3turboz
Veteran Member
I think the 109 relay should be replaced along with the timing belt service, just to get a fresh one every 100K miles.
When I first got my TDI, I was on here all the time. But as I got the car dialed in and other projects caught my interest, I was on the forum less and less and clicked off around 80,000 trouble free miles. Somewhere during that time, the 109 relay just slipped my mind.
Going to dinner last week, the car bucked hard once while cruising, and the glow plug light flashed for a fraction of a second. Went another 2 miles to the destination, enjoyed a nice dinner and the car started normally.
A mile later as I took off from a stop, the car died and would not restart. No Glow plug light and it just cranked but no fire.
After waiting 70 minuted for AAA to show up and being told it would be another hour, I cancelled the call and we took an Uber home.
Next morning I called a tower I had used before, and agreed to meet him at the car. While waiting for him, I hooked up VCDS. Was not able to access engine controller. I was thinking the ECU was dead and wondering how much hassle it would be to get my tune onto a new ECU.
Anyway, a few minutes searching on the forum and the dreaded 109 relay comes up and seems to match my symptoms. If you are not familiar, this relay is energized all the time the car is running and supplies power to the engine control unit. My memory jogged, I looked in the glovebox for the spare relay I had stashed years ago, but found it was the wrong one.
Get this, the local VW dealer does not stock it! Parts Authority said they could get me one the next day, so I went with that. I also ordered an OEM grey one from Cascade German through ebay.
The part did not show up the next day as promised, so two more days of downtime. Not a big deal for me as I have too many cars, but the Golf is my favorite and my DD.
When the part did show up, I popped it in and the car fired right up. Next day the OEM one showed up, so I swapped that in and now I have a proper spare.
My point is this though, carrying a spare may still get you stranded in a bad place. It may be dark, cold, and you may not have a torx to remove the panel roadside.
So, don't be like me! Spend 15 minutes and $13.50 and save yourself some big time inconvenience.
When I first got my TDI, I was on here all the time. But as I got the car dialed in and other projects caught my interest, I was on the forum less and less and clicked off around 80,000 trouble free miles. Somewhere during that time, the 109 relay just slipped my mind.
Going to dinner last week, the car bucked hard once while cruising, and the glow plug light flashed for a fraction of a second. Went another 2 miles to the destination, enjoyed a nice dinner and the car started normally.
A mile later as I took off from a stop, the car died and would not restart. No Glow plug light and it just cranked but no fire.
After waiting 70 minuted for AAA to show up and being told it would be another hour, I cancelled the call and we took an Uber home.
Next morning I called a tower I had used before, and agreed to meet him at the car. While waiting for him, I hooked up VCDS. Was not able to access engine controller. I was thinking the ECU was dead and wondering how much hassle it would be to get my tune onto a new ECU.
Anyway, a few minutes searching on the forum and the dreaded 109 relay comes up and seems to match my symptoms. If you are not familiar, this relay is energized all the time the car is running and supplies power to the engine control unit. My memory jogged, I looked in the glovebox for the spare relay I had stashed years ago, but found it was the wrong one.
Get this, the local VW dealer does not stock it! Parts Authority said they could get me one the next day, so I went with that. I also ordered an OEM grey one from Cascade German through ebay.
The part did not show up the next day as promised, so two more days of downtime. Not a big deal for me as I have too many cars, but the Golf is my favorite and my DD.
When the part did show up, I popped it in and the car fired right up. Next day the OEM one showed up, so I swapped that in and now I have a proper spare.
My point is this though, carrying a spare may still get you stranded in a bad place. It may be dark, cold, and you may not have a torx to remove the panel roadside.
So, don't be like me! Spend 15 minutes and $13.50 and save yourself some big time inconvenience.