1999.5 Jetta TDI Won't Start after "accident"

DeadJetta

Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Location
Weymouth, MA
TDI
99.5 Jetta TDI
Hello all,
My Fiance' has a 1999(.5) Jetta TDI. So far it has been a great car. She had a little accident over the weekend.
She was driving along after having her hair cut and suddenly all the lights came on and the car quit and wouldn't start again. After a bit of detective work, we pieced together what had occured.
Before getting her hair cut, she had bottomed out the car on a very bad piece of road. While getting her hair cut, most of the oil had run out the new hole in the oil pan. She had driven about 1 mile when the car quit.
When I got there, I cranked it once. It made a normal cranking sound, no ugly whines or whirring. I'm hoping to god this means that the engine is NOT seized.
We had it towed to a mechanic who specializes in VW. He put a new oil pan on it and filled it with oil, but it still will not start. The mechanic has been unable to determine the reason it won't start. He told my fiance' that his "diesel guy" will be in tomorrow and he will know more then. I have not spoken with the mechanic directly, but I would assume that if the engine were seized he wouldn't need his "diesel guy" to tell him that.
Does anyone have ANY advice for me?
(prayer has already been advised):).
Does anyone have theories as to what's preventing the motor from starting?

Thanks in advance,
~DeadJetta
 

MikeS_18

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Location
Bow, NH
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, '13 Passat SE, '64 Ford Econoline
Call Chris Hill at Kraftewerke in Braintree, MA. Do it now.

Don't let anyone else look at it. Get it to Chris now. He's in the next town over.

http://www.kraftwerke1.com/
 
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paramedick

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Location
Versailles, Kentucky
TDI
2015 Audi Q5 TDI
I concur. Absolutely get the car to Chris or other MA guru. DO NOT allow the engine to be cranked again.

I suspect that pulling the valve cover will tell the story. Expect broken or seized lifters due to oil starvation along with concurrent camshaft damage. Also possible is broken timing belt due to engine seizure. Same result to cam/lifters.
 
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supton

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 25, 2004
Location
Central NH (USA)
TDI
'04 Jetta Wagon GLS
Tons of damage may have been done if there was no oil in the pan, and it ran until it stopped. It may have unfrozen itself, but only after scoring everything. It could crank but have zip for compression.
 

DeadJetta

Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Location
Weymouth, MA
TDI
99.5 Jetta TDI
Thanks everyone...I was really hoping someone would say, "push the engine rebuild button, just below the intake manifold and all will be well."....I guess not. ;-)
 

weedeater

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Location
Reston, VA
TDI
Jetta, 2001, Baltic Green
Tell your girlfriend to let her hair grow out...;)

If the pulling the cam cover and things look ok, do a compression test.
 

alphaseinor

TDI Innovator, Gone but Not Forgotten
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Denton, TX
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI 780,000 miles (totaled out), 01 Audi TT 225 Quattro 230,000 Miles (runs great!), 00 Cabreetle Beetle dash, ALH & MK4 harness Swap
Get it to Chris, and order a skidplate from www.dieselgeek.com

the turbo could have seized, your lifters might be locked, could have jumped static timing... anything is possible at this point...
 

DeadJetta

Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Location
Weymouth, MA
TDI
99.5 Jetta TDI
> How long did she drive it AFTER the "OIL" pressure light came on?
Not much more than a mile at ~30 MPH.

It looks like its ok. The "diesel guy" at the VW place got it running.
New Oil pan and a timing adjustment.
He took it for a drive and all seems well.
 

alphaseinor

TDI Innovator, Gone but Not Forgotten
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Denton, TX
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI 780,000 miles (totaled out), 01 Audi TT 225 Quattro 230,000 Miles (runs great!), 00 Cabreetle Beetle dash, ALH & MK4 harness Swap
the scary part is what could have caused it to jump timing... the bump or the friction from lack of oil!
 

Bob_Fout

Oil Wanker
Joined
Sep 5, 2004
Location
Indiana
TDI
2003 Jetta - Alaska Green (sold) / 2015 GTI 2.0T
DeadJetta said:
> How long did she drive it AFTER the "OIL" pressure light came on?
Not much more than a mile at ~30 MPH.

It looks like its ok. The "diesel guy" at the VW place got it running.
New Oil pan and a timing adjustment.
He took it for a drive and all seems well.
A mile at 30 MPH! Holy crap. That's 2 minutes. IIRC when the low pressure oil light is on, you have 5 to 10 seconds to get the motor turned off before baaaad things happen.
 

afarfalla

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Location
sugar land tx
TDI
05 Passat sedan and 05 wagen
jump time

so if I understand correct, if the cam and crank are even one tooth out of time damage can be done?
 

DeadJetta

Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Location
Weymouth, MA
TDI
99.5 Jetta TDI
Hello All - The "girlfriend" here...
Thank you all for your great advice.
I did get my car back yesterday, and it is totally drive-able. But is not herself.
I am sure, to the non-TDI guy (who is through no fault of his own, ignorant of normal TDI zippy-ness) it seemed "fine … Either the turbo, (or I guess it could still be the timing, right?) is pooched.
I am taking it to Chris Hill tomorrow, to have a look.

Unfortunately, I only pissed the guys off at Murphy’s when I asked about towing it out of there for someone else to look at … don’t forget, you guys get different treatment at the auto garage than us girls do …“What you makes You Think We can’t fix it, there Little Missy?!” grrrrrr… I think they spit in my onion rings….

On the good side, I now have found a mechanic I like and trust, close to our new home. Chris @ Kraftwerke said he would look at it with me tomorrow morning.

That Skid Plate looks like a great idea. I can’t freakin’ believe how gnarly the roads are here. Yee Haw. Welcome to Massachusetts!
 

rdkern

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 21, 2004
Location
Humboldt Co CA
TDI
Passat 1997 silver (sold after 11 years), Jetta 2000 atlantic blue
Good decision. At least you will have comfort that he will understand what is going on with the machine.
 

MikeS_18

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Location
Bow, NH
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, '13 Passat SE, '64 Ford Econoline
DeadJetta said:
“What you makes You Think We can’t fix it, there Little Missy?!”
"Because you can't run an interference engine dry of oil until it dies without doing some kind of damage, Dumb Ass!!" would have been a good response.

Anyway, phew!
 
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