10 TDI Jetta won't start

geez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Canyon Country CA, USA
TDI
Jets-'10, '09, '98-sold
Currently:
1. Try to start and engine won't turn over with the dreaded "clicking" sound.
2. Have had a quality battery charger in "automatic" mode that drops to trickle charge as needed.
3. Charger shows fully charged before I try to turn it over.
4. After trying to start it, charger goes to 8 amps and in about a minute has brought it back to fully charged with the green light on indicating such.
5. Sam's Club has tested the battery twice. Once a few days ago, and once a month ago. Battery tester showed it was fine.

History...
1. CEL P0401 DPF issue, so I can't turn it in to VW for the rewrite on the computer.
2. Remove the sensor at the top of the DPF and use the LiquiMoly fluid to clean the DPF and then the LiquiMoly fluid to rinse the cleaner.
3. Try to start to burn off the liquid...it won't
4. Remove the glowplugs and turn it over with a heavy towel over the glowplug holes.
5. Turns over perfect for 20 seconds and I stop.
6. Remove the towel that has some of the liquid that backflowed into the cylindars.
7. Put the glowplugs back in and it starts perfectly. Take to mechanic to force the regen and drive it to complete. No issues.
8. Next morning, I'm concerned about the chemicals that have blown out of the glowplug ports being all over the electrical and water hoses so I pressure wash the motor.
9. DON'T EVER PRESSURE WASH A 2004-NEWER TDI!!!
10. Control module for the power steering/ABS/Traction Control got wet and the module/steering thingy was replaced (along with the alternator) $1600.
11. Get it back from mechanic and the next morning dead battery.
12. Lights and brights work perfectly, but getting a clicking sound when trying to start.

Back to today...
Is there a starter solenoid that could be bad?
Is there something else that could be bad?
I put a ground strap from the block to the chasis to see if a ground strap was left off, but that made no difference.

Suggestions? Thank you so much!
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Put a multi meter (<$10 at Harbor Freight) on the battery crank the engine and see if the voltage drops below 9.5 volts.
 

geez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Canyon Country CA, USA
TDI
Jets-'10, '09, '98-sold
Thank you whitedog! Results were half of 9.5 volts, returned to Sam's Club and got a new free battery (under warranty). Started right up. Now for a few days of driving to see if it goes dead...

If it goes dead, then I need to do a parasitic draw test after the car has been off and doors shut for about 45 minutes.
 

geez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Canyon Country CA, USA
TDI
Jets-'10, '09, '98-sold
What should the amperage draw be for a 2010 Jetta TDI Stick when doing a parasitic draw test?
1. My tester has a clamp and a 40 amp setting. Putting the clamp around the big red battery wire, should the multimeter read .03 or lower? And...
2. If it is higher, pull fuses one at a time and see which circuit(s) bring the reading down where it should...then I have isolated the problem circuit, right?

I found this in tdiclub.com http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/500/TSB_27_08_04_Matrix.pdf
and this from Corsair, which I like better and follows more along what I wrote under 1 and 2 above:

With everything off, disconnect the positive (red) wire from the positive terminal of the battery and insert an ammeter (ie. multimeter set on the DC amps function) in between the positive battery post and the big positive (red) wire that was just removed from the positive battery post. (red wire of multimeter to the battery post, black wire of multimeter to the fat red wire recently disconnected from the battery post. Basically, you're inserting the multimeter in "series" with that fat red wire that connects to the battery +. Look for current draw that doesn't go away after about 5 minutes. There are specs, sorry I don't know what they are for VW. Typically, I think the parasitic draw should fall to less than approx. 30 milliAmps (0.03 Amp) within about 5 minutes. You'll probably have to set the meter to a fairly low scale reading to see this. Couple of cautions-

Sometimes it takes a minute or more for various things to "go to sleep" and stop drawing current. I don't know specifically about our Jettas, but I know that's true with, for instance, Dodge Ram trucks.

Keep all doors closed, trunk closed, etc. when doing the parasitic draw test. Opening a door brings on the dome light, which draws at least an amp, and can pop the fuse in your multimeter if it's set to a low current scale reading, trying to look for 20mA draw.
 
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Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Read geeze's link. The TSB explains the parasitic drain issue very clearly.

If the hood or any door is open, the electrical system will not go into sleep mode. What you do is close up everything except the drivers door and trip the drivers door latch and arm the alarm. Also, if you want to leave the hood open you have to trip the hood latch as well.

After that you wait about 15 minutes and electrical system should be in sleep mode unless you have a parasitic drain somewhere. The fuse panel at the drivers door is a VG place to check for parasitic drain. All that checking at the battery will tell you that you have a drain, but will not tell you in what system.
 
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geez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Location
Canyon Country CA, USA
TDI
Jets-'10, '09, '98-sold
Thank you Ol'Rattler.

I have a clamp meter to test the DC amp draw. With everything sleeping...what should that amp number be? -.029 or lower?

Thanks again everyone!!!
 
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