HELP! 2006 Jetta TDI Stalling

Eric Cartman

Veteran Member
Joined
May 29, 2007
Location
Mesquite, Texas
TDI
2006
KS_Jetta said:
I've got 4300 miles on my '06, and while downshifting today from 3rd to 2nd approaching a stoplight, the instant the clutch was fully depressed, the tachometer went to "0", and the appropriate dash lights lit up. The first time this has happened. While still coasting, I restarted - it started as normal - and continued on like nothing happened. It acted just like I had turned the key off. Please let us know what (if) they find.
Well until I started reading this thread, I thought I was imagining things..
I was on the highway in really heavy bumper to bumper stop and go traffic when I was coming out of second into third ( I was rolling by the way)
let the clutch out, and realized the car was dead... It took me a moment to get the car restarted as you have to turn the key to "off" before trying to restart.. Unlike most passenger cars...
I thought maybe I had dumped the clutch... But now after reading this thread I do not think I dumped the clutch as the car was already rolling about 30 mph when it died. Even if I had of dumped the clutch, the car should have kept pulling and kept going......This same thing has happened to me twice now.. Now I am starting to take notice.. I have driven standards all my life... and never recall this being obvous about my driving style.. At first I thought it was just me...
Now I do not think so.
Ill keep a watch on this thread and let yall guys know if it continues to be a problem with my car as well....thanks for the post...
 

Eric Cartman

Veteran Member
Joined
May 29, 2007
Location
Mesquite, Texas
TDI
2006
happened to me today...

Today.....I am in second gear running about 15 mph in a apartment complex.... I am about to coast over a speed bump... I depress the clutch to coast over the bump... my speed is about 12 mph or so now...
Going really too fast to justify downshifting to first gear just to have to reshift up back into second gear...
I coast over the bump, release the clutch slowly......
the car does not struggle or chug due to being in too low of a gear...
Dash lights come on...car is dead....
Thank gawd no one is behind me.... Have to turn key all the way to off to restart..
This is the THIRD time that I can document that this has happened to me..
Maybe we need to get together and have VW do a recall for this issue??
 
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Green_TDI

New member
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Location
Colorado
TDI
2006 Jetta
Same problem - Dealer fixed it (so it seems)

We bought a new 2006 TDI Jetta in May and had the same stalling symptoms from 600 miles on (to 900). We have an Automatic, NOT manual though. It would be hard to start, and stalled a few times when coming to a stop. The dealership was less than helpful and said they had never heard of this. We printed off the posts on this forum and then they agreed to look at it. There were two seperate service times as described below. They had the car for 8 days total. - BTW - The fuse panel layouts in our car, Manufactured 12/06, do NOT match the manual, and the Dealer had no updates.... many of the fuses were loose, but this was not the problem.
Another friend of ours had the same car, same problem, similar fix (fuel pump) to ours...

The SHORT answer: Fuel system problems.

The LONG answer:

** First Service: (After two weeks of trouble) The head mechanic looked at the car, opened the Fuel filter top and told us the we had put GAS in the car, and it would not be covered under warranty. We produced the receipt from the *ONLY* time we filled up the car since we bought it, which clearly had DIESEL written on it. 3 people at the dealership then admitted that the car could have been topped of with GAS -by them- upon delivery. They said it happens all the time... (hmmm...). Either way, they purged the fuel system, and returned that car (under warranty / covered by dealer).

** Second Service: The next day, the car died and would not resart at all. We had it towed to the dealership. The dealership did not look at it until the next day, and it started right up. We explained our disatissfaction with the service, and they agreed to look at it for a few days. They found a shudder under rapid Accel/Deccel and decided to replace the "tandem" (sp) fuel pump (near the engine). Better, but it still had problems. Then one of the youngest mechanics decided to check fuel temp at various points. Turns out the fuel was boiling before it reached the injector system due to some kind of partial block in the return line causing back pressure. The fuel would not flow fast enough so it got too hot. They purged the fuel system again, and cleared the block, no idea what it actually was, and since then no problems.

** Result: Fuel Pump replaced, partial -unknown- block in the return line, and had Gas in it for a short time. Any or all of the above. One thing the head mechanic did finally say: These cars are VERY sensative to fuel line/system issues, and will stall far easier than their gas counter parts if there is a minor problem with the fuel system.

Diesel engines only need fuel and air to run, so unless your car sucks a tennis ball or a squirrel into the air intake, it's a good bet it's the fuel delivery system if it's stalling... ...and it may not be easy to track down...

