Big Big problem guys

I came out of the cinema, went to my car, turned over, the car started cranking and cranking, then it started spitting at me...and to finish it off it ended up draining my battery in full.

I had to get a AA ( rescue service ) guy to come out, he tried to jump start and the car started spitting at him to... ( when i say spitting, its the noise it resembles ) he decided to stop trying only for my self telling him, trust me keep going it will start.. eventually the car started and bag a load of smoke came out.

When i drove it home, litterally just 10 minutes ago,

There was a huge power drop the moment i put my foot down to pick up some spead, it almost felt like 20 people were pushing down on the front of the car and then 1 second after it felt like they all let go and the car blasted forward, for it to do it one more time, only this time not as strong.

Can any one help me here?
The car is now parked out front and i know for sure it wont start in the morning, i have my power pack on charge just in case.

But my worry is this spitting noise, it has always struggled starting, it crankes about 5 6 to 7 times before turning on, and when it finally does, all this smoke comes out.

Am i rite in thinking..... FUEL PUMP gone??
Now i know the started made a wining noise from time to time, but i think this is only caused by consequence to a other problem..

If any one has any ideas at all please help me.

To me it sounds like your turbo is blown, the smoke is from you engine burning the oil that's coming out of your turbo hosing. Check you oil level and pray. if its slow, your turbo is blown

When i drive the car there is no smoke what so ever, its just on start up and its very very hard to start it up.

Car Details?

Vw tdi mk4 1.9 110bhp 1999

Bad timing belt job maybe. Get it on vag-com.

I recently has a engine transplant... my old engine lost compression was basiclaly dead, with 213,000km on it, it decided to quit, it was burning smoke it was just a night mare.

I basically now have a new timing belt done over 1 year ago, a new clutch flywheel, new cooling sensor, new fuel filter, new injectors, reconditoned starter, new Air mass sensor, basically everything apart from a fuel pump replacement.
Thats why i am pointing and maybe asking, is it the fuel pump giving me this problem?
Oh and the turbo is in good condition, but the only thing i saw is a oil leak from the turbo.. but this problem was there with the old engine and now with the newish one, i am getting the same problem, only this time it decided to die on start up and loose power when i put my foot to the floor.

Jeez, we got a car whose original engine lost compression at only 132k miles. Replaced motor well over a year ago, new timing belt, sensors, good injectors, leaky turbo (no mention where it's leaking). I'm sorry I can't diagnose your problem just yet. From the sounds of it though, I fear you have a compression problem again or your motor is trying to run on oil for some reason.

I gotta ask though, how did you manage to kill the first TDI in roughly 1/3 of it's life??? And, why does it leak? Who is working on and maintaining this car?

i had the exact same problems with my 110 . it turned out the timing was too far advanced when i got the belt changed over. check your static timing in vagcom .

Sounds like the timing belt jumped a tooth. A blown turbo will still start find & idle ok - just will have no power & smoke like hell. If its "spitting" it sounds like its firing with a intake valve open, hearing it fire through the air box. If I am wrong, still sounds timing related.

Check compression again and report. Any mods done to the engine?

Thats it Jay, its comind fom the airbox area that noise, and on a few occasion ( but this happenes every 1 in 10 engine starts ) when i press on the accelerator wile driving, i feel a drop in power and a huge suction noise from the air box, nearly as if created a strong draft in the house.. that kind of noice, but its only for 1 second when i feel the drop in power.


The engine was replaced by a friend of mine who is a mechanic
But it runs completely differently from that old broken down engine. and to be fair, i didn't treat that old one very well.
But wile he places the new engine, he put in the new timing belt, the old clutch and fly wheeel witch only had about 2000km on it.

What is very strange is when the car is completely cold, the moment i turn the key... the car starts fine... no problem what so ever.. but its when it hot or warm that i have this problem.

And this is why we check the timing when the engine is warm and not cold!
The sooner you have it checked and diagnosed the longer your engine will last.

ok im off to get it checked now...


But here is the funny part.


I removed the connector to the cooling sensor or temperature sensor.. and it started straight away, still a big puf of smoke but it started with out any problems..

I have changed this sensor and got a new one 2 weeks ago..

Does this mean anything to anyone?

im off not to get a mechanic to check it.

The 99.5 ECU's are plagued with a warm start issue. There is a modification by a veteran member named Hammon or Hammond (sorry for not remembering or searching at the moment). This modification allows you to put a push button inside of the car which you can press and the car will start instantly. It tricks the confused ECU into thinking that the car is parked overnight in Antartcitica and makes an incredible difference.

Before you go doing any mods like this though, please check your timing belt tensioner. Make sure that the static timing is perfect and hasn't changed. Sometimes the camshaft bolt can loosen and that can possibly move a bit wreaking havoc. Then check your IP Timing with VCDS. Then check your IQ and finally check your cranking RPM. Report back with your findings.

Good Luck!

Canon said:

ok im off to get it checked now...


But here is the funny part.


I removed the connector to the cooling sensor or temperature sensor.. and it started straight away, still a big puf of smoke but it started with out any problems..

I have changed this sensor and got a new one 2 weeks ago..

Does this mean anything to anyone?

im off not to get a mechanic to check it.

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Is the mechanic in Dublin or Firenze?

Mechanic is in dublin, ireland.

Ok so i got back from and got a few different opinions, none of them the same.

One guys said its the glow plugs,
second guy said its your started
third guy said its the turbo
forth guy said your ECU might have a problem giving the wrong info.. fuel mixture etc...

