2001 jetti tdi died while driving, won't start

I know this has been written about before, I just spent the last couple of hours researching....but my problem is that I'm on a family vacation 750 miles from home, so sort of adds to the stress of figuring out what's happened. I'm going to try to briefly describe what happened and what I've done to troubleshoot. More than anything, I may need help finding a trustworthy Vw mechanic near Destin, Fl who won't just throw parts at it...any suggestions? The car has 160,000 miles on it and the timing belt was changed 7,000 miles ago and has been running fine.
Ok, so I'm driving down the road after about 10 -15 minutes and the car dies like I let my foot off the gas and shut off the key. It was gentle, no shuddering, it just died.
I have cracked a couple of the injector lines and upon cranking, I see diesel spurting out. I tightened those back down.
I have the temporary glow plug light, so I'm not thinking relay 109.
I can hear the clicking when I disconnected the electrical connection to the injector and turn the ignition on while touching the connector back to its post, so I think that's all good.
I'm a few miles from the car, so I left it with the nose slightly downhill (I don't know that it matters in this case?). Oh, and just in case, I put 5 gallons of diesel in it to bring the tank up to half full. Anyway, I'm going back out to check all fuses I can, just in case, and maybe disconnect the egr and try cranking it. I'm running out of easy ideas...so my immediate problem might be finding alternative transportation for myself and a place to work on my car. Any help or ideas are appreciated!

Pull the cover off of the timing belt and take a look to see if the belt is tight and the cam turns when you crank the engine.

Thanks for the reply whitedog.
I removed cover and belt condition looks good and turns when engine is cranked.
Egr elec connector makes no diff connected or not.
All fuses appear good, although some of the low amperage ones were difficult to remove and powered lights and other minor looking things so I can't say I visited every single one.
Still puzzling over it :/

To make it run you need four things, compression, fuel,air, proper timing. Does the fuel squirt or dribble out, its under a lot of pressure so it should squirt otherwise you have a pump problem. You should be able to tell if the compression is good by turning it over, or check it with a compression tester. Make sure the air intake is clear and unobstructed. Last or maybe first check the 3 bolts on the front of the injector pump pulley, see if they are all the way to one end of the adjustment or the other, they may have been loose and changed your timing outside the operating range.

I have a 2001 Jetta with 190,000 and it did the exact same thing. I checked the sending unit, replaced the fuel filter, primed everything with vacuum pump and have fuel squirting from the injector tube nuts. I checked the other things mentioned and nothing. I can spray some starting fluid in the intake @ the EGR hose and it runs for a short time. It seems like a fuel delivery problem associated with the electronics. I will be following any troubleshooting recommendations.

"tight" is subjective. The timing belt should be very tight, tight as a drum. It can still appear tight and the timing could have slipped.

So although I got no CEL, the dealership I had it towed to said it was showing a "fuel distribution problem".
They're replacing the injection pump ��
If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply back with the final correction.
Thanks for everyone's input!
Jim

damn, that's a tough one, away from home like that.
Be sure to get your old parts back. (New parts do not require core). I think it's not likely a bad injection pump (he says from 1000 miles away!). It could be the fuel shut-off, more likely a wire or connector, but lots of other possibles.
From the Trusted Wrench list:

Todd Zeller
deezldub@gmail.com
954-295-7867 (Cell)
Coral Springs, FL
http://forums.tdiclub.com/member.php?u=22344

VW Specialty, Inc.
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Scott Krout
tintspecialistwest@att.net
(904) 772-6700
major or minor repairs
Jax, FL

Keith Scarborough, tdiclub username LWB053, is in Tampa.
javabean215@yahoo.com

Jason King
Pensacola
850-994-7151
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...&postcount=582

150MPG aka Eric Swanson
Apopka FL (near Orlando)
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...07&postcount=5

Full Throttle
owner Shannon
Orlando, FL 407-253-9081
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...&postcount=892

Oh man! Good call on getting the old pump!!
Love the help from the forum members! Thanks BobnOH!!

dieselgeer said:

I have a 2001 Jetta with 190,000 and it did the exact same thing. I checked the sending unit, replaced the fuel filter, primed everything with vacuum pump and have fuel squirting from the injector tube nuts. I checked the other things mentioned and nothing. I can spray some starting fluid in the intake @ the EGR hose and it runs for a short time. It seems like a fuel delivery problem associated with the electronics. I will be following any troubleshooting recommendations.

Click to expand...

Don't EVER spray starting fluid/ether into the intake of a TDI. Not just because it may explode and injure yourself, but its very possible to crack piston rings/etc. It's not a farm implement engine.

jpk5930 said:

So although I got no CEL, the dealership I had it towed to said it was showing a "fuel distribution problem".
They're replacing the injection pump ��
If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply back with the final correction.
Thanks for everyone's input!
Jim

Click to expand...

This sounds like it will end badly. Wish I could help, geography isn't on our side in that respect.

crank sensor? Or the fuel shut off solenoid. I doubt it's the pump... it would of acted funny before dying completely.

Had a leaking fuel filter do the same thing. Also bad crank sensor will let it start but shut back off.

Crap. If its ejecting fuel when the line nuts are cracked either the injection pump is hosed or you're not getting air. Did you check the anti-shudder valve? Yes, I know it should never close when the car is running, but....

BTW I'm local, have VCDS and tools, and sent you a PM.

I read about cleaning the QA in a thread started by Deereman76. I checked the QA voltage in block 019 and found 0.680V and 0.800V. No good. I took the top off the pump and the lever was stuck. I broke it free and it moved as it should. I was able to clear the fault code 17970 and the block 019 was up to 4.740V. It started and idled great but upon acceleration it stumbled and died. My fault code 17970 came back and block 019 is back to 0.800V. I'll be preforming a QA disassemble and clean.