Golf - Volkswagen :: Engine Did Start But Then Sputtered And Gave Out
Mar 25, 2011
I have a 13 year-old VW with low mileage (about 87,000). I replaced the battery a couple of years ago, and once the compressor died I decided I could live without A/C since I live in Wisconsin. Last summer I went to turn it over, found the speed- and tachometers went a little haywire and the check engine light came on. After trying a few more times, the engine did start but then sputtered and gave out. I had the car towed, but by the time I got to a shop the tow driver said the check engine light was off and he was able to drive it into the garage.
The garage flushed the fuel line and checked the computer, all seemed fine. Then a few weeks later my wife said it wouldn't start (I was working out of town). By the time I returned it was clear the battery was dead, even the keyless entry and internal light didn't work. My father in law, who knows cars fairly well, thinks my alternator needs to be replaced. I'm now at the point with this car that if it needs major repair I might let it go. I'm having the car towed to a shop on Tuesday, they'll run a diagnostic and tell me what's needed to get it back up and running.
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I made a horrible decision after my Ranger got totaled and bought a 94 Jetta... When I first got it, the car had trouble starting in the rain but eventually she would fire up. If I drove it immediately away after finally starting, it would jerk really bad when I gave it gas while shifting, until 4th gear. Once she ran for a bit it would smooth out. Nowadays if it rains the car won't start at all, just keeps turning over and I have to wait for a nice dry sunny day then it starts right up.
My mechanic worked on it recently and replaced a sensor in the distributor and the crank shaft sensor, because they showed up on the diagnostic as bad. Once his work was complete, he said he sprayed the engine with water and it started. So that was a week ago and it's raining and it won't start, the engine just turns over so it's not a starter issue. The car only has 143,000 but I am gonna get rid of it this fall but I just wanna know what this wet weather problem is.
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I have a 2004 Jetta, 2.0L. I was pulling out of stop light and the car sputtered for a second and shut off, and now will not start. I thought I heard a clicking noise coming from under the dash or the engine bay right before it shut off. The engine turns over and cranks fine, I replaced the fuel pump relay and checked the fuse(28) and both are good, I can hear the fuel pump run when the key is in the on position. I swapped out the coil pack and checked the injector fuse(32), both are also good. I pulled the line off of the end of the fuel rail and it's getting gas to the rail. The immobilizer light is not on but the EPC light is lit when I turn the key on, I can't remember if it was lit or not before starting when the car is running normal.
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I have a 09 Spectra. This morning when I went to start, it turned over fine but just wouldn't catch. I tried it and gave it a little gas and it fired up just fine and I drove to work with no issues. No CEL came on or anything.
This is the second time it's happened. First was over a year ago and after it sat for a week while we were on a cruise. This weekend it didn't go anywhere. I just moved it in the driveway a little bit so I could rotate the tires and and moved it back.
Any clue on what it could be? If what I understand is correct, pressing the gas pedal on a fuel injected car shouldn't matter, but apparently it did, so I'm not sure what's what.
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2000 Passat V6 2.8L ... Ran into some issues w/ the car and need some advice (and where to fix it!). The bottom line is the car is in Walnut, CA area. What's a good close by shop you would recommend? Here is the full description of the problem: A few weeks ago, this happened:
-Car started off fine
-Park the car
-When I come back in an hr, the car won't start
-The engine turns over, but there was no ignition
-After jumping the car, it started just fine
This occurred at least 2 times, and I have replaced the battery and haven't had a problem for a few weeks. Just past weekend, this started to happen:
-Car started off fine
-After driving a while (long distance,freeway), everything was fine
-Park the car, and it started it off fine
-After pulling out of the residential area, and pass a few blocks, at a red traffic light the engine just gave out and stopped
-The engine turns over but won't start
After ~40min or so when I finally gave up, just when I decided to call, then I gave it one more try and the car started just fine? After driving a few blocks, just as I pulled into the red traffic light, the engine gave out again!
This time, I called AAA for the tow. The tow guy came over, measured the battery (battery was fine), sprayed something into the engine and there was no ignition. At this point he concluded it was an ignition problem. We towed the car to the nearest shop. Right after we dropped it off, the engine was able to start!
At this point, the car shop said they won't be able to diagnose the issue since there is no check engine light and the engine seems to be running just fine. So I took the car for another spin, and after 2, 3 blocks, the engine gave out for the 3rd time.
I towed the car back (which was very close) very quickly hoping the problem persists at the shop - but weird enough, the engine started off just fine for the 3rd time.
In summary: the engine stopped 3 times at or came close at a red traffic light, it won't immediately start. after unknown condition/time, it would start just fine again.
At this time we were all dumbfounded. The car had been at the shop for 2 days now and they haven't been able to reproduce any issues.
