04' Jetta shutting off while driving

limbhanger2

New member
Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Location
AL
TDI
2004 Jetta TDI
I have an 04' Jetta with the 1.9TDI. A few months ago after driving about 350 miles nonstop, it shutdown while cruising down the road. No power steering or brakes but I got it pulled over and within a minute it cranked right up and I made it home as I was within a couple miles when it died. Check engine light came on but went off before I got home. Next day was one of the first real hot days we had in the April and my wife drove it about 40 miles before it died. Again it would die while cruising down the interstate running 70 but start right back up. She managed to get it back home but it died 3-4 more times. Check engine light came on and I was gonna check it out the next day but the check engine light went back off again. We drove the car locally for over a month with no issue. My wife drives it 28 miles one way to work every day. First time I went greater than that distance with the car, it died on me after about 35 miles on another warm day. I was where I could leave the car all day and late that evening drove it home with no issues. Check engine light went off after a couple miles that evening. My wife drove it back and forth to work again for over a month and then again on its next voyage beyond 28 miles it started doing the same thing. This was in late June and we're in AL so the weather is getting pretty hot. Let it cool off for awhile and drove it home. Died before we got home. But again. Next morning check engine light was off and running fine. Well now its July and pretty hot here every day. Last week it started dying on my wife before she would get to work. After the second day it died on her and she came back home, the check engine light has actually stayed on. So I finally drove down to Autozone just to check the codes. It ran 5 different codes. PO725 and PO727 which are engine speed input malfunctions. I'm assuming it shows those because it shuts down at high speeds. PO671 was about a glow plug. PO128 was coolant below operating range which I figure was another sensor malfunction from the car shutting down instantly. And P2637 which was something about torque management feedback signal "A". I really have no idea where to start. Hard to find someone I trust to look at it. Everybody I know doesn't want to fool with the VW. I have had a couple people mention that it sounded fuel pump related or maybe a fuel temp sensor. Any ideas I could get from anyone on here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ben
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
The P0725 &727 codes sound like the crank shaft position sensor or its wiring is at fault. That would account for the stalling; not to mention a bad in-tank lift pump which would not trigger a CEL. FYI, just because the CEL is not On does not mean that DTC's could not be stored. VCDS would have seen the codes, but don't know about the ability of the AZ's scanner.
 

phaser

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Location
Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta PD - 490k
Both the crank shaft position sensor, or the camshaft position sensor can cause ramdom intermitent engine stumbling and or engine shut down.

Either one may or may not throw a consistent CEL code.

My experience was a occasional CEL for the camshaft position sensor, and it was replaced. Long story short, the ramdom engine stumbling, and ramdom engine shut down returned (more likely never left) after a very short period.

I never got a CEL for the crankshaft position sensor, but I replaced it anyway, and presto. Problem solved.

As far as the in tank lift pump is concerned, if you can hear the pump run when you turn the key on, the pump is probably ok.

.
 
Last edited:

pruzink

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2004
Location
Granbury, Texas
TDI
GLS, 2004, silver
I would suggest doing a diesel purge procedure; this will allow you to see if your lift pump is pumping and if your tandem pump is working. "DanG144" has a very informative write-up in here on the in-tank lift pump. There are a couple of different types of pumps used; some of them will allow flow through the pump if it fails such that the tandem pump will still be able to provide sufficient fuel to keep the car running under all conditions (there are people that had failed lift pumps & never knew it). Unfortunately, there are also lift pumps that will not pass any fuel if they fail; someone in here did a nice writeup about how to convert a lift pump so that a tandem pump can pull through it if the pump fails. I was having intermittent stalls at idle on my 04 Jetta and after trying numerous things (I replaced my lift pump, verified the flow on my tandem pump, logged & analyzed quite a bit of data). At idle, the crankshaft speed sensor tell the computer the engine RPM & thus controls how much fuel to give the engine; if it doesn't give the correct data your engine stalls. At cruising speeds the position of the gas pedal tells the computer if you more or less fuel. On the 04 BEW engine, the camshaft POSITION sensor is used for starting the car. It tells the computer which cylinder is going into compression so it can direct the fuel to the correct cylinder & sequence at starting. If this sensor goofs up it will give some longer starts but your engine will still run (this is not true for all engines but I have seen posts from Gurus on here that this is the case for this engine). I have been getting intermittent camshaft position sensor codes on my BEW for years and get an occasional longer than typical starts, but I don't think this sensor will shut a BEW down. I don't think that the code for the glow plug would have anything to do with your problem; I also don't thing the coolant temp would be related (the coolant temp can affect cranking times though as it will affect the timing).
 

