2004 Jetta BEW wont start!

A little background... Drove the car for the past couple of months with no issues (finally right?). Parked it this past Friday night in my driveway (where I always do). Come out early Saturday morning and it wont start. Turns over but wont fire up. I don't have VCDS but I do have a generic scan software and dongle. Pulled the codes and I had a crank sensor code. Went and picked up a new one first thing this morning from AARodriguez since he's local. 10 minutes to swap it out... still wont start.

Tach is moving now, showing that the crank sensor is working. The cam sensor was replaced today to (its been bad since I got the car). Fuel tee on the filter was also replaced because the date stamped on it was '03 and its probably time to change it just because. The lift pump was just replaced a month ago. I am getting fuel on the return line. I am getting fuel in the cylinders because I can smell it when cranking. I've checked the 109 relay and its good.

Im lost here. Im getting fuel, tach is moving, ASV is open... what else could there be? Turbo vanes are not stuck. EGR doesn't matter (deleted). I checked the connection on the side of the head for the injector harness. The pins all look nice and shiny. No condensation or anything suspicious. I really need the car for work tomorrow, so any help is greatly appreciated!!

So as much as I hate to do stupid things like this, I did spay a very light mist of starting fluid into the intake and she fired right up. Ran for a second or two and that was it. So that tells me I'm NOT getting fuel into the cylinders.

Where do I go now? Injector seals? (I have a new set in my toolbox) Bad ground somewhere? Bad connection to the ecu? (Which wires are where?)

I've checked the grounds under the battery (again). They're still clean from the last time I cleaned them (preventive maintenance). Last resort, the PO gave me another ecu when I bought the car and told me it would probably need to be changed. He didn't have a clue how to even change oil so I didn't take his words seriously. But anyhow, I have a second ecu. Swapped it just to try. Still no luck. Engine turns over but never even acts like it wants to fire.

I'm thinking this can be narrowed down to the injectors not firing. Why? That's where I need help. It was running fine Friday. Parked it that night and wouldn't start Saturday morning. Nothing changed between the time I turned it off and tried to start it the next morning.

First you need someone to do a vcds scan to see the stored codes.

Second check your diesel return line. If it is dry you have lost prime (tandem pump).... you say your lift pump was replaced. Check operation by didconnecting fuel line from the tank, and put the tip into a container (soda bottle?) Have an assistant cycle the key on and off.. a squirt of diesel should come out.

I don't have access to vcds without making a drive and that's not possible right now. I'll check the return at the tank and make sure there's no restrictions. With the new fuel tee it's holding a lot more pressure on the supply line. I felt like it was losing its prime with the old tee, as I would have to cycle the key 2-3 times to prime the fuel for it to start

How many miles? Getting enough fuel pressure out of the IP?

Did you drop your FOB key the night before it not starting? Do you have a 2nd key that you can try. I know that our keys have an immobilizer glass RFID transmitter built in to the key FOB (I have never had a problem with mine so I'm not really sure what happens if this breaks). You might want to check your fuses to see if anything involved with engine management or your unit injectors blew. The camshaft position sensor on the 04 BEW engine will not prevent it from starting (it would just take longer), if you are getting fuel to the return at the filter that kind of rules out the lift pump or the tandem pump. I assume that your battery is up to snuff & you have adequate engine RPMs when you try to start it?

Since you can't access VCDS it will be more difficult to pinpoint the problem.
One thing that seems to be a common problem is the injector harness. You can check the connector pretty easily, the other ends are a bit more involved. (I see you did this already.) You could check the continuity of the harness to rule it out.

How about the ASV?

The IMMO is definitely something I've considered. I'm trying to see if I can borrow a friends VCDS in the morning to turn the IMMO off. This can be done in VCDS correct or does it need to be done through a tune? Unfortunately I only have the one key. It does seem like an IMMO issue though since it's not even trying to start. I would think if it were a problem with the injector harness, it wouldn't have knocked out all 4 injectors (unless it's a ground issue which I checked).

I did check all of the fuses and relays. RPM's are at or slightly above 250 during cranking. I will check the return tonight but I'm almost positive I'm getting fuel on the return at the filter.

