Why is my 2005 Jetta TDI turning over but not firing? This happened a couple days ago while I was driving to a store. Drove fine, worked perfect, then all of a sudden my car just died. No warning, jerking, noises, grumbling, nothing. Felt almost as if I just turned it off with the key. Tried to restart, but all that would happen is the engine would turn over from the starter, but it wont fire. My uncle got it fired once, but then auto shut off happened from low oil pressure. Fixed that, and now the oil pressure isn't a problem. I ran on E for about 20 miles from my uncles house then filled up to half a tank (the day before the car died). I am thinking it might be a clogged filter, since it is a diesel. However, is there any more ideas beyond just the filter?
I can guarantee I did not put gas instead of diesel, I have never made that mistake. Besides, the Chevron that I went to has separate pumps for diesel and gas, so it isn't easy to mix them up. Also, I had no choice but to run it on E. I just had the knuckle and bearing fixed, and had to drive it home late at night from one city to the next, about 20 miles. It apparently just hit E when I dropped it off a couple days before, so it wasn't like it ran on E for a long time, but I'm sure long enough to screw something up. I bought a new fuel filter, going to try that today. As well as a couple other of those things. I'll report back on my findings. There's water floating on the fuel, and you got some of that in the fuel system upstream from the tank, maybe corroded injectors or temporarily put deposits on glow plugs. Shouldn't run anything on empty for too long. Clogged filter is the mostly likely answer. Its more than likely air in your injectors.
I believe it is a black wire that is nutted down on the top of the pump. That wire comes from the ignition switch. With you in the car and uncle listening under the hood turn the key until the dash lights come on- then turn it off. And do it again. You do not want to engage the starter so you are not turning the key "that far". The only way to stop a diesel engine is to cut off the fuel supply. If this thing does not click, either it is at fault, or the wiring at fault or a problem with the key switch. In my case it was a worn out ignition switch(but my car was 25 years older than yours and it is the "first ignition switch" I have ever had to replace. If in doubt, have it towed to the dealership shop and let them fix you up.
Strange how the car died after the fuel refill. My guess is you put gasoline in the car instead of diesel fuel. This is occurring all the time in UK . Never never do it. Are jettas reliable ? I want to buy a used jetta years 2000 - 2003 but are volkswagon jetta reliable still with over 100,000 miles on it ? Or will it have problems and more sooner then later be just another car with issues ? My sister has a Jetta and Yes, they have a lot of problems right now hers is kind of broken. No car is perfect or made to last for ever. I'd trust a car more with 100k on the odometer if I could see the maintenance records (and I'm not talking about a carfax). I mean the actual records and receipts for the maintenance. Has the timing belt along with water pump and tensioner been changed on it at 60k like it was supposed to be?