Good luck to all of you with this issue...
 

Eric Cartman

Veteran Member
Joined
May 29, 2007
Location
Mesquite, Texas
TDI
2006
Green_TDI said:
so unless your car sucks a tennis ball or a squirrel into the air intake, it's a good bet it's the fuel delivery system if it's stalling... ...and it may not be easy to track down...

Good luck to all of you with this issue...
I got tickled on that last line...
If I could turn a squirrel into fuel I would try to suck him down the air intake...!
Serves the little suns of biches right!
Course we could start a new thread on squirrels altogether... :p
 

Canabarry

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Location
Cary, NC
TDI
06 Jetta
My dealer kept my Jetta for a week trying to reproduce the problem. With VW tech support, they decided that it might be a flap on the EGR valve which normally helps to turn the engine off smoothly. This was apparently stuck in a mid position.
I have not been able to try the car with this fix yet but the dealer says he notices more power than before. I will certainly post the results after I have had a chance to test it thoroughly but it might be next month.
 

Da~da~da

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2006
Location
N/A
TDI
2K6
Eric Cartman said:
I got tickled on that last line...
If I could turn a squirrel into fuel I would try to suck him down the air intake...!
Serves the little suns of biches right!
Course we could start a new thread on squirrels altogether... :p
Sweet... as this Awesome squirrel thread perhaps needs a bump?
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=149276
anytime I need a good laugh I just go back to this :D

**Thread hijack over**
 

06SpiceRedTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Location
Longview, WA
TDI
2006 Spice Red TDI Jetta, 2006.5 DSG Platinum Gray TDI
I had this problem when I first got my car and I found somewhere on this forum that told me to pull out the ECU fuses and reinsert them, they didn't seem loose but I haven't had this problem since.
 

buckrub

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Location
Harrisburg,PA
TDI
2006 JETTA TDI PD
stalling

I Have a 06 TDI and have 16000 miles on it. There have been many times this has happened to me. All times have been while coming to a stop while down shifting. It still happens to me when coming to a stop not all the time though. Sorry I cannot give any insight as to why this is happening. But it is what it is. If someone can figure it out I would glad to know so I can resolve the problem. I will try pulling EGR fuses and reinstalling. BTW coasting with the clutch in between a gear cahange is definitely when it happens.
Spice is the ECU fuses on the fuse board inside the passenger compartment or the main bus under the hood?
 

Imarobot

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Location
St. Pete, FL
TDI
2006 Jetta Pkg 1
I have been having this problem also... and it didn't start for me until after I passed 20k on the odo.

Tampa bay traffic, AC on, downshifting.

Engine "shuts off" ... I'm reluctant to use the word stall because there is no jerk or anything. I don't notice until I try to give it some go pedal and I don't go. Then I look at the dash and the tach is at zero and the idiot lights are on.

I told the dealer and they said they can't do anything about it unless they can duplicate it. I had them pull codes anyways to see if there was anything. They said they came up with nothing.

This problem is sporadic, but it is definitely while downshifting and coming to a stop.

Add one more to the list of these problems.
 

richbking

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
I haven't had the issue since I played with the fuses. Hopefully it doesn't come back.
 

Green_TDI

New member
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Location
Colorado
TDI
2006 Jetta
Still no trouble after Dealer Fix

Well, we now have 3K on the car, problem was from about 600 - 1000 miles. Last 2000 miles NO problem at all. We are getting about 38-40MPG in city driving and 48-50 mpg HWY. Car seems peppier (is that a word?) after the service. We have the 6-speed Auto though. The Tach still dips under braking, but it recovers quick, and does not drop as much as it did defore.

Kudos to VW for making a car that can push the 50MPG mark, AND blow the doors of a lot of other cars going up from 6000 ft to 10000 ft elevation on mountain highways... AND the ability to manually shift the Auto-Trans....

Now, if they could just make this car w/ part time 4WD....
 

petri

New member
Joined
Dec 27, 2003
Add me to the list. 2006.5 5-sp Jetta Diesel Edition. It has happened 5 times in the last ~1000 miles, always with the AC on, and always when slowing down with the cluth depressed (usually following a downshift into 2nd). Total miles on the car are ~3500.

I can try the fuse thing, but given the number of folks this appears to be happening to, I'm surprised we don't have any "official" word on this problem yet.
 

