2006 jetta TDI refuses to start after service.

So I got my girlfriend a 2006 Jetta with 280,000 miles on it that had a lot of the spendy repairs on these cars fixed. However, the car has always smelled of diesel fuel and also seems to have developed a significant fuel leak bad enough to always leave a puddle under the car. The car didn't always have that issue but after a diesel pump at a gas station failing to turn off and I'm guessing 'over filling' the car, it has also had this leak.


So last week I took the car that ran perfectly fine to a mechanic for the odor and the leak. They clearly accessed the fuel pump and said something about a barrier between the cabin and engine/trunk or something not being in place but stated the car isn't throwing any codes. So we went to pick the car up. And it died on us 2 miles away and refused to start again. The car clearly tries but it will not fire. So the car was towed back to them. After a day or two apparently they had the car start multiple times for them (I'm guessing by spraying starter fluid) and again stated the car wasn't throwing any codes so we again went to pick the car up. It started fine a few times so we drove off. And the car again stranded us about 2 miles away and had to be towed back to them a 2nd time and apparently the hood cable also was broken so you can't get under the hood.



One of the mechanics said something about since these vehicles have 2 fuel pumps that possibly it is the one at the engine that has failed. Does this sound logical to anyone? All I know is we started with a car that ran perfectly fine that just had a leak and smelled of fuel. Now we have a car that doesn't run. After it stranded us a 2nd time one of the guys came out and tried spraying starter fluid into the engine compartment through the grill (since the hood couldn't be raised) and the car fired but almost over revved so I shut it off. The car has been back at their shop since 6pm yesterday.


Can anyone give me some feedback or guidance on what might be the issue here? I don''t know if I'm dealing with incompetence here, malice, or just a string of bad timing of failures on high mileage parts.


Just for reference, the car does have a new DMF, cam, turbo, and timing belt.

Jesus, you need to tow that car away from those hacks FIRST.

Get the hood open, see if the lift pump runs when you turn the key on (the electric one in the tank, accessible through the removable panel under the rear seat bottom). You should hear a mild hum for a second when you turn the key on.

Lift pumps can die. They will not "throw a code", as there is no fuel pressure sensor on that engine.

If the lift pump is what fills the fuel filter container with fuel, it is definitely working. I changed the fuel filter on the roadside on the off chance that that might be the issue and each time the key is turned you could hear the pump come on and see fuel squirted into the ful filter chamber (or whatever that housing is called).


Do BRMs even have 2 separate pumps? They keep mentioning a HPFP but I always thought those were on the newer common rail TDIs that were prone to grenading. I don't know how the BRM works it.

Start with oilhammer's first sentence. Nothing the so called mechanic says is trustworthy at this point.

No you don't have a hpfp, you have a tandem pump.

To unlock the hood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06B2DsBg52U

That may be a tall order. My dad is also having his vehicle serviced through these guys and will be the one paying for repairs. The usual mechanic (recommended on either here or MDT and is awesome) I always took my car to is 60 miles away so towing isn't really viable.



If it is a tandem pump failure, would the symptoms (failure to start) be the same?

It won't matter if the Pope is paying for it if they do not know anything about the car, and clearly they don't.

60 miles is not far. Get it to someone that can fix the car.

If they used starting fluid, in addition to what ever problem the car has you may have severe engine damage now, as well. Not A TDI link but does relate to Diesel engine damage from using starting fluid on Diesel engines with glow plugs which a TDI has.

http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/th...n-result-from-ether-starting-fluid-use.46065/

If anyone from a shop came anywhere near any of my cars (Diesel or Gasoline engines) with starting fluid, my car would be out of there so fast. Apparently your dad's friends shop don't have clue one about Diesel engines with glow plugs.

So I got in touch with my regular TDI mechanic finally yesterday. He reaffirmed how stupid it is to spray the engines with starter fluid but also mentioned that if the cars lose pressure that it may take awhile (30 seconds or so) for the engine to fire afterwards. So I went back out to the shop without speaking to these guys and tried. Sure enough, the car will start and run for about 10 minutes or so before dying again. Each time the car takes awhile to start again but will.


So currently I'm trying to find the cheapest way to tow the car the 64 or so miles to my normal competent mechanic. I do not have any roadside assistance programs yet but have been looking at a few just for this car. With AAA, there is a 7 day wait before the policy becomes active. With another, Good Sam- they claim unlimited distance but at the same time say its to the nearest professional shop. problem is thats a vague policy because obviously the car is at a shop now that I don't want anywhere near the car. I'll gladly pay around 100% for a membership to get the car towed the needed distance but I refuse to pay hundreds to some random ass tow truck driver on top of the costs of the needed repairs to the car.




