Intermittent no-start problem solved (timing was off)

A couple of months ago, my 2000 Golf TDI (160K miles, new battery) began to get harder and harder to start. A local shop that had been servicing my car for several years determined that the starter motor was going bad, so they replaced it. At the same time, I asked them to check the condition of the timing belt since it was last changed at 80K miles. They said it looked loose and cracked and installed a new one.

Things seemed fine at first, but then I noticed a new pattern: now it wouldn't start sometimes, although the problem was very intermittent. It would always start after it had been sitting a while, but not when the engine was warm.

Took it back to the shop. They said the fuel lines looked deteriorated, so they replaced them. Still the intermittent no-start problem persisted.

Took it back. They replaced the fuel tank relay. The intermittent no-start problem continued.

Finally, I took the car elsewhere. It was discovered that the timing settings were incorrect. This solved the problem. Needless to say, I won't be using that other shop from now on. Not only did they mess up the timing belt job but were unable to diagnose the chronic problem.

I'm writing this post (my first one) in the hope that it will help someone else. The new timing belt introduced another variable that I didn't connect to no-start issue.

Troubleshooting starts with some basics that go a LONG way toward cutting the problem down to/in size. Questions that should always be asked up-front (or address by those having issues) is:

1) When was the last time there wasn't this problem? This question helps establish a time frame for identifying:

2) What has been changed since then? Always, of course, something has changed, unless one has acquired something with that preexisting condition (this situation will be answered by the first question).

If that previous shop couldn't do proper timing on your engine then I'd be worried that the TB job itself might be suspect.

UhOh said:

If that previous shop couldn't do proper timing on your engine then I'd be worried that the TB job itself might be suspect.

Click to expand...

Yes, exactly! I'm concerned that maybe not all of the components were replaced the way they should have been. I plan to spend the extra money to have it checked out.

I am in Round Rock with VCDS if you ever need a scan or something. Meyerhoff is the place to go for timing belts.

http://www.runonbeer.com/

That's kind of you. Thank you. And only days ago I discovered Meyerhoff. Wish I'd known to go there for a new timing belt.