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1990 GMC with 4.3, 6 cylinder. He saw no spark so after checking on prices for things like rotor, cap, module, he just bought a rebuilt distributor. Installed it and it still will not start. If we run the coil wire to a plug, we get a spark. Check an individual plug, no spark. Yes, the rotor is installed ! I would think module, but rebuilt distributor came with one. Crank position sensor? I don't see one. Does a 90 year have one? How bout ECM? When it stopped working, he was driving it and it spit and sputtered and stopped. And, just in case....where is the ECM on this truck?
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My car has 203K Miles on it and today when I left for work, it started up after a few more cranks than normal, sputtered a bit and then stalled. I then went to start it again and it would only crank. The fuel was low, but not empty. Normally, the car will have a hard time starting like that when the fuel is low. It is getting colder and those issue are normally amplified. I will list my recent issues with the car below:
- Speedometer jumps all over the place most of the time. Only under throttle does it fixate on the correct speed.
- Check engine light came on a couple of months ago and it was gas cap related. Also related to the fuel tank charcoal filter. After a couple of full tank fill-ups, it went away.
Now, I checked all of the fuses and belts. I pulled the Fuel Pump relay and smelled it and shook it. The one for AC next to it was the same one, so I put it in place of the fuel pump and went to start the car. It had very little power to crank suddenly. So I went back out and placed the relays back in their respective spots. Then I tried to start the car and it cranked even slower until the battery died it seems and the car now has fast clicks when trying to crank.
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About a week ago while driving to work my engine sputtered a bit and the CEL came on and then went off. As I drove the sputtering reoccurred when I would accelerate from being stopped but went away when I got to higher speeds. Again the CEL came on. Next day I took it to the dealership who read a P306 code and was told it was an issue with the No. 6 cylinder. After driving a few more miles the sputtering stopped happening. The next day I got in, started the van and no more CEL. That was last Wed, and since then I have done over 150 miles of driving and no sputtering and the CEL has not come back on. Could I have just gotten some bad gas or something that caused the brief sputtering and CEL.
2002 Kia Sedona, 6 cylinder147,000 miles
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I was driving and got off the freeway exit ramp and while I was waiting to make a left turn, the car all of a sudden started sputtering (RPM's were low up and down on idle) and eventually died while waiting to make a left turn.
Turned on the engine again.. same sputtering occurred and had to gas it so it wouldn't turn off.. Finally got to the side of the road.. turned the car off checked the oil.. no issues.. engine temperature was fine.. no check engine light.
After about 30 min later, turned the car on and it seemed to be normal again so I carefully drove to the dealer and encountered no issues. Took the car to the dealer and they couldn't find anything.
I drive a 2015 Hyundai Sonata Limited with about 19k miles now.
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I've got a 2002 Jetta TDI that's been playing stump the mechanic for the past two weeks. I've had about $800 worth of work (most of which had error codes and were necessary), but given that the next suggestion is to replace the fuel pump at a cost of ~$2k, I figured it was time to get some additional opinions.
When the car is completely cold, the engine typically turns over a few times before starting up. Sometimes a few turns into seven or eight, but I've never had it not start. The problem comes when I've driven it somewhere (like to the grocery store, yoga class, or to get gas, to name a few) and try to restart it after my task is done. The warmer the engine, the lower the chance it will start. In it's most extreme, the car will not start at all, and I have had it stall out on me at stoplights if I do manage to get it started.
The car has had a history of intermittent hard starts in the four years I've had it, but nothing at all like this.
In the past two weeks, my mechanic has replaced the coolant temperature sensor, thermostat and seal ring, serpentine belt tensioner and serpentine belt, power supply relay, fuel pressure regulator and seal rings and the crank sensor. They've also been able to see that something is off about the fuel pump since they can see air bubbles in the fuel line, but thought I could push the car for a while without having to replace the pump.
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So last night I was on my way home, was going through 2nd gear when all of a sudden my car sputtered and just died. It will keep cranking but just won't run. I have a SE 6MT. Had it for 4 months and almost 11,000 miles on it. Tow it to the dealer today, they went through the car and determined it's the fuel pump and will be replaced under warranty.
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My 95 vw golf wont start I've tried push starting and jumping. it runs fine. The alarm just started going off randomly. So I disabled it and hot wielder starter wires. It turns over but will not start.
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I just got caught in the rain, literally, a freeway ramp was partially flooded, saw other cars go through a "puddle" and with safety distance proceeded. About 9 feet away from the edge of this water accumulation my engine sputtered and turned off on me and I recall seeing some, but not much white smoke coming out of the hood. I didn't leave the car as when I look right next to me I saw only water, about 1/2 the height of my tire surrounding me. AAA came pretty fast and pulled me out of that wet mess and mentioned it could be just as simple as overheating. It's about 2 hours later and I tried my engine but all it does is struggling to turn on. I turned it off immediately. I checked my coolant level - empty as it can get, and also my dipstick in the oil seems to be not right. Transmission fluid is fine though. Could those two fluids be the problem to why my engine is not starting? Or could it be that something got too wet? Once I turn the key in the 1 position shows electricity is fine and all lights come on with Overdrive and SRS going off after a short while. 1992 Volvo 240 ...
