Random Engine Hesitation

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

Hey Mike or anyone. So I took out the airbox, and I can't seem to find this bugger, is it below the starter?... actually I'm assuming it can be reach from the top, because that is the way on a BRM

You go at it from underneath.

This video is the best I’ve found that shows where it is:

Remove the oil filter and push aside any hoses and junk that are in that area, and then it’s relatively easy to access. I used some cable ties to hold the hoses out of the way while I worked.

To disconnect the wire, if I remember correctly, you pull the grey tab straight out, and then squeeze it against the body of the connector to release it, there are probably other connectors like that in more visible locations that you can practice on, Other than that, it’s just one Allen-head bolt. I think it was 4mm. Not sure.

You just disconnect the wire, undo the bolt, and pull out the sensor. When you put the new one back in you just have to make sure it is fully seated in the correct position and then install the bolt and connect the wire.

The actual changing of the sensor took me five minutes, Getting the car on ramps, and removing stuff that is in the way takes way longer than the sensor replacement.

Good luck!

 

[pedroYUL]

Thank you Mike. I'll wait till the next oil change then, as I just did one

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

Thank you Mike. I'll wait till the next oil change then, as I just did one

When I did it I just removed the filter and put it back. Wouldn’t hurt to wait though if you don’t have any immediate need to change the sensor.

Are you currently having any hesitation problems?

 

[pedroYUL]

When I did it I just removed the filter and put it back. Wouldn’t hurt to wait though if you don’t have any immediate need to change the sensor.

Are you currently having any hesitation problems?

Yes, there is longish cold cranks and a little bucking a couple of blocks from home, very telling of a flaky sensor. No codes, new lift pump, fuel is clean, filters newish...for $58 for the crank sensor, I can just change it instead of spending hours trying to catch the event.

I've decided to drain, catch the oil and change the sensor during the upcoming holiday...hate wrenching in the winter!

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

^That's what I did. The amount of oil that comes out of that tiny filter housing is minimal. It takes a 13mm socket to remove the drain plug in the cap of the filter, and then a 32mm to remove the cap.

 

[pedroYUL]

Right, the filter connects higher than the oil pan, so just the oil in the canister drains indeed.

That is a 4mm allen, which doesn't need to be ball if you disconnect the filter and a bracket that prevents a good angle.

It cranked like a champ right after. The latest was almost a constant slight misfire at idle, seems gone, but too soon to tell if everything is now corrected.

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

^ Hey good for you! I hope your hesitation problem is solved!

 

[bglf83]

I was having the same issue reported in this thread. Random hesitation increased to random stalls, mostly in stop and go traffic.

VW would not do anything since I did not have a check engine light.

I changed the crank position sensor about 1000 miles ago, and the issue has not reoccurred.

You will need to likely remove the oil filter cap to reach the bolt to change this but you will not loose much oil when you pull the cap. I did not even have to add any oil when done. I would suggest a longer number 4 Allen to reach into the hole. I used a #4 Allen with a 1/4 inch socket when I did mine. I got one that Had a 2.7” shaft and it worked well.

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

^ It is disgraceful that VW won’t acknowledge this problem. A car that randomly stalls without a fault code or check engine light is not something they should just be able to ignore simply because they don’t want to figure out what is going on.

I figured it out, and I’m just some guy with VCDS, not a VW technician.

Maybe you should complain to the NHTSA. I’m in Canada, so if I complain nothing will come of it. Our government doesn’t care about stuff like this. I think in the USA something might be done about it if randomly stalling in traffic is considered dangerous enough to look into.

 

[bglf83]

I am not sure the US would do anything either.

The dealer quoted me 3.5 hours of time to change the part. The dealer acted like they had never seen this part fail, and indicated it would have a check engine light if it was bad.

NTB quotes be 7/10 of an hour to change the part, they said that was book time for the job.

I did it myself, it took about an hour from beginning to end. Book time quoted by NTB seems accurate.

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

3.5 hours? Wow. They have no shame.

Putting the car on ramps, getting the skid plate off, and moving all the hoses and junk out of the way probably took me 15 minutes. With that out of the way, changing the sensor just takes a few minutes. I could probably do the whole job in 30 minutes or less.

With a hoist, like the dealer has, I could do it in ten minutes. What a bunch of crooks.

(I work as a mechanic, but not for a car dealership).

 

[tdidieselbobny]

Oh goody. Looks like a CPS will be getting ordered. Basically problem has started occurring since I got my oil changed Dec. 30th. About a week later after stopping for a coffee after work, when I went to pull out it started bucking-tach is jumping, car is bucking and surging. I jam my foot to floor to see if I can get a CEL to come on, no dice. Car doesn't stall, eventually clears up. A couple times it has occurred driving down the road. A run on Thruway yielded no problems. I put my VCDS on it, only thing that popped up was something about fuel rail pressure, but only once and it was before this bucking and surging started. It luckily hasn't stalled out on me this time, unlike it did last February. Other odd thing I found today was when I popped hood to check oil, the coolant reservoir was at min. line, and the oil was at bottom of dipstick - it's only been 1500 miles since the oil change. I checked it after it was changed and it was full to top... I guess one problem at a time...