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
Please, before you mess with the speed (crankshaft) sensor or the camshaft sensor, verify the in tank lift pump is working. It is really simple to test. The originals were very failure prone and is common for failure by 100,000 miles. The car will stop dead in its tracks, like the key was turned off, no warning, when the lift pump fails. At least mine failed that way.

Simply lift up the rear seat and turn the key to "on" but don't engage the starter. Do you hear the pump run for a second or two? If so, the pump is probably good (but still could operate intermittently). I have actually read about an operational pump, but bad pump impeller, so you might want to remove the "fuel in" line from the fuel filter and see if it spits fuel when you turn the key on.

If the pump is in fact good, check out the engine speed sensor and wiring to the ECU for it. Then the camshaft sensor and wiring.

--Nate
 

keyfarms

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2009
Location
marion,ar
TDI
2012 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Crankshaft speed sensor!!! Been there done that.. It's very inexpensive to change and a 30 minute job!
 

pruzink

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2004
Location
Granbury, Texas
TDI
GLS, 2004, silver
Crankshaft speed sensor!!! Been there done that.. It's very inexpensive to change and a 30 minute job!
Quick question for keyfarms. When your crankshaft speed sensor was going bad, did your stalls only occur when you were at idle or had your foot off of the fuel pedal? The only reason this post didn't fit the exact problem that me & another TDI club member had is that is sounds like his engine was cutting out on him on the highway (our problem was only when the engine RPM was controlling the fuel, at speed the pedal position does that).
 

keyfarms

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2009
Location
marion,ar
TDI
2012 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Yep exactly the same. Ours would quit when pulling up to a red light, or fuel pump. Mostly when you take your foot off the pedal. We replaced intank pump first also, but still didn't fix it. We could drive it all day long on the interstate and it wouldn't miss a lick! Only stop and go driving.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Please, before you mess with the speed (crankshaft) sensor or the camshaft sensor, verify the in tank lift pump is working. It is really simple to test. The originals were very failure prone and is common for failure by 100,000 miles. The car will stop dead in its tracks, like the key was turned off, no warning, when the lift pump fails. At least mine failed that way.

Simply lift up the rear seat and turn the key to "on" but don't engage the starter. Do you hear the pump run for a second or two? If so, the pump is probably good (but still could operate intermittently). I have actually read about an operational pump, but bad pump impeller, so you might want to remove the "fuel in" line from the fuel filter and see if it spits fuel when you turn the key on.

If the pump is in fact good, check out the engine speed sensor and wiring to the ECU for it. Then the camshaft sensor and wiring.

--Nate
I agree with Nate here. It's an easy check for the fuel pump, the bad thing is that you need it to fail to test it. What I have read is that the new ones are sturdy and haven't been failing so if you can find that part number for the newer pump. You could check it to see if you have the newer one, and if so, skip to the crank or cam sensor. I am betting that it's not the fuel pump, but rather a crank sensor due to the way it needs to get hot to fail.

