A4 Jetta TDI starts and then just dies

Hello Forum members,

I don't post very often here but I sure appreciate my membership.

I'm having a recurring issue with my 2000 TDI Jetta. It's got over 300,000 km's on it and is normally always reliable and starts every time. I've kept it maintained as required.
Except for yesterday, I got in, cranked the engine, started it up and after about five seconds of running normally, just stops. The engine can then be started up again but dies again within 2 or 3 seconds. Using the pedal has no effect. No matter how many times I start it up, it just dies after few seconds. Cant keep it running.
This is not the irst ime I've had this issue. It's happened only one other time during a very cold snap (-30_c) and I had to get my car towed to a garage. After sitting for two (2) days in a heated garage, it started fine again and we did not experience the problem since then, over six (6) months ago.

It almost feels like an electronic problem, but I can't be sure if it's engine related or a problem with the key switch. I

So I'm turning to my fellow TDI members to9 see if this is a common problem and how to fix it. I do a little maintnan myself, but I won't tear things apart too deeply.

Thanks for any and all advice.

Does the key or wrench icon light up in the cluster display?
Sound kind of like the immobilizer is activating, but I'm no help with that/those issue(s).
Bump to the top.

Mine did the same thing, I used the spare key that I had and it works fine. I just use the other key to open the trunk

i'm still trying to start it without success. Looks like this problem isn't as common as
I thought it was. Gotta wait till Monday morning when my mechanic is answering his phone...
I'm hoping it will just come back in time like it did this past winter.

diesel142 said:

Mine did the same thing, I used the spare key that I had and it works fine. I just use the other key to open the trunk

Click to expand...

Using the other key yields no difference.

Does the key icon on dash illuminate when engine stops? This was asked on post #2.

A suggestion.. You have a 12 year old car. The fuel tank might have lots of algae and what ever in there. Perhaps you need the secret "H" Mod. Which goes like this.

There are posts about this too. But the flapper valve in the sending unit is blocking the fuels ability to get to the pump.
1. Is there fuel in the fuel lines to the pump easy to look at.
2. Have you loosened the injector lines to assure there is flow there?
3. Did the wrench ICON on the display light up yes/no?
4. You need air & fuel to run a TDI Elect is nice for the elect things but your ALH has no electrically driven pumps to run.
5. Have you changed out the relay 109. They are problematic the older Black ones have heat/solder issues. Grey are good ones.
6. This is important 5 speed or Auto. There are differences we do need to know.

And so the story ends like this...

Thanks or the input guys.
To answer the questions; the car is a manual transmission.l

I'm not very mechanically inclined but I can change filters and such, so since I hadn't changed the fuel filter in quite some time (3-4 years and about 125,000 km's) I deoded to try that an ee if there was any difference.
The fuel which I drained from the old filter was perfectly clean ( beautiful tint of yellow as diesel should be) and had absolutely no water in it. At least I know that the places I go for fuel are good.
I had decided that if the problem persisted I would bring it to a mechanic. I need my car.
Since my regular VW mechanic is on vacation (as many folks this time of year) and my back-up mechanic also, I brought it to another garage who found the problem.
See th part pictured below:


(solenoid valve?) next to the ER valve.

Trouble is this:
While taking this part off, the mechanic broke a small vacuum connection on the EGR valve and need to replace that too. Luckily, I have a good discount on automotive parts.


Check out the photo of my old EGR valve:



Is it normal to have sooo much carbon build-up on the inside of the EGR valve like we see here?

Anyhow, I've changed the oil and all filters. Should be good for another 20,000 km's.

Thanks again for your input.

Unfortunately, that buildup is normal with high milage. Your intake manifold should be removed and cleaned. The build up comes form the soot from the EGR system, mixing with the oil vapor from the crank case breather.

Also unfortunately, the part that the mechanic broke is not available seperately, and only comes with a new EGR valve:

http://idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=528

Someone on this list has devised a fix for the broken lever, though.

Your other option, is to remove the EGR valve and replace it with one of these:

http://www.dieselgeek.com/TDI_EGR_s/1834.htm

You may get a check engine light for insufficient EGR flow, though, unless you get a performance engine tune (ECU recoding) to eliminate the CEL.

But eliminating the EGR will pervent the nasty crud you saw in the intake.

--Nate