GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: GTI JIMMER on 09 November 2011, 01:28
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:cry:
Can't believe it... honestly can't believe it.
Had a look at some MK3 GTIs for the last few weeks...
Thought i had found an absolute beauty! - MK3 GTI 8V
Mystic Blue, great colour, impeccable paint work and great interior, good service history... 5 door, really well looked after, no rust.
£800
The guy put a years MOT on it the on 07/11/11
I went to tax it, then pick it up today 08/11/11
(SUMMARY AT BOTTOM)
30-40 mile drive, was great all the way back, in all gears at the whole range of revs.... i haven't driven in 8 months, so drive steady, but on ring roads give it the beans a couple of times...
Then on a dual carriageway i slowed right down for traffic lights (maybe 10mph?) in the middle lane (always the way) and the car just cuts out on me (or i was in gear, not on the clutch therefore stalled?)!! try and start the car again, nothing happens... sat in the middle of the road looking like a right muppet, my mate in the car with me with his arm in a sling (cant push) police came, pushed me to layby...
My mate came, helped my push it to McDonalds...
First thing first - Petrol, filled up jerry can (petrol pump number 13 :undecided: tried to fill it to £5... landed on £5.01 :undecided:
Poured it in, still wouldn't start... Ok, my dad brings leads, try the jump start it, still doesn't work!
Another mate came down (i've been sat in McD's car park for 3 hours, FUNTIMES.) Hes a mechanic, family friend, really helpful he checks spark plug, no spark... (which are new, as are HT leads). I'm in contact with the seller throughout who sounds genuinely gutted and is a decent bloke.
Both say dizzy cap and rota arm havent been changed in a while - so yeah lets go for it, Halfrauds....
Put on dizzy cap and rota arm, get spark, still won't start!
Petrol fumes from back of the car, my mate tells me its not fuel thats the problem...
The engine is trying to turn over!!!
Another factor - Cobra immobiliser, 9 years old... Seller tells me he doesnt know much about it, (i played around with the fob when i was waiting for help) me and my mate have a look at the cobra alarm guides etc online, and we try and disarm the alarm with the card they give you, (you have to turn ignition a certain number of times) but the first stage of the process doesn't work, so there IS a fault with the Immobiliser.
I left my car in McD's, they didn't mind... so i now need to call out a cobra technician... Any chance this will mean i can drive away?! or will it just mean i now have a working immobiliser but still no working car :\
SUMMARY:
I was slowing down to 10mph. Car died on me, or i stalled??.
Either way, i couldn't restart the car.
The car has had:
New cambelt
1 year old battery (4 year battery life)
New HP leads
New spark plugs
Filled it with petrol... still no joy. (friend arrives with tools, and mechanic skills)
Had no spark... but engine tries to start, turns over!
changed dizzy cap and rota arm
Had some spark!
. exhaust smells of petrol, my mechanic friend tells me he thinks petrol is fine..
Immobiliser is of an unknown quantity, i played with it as i was sat the car waiting for help... maybe messing it up? meaning that the new dizzy cap and rota arm were fixed, and the car would be fine with immobiliser sorted?
So... we try to disarm the immobiliser using the pin number, but do not even get to the stage of the immobiliser light (on top of the dash) responding. (turn ignition on/off 3 times within 7 seconds... then light should flash 3 times)
Doesn't work...
Going to call a technician in the morning and pray that he can get it sorted (if not, that the call out charge isn't too steep!)
Help? :cry: if you can't help, i hope my misery mildly amused you :tongue:
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Doubt it would be the immob whilst driving. My guess would be crank sensor or ignition switch. Have a search as it happens loads mate.
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Try replacing the coil.
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Try replacing the coil.
thinking the same myself. if no spark but engine is turning over then its got to be the coil pack £50-£60 new
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But the OP is saying he is getting a spark. :undecided:
OP are you definitely now getting a spark as it does sound like your coil?
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i feel your pain i had a gti 8v thought i had a beauty then gear box went :cry: swapped it on a site for a diesel told lad what was wrong with mine was happy enough to swap now my diesel is struggling to start was going to put a non return valve on it but looks like previous owner has already done that cheeky twit :angry: next step im thinking new glow plugs? my dad seems to think thats not the problem and thinks its more injectors/air leak
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sounds ignition related to me most likely coil pack or ignition barrel itself as already said give it a wiggle while ttrying to start it
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Ok, thanks a lot everyone!!!
I heard that if it is the coil, WD40 could be used to test it?
