2001 Jetta TDI: Oil light on, STOP CAR on MFA, car died on highway. HELP!

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Well, **** me, right? :(

Driving home from an evening at my girlfriend's sister's house. Just got onto US-40 and into the leading edge of a lightning-heavy line of thunderstorms. The oil light comes on, immediately followed by STOP CAR flashing on the MFA. So, of course, I STOPped the CAR. Pulled over to the side of the highway as much as I could, as there was a ditch and no shoulder.

Car would not start when I (foolishly) tried to get it to do so. Cranked, coughed, stopped.

With a push from the police officer who kept us from getting rammed by highway traffic and a helpful motorist, rolled down the hill and into a farmer's driveway. Tow truck arrived and took my precious TDI to the <<shudder>> dealership. They're not going to have someone there who can look at it until Monday. In the meantime, borrowing a car to drive to and from work.

Not a happy camper.

Any ideas on how hosed I might be, how and why the hosing occurred, and/or suggestions for what can/should be done would be very much appreciated.
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Did you check the oil level?
Unfortunately, in the dark on the highway in a thunderstorm, that wasn't really possible. I did have time (though not light) while waiting for the tow truck, but I was too frazzled to think of checking the oil level, which was, in retrospect, stupid of me.

Now it's 30 miles away, so I won't be able to do it. It was ok a few days before, never burned through oil, and there was no evidence it had blown out oil under the car where it stopped, where I parked it, or between.

The tow truck guy also said he saw no evidence of oil loss, for whatever that's worth. Don't know if he checked the level or just looked under the hood and under the car.
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Well, my green machine is sitting over at Crown Volkswagen, waiting for their diesel mechanic to show up on Monday. I'll update this thread when I know more, which should be sometime Monday afternoon.

Hoping for the best that can be expected (though, to be fair, I'm not sure what that would be) and trying to plan for the worst.

Anyone have a notion of what my best case vs. worst case scenarios might be?
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Update so far:

Crown VW called about 11 am to let me know that the Jetta showed about 2 quarts low. So far they haven't found a leak. They're going to replace the fuel filter and run some sort of solution (could've sworn he said "brake clean" :confused: ) through the engine, followed by straight diesel.

So far they couldn't get it to turn over, but thought that was due to how long it had been sitting at relatively low temperatures.

They're supposed to call me this afternoon with more information. We shall see what we shall see.
 

dogdots

Vendor
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Location
Kansas City
TDI
None
We recently had customer bring in an ALH that overheated to the point that the windage tray melted down inside the pan and completely clogged the screen of the pickup tube.

Too bad you took it to a dealer who is going to try the 1.8t gasser sludge repair on your TDI :confused:
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Wouldn't turn over due to low temperatures? What, pray tell, is the temperature in Topeka these days?
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Wouldn't turn over due to low temperatures? What, pray tell, is the temperature in Topeka these days?
44 degrees Fahrenheit. I thought that was fairly BS-worthy myself.

New development: I am told that the ECU was literally flooded. As in full of water. No idea how that is supposed to have happened. They are saying it needs to be replaced. Said they tried to use the ECU that is in the trunk (always carry a spare, folks) but it won't work.

Am thinking of making a desperate plea to CoolairVW to come to Lawrence and put the ECU in and adapt it. Please? I'll pay mileage and buy you lunch and everything. :D

I fear the mighty reaming the dealership is about to attempt to lay on me, but with a car that can't be driven, I'm not sure of my options other than the above CoolairVW Hail Mary. :mad:
 

dogdots

Vendor
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Location
Kansas City
TDI
None
Crown Clowns. Lawrence isn't that far from Belton to tow the car considering the tooefing that is about to occur - plus I know if the engine is indeed toast Richard does have a good used engine for worst case scenario.
 

waltzconmigo

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
chicagoland
TDI
none
robin---sounds like you know the need to get your car out of there and have it towed to coolair. i have know clue how much the tow would cost but i would bet it will be cheaper than having vw play pin the tail on the donkey throwing parts at it. sometimes the correct decision is not always the easiest to make. good luck to you.
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Crown Clowns. Lawrence isn't that far from Belton to tow the car considering the tooefing that is about to occur - plus I know if the engine is indeed toast Richard does have a good used engine for worst case scenario.
Thanks for the heads-up, Dogdots. I'm sorry I didn't know they were that bad, though my options seemed pretty limited at the time.

