2003 Jetta TDI won't start

2003 Jetta TDI won't start.................FIXED!!!!! 12..4.15

Hey Ya'll......
First of all new to form.
So long story short have an 03' Jettta with a TDI 130,000 miles on her. And now won't start, I thought it was a fuel delivery issue, so I changed out the sending unit in the tank and the filter,then all 4 glow plugs and 109 fuel relay.. Nope, not it. I've checked the shutter valve it's open. There is fuel in the clear tube after the filter.
When I turn the key to on, I hear a single click (could it be the fuel pump?) once the key turned to start, the motor half way starts for a split second then dies, and you can still hear the starter spinning.
There isn't any signs of gunk around anything to show any type of leak.
I'm open to anything, and hopefully it is a simple fix.

You could have air in this fuel lines to the injectors. Loosen the nuts on the fuel lines at the injectors about 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Crank engine until you are sure a small amount of fuel is coming out of all lines then tighten the nuts and try starting. You may have to do this 2 or 3 times . The engine may run poorly until all the air is out. When it starts let it idle until it is running smoothly. Stepping on the gas will kill the engine. The click you are hearing when you turn the key is likely the selenoid on the fuel cut off. Make sure you keep your battery charger or the engine may not start due to turning too slowly. Hope this fixes it.

Umm the toss parts at it first and ask questions later methed... Yeah not the best approach.

It's a diesel, first start with cracking injectors and see if fuel comes up. While cranking!

Can I crack all 4 injetors at once and turn the engine over then tighten them or do them 1 at a time.??

Why bother? Crack one while you have a helper crank, and close it off once you get fuel. Repeat with the other if it doesn't start..

Most times once one injector gets going, it will let the car run and self bleed the others.

Only problem is I don't have a 'helper' newly single in a new town

Mrproc1 said:

So long story short have an 03' Jettta with a TDI 130,000 miles on her. And now won't start...

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Any issues leading up to this, or did it just not start one morning? Check engine light on?

Hmm I hate to go here but is the a known record of a timing belt change? May want to pop the cover and check on the health of that belt. I just picked up a Bug with similar miles that the PO neglected to do her first belt change. Needs a head and a belt now....
Hope it's not the case here.

No, not a problem up until now. I backed the car out garage to clean the garage, released the breaks and rolled it back in with done a couple hours later.
The timing belt was replaced at 110,000 earlier this year, I will pop the cover and check it in few.::..

Turns out the EGR valve needed replaced. A different shop did the intake cleaning back in 2012 with 103,xxx miles but only rebuilt the EGR....so apparently the valve will allow the car to start and drive one minute and won't next day with not signs of failure.
They did say there is any aftermarket fuel treatment that people are using in diesels, that you only add a couple teaspoons every 3 to 4 fill ups, to help with carbon build up in the engine. But couldn't or wouldn't give me name of the product. Anyone know of such thing.
Thanks again for all the suggestions....

EGR valve probably got screwed up from cleaning when the intake was cleaned (let's just hope that the intake cleaning was done right!).

Not sure that dumping additives and such are going to do much: in my mind it's just a bunch more hassle that may not net out on a time and money basis.

I believe that folks claim less clogging with Biodiesel. Of course, that also comes with the added costs of reduced fuel mileage (Biodiesel is less energy dense than mineral diesel).

To [vastly] REDUCE EGR-related clogging, the engine needs to get fully warmed up when it's driven and it needs to get flogged. That is, push the boost and get some load on the engine. With today's oils, ULSD and driving properly the clogging issues are vastly mitigated. Tunes can be had that also help minimize the issue: Malone Tuning offers "Dynamic EGR," I have this on both my cars.

Out in Redmond is a shop called Zahntech. Get to know Matt and the guys and you can keep your car running right.

I'm curious about the EGR failing. It seems like it would have to fail fully open for it to not start and even then, I'm not sure.

I saw that place on here, unfortunately that's about 40 mins away from me. I would like to to have the EGR tested some how to see if that was the actually problem..

UhOh said:

EGR valve probably got screwed up from cleaning when the intake was cleaned (let's just hope that the intake cleaning was done right!).

