Violent Shudder, then stall

It seems like it is something new every month with the car now. 2000 TDI with 285k. It has been parked for a few weeks after the latest episode, just because I simply haven't had the time or money to start messing with it. Now I need to figure it out.

THe car was driving fine. All suspension has been replaced since Christmas. On my way into work a few weeks ago and decided to stop at Tim Hortons. I go into the drive thru an wait in line. When it is my turn to move up the car shudders badly and stalls. I was a bit embarrassed thinking that I popped the clutch too soon and stalled it. The car started right back up. Went to move forward again and same thing. It felt like the tires would rotate just slightly and then the shudder and stall. It felt almost as if the tires were locked in place...hard to explain. I decided to try to back it up to:

A-Get out of the line which I was now holding up
B-See if if would move backwards

I was able to back it up and park in a spot in the drive thru. I looked under the car and saw nothing out of the ordinary, but I cant see much with the steel skid plate there anyway. I talked to a friend from the forum who said it may be a failed Dual mass flywheel (?). I searched the DMF but haven't found any threads with similar situations to mine. So, the car was towed home and is currently sitting in the driveway.

I need help diagnosing the problem so I can fix it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Robb

it'd try: in neutral, clutch out - does the engine turn by hand (or crank over), if it does, you can eliminate massive mechanical damage to the engine. second, i'd remove the anti shudder valve and try again see what happens. if this continues to happen, take the starter out and take a peak in there with an inspection mirror for obvious signs of trouble.

The car starts and idles with no problem. The problem occurs when I try to move forward. I dont remember if I put it into neutral or not when it happened but likely not since it started right back up each time it stalled. I thought maybe a broken axle or dogbone or something that would stop the car from moving.

dogbone would have no effect. axle... since it's an open diff, the axle that's blocked would stay blocked and the power would all be directed to the other wheel. it actually sounds like something got inbetween gears and blocked the tranny in forward gears. have you tried ALL the forward gears? it might help identify if it's like an input gear or whatever...

I haven't but I will try it this weekend. Thanks

Rivets failing in differential??? That will jam tranny, and also eat the case.

Hmmm fuel pump?

Just last week my car was making an awful noise. Car idled just fine. When I would start to let the clutch out the engine would make a horrible noise, but did not stall. The engine, when accelerating, sounded "off". My fuel light was on, and I was on my way to fill it up. After filled, it still made that same noise. Then noticed suddenly that it was gone.

So I stopped by Autobahn Motors here in London where our favourite Club guru DieselDazzler works. Gerry thought that it could have just been air in the fuel pump (Note I said my fuel light was on). He went on to explain how the innards work and if a couple pieces found themselves out of sequence, the pump could get very loud. Perhaps at some point during acceleration a large air pocket made its way into the line.

Anyway, if your car idols fine (mine did), but stalls when beginning to accelerate. Then perhaps your pump is gone? Mine is a 2002 with almost 270 on it. We're not far off.

Of course I will check that out and thanks for the reply. My fuel pump was replaced in early 2009 by Hamilton VW so I would hope that it's still good. I would prefer not to take it to the dealer but I am thinking of just having it towed somewhere and get it diagnosed. To me it felt like the car was running fine but something was stopping it from moving forward. Hopefully I can get a good look at it this weekend.

how about put the car in neutral and see if you can roll it?

I will try that as well this weekend when I get to it. Weird how I could back up though but not go forward.

I was thinking along the lines of something worn/broke in the brakes causing a rotor to jam up, or a CV joint came apart?

Differential rivets!!

Fuel pump in a 2000?

So I checked over the car yesterday and have some more information although it doesn't give me any definite answers. Maybe someone here will know.

The car started with no problem. I tried it in gear and in neutral. Turned the car off and put it up on jack stands. The front passenger side is where the problem seemed to come from before so I checked that side first. The front right tire was reluctant to turn at first (maybe from sitting outside for a few weeks untouched. I did notice rust on the rotor) but it eventually turned. I got about 3/4 of a rotation of the tire completed, moving slowly but non stop. Suddenly the tire stopped as if someone had hit the brakes and in doing so I actually saw the portion of the engine viewable in the wheel well move. I tried a few times to move the tire and turned the wheel to see in behind and check if I can see anything binding. I saw nothing but the tire would not move from that spot when trying to rotate forward.

I decided to try rotating the tire in reverse and it moved with no problem. In fact I did about 5 full rotations with no issues. I changed direction again thinking it would stop at some point and it didn't. The tire spun freely forward for as long as i turned it.

Not being able to get it to lock up again, I decided to put the car in gear and rotate the tire. The differential seemed to be working fine no matter which way I rotated the tire or which gear I had it in. I could not get it to lock up again. I decided to give up because it was starting to get dark. I lowered the driver side tire to the driveway and put the car into neutral again and with the front passenger side in the air tried one last time and it locked up the same way again. So, It will rotate in reverse, but when I go forward it gets stuck and it seems to be in the same position every time. I am assuming that it will be some type of expensive transmission repair.

So...Anyone know what this might be? I am assuming it is internal.

Also another thing to note...I did find a bit of red fluid on my skid plate (tranny fluid?) but damned if I could find the dipstick to check it.

Are the axles original? Could be the internals on the inner axle binding and locking it out. Are you able to get the axle off to have a look at it?

I should be able to but I am thinking of taking it somewhere to get the problem diagnosed. I usually work 60 hours per week and it doesn't leave much time to get to this kind of stuff. Especially when it rains every weekend.

I need to find a trustworthy shop in the Hamilton area or someone that is will to come take a look at it. I would pay the person for coming if they can tell me what the problem is.

Do you have a garage and a floor jack at home?
I'm in the same boat, this week is bad for me, but am on afternoons next week. If I didn't have my other car apart in the garage, you could just come to my place and we could have a look.

It's sitting in a friends driveway. I have a garage but it is full of tools and no car is going to fit in there! Whatever I do will have to be done where it sits or I will be towing it back and forth. I have a floor jack and stands, etc.

Hi

What did the issue turn out to be?

fahafiz said:

Hi
What did the issue turn out to be?

Click to expand...

4 years later?

LNXGUY said:

4 years later?

Click to expand...

Inquiring minds want to know...


Yuri

To be honest, I've searched the whole of the internet and been to a few garages but no one can seem to diagnose the issue.

This topic is the closest I've got to it

Fours years isn't that long ago

It's nice when people update these threads, up to the point they are able to disclose
the issue when it was resolved.

Op's last activity was a year ago.. I'm guessing we're all out of luck when it comes to an update

Oh well... it was worth trying...