I'm not sure if it's driveable. If so, I'll drive it to Belton. If not, any suggestions for a tow service that could get it there?
 

dogdots

Vendor
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Location
Kansas City
TDI
None
Call Richard, he has a buddy named Maurice that is pretty reasonable with tows, otherwise I have had good experiences with Allmighty and Santa Fe towing. I would offer to do it myself but I am in Springfield IL this week.
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Call Richard, he has a buddy named Maurice that is pretty reasonable with tows, otherwise I have had good experiences with Allmighty and Santa Fe towing. I would offer to do it myself but I am in Springfield IL this week.
I will call him in the morning, ASAP.

I have a call in to the dealer, asking them to tell me if the car is drivable, and telling them not to do anything else to the car until I talk to them. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 

nexus665

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Location
Austria
TDI
Golf 4 1.9 ALH MY2002
No matter what the stealership says: do NOT drive the car. Don't even crank it - you'll only worsen the problem.

Tow it - you'll be glad you did, even if it isn't as bad as it could be.

Regards
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
I'm headed to Lawrence to pick up the car. According to the stealership, the problem was a shorted-out ECU. Once I pointed out to them the method to copy the VIN from the instrument cluster they were able to adapt the ECU I had in my trunk and replaced the damaged ECU with it. This is, of course, after they found out their parts supplier had no ECUs in stock, and therefore there was no $$$ to be made from overcharging me for one.

According to them, the car now starts, runs and drives fine (which means that without my permission and against my explicit instructions, they started, ran and drove it :mad: ).

Assuming there is a basis in fact there, I'm going to drive it home, copy the ECU file, send it to Malone Tuning to get my long-awaited Stage 5, and set up a time this weekend (hopefully) to bring the car to CoolairVW to be looked over, to see what the stealership may have missed.

Oh, yeah, and I'm hauling up a 5 gallon jug to put the biodiesel in that they pumped out while trying to figure out why the car wouldn't start. :confused:

Oy, vey.
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Back from Lawrence. Jetta runs very rich. That is to be expected, I assume, since it's running HFLO-X 'Warp 6' nozzles with a stock tune. Left clouds of whitish smoke behind me, but other than that the car runs fine.

Edit 12/11: Smoke issue wasn't from the nozzles, but rather the turbo the stealership damaged.

There is apparently a glow plug related code still on the ECU, but all the other codes that the old, waterlogged ECU threw are no longer in evidence.

Apparently the water got in around the edges of the ECU, not at the connector. Odd, that.

Now I just need to find my Flashzilla flash loader, pull the info off the ECU, and send it to Mr. Malone (I've been waiting to put a Stage 5 on this car, which is why I had a spare ECU in the trunk in the first place).

After that, first convenient chance, the car is going to CoolairVW to be inspected and, if needed, fixed further.
 
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waltzconmigo

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
chicagoland
TDI
none
woodrobin---sounds like you made out okay. glad to hear it, hopefully the tune will take care of any problems. a peek by richard would not hurt, of course.
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Took the green machine out to CoolairVW to get a Malone Stage 5 tune (with Dynamic Idle and Dynamic EGR) put on to replace the stock tune on the replacement ECU. The ride out was extremely smoky. In fact, the attendant at the turnpike booth two lanes over from mine shouted "Does he know his car is smoking real bad?!?" Yes. Yes, he does. :rolleyes:

CoolairVW was fast, courteous and the all-around gentleman he always is (seriously, he's good people). Mark Malone was super-quick on the turnaround time to get the tune back to be flashed to the ECU. This was especially appreciated due to the fact that I had to drive 1 and 1/2 hours each way in the middle of a split shift at work to do this. :eek:

Edit: Initially thought the smoke issue would be fixed by the Stage 5 tune. Smoke level was reduced, but has been intermittent ever since. Since found out what the issue was -- see later post.
 