I'll pull the valve cover and check continuity on the injector harness tonight. The ASV is working fine. Open during cranking. Closes briefly on "key off".

Cannot be done with VCDS, and its not the immo. Immo turns the engine off a few seconds after its already started.

That's what I was just reading. So we can scratch that off the list. It's looking like it's either a problem with wiring between the ecu and injectors or a fuel issue between the tandem and injector nozzles. I'm trying to think of what would shut down all 4 injectors though with no warning? Is there a constant ground at the injector harness to try a jumper to batt neg and see if there's an issue there? I wasn't sure if ground is fed through the ecu or if VW has constant grounds.

Did you try to see if it would run with the hose off of the ASV? There have been turbos that have blocked airflow.

I haven't tried that. But it did run on the quick spray of starter fluid. Fired right up. So that tells me it's a fuel issue for sure. The turbo has less than 20k on it. I did check the vanes and make sure they weren't stuck closed. The car has 310k. The cam was replaced when the turbo was done and last time I used my friends VCDS, I checked to make sure there wasn't an imbalance between cylinders that would be typical of a worn cam or lifters.

I'll pull one of the injectors and see if there's fuel there. If so, that will rule out fuel delivery and point to the injectors or the electrical for them. I'm really hoping this is something simple. I'm at the point where I'm almost done dumping money into this car and ready to watch it fly off a cliff!

Pulling the injectors on a BEW is a bit involved.. check for signal on the injector wires first. Noid light or oscilloscope or something of that nature. Even an LED out of your junk bin would do it.

Don't make a project of this . Projects cost money
It sounds like you are getting fuel and plenty of air in the cylinders

How is the engine timing ?

Trust me, I'm trying not to make a project out of it. I just want it done so I can make it to work later today.

The timing is advanced a little. I was never able to read exactly how far because my cam sensor was always bad (until now). I'm almost wondering if it's too far advanced and now the ecu is able to read that...

So I went back and checked resistance on the engine harness between the ecu and the connector at the injection harness (round plug on the driver side of head). All 4 injector signal wires are 0.03-0.04ohms. Those are good. Anybody know where the Brown with Yellow tracer goes?

I guess I should specify.. The brown with yellow tracer coming from the injection harness connector

It couldn't be the timing. It wouldn't start BEFORE I replaced the cam and crank sensors. What else could it be?

Here's a pic of the BEW injection wiring diagram:

Thanks! With that I was able to verify all 5 wires between the ecu and injection harness connector as good and at 0.03ohms

I'd check the timing belt.

I'm thinking it's something simple that you are overlooking. Not sure what, but it seems like it should be simple, since it ran one day then not the next.

How about the 109 relay?

Have you looked at the wiring harness that runs under the battery up to the firewall for any chaffing inside the flexloom?

I was able to get a friend over with VCDS and the only fault is 16705 Engine Speed Sensor: Implausible signal. VCDS is sometimes reading 252-273 rpms during cranking and sometimes 0 rpms. Any ideas? As I said, I just replaced the crank sensor. Is there a way to test the sensor itself?

Don't bother trying to test it, just replace it. I was getting intermittent stalls on my 04 BEW that I was trying to narrow down by using vagcom & recording log files. If this sensor screws up for just a second it stalls the engine, the intermittent failures can be very hard to catch in the act.

I just did replace it. The crank sensor is brand new

FIXED!! The issue was the clearance between the crank sensor and the pickup wheel. I installed a new o-ring a few weeks ago and the oil plus heat must have made the oring expand, pushing the crank sensor G28 away from the pickup wheel. The new crank sensor has a shoulder that kept it from seating in the hole far enough to read the pickup wheel.

I have a BEW, I had to replace the crankshaft position sensor. The first replacement was defective. With the key on, and engine off, if I wiggled the pigtail wiring of the new sensor - the tach would fluctuate. The "new" sensor was DOA.

This thread may help on the 16705, at least give you a starting point.

I looked into mine this past weekend, and it was a different set up. Mine had a 4 wire (separately insulated bundle) going to the ECU pins vs. what's pictured in the thread. Mine is a 04/04 production date. I assume it may have been fixed vs. the earlier production models.

I should have hit refresh, glad you figured it out, and it was simple!