Hi,

Today I was parked up and engine idling to warm it up, the engine randomly died and wouldn't restart with the key. I then towed the car with a friend and started it off in gear which worked fine. Now after driving 100 miles the car has splutted to death and wouldn't start with the key again. A passerby gave me a tow and I started it with the pulling again. Any idea what's causing this?

is that a BXE?

Hmm,

 

I can't edit the main post. Here's a re-write:

 

I have a 1.9 TDI with 66kw, Engine code ALH. This morning the car was left idling as I went into a cafe to get breakfast as it's -26 today I wanted to heat the engine up a little bit. When I came outside the car had died. I tried to restart it and it refused to. The engine turns over however it will not start. I then left the car for several hours and came back with a tow rope, I pulled the car ready to tow it and decided to start it while being towed by shoving ffirst gear in. This worked.

 

Later on I drove around to test the car out and make sure it wouldn't happen again. Sure enough as I went up a hill the engine died, refusing to start. I flagged someone over, towed me 5 metres and started again in 1st gear. Worked fine.

 

Managed to get somewhere with a friend and boguht another cheap car in case I needed to tow it again on the way home. Sure enough it went again at a similar place while going down a hill this time. Same thing, towed it and started again in gear, worked fine. 

 

The fuel had been left in from Poland and so was not optimised for lower than -15 however the car seemed to work ok with it. I realised that it could be a problem so I drove around and emptied the fuel and filled up the tank entirely full of diesel capable of -40 however as you can see from above , it hasn't helped.

 

Would anyone have any idea where I could even start to test what causes this complete randomness to happen?

Any fault codes?

With Vagcom I checked the engine errors:

 

Valve for Intake Manifold Flap (N239): Open or Short to ground. P3105 --- Intermittent

Accelerator position sensor (g79) signal too high P1631 -- Intermittent

Charge Pressure Control: Negative Deviation P1556 - Intermittent

and Injection Start Regulation: Control Deviation P1248 -- Intermittent

 

Cleared them, problem still exists. Is there anything else I should be looking for on VCDS?

Edited 10 January, 201610 yr by lulzyboy

And if you clear those down what comes back?

And if you clear those down what comes back?

Cleared, car still has the problem. The ones that are back are

 

 Valve for Intake Manifold Flap (N239): Open or Short to ground. P3105 --- Intermittent

Accelerator position sensor (g79) signal too high P1631 -- Intermittent

A wiring fault then. Need to have a look at current flow diagrams and see if there is anything that links the two.

I now can't start it back up even by towing it. Is it possible that the soienoid is freezing in the weather?

Hmm, open short to ground is an electrical fault. As is the pedal sensor.

Have you tried disconnecting the solenoid? Worth checking that it hasn't become unclipped and dropped onto the turbo.

Hmm, open short to ground is an electrical fault. As is the pedal sensor.

Have you tried disconnecting the solenoid? Worth checking that it hasn't become unclipped and dropped onto the turbo.

 

If you mean the N75, just removed and tried to start it. No avail.

The flap solenoid is not N75 (that's the boost solenoid). The flap solenoid sits on the inlet manifold.

The flap solenoid is not N75 (that's the boost solenoid). The flap solenoid sits on the inlet manifold.

Where exactly is it? Is there a picture?

It's clipped in near the Allen key bolts in the centre of the picture. Just follow the pipes from the flap

OK I unplugged it, still no starting however the wires on there have frayed open and are exposed. Made no diffrerence to starting tho

I would repair those wires and get that solenoid working. Check to see what position the flap is in.

I would repair those wires and get that solenoid working. Check to see what position the flap is in.

If it wasn't connected, wouldn't it start?

Depends on why it won't start.

OK, I fixed the wires, joined them together, the light for the glow plugs now lasts 7 seconds rather than 17 as it did before. Still doesn't want to start tho

It's still dead, anyone got any more ideas?

OK so an update:

 

It now works as it's warmer. The spark plugs are 100% dead as they don't heat up at all. Would that cause the engine to stop working when it's colder?

Glow plugs, not spark plugs, and yes if these are knackered then it's not going to start very well from cold, if at all. Get them replaced, then go from there.

Glow plugs, not spark plugs, and yes if these are knackered then it's not going to start very well from cold, if at all. Get them replaced, then go from there.

 

Understandably it won't start from cold, but the engine was dying when the engine was 80-90 degrees. That's why I'm asking if they're required at certain temperatures as well?

Some further updates:

 

The car still hasn't had problems however I have fixed the turbo and a few other issues by repairing the pipes that appeared to have cuts and were leaking. This could have caused the problem but due to it being +5 degrees I'm no longer able to test it until next winter and see if it still does it.

If there's a crack in a fuel pipe, it could be pulling air in which can make them cut out and be hard to start.