chazlarson
Member
About a week ago, my 1998 Jetta began intermittently having trouble turning over. I am used to it immediately cranking over, and maybe a couple times a week it would crank and not catch. Turn it off, feather the accelerator, and it'd catch. I thought it was maybe low compression; needing an oil change, so I had that done on Friday.
After the oil change it was no better or worse. Drove 30 miles home. The next morning I went out to start it, and it will crank and crank, almost catching every so often, until with a bunch of manipulating the accelerator I got it to catch. It took probably five minutes of attempts to get it to catch on Saturday morning. During this phase, it was belching white smoke. Once running, the exhaust was white smoke, but the engine was idling smooth. I drove it about a mile out of town, and it had nice pickup and ran as well; idled smooth. Once back in the garage after that drive, exhaust was clear as usual. No more white smoke.
Turn it off and it'll start back up relatively well. Leave it off for ten minutes and it's back to not starting. Today, as I write this, I tried again and in several minutes of cranking it never caught.
There is fuel in the tank. The clear fuel line from filter to IP has fuel in it. Coolant level has not dropped. Battery is virtually new and like I said cranks it over like mad. All dash lights are coming on per usual, including glow plug light. There is no sign of leaking diesel fuel under the car.
Relay 109 has been replaced with a new one.
About three months ago I replaced the ignition switch in the steering column, but that switch seems to be working fine as everything in the process seems to be normal [lights come on, starter spins, etc.]; that switch was replaced because of intermittent contact when the lights would go out and starting sometimes required a try to two to get the starter to spin. Since replacement contact is sure, switch moves and engages solidly.
Today I notice a small stain of turquoise-colored fluid on the driver's side behind the front wheel [more or less right below the power steering reservoir] This fluid smells like generic automotive fluid, feels like it could be PS fluid, but does not match the color of the PS fluid as wiped from the dipstick on a white towel [PS fluid is very light green; stain is more dark-blue turquoise]. I've got a towel sitting under it to see if anything else drains there today. That seems unrelated, but it is new.
The fact that it runs well once running and the coolant level is OK gives me hope that it's not a blown head gasket dumping coolant into a cylinder, which the white smoke leads me to believe.
So, where do I start? I am working through the guides, and have found the recommendation to check the anti-shudder valve, but the photos don't match my car. Next step is to find it on this car with help of Bentley and check that, of course. But where next? There's fuel to the IP. The engine's obviously getting fuel, since it runs once going and the fuel line is full. That would seem to leave compression. Does this sound like bad rings? Maybe A&A Auto didn't actually use synthetic oil? Could that cause this? I suppose it'd be an easy $30 diagnostic to drain it and refill it it with Rotella.
I do not have access to a VAG-COM, but do have a generic code-reader. I have not as yet read the codes from the car. I guess that's the next step.
If there's a "hey, dumbo, read this" hard-starting diagnostic how-to I've missed in my searches, feel free to tell the dummy to read it. It seems like this situation overlaps a bunch of what I've found without matching.
After the oil change it was no better or worse. Drove 30 miles home. The next morning I went out to start it, and it will crank and crank, almost catching every so often, until with a bunch of manipulating the accelerator I got it to catch. It took probably five minutes of attempts to get it to catch on Saturday morning. During this phase, it was belching white smoke. Once running, the exhaust was white smoke, but the engine was idling smooth. I drove it about a mile out of town, and it had nice pickup and ran as well; idled smooth. Once back in the garage after that drive, exhaust was clear as usual. No more white smoke.
Turn it off and it'll start back up relatively well. Leave it off for ten minutes and it's back to not starting. Today, as I write this, I tried again and in several minutes of cranking it never caught.
There is fuel in the tank. The clear fuel line from filter to IP has fuel in it. Coolant level has not dropped. Battery is virtually new and like I said cranks it over like mad. All dash lights are coming on per usual, including glow plug light. There is no sign of leaking diesel fuel under the car.
Relay 109 has been replaced with a new one.
About three months ago I replaced the ignition switch in the steering column, but that switch seems to be working fine as everything in the process seems to be normal [lights come on, starter spins, etc.]; that switch was replaced because of intermittent contact when the lights would go out and starting sometimes required a try to two to get the starter to spin. Since replacement contact is sure, switch moves and engages solidly.
Today I notice a small stain of turquoise-colored fluid on the driver's side behind the front wheel [more or less right below the power steering reservoir] This fluid smells like generic automotive fluid, feels like it could be PS fluid, but does not match the color of the PS fluid as wiped from the dipstick on a white towel [PS fluid is very light green; stain is more dark-blue turquoise]. I've got a towel sitting under it to see if anything else drains there today. That seems unrelated, but it is new.
The fact that it runs well once running and the coolant level is OK gives me hope that it's not a blown head gasket dumping coolant into a cylinder, which the white smoke leads me to believe.
So, where do I start? I am working through the guides, and have found the recommendation to check the anti-shudder valve, but the photos don't match my car. Next step is to find it on this car with help of Bentley and check that, of course. But where next? There's fuel to the IP. The engine's obviously getting fuel, since it runs once going and the fuel line is full. That would seem to leave compression. Does this sound like bad rings? Maybe A&A Auto didn't actually use synthetic oil? Could that cause this? I suppose it'd be an easy $30 diagnostic to drain it and refill it it with Rotella.
I do not have access to a VAG-COM, but do have a generic code-reader. I have not as yet read the codes from the car. I guess that's the next step.
If there's a "hey, dumbo, read this" hard-starting diagnostic how-to I've missed in my searches, feel free to tell the dummy to read it. It seems like this situation overlaps a bunch of what I've found without matching.
