1.9 TDI starting issues

Hello,

newbie here so please be gentle. I have a mk4 1.9 TDI 2001 that has developed a problem starting. I will start from the beginning as it may have some relevance.

car stared fine this morning with no issues, on my drive to work there was something in the road which went under the car and made a loud clang but no issues with the car that I could see when I got to work. After work, again started fine and when I went to pull onto my drive it cut out. When I restarted it the accelerator was non responsive and the revs were stuck at 1800 rpm. After a couple of mins of starting and stopping the engine it cleared and I pulled onto the driveway. I then went out a few hours later and again started fine, as I pulled off the drive and down the road it cut out so I pulled in. Now all that happens is that when I turn it over it starts but then cuts out, the accelerator is non responsive but have also noticed a lot of exhaust fumes come back up into the engine bay (maybe nothing other than wind direction, but looked strange).

appologies for the long winded message but am hoping someone maybe able to point me in the right direction.

cheers

You need to have a look underneath to find out what got broken. Until that is done any and everything is a guess.

I have taken a good look underneath and there is no damage, I sensors or electrics that could have been damaged. Only thing I have noticed is that there is exhaust fumes come from what appears to be the flexible pipe from the manifold, not sure if this is a new problem or just noticed now the car is stationary.

check the fuel lines, running along under the drivers side IIRC.

Hi Rob69,

Checked them, there is fuel coming through the filter and into the clear fuel like into injectors (well I think that's where it goes). Have also connected a code reader and there is no faults showing up

How do you know that fuel is coming through the clear line? can you see air bubbles moving along the line ? if the diesel is air free it is not normally possible to see it flowing. if it has bubbles that might be your problem.

There has always been bubbles, and I have had the fault before when I have had an airlock and have cleared that, I did think it could still be that issue, but have always got over it by spraying a bit of deodorant into the air intake and then keeping it revving when starting, but now when I press the accelerator it does nothing. Is there a best way to remove the air bubbles that I can do myself or does it require specialist tools

I reckon you should be taking it into a garage to get sorted, there should be no air bubbles in the fuel supply line, you have a leak in the fuel system drawing air in, sounds like this running fault has nothing to do with the item you ran over in the road and has beena long standing issue. I wouldn't spray deodorant anywhere near an engine, I think they use butane as the propellant, lucky you still have your eyebrows !!

This fault sounds more light a sticking or faulty throttle body due to Carbon build up this will cause stalling.

Well I have managed to get it to a garage and the fault is "Fuel adjuster precision sensor fault" The garage said the diesel pumps are coded to the car so a straight swap s not an option and a rebuild on the one in the car is about £1000.

Is the car a PD TDI or a VE TDI ?

Easy way for you to answer that is to state the engine code which is in the boot on a sticker in the wheel well and or do you know the engine power output? i.e. is it 90hp, 110hp which would be VE or 115hp, 130hp, 150hp which would be PD?

My Engine code is ALH 1.9 tdi, if that helps

That is a VE engine.

Look like the garage a telling the truth sadly, a very expensive fix.

Thanks for confirming it, The bloke I use is pretty sound and I do trust him, but always good to confirm it or to see if there's a work around. I only paid £100 for the car, should have kept my mk3 gti now,lol.. Looks like its car hunting at the weekend then, Thanks for your advice, much appreciated.

Is it possible to re code a used unit.
The initial problem with the clang noise,was it definitely road debris that caused it,or could it
have been engine noise caused by something. Just curious.