starts then dies

help: starts then dies

I have a 2001 golf with a vnt 17, pp764's 11mm pump, and rc2. It ran fine last night, but this morning (+7 C) it will not start. Last night it seemed a little less powerful, and a little rougher, but very little and could easily have been due to the damp weather and higher altitude here(I brought the car to edmonton from virginia last week). When I go to start it, it fires right up, immediately, first or second crank, just as it always has, and then dies immediately. No funny noises, no grinding or squealing. If I quickly blip the throttle it will give a 1 second roar before it dies as well as a cloud of white smoke. The check engine light is on, and has been for a while. It stays on because I have no EGR, I would like to turn that off but don't know how. I got it checked last week and my glow plug harness needs to be replaced, but if that were the case it would not fire initially. My glow plug light comes on behind the tach for a 1/4 second right when I put the key in but does not stay on any longer than the other start-up lights. As long as the key is in but the car is not started there is a little flashing pic of a car with a key on it. That may be normal, I don't know. I have no anti shudder valve as far as I can see. I have a different intake opening towards the drivers side for the intercooler pipe. I do not have vag-com. Any help appreciated.

1. Try the other key. Could be the immobilizer acting up.
2. Check the fuel line for excessive air.
3. Swap relay 109 with a known good one, although no fuel would be injected if it were bad.
4. Examine the timing belt for excessive slack and check the tensioner.
5. Check the vacuum lines going to the anti-shudder valve.

Also where in canada are ya? perhaps someone close by cuold help you out as well

Could very well be the key itself, mine does this on occasion, starts then stops and the code is signal from key to low intermitant.

I just ordered VAG-COM KEY-USB and the bentley manuals, should have them both by the end of the week. I don't need the car too much before that. I live in south edmonton, Alberta. If there is someone that could help that would be really appreciated. I will check all of the above and get back.

Ah cool, did you order from sensolutions in Calgary? When I bought mine from them was at the door the next day

Sounds like the immo to me. Did you try the other key?

I did buy it from sensolutions, so far it says it is pending, I hope that means shipped because tomorrow is day 3. I tried the valet key and both other keys. Is there a way to bypass thge immobiliser? I expect to have vag-com in a day or two. There was only a small(1/4 inch) bubble in the entire clear part of the fuel line. I just tried again, there is definately fuel getting to the engine, it is firing and then shutting off immediately after starting. Both keys will unlock/lock. The immo really seems like it could be the problem, although it seems pretty weird.

would a bad ground cause the immo to act up? i tried the shorting test and the battery clamp on the ground came off in my hand. (off of the battery lead) I will fix it and see if it starts.

success! after extensive research on this awesome site, I found lots and lots of info on the immo issue. I tried the shorting, the key resetting(from the manual) and then the leave the key in the ignition for 20 minutes on on. turn off. start as normal. it worked. i was really scared that I was going to have to get the keys recoded or some other expensive thing. thanks for this awesome site and for your help. I am new to TDI's and am very happy so far with the amount of support and the performance.

Lars the ECU with the RocketChip program is stage 3 and 4. This also require the use of the 2bar map. The other ECU ( the one the car came with was tuned by mikevw) is setup for the 3bar map. So if you swap ECU's you must swap the MAP sensor.

oh, good to know. Thanks

My car is doing this exact thing, starts, runs for half a second then dies.
I left it overnight 5 miles away.
I hope the problem is the immobilizer.
I am going to walk to where it is later today (Sunday), so I would like to have all possible ways to bypass this immobilizer issue in my head, (or at least written down).
So here is what I have to try so far (with questions)...
1. Key resetting? (I can't find this in my manual) then, key in ignition for 20 minutes, turn off, then on.
2. Try all keys.
3. Shorting? (what should I short?).
I am going to do some more searching before I start walking to my car, but any tips or clearifications would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, I found that the 'shorting' means to short the battery cables together.
What about the idea of "key in ignition for 20 minutes, turn off, then on"? Is that a procedure that anyone has seen work? thanks...

In case my experience helps anyone, here is what happened...
The first thing that I tried was shorting the battery cables together. That did not work.
Then I turned the ignition on and left it on for 15 minutes, turned it off, then tried starting it and it worked. So that was the fix for my car in this particular instance. From what I have read, different methods work depending on the year and what happened to activate immobilization in the first place.

My experience was the same as gnebula. Immobiliser playing up (little car symbol flashing) so I left the ignition on and after 10 mins the light was out. Turned the ignition off and the car started as normal.
MK 4 Golf 1998 GT TDI 110.
From what I have read this works although the time you wait may be different, some have waited 15 mins some 20 mins but it worked for me after 10.
Try it.