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Ok 2007 ran out of gas I think, red triangle. Engine sputtered to end. Put in gas. Wont start. Jump started little battery nothing. Can I jump big battery? Been running well....
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A mechanic has my car and replaced my timing belt and water pump....he said he had it running and then it sputtered out and wont start..i have never had a problem with this car. Just replacing before it went out.. he is missing something.
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I have worked on my 1994 Jetta GL many times when I had to disconnect the battery. This time every time I would reconnect the battery the car would continue to honk. Usually it honks only once. I finally figured that although I had taken off the key from the ignition, the key position had been left in position as if the key was still in (old car feature). My realization was too late. I inserted the key and made sure to turn it to off position before removing it and reconnecting the battery. After I did, the engine cannot start any more. When I turn the key I get a rattling sound from the general area of the key, but the engine does not start. What did I ruin now?
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So I was given this car as a gift around march of last year and it had 150k+ miles on it. The week I got it there was an oil leak, that was caused by a damaged oil filter. So when it happened the car was beeping. I took it to a mechanic, and he "fixed" it. However, ever since then when the car gets to it's optimal temperature it starts beeping. Whenever I accelerate and rev the engine it stops beeping (ex: when I'm on the freeway no beeping; in the city with tons of stops = lots of beeping). It is annoying and it's gotten to the point where I am embarrassed to give people rides in my car.
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2002 Golf TDI . I am having a no start problem. I get all of the dash lights, the battery is fine, and there is just nothing when the key is turned. Our 2002 Golf TDI, now, of course, almost 15 years old. The dealership detects nothing through a computer read, and I'm down to the starter, relay and neutral switch as possibilities. The battery is just 3 years old, and we are at just 68K.
Can a neutral switch be tested for proper operation? Can the electrical system by tested for a starter motor or relay fault? The dealership maintains I need to await failure before they can do anything. We've had previous VW electrical problems w/this car - several dead batteries, complete on-board computer failure after having the car several months, way back when, and that part has been fine since then. I sold my last VW, a 1974 Karmann-Ghia Coupe, a few years ago, and these under-the-hood diesel setups are beyond me.
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Just poking around under the hood of my new car. Removed the oil fill cap while the engine was running and it promptly sputtered and died. I've done that countless times on non-turbo engines to get a better listen to the valve train, and never had an engine die on me, including my B5.5 V6. Put the fill cap back on and it cranked right up and idled normally again. No CEL or other lights. Is that normal?
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A lady friend of mine got a '99 7.3 CCLB auto dually in a divorce. She doesn't drive it but starts it once a week and yesterday it wouldn't start. It cranked about 10/15sec (after waiting for WTS light to go out) before it sputtered and tried to start but it quit. Then it cranked another 10sec or so and the batteries died. It was about 85deg so it should have started w/o GPs.
Watching the voltmeter, GPs seemed to draw current. There's a lot of corrosion on both batteries so I know that needs to be cleaned up. Assuming the batteries aren't shot, after cleaning the corrosion, is it safe to hook jumper cables to a car to charge the batteries, but disconnect the jumper cables before starting the truck? Or should I use a plug in AC charger? I've never jumped a dual battery vehicle - not even my own 7.3.
She wants to sell it but it's in pretty rough condition - possibly normal for that age with 160K on a work truck. It was used in a business she had with her ex. The valley of death has some wet fuel in it and there is a film of diesel on the fuel bowl, fuel lines and wiring in the vicinity. I could smell the fuel before I opened the hood or tried to start it and it hadn't been run in a week. She says it runs fine and uses no oil but is always rough to start. It rolls rather than barks to life. It's bone stock with flat factory downpipe and airbox.
The engine cover is missing. Connectors and wiring on top of the valve covers appear new. She looked up the value and says it books for $7200 on KBB in its current condition. It was always parked in the sun here in Albuquerque and it shows. Body looks good as far as no rust or dents, but the white paint is faded (flat looking) and the blue interior is also pretty rough with 40/20/40 front seat and cracked dash. If I get it running I'll post it in the for sale section if she doesn't find a local buyer by then.
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I just bought a 2004 Kia sedona ex, it was running great when I got it, and it has 81000 miles. On the way home it kind of sputtered a couple of times, then the engine light came on. I took it to autozone and they said 2, 4, and 6 was misfiring. I called the dealer and they said that it was probably because I didn't click the gas cap three times. Could that be the cause or do I need to change the spark plugs or coil or something??
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