Yeah i'm so gutted, had its MOT two days ago as well :undecided:
called up an electro- technician guy, im sure he will have some kind of solution,
I will give pass on all relevant information,
Will get back to you all!!
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On my old mk3 1.8 gl I had a problem with imob key sensor thingy behind ignition barrel.
It did not pick up the chip in the key. I had to take off plastic steering wheel surround and move a wire up closer to end of ignition barrel so it could pic up the key chip better and it solved it.
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Guy came out, told me that the immobiliser had already been by-passed.
He then set about trying to find out why the car wasn't starting...
He tried his diagnostic tool, but said he couldn't get onto the ecu...
Told me that could be the issue, the car is now outside my house so i might try and get to the ecu...
He advised me to take it out, and see what condition it is in.
(Think i will have a look with my mate tonight.)
The previous owner text me, told me that the coil wasn't new, just the coil leads... He's convinced that its something small.
Hopefully it is the coil, as alot of you on here have suggested it?
The guy said the spark was intermittent, and weak to 2 of the spark plugs...
Does this still sound like the coil?
Might try buy a new coil today, hopefully does the trick!!!
Where could i get a coil? Just a standard halfrauds? or something more specific like euro car parts?
All in all, today the call out and checks on my car, and the cost of the car being taken back to my house has come to £173
Fun.
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I got my new coil from German Swedish. Or any parts place really should do one.
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Order/fit a new coil and you should be on your way! give it some love and it will reward for miles & miles!
I had big issues with cutting out. fitted a new crank sensor and now its belting! Clutch next :undecided:
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if you have a Eurocarparts nearby go online and order to get Forum discount! :wink:
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Jimmer,welcome to the joys of owning a Mk3 :grin:.Sounds exactly what happened to me m8.Everything was working great until i decided to go for a drive.Got to my destination,parked up for a couple of hours,got back to the car and tried to start her up.No joy,no spark but engine was turning over.Got a mate of mine to come and have a look and straight away diagnosed a dead ignition coil pack.1hr later, with new coil picked up and fitted, the old girl was back on the road.Common fault this buddy.Good Luck.
Rob
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I got the same problem mine is sat on the drive now. I have fuel and a spark but nothing. Gonna try the crank sensor next. Let me know how it goes mate sounds as tho we got a similar problem
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Ignition coil, mine did the same (after 195k) :smiley:
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Ok, will do... will keep everyone up to date.
After the overwhelming number of people pointing towards an ignition coil im going to leave the ECU where it is.
Ordered the ignition coil, 25% discount. £27.85 :shocked:
Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to replace it myself, haven't got my Haynes manual through yet, and I'm pretty useless...
But I'm going to try! (I'm sure i can find a guide on here somewhere?!)
After this doesn't work i'm going to take out the ecu (reverse psychology :smug:)
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Ignition coil, mine did the same (after 195k) :smiley:
could it still be the coil even though he still has a spark?
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No need for a guide really mate, it's all very obvious and will take u literally 2 minutes to do. :smiley:
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Ignition coil, mine did the same (after 195k) :smiley:
could it still be the coil even though he still has a spark?
He said he has an into rant spark with poor spark so yes.
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I ordered a coil pack for mine then canceled it because i had a spark. I wonder if that is still my problem then?
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If you have a good strong spark constantly then I would say it is not your coil.
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Before you remove the old coil, then fit the new one (scuttle tray has to be removed, pain in the arse), remove the HT lead, unplug the old coil and plug in the new one, along with the HT lead to it then try and fire it up. It'll save you from removing the old one and fitting the new one in case it doesn't work.
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My coil is just bolted to the back wall of the engine bay at the top. Also has an earth strap going from one of its fixing bolts to the side of the engine block.
Oh actuly yeah think I do remember taking scuttle off to get to the nuts.
Pretty simple job tbh.
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Where are you located a member nearby may have a handful of spares for you to try.
Don't worry about the code reader not reading the ECU a lot of cheap ones won't on these cars, no idea why. Some do some don't.
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Ok, thanks bellend (LOL, amazing name.) (it sounds like im being offensive towards you, but no, thanks!) thats good to know... but ive already bought a coil thanks, was a good suggestion though! if things still dont work i may try to get help off other members.
Sorry Khare im confused...
How can i take out the old coil and replace it without removing the skuttle tray?
or do u mean i can get to it take it out, then replace the coil, and so complete the circuit and so test the car with the new coil without it all being in the right position and ready to go?
