Dying ignition?

[blueboy7]

Had this problem for a while now. OLD POST It’s getting a lot worse. Starting to die on me even when the engine is hot. It’s cutting out but if I have enough speed it picks up and keeps running. A couple times had to turn the key off and back on and kept going. Until this morning I was turning up hill and it died. Then after cranking cranking cranking cranking cranking it finally started again.
Seems ignition related but just not sure where to start looking. Battery and clamps are good, the junction box on top of the battery is good.

So where to look next? Any ideas?

11-27-20 Fixed it. Post #8

 

[Tdijarhead]

Is your engine light on? If so what are the codes?

It could possibly be a crank sensor or the wiring associated with the sensor.

 

[blueboy7]

Is your engine light on? If so what are the codes?

Light is on, actually came on this morning. I'll check the code when I get home after work.

 

[blueboy7]

P0321 Speed Sensor Implausible signal - intermittent
P1603 Control Module Failed self test - intermittent

Engine light actually went off before I got home.

So these codes could be from cranking the crap out of it this morning?

Car actually ran perfect on the way home.

 

[blueboy7]

One thing I noticed was the boost gauge drops off when the motor cuts out. Probably as a result not the cause?
Had my eye on the gauge when I was cruising at 30 mph and it cut out 3 times but kept going (didn't let off the throttle or push in the clutch). And it was sputtering whenever it felt like it, cold or hot, mostly cold.
Totally acts like ignition is cutting out.
Any ideas?

 

[Tdijarhead]

16705/P0321/000801 - Ross-Tech Wiki

wiki.ross-tech.com

Try this

 

[blueboy7]

16705/P0321/000801 - Ross-Tech Wiki

wiki.ross-tech.com

Try this

I will definitely look into the wiring. I did replace the cam sensor about a year ago which definitely helped the hard starts. I thought I had removed that out of the equation but it still has the original wiring.
Thanks!

 

[blueboy7]

Victory!

Finally after all this time my Jetta is a fine running machine.

Such a strange and hard problem to diagnose. Never had something that was temperature and RPM related. Would misfire when cold and between 2000-2500 RPM. But when hot it ran fine. Until #1 temporarley quit firing all together and threw a code. P1260 implausible signal, P1666 electrical malfunction and P0310 misfire detected, all on #1

The fix was quite simple actually. #1 injector plug was loose. Squeezed the spade terminals to fit snug like they should be. And that’s it. I probably would have done this on my own but it was nice to know this could very well be the problem before I started. I was searching Youtube on how to do an output test on the injectors with the VCDS and came across this guy. YOUTUBE LINK Saved me $140.00 from buying a new harness. And apparently you can’t do an injector output test on this engine, only minor things like cooling fan and glow plug light.


Also, there was another problem on top of this. Every once in a while, at any random temp and RPM the engine would die. Found it by moving one set of wires at a time until the engine would start again. Crank sensor!

Thank you guys for your help!

God bless!
Blue

 

[Tdijarhead]

Thanks for posting the solution. Many threads start and die, leaving no idea if the original poster ever solved his/her problem . Good job in tracking it down.

 

[irvingj]

Great video, very nicely done; thanks!

 

[JB05]

That crank sensor is about due for a change. I had this problem also where the car would die suddenly. Wiggling the crank sensor cable would temporarily fix the problem. A new sensor was my permanent fix. No CEL despite all this.