Reidler
Veteran Member
Hey everyone. I'm a long time member here and have many trouble free miles/kms under my belt with my 2001 NB, but my son recently bought a 2002 TDI golf and about a month after he bought it it died in a parking lot and I can't figure out for the life of me why it won't start.
So I'm pleading for some help from all the brains that are members of the site, and I know there are many of you.
Please read my post all the way through before you comment on what you think it might be, because we have tested just about every scenario we can think of that may have caused it to quit/not start, and we thing we've narrowed it down to one area.
As mentioned above the car is a 2002 Golf, with a Malone stage 3 tune with immobilizer delete. Standard trans, no AC.
It all started when Trev (my son) was coming out of a meeting one day and started the car up to leave. it started ok, and he managed to back out of the stall and then drive forward about 30 feet and he said the engine started to make a funny sound. I asked him what he meant and he said it seemed to get louder under the hood / behind the dash, so he shut it off. It has not started since that day (about 2 months ago).
So I'm going to list off the things we have checked to try to narrow down/fix the problem. These are not in any order because quite frankly I can't remember what sequence we did each thing in.
- Checked and double checked the 109 relay. We have tried 3 relays in total to make sure. (As a side note we have my old 2001 NB TDI that still runs, and a 2002 Jetta TDI that doesn't run, here to swap parts in and out of) We also swapped out a few other relay's to be sure it wasn't that.
-Checked and double checked all the fuses using the method while the fuses are still in the car.
-Took the injection pump out of the car and took it to the good folks at NW FUEL in Port Kells BC to have it tested (Gord, the owner is a family friend and has been a great help though out this). NW FUEL has the ability to run the pump up and test it as if it's running in the car. The result was that the pump is in stellar condition. The guy who tested it said he couldn't get it any better if he had just rebuilt it.
-Put the pump back in the car and fed it with a hose and funnel in which we poured about half a gallon of diesel through it to eliminate any filter or air lock issues. Still no start...
-Checked and re-did all the ground posts under the battery area.
-Checked that the EGR air cut off valve thing was open during cranking, and it is (sorry I forget the proper name). At this point I wanted to see if it would run and that it wasn't a mechanical issue, I squirted some starting fluid in the open intake while cranking and the engine started up for the short time that I fed it starting fluid. This eliminates any mechanical/engine issues.
-The glow plug light comes on for a second or two and then shuts off as it should do normally.
-The tachometer registers about 200 to 300 RPM while cranking, to indicate that the crank sensor is OK. I swapped it out anyway to make sure, and still no start.
-We changed out the #3 injector from my running NB and still no start.
-We traced all the wires from the main injector pump to the ECU to make sure there were no broken wires, and all had continuity.
-We made sure the shut off solenoid was clicking and getting power, and it is. We also put a jumper to it to make sure it wasn't the solenoid, and still no start.
-We've physically inspected the pins and plugs at the IP to make sure there were no burnt or bad ones and they are all clean and in good condition.
-We've gone through the list of which pins should be getting power at key on and they all check out good. Both at the IP plug and the ECU plugs.
-We've checked for codes with Vag-Com and there are no codes in the engine section. The ECU does talk to the Vag-Com so it is getting power. There are two codes in the instrument section and one of them is to do with the immobilizer. I can't remember the other one but I will find out. (I realize this may be the issue so I'll come back to this later).
-We've gone through the whole list of reasons that TDI's won't start on the forum here and still can't find the problem.
After a long talk with Gord at NW FUEL we have decided that the ECU is not happy for some reason and won't pump fuel. Gord says that the stop solonoid on the pump is actually only there for backup and that the pump has the ability to stop fuel flow internally if it wants.
So at this point I'm asking for help from all the smart folks on here to help me diagnose my problem. I do have a Vag-Com so I can check parameters etc., I just don't have the smarts to know what to check, aside from the obvious. I'm open to any and all suggestions and would really appreciate the help. My son and I are pulling our hair out with this thing and just want to get it fixed.
