2000 tdi wont start

acomp

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Location
Calgary Alberta Canada
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
I was driving my car in a parking lot when it started to rev really high so i shut it off. when i tried to restart it it would turn over but it wont start. what could it be?
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
How long did it rev really high? Was there lots of black smoke pouring out the tailpipe? Have you checked the timing belt?
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
Fuel starvation? Can you see bubbles in the visible fuel line up front?

Run-away is possible, when was the last time you drained the IC? Cleaned the intake?
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
What is the oil level? Sounds like somehow, a bunch of it got into the intake and cylinders. This can cause starting problems as the injectors are spraying into a puddle of oil in the piston bowl instead of swirling around.

Pull a glowplug. If wet with oil, insert a piece of 5mm Tygon tube until it touches the piston. Check for oil on the tube. If wet, a Shop Vac set for wet pickup can suck some out. Make a manifod so all cylinders can be vacuumed at the same time. Spin the engine with all GPs out for the rest but put towels over the holes to catch the spray. Drain the IC, clean the intake tubes/hoses completely.

Now where did the oil come from? Turbo? Or crankcase breather? If the latter, clean the demisting pads located in the valve cover. I've posted this recently, it is easy but messy.
 

whitedog

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Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Keith is right on as usual. I would add you should pull the lower intercooler hose and drain out any extra oil, then pull the hose off of the turbo that goes to the intercooler and see if the bearings there are whacked.

It could be that oil has pooled in the intercooler and it got sucked into the enigne and ran unchecked for a few seconds.

But why won't it start now?

Did you check the antishudder valve?
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
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Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
whitedog said:
Keith is right on as usual. I would add you should pull the lower intercooler hose and drain out any extra oil, then pull the hose off of the turbo that goes to the intercooler and see if the bearings there are whacked.

It could be that oil has pooled in the intercooler and it got sucked into the enigne and ran unchecked for a few seconds.

But why won't it start now?

Did you check the antishudder valve?
The starting mode (DBW) will not let more fuel in. The tiny bit of fuel injected will be quenched by the thick film of oil on the bowl of the pistons. In running engines, the diesel mist bounces off the dry piston bowl, very little "wets" the piston until it gets to temp within a few seconds, then it evaporates. The engine is cold now and the coating of motor oil effectively prevents the ignition.

I would NOT recommend ANY starting fluids, ether or propane. That is asking for another run-away.

Fix the problem first, that being how that oil got into the intake. But for a 2k, if the turbo is fine, bet on oil mist. CLEAN IT.

This isn't a complex fix but it is detailed. If you don't want to pull the belly pan, side skirts, valve cover, front head light, IC and all tubes, expect to pay $1600 for this, Canadian. There, that and a warm garage should be all the motivation you need.

We will be here. Rememeber, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy. Red Green, my kind of man.
 
Last edited:

whitedog

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Bend, Oregon
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2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Keith_J said:
The starting mode (DBW) will not let more fuel in. The tiny bit of fuel injected will be quenched by the thick film of oil on the bowl of the pistons. In running engines, the diesel mist bounces off the dry piston bowl, very little "wets" the piston until it gets to temp within a few seconds, then it evaporates. The engine is cold now and the coating of motor oil effectively prevents the ignition.

I would NOT recommend ANY starting fluids, ether or propane. That is asking for another run-away.

Fix the problem first, that being how that oil got into the intake. But for a 2k, if the turbo is fine, bet on oil mist. CLEAN IT.
I like that idea. Too much liquid in the combustion bowl to get good sqwirl.
 

acomp

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Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Location
Calgary Alberta Canada
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
Im not totally sure that it was burning oil, it was more like thick diesel smoke due to the high revs. Im no where near my car at the moment I will check the anti shudder valve and fuel lines and glow plug for oil in the morning.
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
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Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
acomp said:
Im not totally sure that it was burning oil, it was more like thick diesel smoke due to the high revs. Im no where near my car at the moment I will check the anti shudder valve and fuel lines and glow plug for oil in the morning.
Well, SOMETHING was causing the engine to race. Yes, oil WILL burn nicely in a diesel without much of the black smoke because unlike a gasoline engine, there is far excess air. In a gasoline car, the oil cannot burn because there is insufficient oxygen so the oil just becomes a white vapor cloud. But in a diesel, there is plenty of air and oxygen so those hydrogen atoms on the hydrocarbon that is oil are easily stripped off, using all the oxygen available. Since the carbon backbone of the oil molecule is now "bare", you get black carbon smoke.
 

