got a recently purchased alh 2001. replaced the battery ( hard starts with not enough amps to turn it over fast enough), fuel cut off solenoid, thermo tee, fuel lines that leaked, fixed a clogged check valve in sending unit. also replaced the two common seals in the IP. after doing all this the car started and ran well enough to climb hills in 3rd or 4th at 45mph not not well enough to really go or drive highway speeds but it would idle really well. during this time the glow plug lights were flashing, so we checked using vcds but did not have any codes. then yesterday while driving back from store it died, so i stopped, reprimed the injectors and it managed to drive a block before i had to prime them again. this got worse for the next two blocks, after the second reprime the engine seemed like it could barely idle and it kept dying faster and faster. managed to get it close enough to push it the rest of the way home. i dont have any obvious fuel leaks on the IP from the top side. i had a perfect connection to the ecu after replacing the battery but after the car started to die over and over yesterday i could no longer talk to the ECU.
ALH blinking glow plug light, no codes, no power, intermittent connection to ECU, wont keep prime
- Thread starter Yavasi
- Start date
The Cream Dolphin
Veteran Member
That seems pretty odd, sounds like the ip is not able to supply fuel, are you sure it was put together properly? (Not doubting you, just checking the basics) I have heard they can be very finicky setting the QA back up after opening it up.
Take a look in this link, though none seemed relevant to me
Take a look in this link, though none seemed relevant to me
it ran better than before if anything. After some research, tomorrow ill be checking first the inline secondary fuel filter ( the tank had some....funk in it that could definitely cause it to starve)(it has a dedicated diesel inline pump at the tank) and using vcds and the hammer mod to reduce the IQ. its currently at 9. if that is the case the glow plug lights being on could be from me disconnecting the harness from the system to check the glow plugs themselves with a 12v> fuse>push button switch>glowplugs. witch, when it was getting fuel, was almost an instant start. but the light didn't stay off after reconnecting the harness properly...
The Cream Dolphin
Veteran Member
It probably held the code, and probably did come from that. Do you have a scanner to clear the code? 9 is very very high, AKA very little fuel, shoot for 3-5 ish. If you do have the said scanner, you can also adjust it electronically, but at 9 it will likely not be enough, and you will need to hammer mod it.
i hammer modded it, and I put in a much larger inline filter. i put it at 3.4. glow plug light is apparently from a brake switch/cruse control something or other as well as the glow plugs not being plugged in. but it drives alot better now, as well as a more or less stock ALH usually drives. the fuel line blockage was something stuck in the sending unit
wonneber
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2011
- Location
- Monroe, NY, USA
- TDI
- 2014 Jetta Sportwagon,2003 Jetta 261K Sold but not forgotten
When the CEL is on you have scan for codes before shutting the engine off.
Some codes reset automatically.
Some codes reset automatically.
PakProtector
Veteran Member
IIRC, I had that flashing glow plug light when I forgot to plug in the No.3 injector properly. It did indeed run poorly and without much power. When I plugged it in properly I got a good taste of bigger injector nozzle behaviour... 
The 'maintaining prime' issue may not be related to the blinking dash light.
Douglas
The 'maintaining prime' issue may not be related to the blinking dash light.
Douglas
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P2B
Top Post Dawg
That's why the dealer service lot is always full of idling cars - they can't be diagnosed if you shut them off