2000 Golf TDI just stopped running while driving. any tips?

Driving the Golf home from the Grocery Store, and while I was accelerating, saw smoke come out the tailpipe. Aftward, if revving above 4000 had little or no power, so drove at low rpm for about .2 mile more, and it would idle fine at stops, but then finally the engine shut off. and would not go. Had to call AAA to get towed home. Tried to crank, and it does crank over, but does not start.

I did recently change the fuel filter about 200 miles ago, but had been running fine afterward until now.

Any tips on what I should check?

I am going to:
check compression
check for air in the fuel lines

How do you check to see if:
the fuel pump is operating correctly

Any other tips on what I should check for?

sounds like your turbo grenaded. Check for oil in the intercooler

you could also check for loose vac lines and see if the boost line popped off.

ok, pulled the air inlet and air outlet of the turbo, and no major oil came out. (other than normal residue from crankcase ventalation).

Looked inside the turbo, and all the vanes of the turbo look intact. SPun the turbo, and spins fine.

how else can I check the turbo to ensure its ok?

Any reccomendations on how to check other things such as the fuel pump?

any other suggestions? thanks.

had just replaced vaccum lines with silicone vacuum lines 3000 miles ago. they are all intact.

How cold is the weather and what kind of fuel are you running?

John, what color was the smoke you saw?

Take out the glowplugs and crank your engine. Does oil come out of the glowplug holes?

once I saw the turbo was ok, I decided to take out the intercooler and all the pipes going into the turbo to clean them of the oily residue from the crankcase vent. put it back together, and bled the air out of the lines, and started up, and ran fine.

dont know what color the smoke was. it was more like a "cloud" of smoke that came out. my windows are tinted, and it was dusk, so didnt see..

in northern california. was a cold day yesterday (overnight) lost my tomato plants, was 30 degrees overnight.

but when I was driving my car was the late afternoon, after it warmed to about 48 degrees..

think it was biodiesel gelling. never had this problem over 3 winters. but was using a new tank of biodiesel that may have had a lower gelling point. Filled up 1/2 tank with diesel today, so this should no longer be an issue.

How can I make sure my "turbo doesnt grenade?" Is there any preventative maintence I can do, or should I pull the turbo and replace it ? The thought of this was a possibility made it more real.. and having to replace an engine would not be fun.

any other PM I should be doing besides the "usual"?

thanks to all that helped.

It's December and you still had tomato plants out? That's just amazing.

So cold temps and biodiesel caused this?

whitedog said:

It's December and you still had tomato plants out? That's just amazing.

So cold temps and biodiesel caused this?

Click to expand...

yes, its been a warm year here in california, but now the cold hit hard.. all my tomato plants were frozen and coming out of the ground.

yes, my belief is the cold and biodiesel were the root. got it all back together, and filled 1/2 tank of diesel, and we are running fine, especially now that the intercooler is clean!