acomp

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Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Location
Calgary Alberta Canada
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
Ok so I checked it out at the parking lot and there isn't any oil in my engine and the anti shudder valve seems to be functioning properly. there is a single bubble in the clear fuel line however.
 

Keith_J

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Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
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2000 Jetta MT
acomp said:
Ok so I checked it out at the parking lot and there isn't any oil in my engine and the anti shudder valve seems to be functioning properly. there is a single bubble in the clear fuel line however.
Something caused it to go uncontrolled. If not a run-away from oil in the intake, it has to be electrical between the power control module, the ECU and the injection pump.

If there is no oil in ANY of the cylinders, then there is no fuel through the injectors.

Double check crankcase oil level. Then scan for faults.
 

whitedog

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Bend, Oregon
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2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
acomp said:
Ok so I checked it out at the parking lot and there isn't any oil in my engine and the anti shudder valve seems to be functioning properly. there is a single bubble in the clear fuel line however.
Do you mean that you pulled the dipstick and there was no oil? If so, I would not try to run this until you can get it someplace warm and do some in depth checking.

The single bubble is normal and it shows that there is fuel there.
 

whitedog

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Bend, Oregon
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2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
So you just cleaned the oil out of the cylinders and it fired up with no uncontrolled speed?

Be sure to watch the oil level closely for a bit.
 

whitedog

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Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
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2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
You pulled the hose from the EGR, but what about underneath fron the intercooler? If it's running fine and you pulled the hose off of the intercooler and the oil level isn't dropping, then you are probably golden.
 

acomp

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Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Location
Calgary Alberta Canada
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
So i cleaned out my intercooler and put everything back together and the car was running great. I parked it in my drive way shut it off for 15 min then I needed to take it out again and it wont start up. It will rev up like a normal start then die after I turn back the key. what now?
 

AndyBees

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Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Just a thought here. First, I have never experienced a "run-away" diesel engine due to any cause, not even in the old 1.5s and the 1.6s which are notorious to do so.

In the 1.5 and 1.6 engines, with car moving "in gear," if you turn off the key the injector pump will pump the fuel back down the return line. Then it becomes very difficult to "re-start" the engine (loses prime). I have experienced this personally.

So, here's my thought (theory)......... TDI engine revs up due to run-away on accumulation of oil in IC. By the time the operator turns the key off, RPMs are up pretty high and engine continues to run on the oil all the while the Injector Pump is pumping the fuel out and loses its prime.

Gurus........... give us an answer on the theory!
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Yeah, its hard to believe we went from a run-away engine that wouldn't start to a blown fuse as the culprit.

Tell us which fuse!
 

acomp

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Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Location
Calgary Alberta Canada
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
No the fuse was a different problem all together, the run-away engine was caused by oil getting into the cylinders. When I boosted the car it must have broken a few fuses. I will check the one that stopped my engine from starting when i get home from work.
 

Keith_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Location
West
TDI
2000 Jetta MT
Sorry I didn't fully explain...when the engine gets a load of oil from the IC, removal of the glow plugs and use of a Shop Vac to drain the piston bowls of oil is as follows:

Get some small vacuum hose, smaller than the diameter of the GPs. Cut 4 lengths about 2 feet long. Run these to a length of PVC pipe which will fit the vacuum cleaner's nozzle. Drill holes in the PVC for all 4 hoses and then cap the open end of the PVC pipe. Now with the vac running, all 4 cylinders can be vacuumed clean at the same time. Oil and junk will take a while to settle and each tube will have to be pushed until it reaches the piston bowl.

Use clear hose, it makes the oil removal progress visible.
 
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