Urgent help/advice needed. Big Problem

[markcass]

I was driving home in my passat tdi when the engine just cut out and stopped. When i try to start it turns over as normal but will not fire up.There is diesel in the tank. Please can anyone give me any ideas what it could be. I really need help urgently. Thanks Mark.

[Col]

It could be all manner of things.

Can you describe in more detail;

What engine.
How old the car is.
What happened, where there any preceeding events?
When you crank it over, does it sound normal, i.e. no abnormal noises.
Does the imobilser light go out?

The more info you can give, the better.

[markcass]

It could be all manner of things.

Can you describe in more detail;

What engine.
How old the car is.
What happened, where there any preceeding events?
When you crank it over, does it sound normal, i.e. no abnormal noises.
Does the imobilser light go out?

The more info you can give, the better.

Hi there, thanks for your reply. The car is a 2001 facelift 130bhp diesel. with 152000 miles. When crank engine over sounds normal appart from not firing up. Imobiliser light goes out as norm. no funny noises. my friend put a battery on the car that was slightly too big for the compartment for the batt so had to leave the plastic cover off the top that covers the batt terminals. I was wondering if it has touched the bonet and shorted the electrical system. Although all normal lights come on and everything works appart from not starting. Please help cheers

[Col]

I was going to suspect a cambelt failure but if it makes normal noises when turning over it is doubtful.

You really need to get the car read for faults. Look in the vagcom subforum for people wh may be able to help, for FREE (well for a 'drink').

I really wouldn't like to hazard a guess.

[Diamond Hell]

Does the glowplug light come on as normal?

My 130TDI threw a hissy fit in Sainsburys a couple of months ago - it turned over, but didn't fire.

I came back to it after a couple of hours and the problem had mysteriously cleared. As I'd already got the AA out I got them to do a scan for fault codes - nothing.

Apparently the fuel pump relay can go. This is located behind the dashboard and accessed by pulling the end of the dashboard off.

There is also allegedly a 15A fuse that can come loose, which is not attached to the main fuseboard.

Good luck with it. Hope it's not the cambelt.

[Isoproturon]

Sorry but it's impossible to say what the fault is - it could be any number of things. We had the same thing on a petrol car and it was the engine speed sensor but it did start after a number of attempts. You need to get someone with VAGCOM to look at it.