car wont start please help

Hello,


I have a 2003 MK4 with 200k miles. My car wont start. Lights come on but the engine doesnt turn over. I noticed the fuse link on the battery (162 - Glow plug coolant) is broken. I tried jumping it with a wire but no change.



I didnt get a chance to check all of the fuses yet. Can seem to find any wiring diagrams online. I found a few but very grainy and have trouble printing them.


Please advise


Dean

Here's something:



You'll want to check all your grounds as well.
http://web.mit.edu/dennis/www/vw/grounds.html

Best bet is to scan it for codes with VCDS.
A priority would be finding out why the fuse popped.

Often when this happens it is the thick copper wire on top of the starter. It’s about two inches long and after a few years in the salt belt turns to dust. Inspect that wire if it’s bad it’ll be crumbly or obviously broken.

However there is a no start thread on the forum here that is a great resource.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=199398

I will scan for codes today. Is there a diagram for the fusible links? I found one but it is very grainy and cant seem to print it. I took a picture from my phone.


Would the blown fuse link for the glow plug (coolant) make the car not start? I cant find any electrical diagrams for this. I do have an electrical diagram for the start circuit but its only up to 1999.



Thank you

Tdijarhead said:

Often when this happens it is the thick copper wire on top of the starter. It’s about two inches long and after a few years in the salt belt turns to dust. Inspect that wire if it’s bad it’ll be crumbly or obviously broken.

However there is a no start thread on the forum here that is a great resource.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=199398

Click to expand...

yes I went thru all of the threads in regards to the car not starting. I will test the wire to the starter. Does the short wire go from one terminal of the starter to another terminal on the starter? If it is the starter I should be able to jump the two terminals.



Ive read that you should get 12V from the batter to the starter while key is on but not starting. You should get around 12V at smaller terminal with car starting.

No CRANK (no attempted turning over of the engine) means:

1. No power to the solenoid (small terminal on the starter); that has to pull in for the starter to run.

2. Solenoid contacts are dead; solenoid pulls in but no contact is made so no primary power goes to the motor itself (rebuild or replace starter.)

3. LARGE terminal has no power from solenoid to motor; solenoid pulls in, contact is good, but the feed from there to the motor is not. (The braided wire people are talking about.)

4. The starter motor ITSELF is open (brush/commutator/armature dead.)

5. The engine is locked hard enough that the starter motor cannot turn AT ALL. Incidentally this is NOT necessarily the engine itself; a locked accessory (e.g. alternator) can cause this to happen although it's not all that common.

This assumes that you don't get an instant voltage dump to near-zero when you turn the key; that can be a dead cell in the battery or bad connection, both of which pass essentially zero current as soon as load is put on it.

BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL working around starter terminals with the battery connected; the primary power feed to the starter is effectively an unfused connection and your TOOLS can become the fuse with catastrophically bad results. The thick primary feed is hot and thus this risk exists whenever the battery is connected.

Genesis thank you. I checked voltage at the starter terminal from the battery which is ok. Do you have to take the battery and air filter box out to get to the starter?

Genesis said:

No CRANK (no attempted turning over of the engine) means:

5. The engine is locked hard enough that the starter motor cannot turn AT ALL. Incidentally this is NOT necessarily the engine itself; a locked accessory (e.g. alternator) can cause this to happen although it's not all that common.

Click to expand...

Not all that common, but it did happen to me; wasn't just a seized alternator pulley, but the bearings on the alternator itself were totally fubar-d.

With that said, the car did at least grunt a bit as it tried to turn over. Sounds like yours isn't even getting there.

bravo69 said:

Genesis thank you. I checked voltage at the starter terminal from the battery which is ok. Do you have to take the battery and air filter box out to get to the starter?

Click to expand...

Yes. Spend the 5-10minutes to remove the battery and tray. No need to remove the airbox, although you do have to remove one screw that goes into the back-left (standing, facing the engine bay) of the battery tray.

You can get to both starter bolts from above, but it's much easier to get at the lower one from below if you can at all get the front end lifted (on supports, not jacks - PLEASE).

bravo69 said:

Would the blown fuse link for the glow plug (coolant) make the car not start?

Click to expand...

No.

Did you remove and clean the battery terminals?
Do the lights get dim when you try to start the car?
Turn on the dome lights above the mirror to see if they dim.

If you do pull the battery and tray out that would be a good time to check & clean the heavy ground point there.
If that one is bad anything that grounds to the body is bad.

bravo69 said:

Genesis thank you. I checked voltage at the starter terminal from the battery which is ok. Do you have to take the battery and air filter box out to get to the starter?

Click to expand...

It's certainly the easy way to get to it, and if you can, lift the vehicle (NOT supported on jacks, use stands!) as one bolt is a LOT easier to get from the bottom.

You want to check and make sure you have +12V on the SOLENOID wire (thin wire going to the solenoid, not the big fat one) when the key is turned to START (you need a helper to hit the key, obviously, while you have the probe on the solenoid terminal.) If not then you've got a wiring problem.