1998 tdi jetta no start

smokey_bearme

Well-known member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Location
maine
TDI
2002 jettas
ok so bought this 1998 jetta as a no start i don't know where to start it cranks over at normal speed sounds like its gonna start but either does and shut right off or doesn't start and blows white unburnt smoke from exhaust. I should start I went to school for automotive but never covered diesels and this is first diesel I have ever owned. I am getting 3 codes P1163: fuel temp sensor open or short to b+, P1563: quantity adjuster low limit, P0380: glow plug heat circuit fail I just don't know to start on this car and I have had many friends recommend this site so thought I give it a try, btw it 45 degrees fahrenheit, cold rain
 
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mustang_gt_350

Veteran Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Location
BFE
TDI
98 jetta
Just went through a simmillair thing. with mine


Does it smoke when your trying to start it?

what is the history of the car? and how many miles?


I'm guessing the timing is a little retarded, even if its 45 deg it should still start without much complaining without the glowplugs working.

Your best bet to save yourself a TON of hassle is to just suck it up and pick up vcds. Its well worth the money. I just spent 2 months chasing down problems that I could have probably fixed in 2-3 days (no counting the head rebuild) And speaking of that for the love of god and everything holy, pull the Valve cover and check out the lifters/cam.


I would verify the timing (cam,crank,IP) and then advance the IP a little, if its not all the way advanced already. you can search for how to do this. You just roll it towards the firewall. Its like setting static timing on a gasser with a distributor. It helps to loosen the injector lines on the pump a little and don't forget the bolt thats under the injector lines, its way easier to spin the pump with that one loosened a little. Retighten and it should fire up faster if that was the problem. Atleast you can chase the other issues after you can start it.
 
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schultp

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Mar 11, 2008
Location
Michigan
TDI
2010 Jetta Sportwagen, 6sp manual
If you don't know the vehicle repair history I would plan on an immediate timing belt change anyway. But, you probably want to determine if the timing belt has jumped a couple teeth and led to cylinder head damage. Definitely check the timing. If it looks OK then proceed with trying to get the starting issue sorted out. Once you have ensured the engine will run then immediately do a TB change.
 

mustang_gt_350

Veteran Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Location
BFE
TDI
98 jetta
yes its smokes and 205,000 and have no clue what history of car is

If its a white looking smoke its probably the timing being retarded. It will smell like unburnt diesel fuel, because thats what it is.


i have no glowplug harness on mine, and it started when it was 25deg out 3 weeks ago. It complained but it still fired, and that was even with the timing retarded out of the margin that vcds shows in the graph. If you advance it and your compression is good, it shouldnt have any problems starting in the 40's even with glow plug problems if there isn't anythign else wrong with the pump.

The other reason i asked about if it was smoking when it was trying to start was to make sure the shut off valve didn't have any problems.
 
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smokey_bearme

Well-known member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Location
maine
TDI
2002 jettas
something i crank it over it runs for about a second and then dies then won't do that again i check the ohms across the glow plugs 3 were .8 ohms and last one is 32.5 ohms would that have something to do with it, the guy i bought off doesn't know when last timing belt was done because he only had for 2 months
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
TDI
Only the B4V left
It's not your glow plugs, it's too warm to worry about them now.

Where in Maine are you? I've gotten pretty good with the Mk3 platform over the years and could take a look if you're somewhat local. I also have the Vag-Com with me all the time.

I just looked at your profile and you work at Pyro City, which means either Edgecomb or Manchester, both of which are pretty close.
 
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Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
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Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
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That's a bit of a drive, one I cannot make this week since I'm on-call and have a 30 mile limit (work sucks sometimes). The earliest I could make it up there would be Tuesday afternoon or very early Monday morning.

I'm sure it's probably something simple if the car was running previously. I would do a search on this site because everything has probably been covered before. If the timing belt has an unknown history, it will need to be changed, especially by someone who knows these cars. Anyone else can mess it up easily which will cost you an engine.

First and foremost though, I would look for chafed wires, which seem to be prevalent on these models. I have seen 3 or 4 in the last year that had issues due to wires chafing through. I posted about it on here, but you'll have to do a search. Look specifically around the fuel pump, below the plastic sleeving around the wires.
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
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Not if he needs the car right away. Definitely willing to help keep another Mk3 on the road, but I have to get to it first.

It took me over a week to get to a guy with a B5 V6 he needed the throttle reset (DBC) with the Vag-Com. Purrs like a kitten now but I hate that it took so long and I felt bad he had to wait.
 

smokey_bearme

Well-known member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Location
maine
TDI
2002 jettas
I want to thank Abacus personally for all his help. We figure out timing was off, have a bad cam, and a bent vavle
 

TonyJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 15, 2005
Location
Tucson, Az
TDI
'15 Jetta TDI SE / '06 Jetta TDI DSG Pkg0 / '96 Passat TDI
I want to thank Abacus personally for all his help. We figure out timing was off, have a bad cam, and a bent vavle
Yeah, Mark is a pretty solid guy! Props for Mark!

