05 1.9l PD Dies on Highway

[Minklsteiner]

My TDI is dying on the highway. It looses power and just comes to a stop. I could not restart it. Lift pump checks out OK (4.05 A at idle), replaced the tandem pump and got the car to start after extended crank and pumping throttle pedal. New fuel filter and drained water. Still dies after a couple of minutes of highway driving.
Any ideas? Please help this thing is dragging me down.

[Smileybug]

Are you getting a CEL at all? Any other warning lights? How many miles on the car?

[Yello_jellybean]

Minklsteiner - You should do as I just advised Laurabug. I just posted in her thread that she should PM, Growler, Kaiser, DZLBUG or some of our other TDI gurus on this forum.
Do a search by their names, you should be able to find 'em.
Any of the guys mentioned above should be able to offer up some valuable advice, or point you in the correct direction.

My second tidbit of advice would be to visit the TDI Club. You should register on that board, and then post your issue. The TDI Club rocks! The people over there can most likely get you goin' again in no time.

Here is a link for you:http://http://www.tdiclub.com/

Just my Two Cents. Good Luck!

OH and one more thing.... You need to fill out your vital information, so they'll have some clue about what car you have and where you are. You need to fill in the year, make, model (pretty obvious) and state you reside. This helps everyone help YOU better.

[The Cheat]

big thing would be mileage.

i'm thinking the egr cooler/intake manifold is clogged with soot. it happens over time naturally, i wonder if it's clogged because of improper diesel driving habits or because it's at 100k miles and due for a timing belt anyways.

just my .02, i used to know a little bit about these cars.

[Growler]

sounds like fuel starvation to me... how old is the Fuel filter?

[Minklsteiner]

~37,000 miles
I just got the car a few thousand miles ago. It did have a sporadic glow plug fault that has only showed up once in over 20 drive cycles, and was at 10C and 68rpm...I really dont think that is making this thing die on the highway though.

I replaced the fuel filter a few weeks ago while doing some normal maintanence. I pulled it off again today and made sure the water was all drained. The filter was clean, with all new seals etc.

I pulled off the intake boot and looked with a boroscope at where the EGR gasses enter the intake manifold. Clean and dry, no carbon build up or blockage. Then I checked the EGR valve; the linkage moves freely, the diaphram holds vacumm moves the valve full it's full range, no carbon biuld up or sticking at all.

I did see some funny MAF values today on a test drive, but I have never seen that make it seem fuel starved or not restart without lots of coaxing. Still ordered one though, we will see tomorrow

[Growler]

when you disconnect the fuel filter form the motor and cycle the key, can you measure how much fuel you get with just a key on cycle? like into a plastic or glass jar?

if its just a trickle your pump isnt working properly..

has it been cold there? like low 30s?

[Minklsteiner]

fuel flows in a quick stream with key on or while cranking. While cranking it is about 50-100ml/s. It also flows like this for 2s after key on and when I supply an artificial power/grnd.

It has been pretty cold. It snowed last weekend but that was after the car was towed in. It started up great in below freezing weather multiple times and drove well on short trips. It takes a couple miles of highway driving to act up.

[CoriBug]

so where are you located in Colorado? We are trying to get more Colorado Beetle owners involved in GTGs. We would LOVE to meet you and your Beetle! We are carabuggin to Bryson City, NC next May. I hope you get your car issues solved.

[Minklsteiner]

I am in the denver area. Don't have a whole lot of time for traveling though.

[CoriBug]

We are going to set up some more local GTGs. So far, we've done Ft Collins and the Colorado Springs area. How's your NB doing?

[Yello_jellybean]

I can recommend some VW guys for you, that may be able to help you out, instead of taking the car to a Dealership, if you want.
A lot of the guys I know are around the Denver area. All over town, so if that is an option for you, just shoot me a PM.

OR as Coribug would do,.... AND your BEST option, in MY opinion, you should take the car to Brandon (Bubba) in Ft. Collins, with Metrick Methodz.
Here is his number: 970-692-0053 or 970-482-8672.
Brandon is a highly recommended TDI guru. AND he won't screw you over.

If you don't wanna drive all the way to FT. Collins, I really recommend Gabe and Rudy at Bluewater Performance in Westminster. These guys are AWESOME but not TDI specific mechanics. They only work on VW or Audi's though.
PM me if you need their info.

Good Luck!

[Yello_jellybean]

Oh yeah, and the Cheat too. He is one of those "others" that I mentioned that, I could not think of off the top of my head. (Sorry Cheat) I just haven't had the pleasure of dealing with you yet.

Originally Posted by The Cheat

big thing would be mileage.

i'm thinking the egr cooler/intake manifold is clogged with soot. it happens over time naturally, i wonder if it's clogged because of improper diesel driving habits or because it's at 100k miles and due for a timing belt anyways.

just my .02, i used to know a little bit about these cars.

[Minklsteiner]

egr syst all ok, no clogging no sticking

In tank fuel pump ended up fixing it.

[LVTony]

Originally Posted by Yello_jellybean

I can recommend some VW guys for you... you should take the car to Brandon (Bubba) in Ft. Collins, with Metrick Methodz... Gabe and Rudy at Bluewater Performance in Westminster. These guys are AWESOME but not TDI specific mechanics.

Another TDI GURU to take it to in the Denver area is Anuthee. His website is Colorado Diesel Land - Home and his garage is in Lakewood off of Colfax between Kipling and Wadsworth. I really like his work.

[Yello_jellybean]

This really good to know. Thank you for posting. The only TDI guy I knew about was Brandon (Bubba) with Metrick Methodz. Ft. Collins is a bit far though for me, so I may have to look this guy up. Thanks for the info.

Bluewater Performance (Gabe and Rudy) are awesome, and a LOT closer to me, but they don't know a whole lot about TDI's.

Thank you!