tacolifestyle
Well-known member
2003 Jetta Wagon ALH Manual
Stock other than Franko6 Cam and 520 Injectors
290,000 Miles
Southeast Michigan
Original Injection Pump
Half tank of fuel (Historically have used high quality fuel)
Wife and son called last Sunday telling me car lost power on the highway, kept running as they got onto the exit then eventually stalled as they coasted to the shoulder. They tried to restart and got nothing. I went out, looked for obvious issues then towed it home. I began checking the easiest possible suspect areas first. Chain of diagnostic events follows:
1. Checked for relay 109 symptoms...none
2. Opened IP connector below pump to look at terminals...nothing irregular
3. Tested, based on info here, the crank speed sensor...all appears good
4. Tested fuel cutoff solenoid...good
5. Got worried and checked the static timing of the pump, crank and cam...good
6. Tried to run pump off a jar of Power Service...it would not run
7. Realized I probably needed to bleed the pump all the way to the injectors to get it to run off the Power Service if it had indeed run dry.
8. Primed pump with mityvac
9. Loosened the four injector nuts, cranked over to prime each of the injectors
11. Tightened four nuts, cranked and it came to life
12. Idled for a bit, shut it down
13. Decided it was probably a clogged fuel filter. Ashamed to admit I somehow let the Cat filter go for 74,000 miles. I changed it out, filled new filter with Power Service, started up and took a ride around the block
14. Drove the car the few miles to work then later that evening to an event, wife drove it a couple miles to work then put it in the garage. Total miles driven were about 45.
15. After sitting for about 4 hours she went out to pull it out, it started fine, she got about 6 feet then it stalled, tried to restart and it stumbled, stalled and would not restart.
16. I am heading out there now to have a look.
I suspect this is an air/priming issue with the fuel system. I am not convinced the original highway issue is the same cause of the latest no start. Based on my research the air leaking into the fuel system would need to be significant to take down a running engine. I think the original issue was indeed the clogged filter and the new issue is a loss of prime issue. I plan to inspect the fuel sight for presence of fuel first then begin looking at the thermo-tee. Any guidance would be appreciated. Some say I don't even need the thermo-tee with the Cat system. I've been running it since about 20,000 miles on the original thermo-tee and o-rings I think.
Stock other than Franko6 Cam and 520 Injectors
290,000 Miles
Southeast Michigan
Original Injection Pump
Half tank of fuel (Historically have used high quality fuel)
Wife and son called last Sunday telling me car lost power on the highway, kept running as they got onto the exit then eventually stalled as they coasted to the shoulder. They tried to restart and got nothing. I went out, looked for obvious issues then towed it home. I began checking the easiest possible suspect areas first. Chain of diagnostic events follows:
1. Checked for relay 109 symptoms...none
2. Opened IP connector below pump to look at terminals...nothing irregular
3. Tested, based on info here, the crank speed sensor...all appears good
4. Tested fuel cutoff solenoid...good
5. Got worried and checked the static timing of the pump, crank and cam...good
6. Tried to run pump off a jar of Power Service...it would not run
7. Realized I probably needed to bleed the pump all the way to the injectors to get it to run off the Power Service if it had indeed run dry.
8. Primed pump with mityvac
9. Loosened the four injector nuts, cranked over to prime each of the injectors
11. Tightened four nuts, cranked and it came to life
12. Idled for a bit, shut it down
13. Decided it was probably a clogged fuel filter. Ashamed to admit I somehow let the Cat filter go for 74,000 miles. I changed it out, filled new filter with Power Service, started up and took a ride around the block
14. Drove the car the few miles to work then later that evening to an event, wife drove it a couple miles to work then put it in the garage. Total miles driven were about 45.
15. After sitting for about 4 hours she went out to pull it out, it started fine, she got about 6 feet then it stalled, tried to restart and it stumbled, stalled and would not restart.
16. I am heading out there now to have a look.
I suspect this is an air/priming issue with the fuel system. I am not convinced the original highway issue is the same cause of the latest no start. Based on my research the air leaking into the fuel system would need to be significant to take down a running engine. I think the original issue was indeed the clogged filter and the new issue is a loss of prime issue. I plan to inspect the fuel sight for presence of fuel first then begin looking at the thermo-tee. Any guidance would be appreciated. Some say I don't even need the thermo-tee with the Cat system. I've been running it since about 20,000 miles on the original thermo-tee and o-rings I think.