Sorry to hear about the cam and bent valve. What are your plans with the car?

Tony
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
TDI
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Well, I finally have a minute to sit down and write something.

Great to meet you Jeremy, so sorry to find what we did.

I drove the 2 hours to Jeremy's place and on the way he said it would almost run, but shut down. When I got there, I noticed something right off: there was a socket stuck hard on the triangle bolt for the IP. When I mean hard, I mean I could not get it off at all. Upon cranking, it would emit some white smoke out the tailpipe and the N109 valve would actuate, but I observed a very large air bubble that would go into the pump and then back out again, indicating a breach in the fuel system at the pump. Then I found the PO (previous owner) had overtightened the bolt and completely stripped out the aluminum threads inside the pump. Wonderful...

(click on pictures to enlarge)

*note the aluminum still attached to the bolt

The other 3 bolts were very tight as well, but at least they were not stripped. I assumed someone was into the pump trying to adjust it, so I loosened the top cover and moved it over a little, then primed it with a Mity Vac, which helped since the bubble would no longer come back out of the pump.

Still no start. Back to the basics....

I pulled the timing cover and found two problems, one is that the tensioner was improperly tensioned, the notches weren't even close to being aligned, and the second was significant rust on the upper roller (I should have taken pictures). The timing belt was intact and moved normally, and the car seemed to build good compression. I moved the belt via the cam pulley and locked the IP.

As soon as I pulled the valve cover to check the cam alignment, I knew we needed to go no further, the head was trashed.

Here is what I found:






It's too bad because the rest of the car is in good shape with very little rust (it's a relative term up here in Maine). So he needs a head at the minimum and the IP may be able to be repaired by retapping and using a slightly larger bolt (I have never done this though). We did not pull the head to see what damage may be underneath since it was already after 7 and I had a 2 hour drive home. I also did not do a compression check since it would yield very little information as it'd have to be torn down anyway.

My thought is the PO lost a timing belt at some point, did the mark & pray, then when it wouldn't run right tried adjusting the IP. It had obviously run on that cam for at least a little while judging by the condition.

He would like to keep the car and obviously doesn't have a lot of money since he's just getting started on a new job. I advised him to look for a donor car for a motor, or at the very least a new head. If anyone has a good take-off head they are willing to sell cheap, you may want to contact him. I'll keep my eyes open as well.
 
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Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
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Only the B4V left
I want to thank Abacus personally for all his help. We figure out timing was off, have a bad cam, and a bent vavle
Thanks.

This has been in CL for some time and would make a great swap, plenty of other parts as well. There may be another, but it may also be the same ad. Also check Uncle Henry's and maybe put an ad in looking for a 1997-1999 diesel Jetta or a 1996/1997 Passat diesel.

I found nothing on a Car-Part.com search.


If you do find another, let me know and I'll go have a look at it to make sure it's not trashed.
 

TonyJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 15, 2005
Location
Tucson, Az
TDI
'15 Jetta TDI SE / '06 Jetta TDI DSG Pkg0 / '96 Passat TDI
That's the kit I used back in October. I would buy it again!

Oh, and you can't go wrong buying from Bora parts...Aaron is top notch!

Tony
 

smokey_bearme

Well-known member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Location
maine
TDI
2002 jettas
are the injection pumps from 98 jetta and 2000 jetta the same because I have some offer me a 2000 injection pump
 

TonyJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 15, 2005
Location
Tucson, Az
TDI
'15 Jetta TDI SE / '06 Jetta TDI DSG Pkg0 / '96 Passat TDI
The 2000 and '98 pumps mount differently. There is a sticky at the top of the A3/B4 section that discusses what needs to be done to make the ALH pump fit on the 1Z/AHU motors.

Tony
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
TDI
Only the B4V left
The one from Bora is more complete and includes everything, but you can add the items on the IDparts site individually. While you're in there, I would replace everything I could since it's obviously been abused in the past. I would definitely do the water pump as well, and the serpentine tensioner & roller.

But, before buying anything, I would pull the head and check the piston protrusion to see if a rod is bent. Also check to make sure the cylinders are not scored, or if there are any pieces of valves floating around in there. If there is, then I might just look for a whole new motor or sell the car since it'd cost a lot more to be rebuilt. No sense spending all that extra money on an engine that they will not benefit.

Until the head is off, you really won't know the extent of the damage. It may be just the head, but it may be more than that as well.

I think there is a writeup on here for removing the head, but I can loan you my A3 Bentley manual as well. It doesn't take a lot of tools, but you have a pretty good selection anyway, and most of it's just time and doing it in the proper order. The big issue is if you encounter any broken bolts along the way, like on the intake. My EGR cooler bolts were frozen and rusty, so that took a little extra time to get off. I would yank the head with the exhaust manifold in place just to make it easier since those nuts can be a pain. You should start soaking them down with PB Blaster when you get the chance just to help them come out.
 
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