I give up i have no idea, one thing found out when i got home was a small puddle of oil in my driveway, and it seems to be coming from the turbo.. its one of the metal pipes.. bit or a hard one to replace.

but i dont think it has anything to do with the starting problem, i think that my pressure and power drop issue when i am driving.

What annoys me is the fact that when i remove the temperature sensor the car stars like new. 1 crank and its on.. but again i replaced it with a brand new one, so that cant be right can it?

maybe you failed to read my post? Your ECU has a known issue that deals with starting with temp. sensor. Read a couple of posts back.

Then start reading this: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=134622&highlight=hammond+mod

Good Luck

He also is in the wrong thread and he didn't check his timing and report back with reults.

Canon, if you don't give us the information we request, we can't help you. End of story. Let us know the timing and let's go from there. Like rackaracka said it could be your plagued 99.5 ecu. Please read our questions and respond. We are trying to help you but we can't magically tell you the answer.

Well the timing belt is fine, i had my friend who is a full time mechanic check it out, but he is not to familiar with VW electrics and ecu problems.

I did contact some one about the ECU They said the problem is know and i would have to find my self a new or second had ECU from a brakers yard and they can remap it for me..

I put in a new battery and well no difference..

I am going to go down to a Diesel Specialist next tuesday and have them check this problem out so they can 100% confirm that its the ECU problem.

I have read the post and the mods available, i would not even know were to start with electrics.. so my option is to find some one who can help me out..

ill keep you all posted about tuesday. but my best option is to pop open the bonnet of the car take out the temperature sensor start it and plug it back in and go. as i can feel a lot of strain on the starter.

Ok

here is the update.

Timing belt checked out ok.
Starter working normal.
Fuel pump cleaned and tested all good.
New fuel filter.
Air mas checked out ok.
Battery 3 days old so its new
Injector pump perfect.

Next on the list Injector cleaning.. one mechanic told me that the reason it starts when unplugging the cooling temp sensor is because the injectors work harder when cold and when its hot and it doesnt start they might be faulty or dirty..

so now i have some of that fluid to clear the injectors..

in the meantime i contacted some one about ECU and they have heard of this before, and i should get my self a used or new ECU and they would remap it for me again... to me that sounds like a money making scam.

Also one other place advised that it might be the vacuum pump.

This is my last attempt of this as no one can seem to find what's going on and a last resort might seem to be a VW inspection once and for all.. its a nightmare!

I'm going to say look up the 99.5 problem. It's a known cold start issue with those ecus. Any number of people that tune these cars can reflash the ecu to start correctly for you. No scam it is a common problem.

Canon said:

Ok

here is the update.

Timing belt checked out ok.
Starter working normal.
Fuel pump cleaned and tested all good.
New fuel filter.
Air mas checked out ok.
Battery 3 days old so its new
Injector pump perfect.

Next on the list Injector cleaning.. one mechanic told me that the reason it starts when unplugging the cooling temp sensor is because the injectors work harder when cold and when its hot and it doesnt start they might be faulty or dirty..

so now i have some of that fluid to clear the injectors..

in the meantime i contacted some one about ECU and they have heard of this before, and i should get my self a used or new ECU and they would remap it for me again... to me that sounds like a money making scam.

Also one other place advised that it might be the vacuum pump.

This is my last attempt of this as no one can seem to find what's going on and a last resort might seem to be a VW inspection once and for all.. its a nightmare!

Click to expand...

Get the car as far away from that mechanic as you can - "The Injectors work harder when its cold?" The reason the car starts when the coolant temp sensor is unplugged or when the car sits and it is cold, is because the ECU adapts the injection quantity and timing based on those conditions. There is a flaw in the 99.5 ecu that deals with temperature and crank speed and probably other variables, and to fix this you have 3 options.

1. Unplug the coolant temp sensor when you want to do a warm start (this will get old fast)
2. Do the Hamman modification referenced earlier, which allows you to have the circuit normally connected, but by pushing a small button in the car will trick the ECU into thinking that the engine is ice cold and it will start instantly.
3. Have a tuner perform a cold start fix tune (Maybe some other good stuff while you have your ECU being tuned)

I am not 100% sure that this is the only issue, as I don't trust your mechanics diagnosis.

If you have a friend that can run a couple of wires and solder / splice a couple of connections, you don't have much to lose by trying the Hamman mod. You can leave the button under the hood and just do it to test this out.

Good Luck and keep us informed of what you find.

You have been asked what the timing is, not what the belt's condition is, which is nearly irrelevant.

This is critical information that you must find out to solve the problem. I don't know your specific engine's controls, but I think timing can only be checked electronically with a program like VCDS or equivalent.

^^ this. You need to know what the ECU sees the timing is at, not what your "mechanic" reckons it's at.

Could it be crank/cam position sensors?

we'll never know unless the OP gets with a VCDS.

dieseltwitch said:

To me it sounds like your turbo is blown, the smoke is from you engine burning the oil that's coming out of your turbo hosing. Check you oil level and pray. if its slow, your turbo is blown

Click to expand...

Do you work at a dealer?

TDI-JAY said:

Sounds like the timing belt jumped a tooth. A blown turbo will still start find & idle ok - just will have no power & smoke like hell. If its "spitting" it sounds like its firing with a intake valve open, hearing it fire through the air box. If I am wrong, still sounds timing related.

Click to expand...

What he says!

mtdoragary said:

What he says!

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How would a diesel fire with the valve open? And even being a tooth off won't make a sound like that. However I agree timing. I've gotten my motor to fire at almost 8 degrees off.