Not sure that dumping additives and such are going to do much: in my mind it's just a bunch more hassle that may not net out on a time and money basis.

I believe that folks claim less clogging with Biodiesel. Of course, that also comes with the added costs of reduced fuel mileage (Biodiesel is less energy dense than mineral diesel).

To [vastly] REDUCE EGR-related clogging, the engine needs to get fully warmed up when it's driven and it needs to get flogged. That is, push the boost and get some load on the engine. With today's oils, ULSD and driving properly the clogging issues are vastly mitigated. Tunes can be had that also help minimize the issue: Malone Tuning offers "Dynamic EGR," I have this on both my cars.

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How do you recommend I change my driving habits to keep from getting build up

Mrproc1 said:

How do you recommend I change my driving habits to keep from getting build up

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First you have to tell me how you're driving, yes?

Plenty to be found here on this subject. Basically it comes down to this: don't drive the car like you're tying to average 100 mpg! Periodically kick the boost up to the hilt, starting around 2k RPM and flooring it for a while- usually hitting up to 3,500 RPM and running through a few gears, such as merging on the freeway, should be sufficient in pushing oil residue out/off of the internal intake bits. Of course, be certain that your turbo is in good health, that you're not going through oil (going through oil- bad turbo seals will eventually introduce a risk of a runaway- know how to recognize when such might start to occur and how to deal with it [search]). I am fortunate that my normal routes have me entering the freeway with the posted speed limit of 70 mph- I'll often push it up to 80 mph. I don't run around driving like this! I average over 50mpg; one cannot have such an average by always running WOT!

So,,, drive like every jackass around here in Seattle!! Or pretend its a Z06. The route I take to work is a widny road with speeds limit 45 max. But I can take the the freeway if need be sometimes.

Not TELLING you how you should drive. I'm merely telling you how these cars like to/need to be driven such that they don't succumb to early clogging.

Right tool for the job... If I were doing a lot of city driving I'd have gotten a Prius; but, I'm out in the country and my travels are primarily higher-speed driving, something that diesels are better suited for.

whitedog said:

I'm curious about the EGR failing. It seems like it would have to fail fully open for it to not start and even then, I'm not sure.

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I'm curious as well...

The OP mentioned in the original post that the ASV was wide open. If that's the case, I don't think the EGR valve itself could "fail" to a point that the car would not start...at all...

Unless, and the OP will have to clarify...perhaps he was checking the ASV actuator...and noticed that the lever was pulled all the way...and assumed that the ASV was open, when it was actually stuck closed.

EGR can, in fact, prevent a start. Been there. Done that. Manually shut the EGR valve and disconnect the electrics. A CEL will be set but if the valve is the problem, then the engine will start and run quite well.

nord said:

EGR can, in fact, prevent a start. Been there. Done that. Manually shut the EGR valve and disconnect the electrics. A CEL will be set but if the valve is the problem, then the engine will start and run quite well.

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Huh? Disconnect what electrics? It's a diaphragm valve that is normally closed and requires vacuum to open.

Well, I've driven the car about 20 miles since picking it up, and there's a lot of black dust on the back of the car.......

Mrproc1 said:

Well, I've driven the car about 20 miles since picking it up, and there's a lot of black dust on the back of the car.......

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Somewhere here there's a gap in what has transpired. Care to fill it in? (picked up the car from where? what was done?)

"black dust" is likely the result of over/heavy fueling. Might also be from blowing crap out and that with proper operation it'll (black crap) now be a non-issue.

UhOh said:

Somewhere here there's a gap in what has transpired. Care to fill it in? (picked up the car from where? what was done?)

"black dust" is likely the result of over/heavy fueling. Might also be from blowing crap out and that with proper operation it'll (black crap) now be a non-issue.

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Read post #10

Mrproc1 said:

Read post #10

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Sorry (and I'd even responded to that post!). The thread has seemed to ramble on such that it was appearing that there's still an issue.

Thanks for the follow up. Might want to come back in a bit and let us know how it's going.

No worries, yeah it seemed to get off track back there.. So far it's running the same it was before it just all of a studden didn't want to start. Only thing that is different is I have the turbo spool up a tad bit better, and the black dust on the back of the car.... I washed the car today, so I'll keep an eye on that