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nexus665

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Location
Austria
TDI
Golf 4 1.9 ALH MY2002
Well, sounds like you made out with just a bit of a scare, congrats :)

Enjoy your new tune!

Regards
 

waltzconmigo

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
chicagoland
TDI
none
woodrobin---glad to hear that you made it out of there without even scrapes or bruises. even better to hear that you are enjoying your new tune and richard gave you the all good. hope the future treats you even better. congrats and enjoy.
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Well, I thought I had made out nicely, and gotten lucky. Not so.

The green machine smoked like a chimney from the second I picked it up from the stealership. I'm talking about smoking so bad that it would fill the cabin with exhaust fumes if I stopped at a red light with the fan running. I left people behind me in a James Bond level smoke cloud when I pulled away from a stop, and regularly left clinging, slow-to-dissipate fume clouds in front of my house when I left for work on still days.

Just got back from CoolairVW yesterday. As ever, Coolair was the consummate gentleman, and that rarest of gifts, an honest mechanic.

The smoke machine effects and intermittent limp mode that had plagued me ever since going to the Crown Clowns (thanks, Dogdots, for the term) turned out to be from a damaged turbo.

Likely cause: their completely unneeded flushing of the engine with engine cleaner. Apparently while the lines were still connected to the fuel filter, since they ruined it and had to replace it. :rolleyes:

One of the vanes had a tear in the edge, and others were bent and dented. The turbo was sticking and generally hard to engage, even by hand after CoolairVW removed it.

Cost: Replacement of a 17/22 turbo plus labor. :eek:

I'm going to be contacting the dealership in re: my extreme displeasure at this turn of events, and see what if anything they're willing to do to make things right. I may also be hinting at the effects negative reviews on dealerrater.com, Angie's List, etc. would have on a business that is unwilling to own up to sending out a toofed-up car in the hopes the poor sucker who drove it away won't find out what they did to it. :mad:
 

CopaMundial

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Location
Southeastern PA
TDI
03 Jetta Wagon 5sp (New to me Oct 2014) 03 Jetta 5sp (RIP Aug 2014)
Are you sure that the turbo damage wasn't the initial source of your issue?
Down 2 quarts of oil, with no sign of a leak, car wouldn't start.
Taking those things together I would already be concerned about the turbo even when it was on the way into the dealerships hands.
In the time when it was smoking, was it consuming oil?
 

Woodrobin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Location
Topeka, KS
TDI
2001 Jetta GLS
Are you sure that the turbo damage wasn't the initial source of your issue?
Down 2 quarts of oil, with no sign of a leak, car wouldn't start.
Taking those things together I would already be concerned about the turbo even when it was on the way into the dealerships hands.
In the time when it was smoking, was it consuming oil?
Am I sure the issue wasn't caused by turbo damage? Yes. I was accelerating from 40 to 55 mph heading out of town. The car was boosting just fine right up until it flashed STOP CAR and the engine shut off. No smoke, no limp mode, no boost lag.

When they pulled the ECU, water poured out of it. It was shorted out, and had recorded a ridiculous medley of error messages, apparently all at the same time just before it shut the car off. If I recall correctly, I believe they said there were 18 error messages. There were none before it stopped. After that, it would not respond to any input at all. It had essentially been lobotomized.

The problem was hydroelectric, if you'll pardon the pun.

Also, as I mentioned, "According to them, the car now starts, runs and drives fine." So, if the shutoff was caused by the turbo, they lied to me about the condition of the car when they said that. Further, with the car smoking that badly, why wouldn't they point out the issue and try to sell me a new turbo? The most likely explanation is that they knew when the issue developed (while they were working on the car) and didn't want to call attention to an issue they themselves created.

Also, the car drove, albeit with smoke and intermittent limp modes, with the turbo in that condition. So how then could the turbo have caused the shutdown? Limp mode, sure, but STOP CAR followed by ECU-prompted shutdown from a busted turbo?
 
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