Canabarry

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Location
Cary, NC
TDI
06 Jetta
Following up on my earlier posts detailing each of my stalling incidents, in July my dealer changed the EGR valve because of a stuck flapper hoping that this would cure my stalling problem. I was out of town until late August so didn't get to test it until then. It stalled the next day so this was not the fix.
I've had it back at the dealer since then but it would not fail for them despite the hot weather. But today, I went for a ride with the Service Manager and "fortunately" if stalled as I was downshifting for an intersection. This gives him the ammunition he needs to pursue it further with VW.
Since this is a safety issue, I feel remise in not reporting it to the NHTSA yet but I will wait to see if VW can fix it this time around.
 

Bench Truck

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Location
Werribee, Vic. Australia
TDI
VW Jetta tdi DSG 6 speed
Hi to all. I have just joined this forum. I was googling VW tdi stalling to see what I could find out as I have had this problem, intermittently, and some times frequently since the car was new in March 07.
My Jetta is the 2 litre with 6 speed DSG (auto) box. Only the 3rd auto car I've ever had. Autos don't stall , do they?
It all started the first day I brought my shiny new Jetta home and was skiting about it to my son. Hop in and we will go for a drive. It stalled 4 time backing it out of the garage. Then on the street I put it into drive and it died again, and again. I put it down to the fact that the car is new and all will be ok when it is run in a bit. A couple of days later i was stopped at red light waiting to make a right hand turn, 6 or 7 cars waiting behind me. All of a sudden the thing died again and right now the lights have turned green to go. Now I have to have it in Park and have to turn the key to off before I can crank it over to start. It started ok and took off like a shot, but I was left with dented pride, and all the traffic behind me was left standing as the turn lights were red again before they could get round the turn. I have had the car back to the dealership several times now with the same problem. They have tried to download codes from the car's computer. but the same as most writers have said, No codes. They have contacted other VW mechanics and all to no avail. From all accounts it is not an uncommon problem; but no one has an answer. If it was not such a nice car in other ways, and so thrifty on fuel I would be tempted to get rid of it. We don't have Lemmon Laws here in Aussie.
 

shelendich

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Location
New Mexico, USA
TDI
04 Jetta
I have the same problem with my 04 Jetta PD tdi. First happened slowing for a curve 6 weeks ago, now it happens 2x a day as I slow for stop signs etc. The only good news is the problem is getting worse which usually makes it easier to find, I hope.

I changed the fuel filter, checked the fuses, ordered a new relay 109. I have noticed that the idle is not steady, almost but it is moving up and down by about 50 rpm on the tac. Car runs fine except when it quits. When it dies it will not restart with just the turn of the key, I need to crank and pump for about 10 seconds, always the same length of time, then it starts and is normal.

Let's keep this thread going...
 

Reggie870

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2007
Location
Hollister, CA
TDI
2005.5 Jetta TDI 5sdp Pkg 2
shelendich said:
I have the same problem with my 04 Jetta PD tdi. First happened slowing for a curve 6 weeks ago, now it happens 2x a day as I slow for stop signs etc. The only good news is the problem is getting worse which usually makes it easier to find, I hope.

I changed the fuel filter, checked the fuses, ordered a new relay 109. I have noticed that the idle is not steady, almost but it is moving up and down by about 50 rpm on the tac. Car runs fine except when it quits. When it dies it will not restart with just the turn of the key, I need to crank and pump for about 10 seconds, always the same length of time, then it starts and is normal.

Let's keep this thread going...
Could it be the lift pump in the tank?
 

GRdiesel

Active member
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Location
Fort Lee NJ
TDI
06 Jetta
I joined this forum recently and posted the issues I’ve been having with my 06 pd. Thus far the only issue remaining is the stalling problem described by many in this post.

Having driven my MK4 PD 35k in the first year, it never stalled once. I managed to crawl it through some deep snow by just letting out the clutch slowly in first gear. NEVER A STALL… no mater what the driving environment/conditions. :)

I also have an 88 Jetta (purchased new) with a 1.8 SOHC (gas) which is equipped with the idle stabilizer valve, mounted just above the valve cover. This motor is virtually impossible to stall as the valve constantly maintains idle and even increases idle, actually fuel/air ratio when approaching a stall. I like it as I get lazy in traffic and just feather the clutch to keep up.

