maudessen
Member
Please tell me I haven't already killed this car.
This past summer I flew down to North Carolina and bought a 2006 VW Golf TDI (four door, manual transmission) with fewer than 40k miles and drove it home to St. Louis. I've been driving it on B100 (100% biodiesel) ever since. Because sometimes we have real winter here, I got a Frostheater (which heats the coolant) and had it installed.
Two Saturdays ago it got pretty cold (single digits) but the car started right up as usual after a couple of hours with the Frostheater turned on. I went to an appointment about four miles away, driving slowly to get there...about 20 MPH. The car was parked on the street for two hours in the cold. When I came out it still started easily and so I started home. I made it a couple of miles and the car was running just like normal when suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, it quit. There was no coughing or shuddering to warn me that something was up, no deceleration. I was able to pull off the pavement in front of a fire station where I called for a tow and got to wait inside. (No I don't have a cell phone.)
I had the car towed to my house and waited until today (over a week and a half later) to try to start it. Last night I put my trickle charger on it to make sure the battery was fully charged, and this afternoon I turned on the Frostheater to make sure the engine was pre-warmed. It's nearly 50*F today.
The car won't start. The battery and the starter are strong. But the car just grinds when I turn the key.
I am, as you can tell, not very mechanical. But to me it seems like there's no fuel getting to the cylinders. Could I have ruined the IP? Or is there some other less expensive possibility?
It's been warm now for two days now, so it's hard to imagine the fuel filter is clogged up, especially since it was recently changed and the fuel is liquid not gelled.
Do IPs die without any warning at all...no lurching or gasping? Part of me is shocked if it's the IP at only 40k miles, because even petroleum diesel fuel will gel and you would think the IP would be engineered to take it.
Is there some kind of orifice that could be coked and could be cleaned?
Any thoughts on this?
Maud
This past summer I flew down to North Carolina and bought a 2006 VW Golf TDI (four door, manual transmission) with fewer than 40k miles and drove it home to St. Louis. I've been driving it on B100 (100% biodiesel) ever since. Because sometimes we have real winter here, I got a Frostheater (which heats the coolant) and had it installed.
Two Saturdays ago it got pretty cold (single digits) but the car started right up as usual after a couple of hours with the Frostheater turned on. I went to an appointment about four miles away, driving slowly to get there...about 20 MPH. The car was parked on the street for two hours in the cold. When I came out it still started easily and so I started home. I made it a couple of miles and the car was running just like normal when suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, it quit. There was no coughing or shuddering to warn me that something was up, no deceleration. I was able to pull off the pavement in front of a fire station where I called for a tow and got to wait inside. (No I don't have a cell phone.)
I had the car towed to my house and waited until today (over a week and a half later) to try to start it. Last night I put my trickle charger on it to make sure the battery was fully charged, and this afternoon I turned on the Frostheater to make sure the engine was pre-warmed. It's nearly 50*F today.
The car won't start. The battery and the starter are strong. But the car just grinds when I turn the key.
I am, as you can tell, not very mechanical. But to me it seems like there's no fuel getting to the cylinders. Could I have ruined the IP? Or is there some other less expensive possibility?
It's been warm now for two days now, so it's hard to imagine the fuel filter is clogged up, especially since it was recently changed and the fuel is liquid not gelled.
Do IPs die without any warning at all...no lurching or gasping? Part of me is shocked if it's the IP at only 40k miles, because even petroleum diesel fuel will gel and you would think the IP would be engineered to take it.
Is there some kind of orifice that could be coked and could be cleaned?
Any thoughts on this?
Maud
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