Car won't start troubleshooting

TKW

New member
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Location
Jacksonville, Fl.
TDI
2010 TDI Jetta Sportwagon
Car wont start troubleshooting.

I have a 2010 TDI Sportwagen that if I let it set overnight the next morning it is
difficult to start and when its cold its even more difficult to start. So I find this thread and as I start reading it comes to this sentence, If it's cold and you have a 2009-2012 Jetta CLICK HERE for information. So I click here for information and this is what I get,

TKW, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

Please help. TKW
 

braydonbenko

Member
Joined
May 12, 2020
Location
CA-AB
TDI
2005 jetta wagon 1.9l tdi BEW
hey evryone, last week i wanted to do some tlc on the car, its a 2004 1.9L tdi BEW, So i pulled the injectors out and i swapped out theijector nozzles and than put the injectors back into my car, i than reset the injectors, but the car would not start and i get good fuel pressure back on the return line... however the car would run on starting fluid but would never run on its own.... so i than oulled the injectors back out and put the old nozzles back on, and repeated the steps.. but same thing happened, it will only run on starting fluid but not by itself..
Did i screw up the injectors by changin nozzles?? or what do you guys believe the issue could be??
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Dont know for sure, but I think you would have to really screw up to get all four injectors to not work at all. My bet is electrical so check the wiring.
 

Mark G

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Location
DE
TDI
1999 Beetle TDI
I'm not sure about your year, but on mine I had to loosen all the fuel lines from the injectors and turn the car over until all the air was purged and diesel was coming out. Once I did that it fired up.
 

braydonbenko

Member
Joined
May 12, 2020
Location
CA-AB
TDI
2005 jetta wagon 1.9l tdi BEW
I'm not sure about your year, but on mine I had to loosen all the fuel lines from the injectors and turn the car over until all the air was purged and diesel was coming out. Once I did that it fired up.
the BEW has no injector lines and no way to bleed the system... ubless tehre is a way but i have no clue
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
i tried that aswell.....
Injector lash before or after it didn't start?

The harness that lives in the cylinder head can get brittle. Thou I'm sure there are a few other places that could also be a problem with age/miles.

I'm curious how you did the nozzles. When I had my BEW Golf I played with the idea, but decided against doing it myself as they are much more involved to change than the ALH. Possibly something got FUBAR inside the injectors?

Jason
 

braydonbenko

Member
Joined
May 12, 2020
Location
CA-AB
TDI
2005 jetta wagon 1.9l tdi BEW
Injector lash before or after it didn't start?

The harness that lives in the cylinder head can get brittle. Thou I'm sure there are a few other places that could also be a problem with age/miles.

I'm curious how you did the nozzles. When I had my BEW Golf I played with the idea, but decided against doing it myself as they are much more involved to change than the ALH. Possibly something got FUBAR inside the injectors?

Jason
i did the lash after it did not start.... also i just called a tdi performance place out of calgary, and the guy said that the injectors should not be the problem and that he believes its an electrical issue...
and to do those nozzzles is actually super easy... u take the o rings off and than un due the cone of the injector and pop the nozzle out from the cone and slide the new one in..

but i am definitly going to look at that harness. what all can i do to test tthe injector harness? and where else should i be looking aswell?
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
i did the lash after it did not start.... also i just called a tdi performance place out of calgary, and the guy said that the injectors should not be the problem and that he believes its an electrical issue...
and to do those nozzzles is actually super easy... u take the o rings off and than un due the cone of the injector and pop the nozzle out from the cone and slide the new one in..

but i am definitly going to look at that harness. what all can i do to test tthe injector harness? and where else should i be looking aswell?
Problem is you can destroy an injector by not having the lash set correctly. The lash adjustment sets the plunge depth of the injector. If you have it "too tight" then the rocket pushes down too far on the injector cause internal parts to smash together and break.

So if you set the lash AFTER the car didn't start, it's possible you already did the damage.

Hope this is not the porblem, but it sounds like a good possibility.

