Check Eng Light - Hard start - glow plug - $$$

basco2

New member
Joined
Jan 24, 2001
Location
Chicago
'97 TDI 62,000 miles :My check engine light came on a month ago after a hard start (knocked heavily as if skipping a cylinder), then drives normally once warm. Background: glow plug light has behaved the same since I bought the car, meaning that it always stays on the same amount of time for any given temp. I had a timing belt break (at 54,000!) this summer so I had a new head and intake manifold installed.
--1st time I brought it in (Fault for glow plug intermittantly inoperative) dealer said they thought is was a faulty temp sensor (even though glow plug has always acted the same - they considered it plug time short) which they didn't have, and they found a bad glow plug fuse which was burned, worn, & cracked. They replaced the fuse but I had to come back for the temp sensor.
--I read through this forum and suggested the dealer check for shorts, bad relays, or bad grounds,
--but the next time I brought it in they changed the temp sensor (they said readings were out of spec) but faults still kicked out saying "glow plugs out of range". Then they changed "cont module" (gplug relay?) and said everthing was reading fine. Next morning the glow plugs were on for a shorter time than I expected, had a hard start, then the CEL came back on !@#!%*

What can I do? $$$ are adding up.
 

basco2

New member
Joined
Jan 24, 2001
Location
Chicago
Thanks for any help you can offer.
I am going to get all the fault codes and diagnostics test they ran and post them tonight.
tempsenso #357-919-501-A $12.84
cont modu #038-911-253 $149.46
 

Karl Roenick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 22, 1999
Location
Clifton Park, NY, US
Yes, that's the glow plug relay. I think it's in the same panel as the infamous Relay 109.

I think they might have charged you too much. WWW.vwparts.com says it retail for $125 and they sell it for $106 + s/h .

You really shouldn't have to pay for all the parts the dealer experiments with to finally find a problem he should have found in the first place. Or is that the norm?

We can try to go through your data and see what Bentley says.
 

Karl Roenick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 22, 1999
Location
Clifton Park, NY, US
I put a little page together with links to some relevant Bentley excerpts (it was easier that way). You shouldn't have to pay for relay 180 if it didn't fix it.

I think you can check the glow plugs by measuring resistance. It is very low, but not zero. I don't know what the value is, but maybe someone else does.

Glow Plug Problem Page
 

basco2

New member
Joined
Jan 24, 2001
Location
Chicago
Glow plug "same amount of time" means:
In winter it would be on 8-10sec, summmer ~1sec. Basically, it always seemed to operate properly. The coil light never blinked. I plan on taking it in again early next week. Thanks for the help by the way.
 

PaulB

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2000
Location
Oregon, USA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE M6
Maybe you don't need to know what the official glow plug resistance is. Just look for the one that is significantly different from the other three.
 

Guy Beland

Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2001
Location
Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada
My 1997 Jetta III TDI is having the famous sporadic error for glow plugs. This error does not bring the service engine to light up.

At the dealer, we found the source of the problem. It is located in the wiring harness that feeds the 12V to the engine glow plugs. (two sets of wires ; each supplies power to 2 glow plugs).

There is a faulty connection within the harness that feeds the power to cylinders 1 and 2. Since the harness is plastic molded and sealed, the only solution to my hard Northern Quebec cold engine starting is to change the harness (can$ 380.00 ... too expensive for the sporadic problem I have).

Does anyone have an idea to solve the harness problem. I thought to thread the end of each glow plug connector and run separate wires from the engine harness connector to feed each set of two glow plugs.

The dealer told me that they have 3 vehicules dating 1997 and 1998 with the same problem. VW Canada cannot do anything for me since my car is at 115000 km (70 000 miles).
 

husqi

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2001
Location
NH/VT
TDI
15 GSW
From my experiences and reading from others VW seems to have a problem with their glow plug system in the newer TDI's.
I have a 97 Jetta TDI with 71K miles. When I pulled it off the lot after the official handshake the CEL came on! I turned around, and kindly asked them what the deal was. They found a problem with the glow plug system, so they replaced the plugs and glow plug relay. My problem continued for the next 6 months with another dozen visits to the dealer. After many glow plugs (N-101-401-05) and even more glow plug relays (038-911-253) they traced the wiring to find the glow plug control module (191-911-261-B) had overheated. They replaced that and told me I should now be all set.
It has been 3 weeks and so far so good! Thank God all those relays, glow plugs and labor was warranty! What happens then the warranty is done?!

[This message has been edited by husqi (edited January 28, 2001).]
 
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