Car Abruptly Quits?

Joined
Jun 26, 2002
Location
Strausstown, Pa
I am posting this topic for a friend. His 02 Jetta TDI has left him stranded on the highway
for the third time in a time span of about 1.5 months. The first time the deal (Lehigh Valley
Volkswagon) blamed the injection pump and replaced it. The second time they blamed
contaminated fuel drained the tank and fuel lines and proceeded to void the warrenty of
fuel system. Now it is at the dealer for the third time. My friend is throughly disappointed and
will most likely unload the two TDIs that he has because they both have had a lot of problems.
The symptoms that he discribed to me are that the car started fine (temp 5 degree F) drove about
15 miles the car started to sputter then quit. He waited while thecar restarted and quit again
about a mile later. He then had the car towed. Note: all three occurances have had the same
symptoms. Can aybody give any ideas since the dealer does not seem to Know what it is
doing.
 

mcolmsted

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Location
St. Louis, MO
TDI
2003 VW Jetta Wagon
I would recommend reading the other postings on cars dying. If he is where you are (PA), he may be having the same troubles the rest of us are with fuel gelling. If he hasn't been using an additive, tell him to try that. Also ask around here for where other people in your area are getting diesel--make sure you're getting something that isn't known to be contaminated.
 

MITBeta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Location
Boston's Metro South-West
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 2004 Sprinter CDI Passenger (Mid/High), former: 1996 Passat TDI Variant
Sounds like a fuel filter clogged with diesel crystals to me...

Nothing a little heat and/or some antigel additives won't cure...

Mcolm's right: there are countless posts here in the last week or so relating to this exact problem... it's a real shame that the stealership spent so much money to fix an easy to fix, common problem...
 

Chuck101

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Location
Tallahassee, FL
A dude I know had a problem exactly like this with a Diesel Chevy truck. It would drive fine, then cut off after sputtering some. It would crank up and drive fine for awhile before stalling out again. It ended up being the PGM or something along those lines. (has something to do with the program fuel injection) I have no idea if the TDI has one, but just thought I would throw that out there......

OH, and he has 219,000 on the old truck, and it is still going strong. (saggy doors and all)
 

P-car

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2002
Location
MA
TDI
2000 Jetta
I called the dealer today to inquire about our 02 jetta that has stranded us 2 times and quits on the highway. They said they are going to replace the ECU and the instrument cluster. When your car dies and you try to restart, does your glow plug lite come on? Ours doesn't. So it is an electrical problem with our car. Not gelling

Dean
 

Mass. Wine Guy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 21, 2001
Location
Ipswich, Massachusetts
TDI
5-speed, 2015 Golf S 6-speed manual; 2015 Golf Sportwagen SEL 6-speed manual
Chuck101:

I'm not sure your signature plug for Web hosting is appropriate here. It doesn't really pertain to TDIs or related items, eg: license plate frames.
 

Mass. Wine Guy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 21, 2001
Location
Ipswich, Massachusetts
TDI
5-speed, 2015 Golf S 6-speed manual; 2015 Golf Sportwagen SEL 6-speed manual
Could this be a bad Relay 109, even if it's a 2002?

Originally posted by P-car:
When your car dies and you try to restart, does your glow plug lite come on? Ours doesn't. So it is an electrical problem with our car. Not gelling
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Torque!

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Location
Boston, Massachusettes, USA
TDI
2001 MK4 Jetta TDI - 196K
Just look down the list. The past couple of days people have been dropping like flies. I am going to the dealer tommorow to rescue my car. I am sure it was a gelling problem and can cure it with a full tank, some heat and some additive.
Even though the dealer has not looked at it in 2 1/2 days I am afraid they will find something "wrong" with it like your friend. When I call them and tell them it is likely gelling they state "We haven't diagnosed it yet as we are busy...It could be anything" Yeah. And it could be gelling. A quick fix.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
We have been dipping into the single digits here in St. Louis...although both my diesels have had no issues, I know a few around me have (not just Volkswagens, lots of domestic trucks, too). I have always used Power Service in the winter, and have never had any gelling issues, I think that must be the difference. Lately both my Jettas have sitting outside overnight, as I have a project car in my garage right now. The thermometer outside this morning said +3, yesterday it was -4! Both my cars started right up, with no block heater or anything!
 

P-car

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2002
Location
MA
TDI
2000 Jetta
I don't think so. The stealer replaced the 109 2 times. The car has failed maybe 12 times total. The 10th time when I talked to the idiot service manager he said it must be a fluke. I wanted to say to him that, the fact that he can function without a brain, now that's a fluke
 

weedeater

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Location
Reston, VA
TDI
Jetta, 2001, Baltic Green
someone has posted pictures on another thread showing the fuel pickup in the tank. There is a float valve at the bottom of the pickup that was broken on his resulting in the car quitting from fuel starvation. Might be worth looking at in your friend's case.
 

Karmann-diesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Maine, A'yuh
TDI
Jetta, 2000, Canyon Red
Terry, I've been having a similiar problem with my 2000 Jetta. On 2 occasions it started & ran fine for about 30 miles or so & then stalled out. Once it stalled on 95 in the passing lane.
I'm still trying to figure it out, but I pulled the fuel sender/supply assembly out of the fuel tank & found part of it was broken. It's not that hard to remove. Probably a 2 on a 1 to 10 obscenity scale. Not sure if this could be the problem, but look here for a possible cause. Let us know how it works out.
 
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