Jason
 

Zeitgeist

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2004
Location
Cascadia
TDI
'04 Variant and Vanagon mTDI
I've been helping my neighbor with a turns over but no-start problem on his '06 PD Jetta. The car had been parked backwards down his steep driveway for a while when it just wouldn't start. I ran the codes with an OBD eleven dongle, but got nothing from the engine module. I cracked the bleed screw on top of the fuel filter and cranked, but got only a little fuel out. I suspected the lift pump of being weak. I then found a YT vid where the guy mentioned that a PD he was diagnosing would only start if you plugged the exhaust tips with rags. I tried this, and lo and behold I got it to stutter, fire and run.



I can't for the life of me figure out why this technique works. I have a new lift pump and filter on order, but in the meantime, why/how does this work?
 

hanskalfi

New member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
south africa
TDI
6l ibiza cupra tdi ; 9n polo 1.4 tdi ; mitsubishi L200 dc 4x4
Greeting members, long time lurker but my first post today, reason being I'm at a loss need ideas.
I swopped my previous petrol vag car for a non runner amarok with 2.0 tdi cbd base model, the previous owner redone the head belt and serviced also put injectors and complete lockset from a running vehicle that was side swiped and written off, same engine code but double cab version, car cranks but no start. What I checked so far
Ecu power on brown grey brown black and purple black wires present on t97 ecu connector, term 30 powered and relay good, term 15 good, fuel pump relay good, intake runner flap working not jammed in tank pump supply adequate, no secondary pump fitted,
high pressure fuel is over requested value when cranking ,all fuses good scanned with vcds cleared faults , checked main start injection qauntity when cranking and it shows fuel injected , after long cranking I get term 30 low voltage codes, I believe that's normal?
I got hold of the original bcm ecm cluster and ignition and fitted them back, still no start but now it shows no value when I check live data of main inj star qauntity and inj contribution balance and p1570 immo blocks engine start if I just touch the key not even one turnover, it logs immo fault, as far as I know ijn adaption should only cause limp mode not no start? the immo module shows no faultcode ,intake air temp sensor not fitted seems missing but should not prevent start, no key symbol on cluster so key is recognition is ok, did cold boot still same, vehicle has after market sanji remote central lock module fitted cx70 v3 . See some wiring going behind the relay carrier into plugs but not inspected yet as I can't fit my paws in there lol ,previous owner mentioned they removed its functionality but still no start, lock unlock still works though, I found the unit tucked up in the dash but internally the plug was out, put it back but no effect on start. Also worth mentioning the injectors will not code to original ecm, vcds accepts only injector one adaption, 2 3 4 out of range, yes I'm sure of the number I scanned qr codes to confirm, I also saw pin locations on bcm differ between original and other one . Tnx for any help on this one, and gr8 forum this, I've learnt plenty here. Have a blessed day!
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
@hanskalfi - there are so many different issues that could be causing this and could be just the mismatched components, not wrong components. Common rail injectors don't like to be operated dry - need to bleed the fuel system before cranking them, the piezo crystal in some versions will break.

You should be adapting IMMO as soon as parts are installed, not cranking and waiting for faults. You need a matched set (ECM, keys, IMMO[cluster?]) in order to even start the engine.

What is fuel rail pressure when cranking? How did you check fuel pump in tank is ok? Without the AUX pump between fuel tank and injection pump that means tank provides A LOT of pressure to injection pump. There is minimum rail pressure AND cranking speed before ECM will allow engine to start. Below those limits engine just cranks and cranks.

In DIN standard wiring used on VW (and BMW, Daimler, etc.) anything brown is ground (switched or other wise). Purple (lavender?) is typically LIN bus wire, not sure if you were actually checking a black with purple tracer or purple with black tracer?

I know TDIs will not run right if injectors are not adapted. I think if ECM will accept injector adaption that will also be a problem that will make engine not start. If the code is out of range then either wrong injectors or wrong ECM (or damaged ECM/injector?).

You need a set of injectors that will program to ECM, you need a matched set for IMMO, no need minimum rail pressure and cranking speed. Oh, and compression ;). Quick check of mechanical might be quick shot of something like starter fluid or silicon spray (propellant in can will burn in US) to see if engine will try to start on that.

