Thanks again
Yep, Indiana is a big state. I live in Rensselaer, IN. I work in Gary Indiana, Rensselaer is about 45 miles south of Gary and just east of I-65.
I have had a cold start issue for a long time, starts right up when I use the TDI heater, so I have just been plugging in at home and at work. Lost the ability to plug in at work now. Time to work through the problem now. Have a couple other issues too, not sure if they are related to one problem or not. I had 240,000 miles on the 1997 Passat and about 55,000 on the TB so thought I would have a local diesel injection shop do the TB and investigate the starting issue. Didn't work out too well - don't want to go back there really.
Here is my list, I need help sorting through this ...
COLD START PROBLEM
Glow plug light comes on, stays on longer when its really cold. Repeated attempts / cycling glow plugs, eventually starts - but smokes a lot and sputters badly.
Its harder to start, even when its not that cold out - following the TB job.
CEL
Autozone read a code - P0380 - glow plug relay?
Diesel injection shop read that code and was able to clear it. They also read a code 00575 - MAP shorted to B+. they could clear the code, but it returned as soon as they turned the key (before starting the car).
STUMBLING AND BUCKING UNDER LIGHT THROTTLE
I have read that this can be caused by injectors being worn / imbalanced
SMOKING AND SPUTTERING
There have been times when it would run badly and smoke a lot at startup during the summer as well.
LIMP MODE ?
Loss of power when pushing moderately high RPMs. Power returns when cycling the key off/on.
INJECTION TIMING OFF FOLLOWING TB JOB?
Not sure if it is, the car runs OK when it is at operating temp - but sputters badly and smokes a lot above idle when cold (once I get it to start).
Diesel injection shop has vagcom, the said timing was the slightest bit below the center line in graph mode. They observed the timing drop off the graph when increasing throttle from idle - lots of smoke and sputtering. They described it as not advancing and blamed it on the MAP sensor code.
I had already spent too much at that place while they learned how to troubleshoot a TDI. Good mechanics, not TDI savy though. So I brought my car home.
I ordered a MAP sensor from Digi-key, here is the link I found related to a bad MAP sensor
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=157442&highlight=map+sensor+shorted
I also ordered a N75 solenoid, may be related to limp mode problem? If not will keep as a troubleshooting tool until I really need it.
I may have to break down and buy vagcom. Again, I could use some help sorting all of this out.