I will find out what the second code was in the Vag-Com as well and will post it here as soon as I do. Please help, we are looking forward to your replies.
So I'm pleading for some help from all the brains that are members of the site, and I know there are many of you.
Please read my post all the way through before you comment on what you think it might be, because we have tested just about every scenario we can think of that may have caused it to quit/not start, and we thing we've narrowed it down to one area.
As mentioned above the car is a 2002 Golf, with a Malone stage 3 tune with immobilizer delete. Standard trans, no AC.
It all started when Trev (my son) was coming out of a meeting one day and started the car up to leave. it started ok, and he managed to back out of the stall and then drive forward about 30 feet and he said the engine started to make a funny sound. I asked him what he meant and he said it seemed to get louder under the hood / behind the dash, so he shut it off. It has not started since that day (about 2 months ago).
So I'm going to list off the things we have checked to try to narrow down/fix the problem. These are not in any order because quite frankly I can't remember what sequence we did each thing in.
- Checked and double checked the 109 relay. We have tried 3 relays in total to make sure. (As a side note we have my old 2001 NB TDI that still runs, and a 2002 Jetta TDI that doesn't run, here to swap parts in and out of) We also swapped out a few other relay's to be sure it wasn't that.
-Checked and double checked all the fuses using the method while the fuses are still in the car.
-Took the injection pump out of the car and took it to the good folks at NW FUEL in Port Kells BC to have it tested (Gord, the owner is a family friend and has been a great help though out this). NW FUEL has the ability to run the pump up and test it as if it's running in the car. The result was that the pump is in stellar condition. The guy who tested it said he couldn't get it any better if he had just rebuilt it.
-Put the pump back in the car and fed it with a hose and funnel in which we poured about half a gallon of diesel through it to eliminate any filter or air lock issues. Still no start...
-Checked and re-did all the ground posts under the battery area.
-Checked that the EGR air cut off valve thing was open during cranking, and it is (sorry I forget the proper name). At this point I wanted to see if it would run and that it wasn't a mechanical issue, I squirted some starting fluid in the open intake while cranking and the engine started up for the short time that I fed it starting fluid. This eliminates any mechanical/engine issues.
-The glow plug light comes on for a second or two and then shuts off as it should do normally.
-The tachometer registers about 200 to 300 RPM while cranking, to indicate that the crank sensor is OK. I swapped it out anyway to make sure, and still no start.
-We changed out the #3 injector from my running NB and still no start.
-We traced all the wires from the main injector pump to the ECU to make sure there were no broken wires, and all had continuity.
-We made sure the shut off solenoid was clicking and getting power, and it is. We also put a jumper to it to make sure it wasn't the solenoid, and still no start.
-We've physically inspected the pins and plugs at the IP to make sure there were no burnt or bad ones and they are all clean and in good condition.
-We've gone through the list of which pins should be getting power at key on and they all check out good. Both at the IP plug and the ECU plugs.
-We've checked for codes with Vag-Com and there are no codes in the engine section. The ECU does talk to the Vag-Com so it is getting power. There are two codes in the instrument section and one of them is to do with the immobilizer. I can't remember the other one but I will find out. (I realize this may be the issue so I'll come back to this later).
-We've gone through the whole list of reasons that TDI's won't start on the forum here and still can't find the problem.
After a long talk with Gord at NW FUEL we have decided that the ECU is not happy for some reason and won't pump fuel. Gord says that the stop solonoid on the pump is actually only there for backup and that the pump has the ability to stop fuel flow internally if it wants.
So at this point I'm asking for help from all the smart folks on here to help me diagnose my problem. I do have a Vag-Com so I can check parameters etc., I just don't have the smarts to know what to check, aside from the obvious. I'm open to any and all suggestions and would really appreciate the help. My son and I are pulling our hair out with this thing and just want to get it fixed.
I will find out what the second code was in the Vag-Com as well and will post it here as soon as I do. Please help, we are looking forward to your replies.