((edit: Oh i see, unplug it, plug the other one back in, test it without having it all back into the proper position (but all still plugged in)))
(if that makes sense, i think i understand what u mean, i will have to get my head under the bonnet tomorrow and have a go, obviously disconnect the battery is the first thing i have to do.)
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Just remove the rubber and lift the scuttle tray slightly, you will be able to get your hand behind it (I always do anyway). That's all it is, disconnect battery, remove king lead, undo 2 torx bolts, replace by doing the opposite of removal. Simples!
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plugged in the new coil, (didnt go through the hassel of replacing it yet) and for some reason the battery sounds like its dying?n :huh:
Have made sure everything is off, and im going to leave it for a good half hour and try again :undecided:
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If the batterys dying then simple test is turn your lights on with ignition on and see if the headlights are flickering if at all on. It could well be just the battery thats your problem it happened to me last month completely dead battery = car wont start try jump starting it if you get it started get a volt meter across the terminals turn everything on lights heaters wipers etc on full and you should be getting 14.1volts across the battery this will test if you have good voltage from the alternator :smiley: Other test for testing if you have a grounding problem something draining your battery disconnect your negative side of the battery and put your volt meter on 10ma setting then put your positive onto the positive side of the batt and then your ground prong on the ground terminal off of your battery if you get any reading of 0.1ma you have a positive to earth somewhere on your car draining your battery. Hope this isn't confusing you to much but basically you need to check all your wiring to and from the battery :sad: But lets not get to involved yet as it may just be that you have simply drained it due to trying to start it so first off keep your new coilpack hooked up and get someone around with some jumpleads and try starting it this way first :smiley: Other thing is where abouts in bristol are you as im not to far away from the north side like cribbs area and could come have a look.
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ECU out -
Two small burns along the ECU circuit board!
finally found the problem.
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Hopefully you've found it then now you need to find the cause can you repair it or do you need one i have one for agg engine + key locks etc if needed
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You could try repairing it.
Through human error I burnt mine quite a while back. Here's a picture of the damage.
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/kharekatoh/golf%20mk3/DSC04140.jpg)
Don't have any of the repair, but I used a thin wire. I got mine from an old computer power supply I had around, stripped the cable and just pulled one of the many wires inside out. Then with a low powered soldering iron, some thin soldering wire and a very careful and steady approach I fixed it. It's been fine ever since :smiley:
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lovin the initiative!
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ECU out -
Two small burns along the ECU circuit board!
finally found the problem.
Not good then, might be easier to pick up a s/h ecu.
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cheers for all the input guys, only been on this forum for 5 minutes, all i've done is moan and i've had a ridiculous amount of help!
It is a credit to this forum!
A friend whose good with computers and has a soldering iron is currently in possession of my ECU.
May only be a temp fix?
A S/H one is only like £30 or so, and i know someone who may be able to help with the reprogramming of the keys so either way i am pretty relieved, although i now have an ignition coil thats been used once, but isn't needed, might as well chuck it on ebay!
Will get back to you all over the weekend with the results of the repaired ECU!
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Keep the coil for spare. It's a common thing to go wrong so always good to have a spare. :wink:
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I had my gti for 3 and a half years, no coil needed.
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Plugged in and tried the repaired ecu, tried both coils, but no luck :embarassed:
although there was a little splutter with the second coil... :huh:
didnt want to keep turning it open as ECU was just plugged in and resting on a towel.
Maybe time to get a new ECU!
Will try again tomorrow :rolleyes:
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What about the ECU Relay?
Get one from VW Number 30 i think?
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Where is the ecu located?
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Where is the ecu located?
under the scuttle roughly in the middle
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have you tried the battery as youve been trying to start it a few times could be running low :evil:
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Ok, will have a look at ECU relays... Might buy one tomorrow, its only a few quid... although i've read that the ECU relay is at fault when the car is start/stop or the engine is lumpy... Mine just doesn't want to start :(
getting pretty desperate now :sad:
Have had the battery on charge in my house, so not that, cheers though.
If i get a second hand ECU and that doesn't work then i'm completely stumped.
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Think you will need immobiliser ring, ignition barrel and key if your using a later mk3. Otherwise you will have to pay for the immob delete.
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Think you will need immobiliser ring, ignition barrel and key if your using a later mk3. Otherwise you will have to pay for the immob delete.
I was told that my immobiliser has been bypassed, probably by a previous owner... does this mean it will be easier to change the ECU over for a second hand one?
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The immobilizer is built into the ECU, buying another ECU will mean it'll have an immobilizer, unless it's pre 94 I think.