Jason
 

hanskalfi

New member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
south africa
TDI
6l ibiza cupra tdi ; 9n polo 1.4 tdi ; mitsubishi L200 dc 4x4
Components is matched now original is fitted, PO assures me that the injectors from running vehicle as he himself saw them running prior to removal, he is skilled mechanic so I assume knowledgeability on his part, I have 2 matched sets of ecu bcm cluster and ignition, neither starts car only cranks
Requested fuel pressure is 240 cranking it reaches 280,
There is no immo related faultcodes the immo module reports ok on both sets but on original lockset under engine it gives p1570, I did see that bcm pins are different original vs new
There is no secondary pump on this engine from factory fuel lines go direct to high pressure pump from tank, I did bleed the fuel system manually and cycle the tank pump many times, when output testing the pump you can hear it slow a bit as building pressure, disconnected it gives slot of flow very fast,
I used the currently flow of vw on that specific engine and on the j623 fuse allocation page the colors is shown, I check on the t97 for those 3 wires and found 12v on each,
Engine does start on propellant but I don't like to use it.
I reach minimum rail pressure easy, battery is large and strong what is minimum cranking speed so I can check it plz.
My belief is that the aftermarket alarm is somehow causing the immo code, not sure. my only worry is why only injector 1 code is being accepted but others not can wrong placement cause it? I did try swooping codes of 2 3 4 but also no result, thank you for your response.

The injectors and lockset of one car was fitted after head was redone, so according to myself and previous owner it should have started at once because all components matching, it is somewhat of a mystery,
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
So it appears the engine has compression and all in time (engine started on propellant). Also appears ECM is not allowing fuel injectors to operate for some security or programming issue.

2 things of concern;

1) replace too many things at once can lead to problems with computers not wanting to let it work. BTW - why replace the lock set WITH the injectors??

2) if the ECM will not accept the injector codes then I don't believe it will let the engine start. Priority should be finding out why only 1 injector will program.

Jason
 

Kakitdi

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Location
Bay shorelong island new york 11706
TDI
2006 jetta 5 speed tdi
Hey so mine cranks wont start if i unplug crank sensor it starts reconnect and doesnt start a hose clamp slapped the timing plastic cover cause little piece of 2 to go and fall towards the inside timing area, no codes anh help? Would a piece cause not to start
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Hey so mine cranks wont start if i unplug crank sensor it starts reconnect and doesnt start a hose clamp slapped the timing plastic cover cause little piece of 2 to go and fall towards the inside timing area, no codes anh help? Would a piece cause not to start
We need more info....

So, when did the "piece" fall into the Timing Belt area?

There is a possibility the piece of plastic ended up causing the belt to jump one tooth.
 

Kakitdi

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Location
Bay shorelong island new york 11706
TDI
2006 jetta 5 speed tdi
We need more info....

So, when did the "piece" fall into the Timing Belt area?

There is a possibility the piece of plastic ended up causing the belt to jump one tooth.
when i was tying to finish hooking up the clamps right after undoing them, i am pretty sure it was right after i moved the car like a 100 feet, i turned it off and kept trying to the clamp by the time cover a bunch of failed attempts simletounausly crsckimg the cover the clampunlesshed on it multiple times is that a big problem do you know how much it will cost i hope i didn't do further damage, you think it still logged in there somewhere or like you said it might have humped a tooth
 

Kakitdi

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Location
Bay shorelong island new york 11706
TDI
2006 jetta 5 speed tdi
Also do you think its possible that that blew a fuse also i do remember one time the clamp was squeezed so hard that went it squiggled out a i saw a small spark due to metal to metal contact
when i was tying to finish hooking up the clamps right after undoing them, i am pretty sure it was right after i moved the car like a 100 feet, i turned it off and kept trying to the clamp by the time cover a bunch of failed attempts simletounausly crsckimg the cover the clampunlesshed on it multiple times is that a big problem do you know how much it will cost i hope i didn't do further damage, you think it still logged in there somewhere or like you said it might have humped a tooth
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
dude - punctuation so we can follow your thought process.

Now I really want to see what a humped tooth looks like ;)

If one of the spring clips pops off the pliers there's enough force to strike a spark just by hitting a metal part. I have seen that on the bigger clamps.