Edit: Is there any issue with using a tow dolly with these cars provided its being towed by the front wheels? I've never used those things but a friend does have a truck if it comes down to it.

A tow dolly supporting the front drive wheels would be fine. Just so you know, the "cheapest way" can quit often end up costing more than doing it correctly the first time.

Ol'Rattler said:

A tow dolly supporting the front drive wheels would be fine. Just so you know, the "cheapest way" can quit often end up costing more than doing it correctly the first time.

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I don't have a buddy who has a truck to do that either. Most tow companies are quoting 250$ just to tow this vehicle which is insane. Currently my predicament is trying to find a roadside service to sign up with that doesn't have one of those 'to the nearest shop' clauses. Good Sam and one other both have these. I haven't tried AAA yet but their stipulation is 7 days before the service can be used. Regarding the 'car has to be on the roadside, not currently at a shop' deal I will simply start the car and drive it until it dies on the road away from the shop to fulfill that requirement.



I keep reading about people who haven't gotten any grief about towing a car long distance or to the shop of their choice without grief but the last thing I want to do is sign up for one of these programs for 100$ and for them to want to try and tow it back to the idiots its at instead of the competent mechanic that's 64 miles away.

Update: The car is home. Went back to the place and started the car which took about 20-30 seconds of holding the ignition. I drove the car around a nearby neighborhood awhile and then to a gas station to put fuel in it. It has been sitting at right around a quarter of a tank but I filled the car up to about 3/4s full. The car died one more time after pulling back into a lot to plan a route around construction but then drove fine the 10 or so miles home.


So the hell with a tow. I'm going to try and drive the car itself the 60 some odd miles in a day or two after seeing how it acts today.

Can you tell us the rest of the story, when you find the solution, I at one time bought a PD, the lot changed oil, non 501, just generic, almost immediately I took it to a shop and did a 501 change, was like nite and day on starting, mostly when warm, not sure why, but that was my ordeal, drove it in city for 10-12 stops, always hard start, did it from Ford common rail history, they said it was foaming oil, when I look at 501 spec it states foam modifier. Just a thought.

Well the ordeal isn't over yet. I got the car to my regular TDI mechanic and the car ran almost completely fine the entire trip except for some slight hesitation on inclines at highway speed. He has replaced the tandem pump and has been regularly driving the car but the issue persists. He has checked around where the original idiots were, replaced the tandem pump, looked at the 'sending unit', mentioned something about a screen and no obvious issues there but has yet to find the issue. He's going to take another crack at it Monday including blowing out the lines with compressed air. He thinks it must be something blatantly obvious and simple at this point.


On that note, does anyone have any ideas? The mechanic has been regularly driving the car and mentioned even after replacing the tandem pump if anything the issue has seemed to get worse.

So let me see....you bought a dud that smelled of diesel. I hope you didn't pay much for me it. Before you spend any more money, trade it in. These cars are not for the average person that takes their cars into the shop for everything. You will go broke. Hell I'm still stumped by a starting issue with my car. I've done all the work on my car, including a tranny swap from auto to manual. I'll still keep at it, because I have a backup car. If I did not, you betcha I'd trade it in. I put 265k miles on it and I think I've got my money's worth.

Maybe the tank vent is clogged?
I don't know the design of it on these cars but I bet someone knows where to look and what to check!

Is it still leaking fuel?

Maybe the overfilling at the pump did something to the vent.

narongc73 said:

So let me see....you bought a dud that smelled of diesel. I hope you didn't pay much for me it. Before you spend any more money, trade it in. These cars are not for the average person that takes their cars into the shop for everything. You will go broke. Hell I'm still stumped by a starting issue with my car. I've done all the work on my car, including a tranny swap from auto to manual. I'll still keep at it, because I have a backup car. If I did not, you betcha I'd trade it in. I put 265k miles on it and I think I've got my money's worth.

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Thank you for contributing absolutely nothing to the thread.

nokivasara said:

Maybe the tank vent is clogged?
I don't know the design of it on these cars but I bet someone knows where to look and what to check!

Is it still leaking fuel?

Maybe the overfilling at the pump did something to the vent.

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The original idiots the car was at fixed the fuel leak to the best of my knowledge. I'll mention the vent but the shop the car is at now works almost exclusively with TDIs so I imagine he's thought of that. Thanks regardless.

Car is fixed. After going over multiple things including replacing the tandem pump, checking the sending unit, and blowing out the lines, my good mechanic found where even though it looked correct the original tards had reversed the return and sending fuel line when reassembling.

Pretty classic me thinks. Let's see, we messed around with the lift pump and now the car doesn't start. I know, let's try starting fluid. The best part is when the hood wouldn't open and they sprayed starting fluid through the grill.

Kudos on them not destroying your car.