a few issues since Christmas: battery was dead so had to bump start, but drove ok. Whilst driving a few days later the revs dropped right down then straight back up again? Then started car to drive home, got a few hundred yards and died with oil pressure light on. Started again and got to garage over the road to top up oil as it was low. Would not start at all after that, just turned over with the brake system warning light on until battery went flat (after only 6-7 tries). So had to be toes home the next day, bumped the car whilst on tow and just let it tick over so I had power steering and brakes, and charge in the battery. Plugged in Vag com today, no error codes. Checked oil, and maybe topped up too much as it's right at the top of the bendy bit on the dip stuck? Battery discharged whilst I had ignition on to reset throttle body, and run the fault code check. Had a look at the battery and realized it was half way submerged as the drain things under it were blocked! So sorted that. Jumped It after leaving ignition on for 5 mind to reset throttle body and it started and ran fine, but cut out after a couple of minutes with oil pressure warning light on again, and hasn't started again since. I don't know which bits of all this are relevant or if they are related and I am a bit stumped as to what to do next? Someone has said it could be fuel pump related? Any ideas anyone? I was gonna let a bit of oil out and give it another try? Any advice welcome!
1.8tqs kaput!
- Thread starter Nogwuy
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I suspect the oil pressure lamp is coming on simply because the engine has stalled... Most cars will do that.
Initially it looks like either the battery is humped or the alternator is humped, your losing power and thats whats killing the engine, however that wouldnt cause it not to start at all, if you had jump leads or whatever on it...
The fact the battery went so flat so quickly is odd to me, hence thinking the above...
If you connect vagcom and crank the engine (hook some jump leads up to another, running car, so you dont drain the battery, but just watch you dont overheat the jump leads or starter motor), you should be able to see in the measuring blocks whether the management system can see the engine turning over. There is also a fuel injector test option which will fire up the fuel pump, you can listen for this to let you know if the pump is running or not.
The oil level should be at the second notch up from the bottom of the dipstick, its about 1" or so from the end of the dipstick, if its any higher than that you will want to drain some out, as its not very good for the motor.
When you try to start it now, what happens? Does it just crank over? Are you getting sparks? Perhaps remove the plugs and see what condition they are in?
Initially it looks like either the battery is humped or the alternator is humped, your losing power and thats whats killing the engine, however that wouldnt cause it not to start at all, if you had jump leads or whatever on it...
The fact the battery went so flat so quickly is odd to me, hence thinking the above...
If you connect vagcom and crank the engine (hook some jump leads up to another, running car, so you dont drain the battery, but just watch you dont overheat the jump leads or starter motor), you should be able to see in the measuring blocks whether the management system can see the engine turning over. There is also a fuel injector test option which will fire up the fuel pump, you can listen for this to let you know if the pump is running or not.
The oil level should be at the second notch up from the bottom of the dipstick, its about 1" or so from the end of the dipstick, if its any higher than that you will want to drain some out, as its not very good for the motor.
When you try to start it now, what happens? Does it just crank over? Are you getting sparks? Perhaps remove the plugs and see what condition they are in?
thanks for that, I only have the shareware version of Vag com so not sure how much I can actually do with it? Will give the plugs a check as i'm not sure when they were last changed. How about the coil packs? Thanks for the advise, any more suggestions welcome.
so today I have let some oil out so it's at the correct level again. I have also put new spark plugs in. Jump started from my golf as better was dead again and started fine, ran for about 5 minutes then died and would not start again. So no improvement at all and very frustrating! Any ideas anyone? Battery? Alternator? If I can jump it again tomorow I will plug it in to Vag com and see what that says. Also it keeps blowing the sidelight bulb on the passenger side, I've put three in and they have all gone instantly?! Wierd?!
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some guesses:
Ingition amplifier failing when it gets hot (are you getting a spark when it dies)
Fuel tank vent blocked causing vacuum inside the tank (try running the engine with the fuel cap off?)
Coolant temp sensor (might cause the engine to run rich and stop it running by sooting up the plugs?)
Fuel pump relay overheating and shutting the pump off?
When it cuts out, what do the plugs look like? wet? black? white?
One last thaught, if the battery is dead, and the alternator is gubbed, it will run for a short time with the power your golf fed into the battery, then die once the battery goes flat again. Try removing the battery and properly charging it, then refit it, start the motor and measure the charging voltage...
Ingition amplifier failing when it gets hot (are you getting a spark when it dies)
Fuel tank vent blocked causing vacuum inside the tank (try running the engine with the fuel cap off?)
Coolant temp sensor (might cause the engine to run rich and stop it running by sooting up the plugs?)
Fuel pump relay overheating and shutting the pump off?
When it cuts out, what do the plugs look like? wet? black? white?
One last thaught, if the battery is dead, and the alternator is gubbed, it will run for a short time with the power your golf fed into the battery, then die once the battery goes flat again. Try removing the battery and properly charging it, then refit it, start the motor and measure the charging voltage...
cheers for the advice, the old plugs I took out today were a bit black and a couple had some oil around the threaded part. When it dies you can turn it over but it won't fire up, then battery dies again. Think I will take it out and charge properly tomorow, and try running with fuel cap off. Seems like it could be fuel pump related maybe?
