MkIV died and will not start

I was turning my 04 golf around in the driveway to work on a tire that was going flat and it died and will not restart.
All electrical functions work, i can hear the fuel pump run when i turn the key on, and the pre-heater light comes on for a second.
I have checked the fuses that I am aware of, and the 109 Relay was replaced about a year ago.
I just replaced the battery last week, kept auxiliary power to the system while changing it and had no power interruptions.
Has a CAT fuel filter and half full tank, no other problems.
Any ideas on what to check next?
Fortunately it is in the driveway and not on the side of the road.

Define "will not restart."

You described the glow plug briefly coming on, so the ECU has power.

What happens when the key is turned to START?

If it cranks fine, I would check/replace Relay 109, which supplies power to the ECU. Here's some useful info on it:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=5391095&postcount=8

will not start is it will not fire. it cranks fine but does not fire. When the key is first turned to the on position i can hear several clicks from the fuel pump clicks from the fuel pump and the glow plug light comes on for one or two seconds as usual in this warm weather. I have checked the fuses but i guess its swap out the 109 relay. i was under the impression that if the glow plugs lit that a 109 problem was unlikely.

Relay 109 is almost-certainly not involved if the glow plug light comes on. The click is the fuel solenoid shutoff, you should hear it pull in, then drop back out a few seconds later. That's normal as well.

If it cranks but does not fire you start with air -- is the ASV open? They DO stick shut and will make you crazy.

Look at the clear piece of fuel line. Full or does it have air in it? A small bubble is ok, if more than that you may have sucked up air into the system with the brief run and this WILL do it.

If the ASV is open and fuel is questionable then crack one injector line nut and check for fuel. It should spray vigorously (you might want to wrap a shop towel around it, and have someone else hit the key momentary; it makes a BIG mess if things are working ok.)

That's the starting point. Diesels will run if they have fuel, air and compression and are in time mechanically. You're missing one of those things.

I had a friend's car that if you cranked it up in the morning all was fine, run it for a while, never a problem. Start it up, back it out of the garage, shut it down because you forgot something and it could take 30 seconds or more to restart! Turned out to be an air leak in the thermal "T"; when the car sat for a while air would get into the top of the filter, you'd crank up and if you didn't run it long enough to purge it, when you shut down you had high odds of having a nice big air bubble in the injection pump!

Finding the cause was a REAL bear but once it was localized fixing it was easy.

Genesis said:

Relay 109 is almost-certainly not involved if the glow plug light comes on.

Click to expand...

Yep, sorry, I missed that detail.

Genesis said:

Look at the clear piece of fuel line. Full or does it have air in it? A small bubble is ok, if more than that you may have sucked up air into the system with the brief run and this WILL do it.

... crack one injector line nut and check for fuel. It should spray vigorously (you might want to wrap a shop towel around it, and have someone else hit the key momentary; it makes a BIG mess if things are working ok.)

Click to expand...

Those are instructions for a VE pump motor like ALH and AHU. Unless I'm mistaken, 2004's have the BEW Pumpe Düse engine.

They all have a timing belt. Sort of a classic scenerio-died for "no reason", won't start...

Oops -- I missed that it was a '04.

Here's hoping it's NOT in the timing belt area....

the anti shudder valve is not stuck, but the solenoid whines when the key is in the on position. seeing as how there is a 4 wire connector to that does the ecu rely on a signal from it? will it run with it unplugged?

continuing saga
after removing, cleaning, and replacing the egr and the anti-shudder valve I decided to give it a try with those unplugged. No change, no start. Knowing that the timing belt had been replaced about 35k miles ago i was not concerned about it as a possibility but I figured i was back to square one. I hooked the egr and throttle body valve back up to their electrics and contemplated my next move. since i had been turning around in the driveway when it died, the wheels were to one side and thinking it might need the hook i turned the wheel while cranking the engine, and it started. It threw three fault codes 0407, 3102, and 3101 which would be from cranking with no connections to the egr and anti shudder valve. I cleared them and it starts fine, but who knows for how long.????

Ok..... crankshaft position sensor wiring perhaps? You got something electrical going on that is preventing a start that's intermittent.... that could be a load of fun to find but I'd start by running down all the sensor wiring that has to be working for the engine to fire.

This is all a wee bit easier if there was a VCDS scan and a report of any of the resultant codes.
cheers,
Douglas

Only codes were for LF Speaker wires. I have done a visual check on the sensor wiring that I can get to and have got nothing unusual. It has started flawlessly since I messed with the anti-shudder and egr valves. I have to think the valve may have been stuck. If it happens again I will pull the pipe off carefully and check the position of the valve.

rfriend said:

I turned the wheel while cranking the engine, and it started. It threw three fault codes 0407, 3102, and 3101 which would be from cranking with no connections to the egr and anti shudder valve. I cleared them and it starts fine, but who knows for how long.????

Click to expand...

Three things all around the intake manifold area.

I would check the grounds around the engine area.

If the big ground under the battery tray is bad then anything that grounds to the body is bad.

Also look for frayed wires from rodents.

I know you said timing belt was done 35k miles ago but did u at least pop the cover off and check it anyway?

Nevermind, i read the rest of the thread looks like you got it to start again