04 BEW Hesitates and dies, Refuses to start. Starts fine with Starting fluid..?

MartyMcfly

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Location
texas
TDI
04 Jetta
So my Car recently picked up this hesitation issue. If Im driving on the highway I feel the car hesitating somewhat, but itll spring back to life, then start hesitating again, yada yada yada, you get the idea.

The problem got to the point where the car completely stalled. It would not spring back to life unless I sprayed starter fluid down the intake mani and then it'd run completely normal for an hour then start hesitating/stall out again. Mind you it will not re-start unless I spray starter fluid down the manifold, and it idles and runs like nothing ever happened for an hour or so. Lately it only runs for a few minutes before it stalls.

Now during the hesitation, I can give it full throttle and the rpm's continue to drop until it falls flat on its face. It feels like the car does when youre out of fuel. I can hear the fuel pump prime on startup, changed out the fuel filter, and unhooked the line on the fuel pump and fuel shot out at high pressure it seems. I dont think its the crank sensor as my glow plug light still comes on. Also, one thing to note, it seems as if my battery is dead when cranking, then it just springs back to life. Strange! Any advice?
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
In tank pump. Your car has 2 pumps, seems they still run when the in tank gets weak.
I believe you can check it by measuring fuel flow at the inlet from the tank at the filter.
Please don't use starting fluid on your diesel.
 

turbocharged798

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Location
Ellenville, NY
TDI
99.5 black ALH Jetta;09 Gasser Jetta
Starter fluid is a great way to blow up the engine. High compression diesels are starter fluid are a really bad mix.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Those symptoms sound the tandem pump is failing. Or it may be leaking into the valve cover. Injector harness is another possibility.

And I can verify the starter fluid warnings. When I bought my Golf the turbo was literally blown in half and all rods were bent by starting fluid.
 

MartyMcfly

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Location
texas
TDI
04 Jetta
Looks like this turned out to be a MASS AIR FLOW sensor. I was really low on oil...I never saw the oil light come on but I drained about a quart and a half. I guess the stock turbo really drank allot of oil when it blew. I tossed in more oil and a fresh filter, started her up and she ran, but still stalled and was very low on power. I thought my engine was toast until I unplugged the mass air sensor and the car sprang back to life. I couldn't get the car to stall and she sounded very healthy. Guess I dodged a bullet.....again.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Starter fluid is a great way to blow up the engine. High compression diesels are starter fluid are a really bad mix.
True dat. Best bet, find the problem and fix it.

Check your grounds, including the ground hidden under the airbox. A lot of intermittent problems can be flaky grounds.
 
Last edited:
Top