If it's the crank sensor and it doesn't start, watch the tachometer while cranking. Does the Tach register? No? Then the Crank sensor is bad.
 

pruzink

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2004
Location
Granbury, Texas
TDI
GLS, 2004, silver
When I had the bad crankshaft sensor on my car that was causing my engine to stall I had absolutely ZERO indications that it was doing anything wrong. A number of the times when the engine stalled I had vagcom logging this input (and several others) in the turbo mode (quicker data entries) & when I reviewed this data there was nothing with this input to hint that it was what triggered the shutdown. When the engine stalled it was immediate as if I had turned the key off. When I was doing the diesel purge procedure, I inadvertantly lifted the diesel purge suction hose out of the fluid; if a fuel pump stops delivering fuel I am pretty sure the manner in which a car will stall is that it will resist, spudder, misfire & then die. With an intermittent crankshaft signal it will be as if you turned the key off. The good news is that this sensor wasn't that hard to change.
 

Hawk76

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2019
Location
Bfn
TDI
Jetta mk4
Jetta 04 1.9Tdi - Shut down

Hi Guys! First time posting so if I blunder pls be merciful. I am so glad that I found this forum. Your input and old threads have been an absolute lifesaver! So THANK YOU to all who has given and sharing their knowledge and experience. Regarding the "shutdown" issue limbhanger2 has related, I have the same issue on my Tdi. Just short history(bear with me), met my wife because this car had a leaky washer on the injector pump. Someone "reliable" took it and put a new seal washer in. Leak gone but no start, would crank but no start! Took it to a diesel pump rebuilder and bad news: when they replaced the seal never saw a pin fell out and first time they cranked it broke the gear i think!? Anyway R9500 later and a R1200 for setting the timing at a garage(before i discovered this forum) i am a for away. Drove up to Eastern Cape and timing belt broke!:mad: Replace cyl head at a recommended garage and all sorts of problems on my car!!:mad:

No starting without "Quick Start"
STOP Motor - Low Oil Pressure
Terrible knock before start and run:eek:
Blinking Glow plug light
Total shut down whilst driving

After joining this forum and seeing the way the timing has to be done, discovered pump timing out by almost 30 deg. Took it to a RMI diesel approved work shop and had timing set right, then to auto electrical to sort out rest. This whole scenario is spanning over 13 mnths! Got it back last week and the "cut out problem" still there. So i am going to replace my crank sensor and will post here if it solved my problem! Bye
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
Wow you are very patient with this car. Many people would have found another used car instead of dealing with all those problems.

Hope the crank position sensor fixes your problem. Good luck.
 

wonneber

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Location
Monroe, NY, USA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagon,2003 Jetta 261K Sold but not forgotten
Got it back last week and the "cut out problem" still there. So i am going to replace my crank sensor and will post here if it solved my problem! Bye
Welcome to the forum. :)

What year is the car?
Do you have VCDS to scan it for codes? It would help.
Guessing at parts gets expensive very quickly. :eek:

The blinking glow plug light can be about 12 or so things.
Usually blinking indicates fix it now.
A few codes clear when you shut the car so scanning before shutting off can display them before they reset
 

Hawk76

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2019
Location
Bfn
TDI
Jetta mk4
Thanks for the replies! Bought a crank sensor only to find that the non genuine part is about 4mm shorter and is non returnable as well!! So 200 bucks in the water. Can get the correct one at Goldwagen, just waiting for payday. Will keep you updated. Wonneber some of the codes i got at one stage was these ones : 17656 - Injection intermittent regulation
16685/16485(handwriting is bad) - massive air volume circ range
16705 - eng spd sens input circuit
17964 - chg pres neg pe
18009 - relay for +30V implausible signal
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
I don't think this thread applies to your Jetta. We are discussing BEW equipped MKIV's. What year is your Jetta?
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
This thread hardly applies to anything, OP never came back, never posted solution. So though I do advocate re-using threads, this is a case where you need a different one or start a new one.
 

Hawk76

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2019
Location
Bfn
TDI
Jetta mk4
Hi Guys. I am in South Africa. Very nice motor, just lot of bad mechanics that buggered up stuff. Put in new crank speed sensor and shut off problem at an end as well as fuel gauge jumping all over. but alas now it seems the clutch has gone!!!!:mad:
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
Well thankyou for the update. Sorry about your clutch.
I could not figure out where Bfn is.
 
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