As far as I’m concerned, the 06 pd motor has adopted similar FSI pump mechanicals as the 2.0 gas under the valve cover which the first PD motors did not have. Although I can’t provide any technical proof, this is merely my opinion. I mention this as I believe the ECU in the MK4 may have been mapped to operate in a similar fashion as my 88 gasser.

After stalling my MK5 a dozen or so times in the first few miles, I thought I suddenly forgot how to drive a stick or the stupid flywheel was coming apart!:mad:

I’ll follow this thread closely to see if anyone comes up with a viable answer.
 

whitedog

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2004 Jetta that I fill by myself
Everyone needs to look on the bright side. Since it seems that most people are reporting this happens when the A/C is on and Winter is approaching, everyone should be Good To Go until next Spring.

Hmmm...


No one is laughing...

OK> so who has compiled a list of all of the people that have had this problem? I read some of the posts and it seems that a few folks are actually stalling the car as they take off. Those ones don't count.

Who has had the problem where the car shuts off when you are slowing down and you step on the clutch?

OK. Here is the list from this thread. Two automatics and one DSG and as far as I can tell, the rest are manual Transmissions. ( or are those two autos, DSG? I don't keep up on that stuff)

cnicholson
DrewD
ldgratetdi
KS_Jetta
Gavin_1
ewheeler
JJTDI
Mooseclub (Auto Trans)
serenityjames dakota650r
TDIPirate
TDI73
ErikR
Jwagen04
jjohns72 (Not sure he bought the car)
Amphicar770
tdi06
dieselfarmer
2footbraker
Canabarry (Very well documented)
wildslag
CRSIG
richbking
01tj
Eric Cartman (Squirel hater)
Green_TDI (Auto, Dealer may have fixed it)
06SpiceRedTDI
buckrub
Imarobot
petri
Bench Truck (Aussie DSG)
shelendich (but this is an 04 and it may not be the same problem)
GRdiesel

Dang, That's 32 people. If anyone else comes along, copy the list and add your name.
 

strictlysmoke

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Location
baltimore, md
TDI
golf IV
cnicholson
DrewD
ldgratetdi
KS_Jetta
Gavin_1
ewheeler
JJTDI
Mooseclub (Auto Trans)
serenityjames dakota650r
TDIPirate
TDI73
ErikR
Jwagen04
jjohns72 (Not sure he bought the car)
Amphicar770
tdi06
dieselfarmer
2footbraker
Canabarry (Very well documented)
wildslag
CRSIG
richbking
01tj
Eric Cartman (Squirel hater)
Green_TDI (Auto, Dealer may have fixed it)
06SpiceRedTDI
buckrub
Imarobot
petri
Bench Truck (Aussie DSG)
shelendich (but this is an 04 and it may not be the same problem)
GRdiesel
strictlysmoke (its my father's car / manual)

That's 33 people. If anyone else comes along, copy the list and add your name.

 

Canabarry

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Location
Cary, NC
TDI
06 Jetta
This is follow-up to my earlier posts describing my hot weather, occassional stalls. As mentioned, I was able to reproduce the problem when driving with the service manager so he has taken this problem very seriously. In September, VW Techline instructed the dealer to install a fuel pressure gauge but no abnormalities were found.
I needed the car for a trip so I picked it up on 17 Sept and returned it to them on 9 Oct. VW Techline asked the dealer to order and install a pinout box to allow them to get oscillascope readings on the crank sensor while doing a shake test; again nothing was found. Because this happens only sporadically AND because the engine will start again immediately afterwards, they believe that it must be some electrical condition that temporarily disconnects a sensor. So they replaced my engine compartment wiring harness and returned vehicle to me on 1 Nov. I can only hope that this is the fix but with cool weather upon us, I won't really know until next summer. I will take a trip to Florida later this month but I don't know if the weather will get hot enough to cause this problem. Thus far, my Jetta TDI has only ever stalled in very hot weather with the air conditioner running. I will try running the air conditioner (and the heater) some this winter in case that stimulates the problem. But I will be optimistic and hope that the wiring harness change has eliminated the problem.
I'm told that VW Techline has not yet found any common solution to the various hot weather, random stalls that we have described in this thread so even if this wiring harness fixes mine, it may not fix yours.
I'll report back in summer of 2008 after some real hot weather experience.
 

shelendich

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Location
New Mexico, USA
TDI
04 Jetta
The tandam pump

I finally brought it in to the dealer in Las Cruces. The tandam pump was tested and failed. Replaced the pump, no more problem. Should this pump gone out at 61K, no. Should this pump been part of the tandam pump recall, yes.