Jason
 

delvey

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2020
Location
Manchester UK
TDI
90 BHP
Old thread I know but I have issue number 5. 1.9 TDI 90 BHP Auto
The car has been stood for 2 years. The auxiliary belt came off and had to get towed home. Somehow the starter motor got jammed so this was changed with the belt and belt tensioner.
The car turns over fine, all lights are on yet does not start. There is ample fuel at the ejectors (I took each one off and attached a rubber tube to it and a bottle, plenty of flow) and the have checked the air valve that gets stuck closed and this is open. I have tried making small adjustments to the timing belt to no avail. Electricity, I have followed everything in relation to post 5 with no luck.
Is there anything I am missing?
 

Rookie19

New member
Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Location
Montana
TDI
2001 Jetta
2001 Jetta won't start SOMETIMES.

Good evening all, I'm new to this forum and new to the TDI world. Having starting issues with a 2001 Jetta sometimes. The car has 184000 miles, timing belt replaced at 110000 miles. The injection pump was recently replaced with a remanufactured pump. The car starts good normally. The issue seems to be after the car is parked for an hour or so. The engine is warm enough that the glow plug light only comes on for about a second. Start cranking and it will fire die fire die, give it some throttle and keep cranking it will eventually try to run without the starter cranking. I then hold it to the floor while it rattles and bangs, blowing white/blue smoke like crazy. It eventually clears out ( or dies, then you start over ) and runs fine. Seems to start fine after being shut off for 15/20 minutes, or the next morning or after work. When it has this issue it reminds me of a flooded gasser. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This issue was finally fixed with a new mass airflow and ip was so retarded it didn't show on the graph.
 

D_Bill

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Location
SE Pa
TDI
old_v1 - 01 jetta / old_v2 02 golf / new 13 jsw-6sp
Non-start on steriods

2013 VW Jetta tdi sw
ser # 3VWML7AJ ....

End of winter jsw did not crank -
batt's 2.5 yrs old - heck I dont want to get caught in blizzard - so new ( NAPA ) batt

Dig out old VagCom ( hex + can ) and download sw update - now current .

Cranks a bit then smell electrical smoke.
Late winter so drive my 4x4 or van .

continual messing with jsw and find starter is " cooked " . Couple weeks ago r & r starter w/genuine ( $$$$ ) vw - so no surprises - even if much trouble on cold or wet garage floor.

No start .

VagCom is giving the following

Drivetrain all no response from cotroller

61 Batt Reg
21 Eng II Batt 2
31 Eng Oth
71 Batt Chrgr

Autoscan - all below code 0010 tho others are ok

03 ABS
42 Door Elect Drvr
44 Steering
52 Door Pass
56 Radio

and fwiw

Electronics 1

19 CAN Gateway Hangs till cancelled on Adv ID 10 1A

VAG 7NO 907 530 R
Gateway J553 Gateway HY2 1632
Shop Imp 000 Wsc 00066
Gerat 000000


I am thinking this is more complicated than I like ( I learned while still in school when some cars still had starter - buttons - on the floor - something I 'm not opposed to ! )

If it was a pc I 'd pull the plug ( and battery ) and load all from clean/empty .

Anyone care to venture a guess

or

does it go to the dealer for $$$,$$$.$$

Thanks

D Bill
 

delvey

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2020
Location
Manchester UK
TDI
90 BHP
Old thread I know but I have issue number 5. 1.9 TDI 90 BHP Auto
The car has been stood for 2 years. The auxiliary belt came off and had to get towed home. Somehow the starter motor got jammed so this was changed with the belt and belt tensioner.
The car turns over fine, all lights are on yet does not start. There is ample fuel at the ejectors (I took each one off and attached a rubber tube to it and a bottle, plenty of flow) and the have checked the air valve that gets stuck closed and this is open. I have tried making small adjustments to the timing belt to no avail. Electricity, I have followed everything in relation to post 5 with no luck.
Is there anything I am missing?
So, engine ECU add a immobilizer error, which was cleared. This allowed me to reset the immobilizer using the connect the two battery terminals together method. Still will not start, no other errors in my friends ECU software
 
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