (ALH) has been running poorly. Sometimes it has full power, and other times it doesn't. I initially thought it might be the mass airflow sensor, but it wasn't. Then I suspected the vacuum pump on the turbocharger, but that wasn't it either. Then, on Saturday, it completely stopped working and it only ran in limp mode. So, I just went to an Audi dealer and had the error memory read. And there it was, a new error code: 01237, 'mechanical fault.' The nice man explained to me that 'mechanical fault' means that a piece of the valve has most likely broken off and fallen into the pump, and that the pump now needs to be completely replaced. I find that statement to be quite general, and I also can't find anything in this forum that supports that theory.

What do you think, how likely is that?

Hi. I've never experienced that before. But I can imagine that if a solenoid valve breaks, the engine might not be able to be shut off. So, if it's still running... The other thing is, if it sometimes runs normally, where could the broken piece be hiding?
I don't know. How many kilometers has the engine been driven?

The engine has now been used for a maximum of 15,000 km. It wasn't installed for a long time. I bought it 'as a spare' because I drive about 60,000 km per year. If a piece had broken off, it should somehow clog something in the pump, rather than just causing a mechanical valve failure that leads to the limp-home mode.

It's all sorted out, but thank you anyway. Nothing was broken except the valve. The guys in the workshop just laughed and said, 'Show-off!!!'