The key in my case was that the engine needed to be cranked for awhile before it would restart, like I ran it out of fuel. I did run out of fuel, and hind site tells me the engine would stall when it was using the most fuel, like climbing a hill, but pumping the least fuel due to slow rpm.

Thank you all for your help and feedback.
 

Canabarry

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Location
Cary, NC
TDI
06 Jetta
shelendich, glad to hear that your stalling problem has been resolved.

Your symptoms were different that most in this thread however. You indicated that yours was difficult to start afterwards and took a few seconds of pumping. I believe that many others are able to restart immediately and are not necessarily stalling during maneuvers requiring the most fuel.

So I believe there remains another problem for those who stall randomly but can restart immediately. In my case, this happened only in very hot weather when I had the air conditioning on. Per my post of 1 Nov, I am hopeful that the new wiring harness installed by my dealer will solve the problem but won't know for sure until next summer since the warm weather is now gone for this year.
 

candrews4tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Powder Springs, GA
TDI
2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI
:(I have had my Mk5 Jetta TDI since July, 2005 with no stalling issues at all.

That was until my Black Friday came on Nov. 9. My car stalled on the way to work and the message that appeared was "Emissions Workshop" with the engine light coming on. I stopped the car on a side street and restarted and it was fine to get to work. But I made an appointment with the dealer to look at it on Monday.
But I did not make it home, the car stalled out repeatedly and stranded me on the side of the freeway. No jerking motion, no studder, it just DIED! I had to call VW Roadside assistance to tow my car to the Jim Ellis dealership where I bought it. I have a loaner car now. I should find out the bad news about the cause next week from the dealership.

To net it out: No warning at all, no studder, no jolts, no loud noises, the engine light came on, the engine would not restart and the message appeared "Emissions Workshop" and I got the "Stop engine immediately, oil pressure warning" when the car was in motion.

Has anybody seen or heard this type of issue? I have added my name to the top of the list
 
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candrews4tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Powder Springs, GA
TDI
2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI
candrews4tdi
cnicholson
DrewD
ldgratetdi
KS_Jetta
Gavin_1
ewheeler
JJTDI
Mooseclub (Auto Trans)
serenityjames dakota650r
TDIPirate
TDI73
ErikR
Jwagen04
jjohns72 (Not sure he bought the car)
Amphicar770
tdi06
dieselfarmer
2footbraker
Canabarry (Very well documented)
wildslag
CRSIG
richbking
01tj
Eric Cartman (Squirel hater)
Green_TDI (Auto, Dealer may have fixed it)
06SpiceRedTDI
buckrub
Imarobot
petri
Bench Truck (Aussie DSG)
shelendich (but this is an 04 and it may not be the same problem)
GRdiesel
strictlysmoke (its my father's car / manual)

That's 34 people.
 

Canabarry

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Location
Cary, NC
TDI
06 Jetta
Solved!
As indicated in my earlier posts, my 2006 Jetta TDI suffered from the classic "random stall in hot weather with A/C on" problem. I reported last fall that the dealer had changed the wiring harness and that we were waiting for hot weather this summer to see if the problem was resolved. Well, the harness did not fix the problem so the dealer took the car back in. By this time, it appears that VW have gathered more information on this particular problem from several vehicles across the country.
The dealer replaced the EGR valve 4 weeks ago and I have not had a stalling problem since, despite very hot weather. At this stage I would say that the problem is solved. (You might note that I had reported in an earlier message that the EGR valve had been replaced last summer but to no avail. After discussion with the dealer and re-reading the work order, the EGR valve was only "cleaned" last summer, not replaced. This time the EGR valve was replaced. I do not know if its design has been modified or not.
I would like to express my appreciation to the service manager at my local Cary, NC, VW dealer for his perseverance in solving this very difficult problem. It is a great relief to have the car running dependably and to have this safety issue resolved.
I hope this will help those whose VWs suffer from the same problem (obviously there were several different types of stalling problem mentioned in this thread and I am only referring to the A5 TDI random stall in hot weather issue).
 

alphaseinor

TDI Innovator, Gone but Not Forgotten
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Denton, TX
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI 780,000 miles (totaled out), 01 Audi TT 225 Quattro 230,000 Miles (runs great!), 00 Cabreetle Beetle dash, ALH & MK4 harness Swap
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