 

[holeintheice]

Anyone know if a snappy scanner will tell me this waitsig yada ya? i would check but upper oil pan off wifes car now. Same issue, was lead to this thread. Hers happens only when warm. Dealership told me i had **** fuel. Calling BS. Same as everyone else too, no codes. Has gotten worse over the last year. Thanks, Tom.

 

[tdidieselbobny]

Final straw for me happened on the 4th- stalled a couple times while driving, then the hesitation later on. ESC light flashed, along with TPMS light, and glow plug light flashing. Car wouldn't accelerate, tried to get it to trip CEL but didn't , limp mode for 10 miles home. Get home, turn car off, restart and everything normal. Had wife follow me to dealer to drop car off-about 45 miles- ran perfect. Picked it up today- said no lights on at vehicles arrival-performed GFF and vehicle had multiple faults stored for engine speed sensor- did some more diagnosing and determined to replace crank sensor as test. Part # 04L-906-433-B. No charge, done under Dieselgate warranty. We'll see if it is the fix hopefully...

 

[holeintheice]

So i bought a Lab Scope. Watching crank and cam sensors i can see no drop outs. Did your sensor replacement fix or? Have read pin point just says to replace it.

 

[tdidieselbobny]

So i bought a Lab Scope. Watching crank and cam sensors i can see no drop outs. Did your sensor replacement fix or? Have read pin point just says to replace it.

So far so good. We shall see next week when I'm on vacation and driving around more...

 

[holeintheice]

Day Late and a Dollar Short to the party. Say, was directed here from a post i started. Wifes 15 passat tdi 80k miles. Same thing, does not stall though. It's almost a dead mis feeling only on one cylinder. Sometimes faint sometimes i think a motor mount is about to break. No CEL. Cam and Crank signals look normal. Only happens when operation temp or when driven hard and stopped (idle) misses badly. Think i may just roll the dice and buy a new CKP.

 

[super1]

Day Late and a Dollar Short to the party. Say, was directed here from a post i started. Wifes 15 passat tdi 80k miles. Same thing, does not stall though. It's almost a dead mis feeling only on one cylinder. Sometimes faint sometimes i think a motor mount is about to break. No CEL. Cam and Crank signals look normal. Only happens when operation temp or when driven hard and stopped (idle) misses badly. Think i may just roll the dice and buy a new CKP.

Yes, it’s definitely worth a shot. They’re not super expensive either

 

[Bo Diddley]

Thank you so much for your post, tdiclub and its members.

My 2015 Jetta TDI CVCA engine with 225 000km had the exact same problem. Never got a CEL. First hesitation always 15min into drive to work at cruising speed but when it happened at low speed, the car would cut off 2sec then resume. Stalled twice at light. Drove 2 weeks like that.

Searched the web a lot to figure out *** that was and unfortunately the car was already at VW dealer when i found this. They never did find the problem. Told them to change the crank sensor then was given a look and told they never had to change that sensor on a tdi. Told them to proceed and the car runs perfectly now.

That part is still under warranty but since there was no codes and even if they saw a fault in the datalog, it could not be covered.
600$(cad) for the testing, part and labor... sigh, could've done that myself but tough luck, still happy i found this and save more testing

Many thanks to Mike_04golftdi and all users contributing to this community

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

^ I’m glad it worked out for you, except for losing $600.

 

[franklinstower]

I am starting to have the symptoms of this. Longer cranking times in the morning, then after 5 minutes of driving in town, I get a single buck/hesitation. Then all seems to be good for the rest of the day. This has occurred about 1/2 dozen times now. One day I also had an idle that was not smooth. No CEL's or any other indication of problems. I am thinking I will change out the CPS at the next oil change. Any recommendations of the manufacturer? I see the part can be from: Hitachi, Meyle, Vemo, Holstein, Febi...who makes the OE one? It seems that is the one to stay away from, lol

 

[Mike_04GolfTDI]

I am starting to have the symptoms of this. Longer cranking times in the morning, then after 5 minutes of driving in town, I get a single buck/hesitation. Then all seems to be good for the rest of the day. This has occurred about 1/2 dozen times now. One day I also had an idle that was not smooth. No CEL's or any other indication of problems. I am thinking I will change out the CPS at the next oil change. Any recommendations of the manufacturer? I see the part can be from: Hitachi, Meyle, Vemo, Holstein, Febi...who makes the OE one? It seems that is the one to stay away from, lol

Post #80 has the part number and a link to where I got the sensor. I have no experience with any other brand of sensor. The new one is still working fine.