Help... car doesnt want to start.

[Crashish]

well helps with fuel economy the dudes at Audi bris told me, so i would be gettin it.. helps with the control of the auto choke. picking up mine tomorrow..

[michelinmeister]

I thought I would re-open this thread as something similar has occurred with my cupra...I drove it yesterday and parked at the destination. It drove perfectly there not displaying any symptoms of any problem. When I went to start it half hour later it refused to start...as I didnt have any tools with me and was getting dark I couldn't make any preliminary checks but basically the engine turns over and seems to start for the first second but then immediately dies. If I give it some throttle it will rev to over 2000rpm in that second but then die. I tried leaving it for half an hour and see if it isnt some fuel evaporating in the lines for all the heat we're experiencing here in melbourne but no cigar

feels like its a fuel or spark problem,maybe fuel pump? anyway will be heading out there today with some tools and an assistant. will check the dizzy and the rotor arm solution from this thread but if this has happened to you or you have any ideas to throw at me welcomed. thanks

[Water Boy]

Coil pack?

[michelinmeister]

ok so its got fuel, spark and compression, mechanic thinks it has to be a immobilizer problem - I tried the spare key and no go. Poured through clubGTI forums and seems there is quite a few crowds in the UK who can defeat the immobilizer, will try and find someone in melbourne and update with the fix for future reference

[ibizadave]

ok so its got fuel, spark and compression, mechanic thinks it has to be a immobilizer problem - I tried the spare key and no go. Poured through clubGTI forums and seems there is quite a few crowds in the UK who can defeat the immobilizer, will try and find someone in melbourne and update with the fix for future reference

hi my 8v ibiza gti has the same issue, it has spark, and fuel, howvere mine has been sitting, I am presuming that its fuel, as in the fuel has gone stale, does anyone know how i bleed the fuel lines safely, regards, dave

[michelinmeister]

did you get yours started Dave?

hasnt been a lot of progress on mine, just got a vagcom cable delivered and went out to test it out and see what I could find. Didnt get any further than that as the battery is complete an utterly flat...had nothing on. Can leaving the key in the off position lead to a flat battery on a cupra...anyone??? seems to be the case with some cars apparently, never had a problem with it draining the battery since i bought it..

anyway...on the charger and will give it another go tommorow

[michelinmeister]

vag cable from ebay didnt but like mechanic didnt manage to get it to talk to engine module or anything else except for airbag and abs so not much help there. Pulled out the ECU didnt see anything visually wrong/burnt with it. got on to a thread from clubgtiUK where someone was able to bypass their immo on their abf by grounding the pump relay signal that comes from the ecu. Tried this and did work as in I could hear the fuel pump run the entire time the key was in on position, but this only managed to make the engine die a second later. Seems like my particular ECU must also be preventing ignition system from firing

by all symptoms in my research this sounds like its the immo so Ive contacted a company to see if they can defeat the immo and how much. Before I send it off I will be checking my gearbox earth and checking my crank angle sensor just in case. will post up what happens next for future reference

[Water Boy]

There is a pace in Dandenong or hallaom for do immo deletes etc. They just specialise in OEM ecu's.

[michelinmeister]

There is a pace in Dandenong or hallaom for do immo deletes etc. They just specialise in OEM ecu's.

yeah thats who I talked to, they don't deal with public directly but told me to take my ECU, immo, coil reader ring and keys to any repco or bursons so that's what I did today. fingers crossed will be sorted soon, been driving around my 72 beetle since it buggered up which is fineas I dont really drive much but I miss my cupra for getting places in a hurry

[Golf Loon]

It's not the immobiliser. If it is immobilised, car starts for two seconds then cuts out. If it never starts its something else.

[michelinmeister]

It's not the immobiliser. If it is immobilised, car starts for two seconds then cuts out. If it never starts its something else.

I think its closer to 1 second but yep thats what it was doing, kicks over and as soon as its started it dies..

[Golf Loon]

Open the key, check you have a chip in there. Take key out turn over, try other way over. Then take out steering surround and cluster. Follow wires from loop around key barell to the immobiliser box. Check everything is plugged in, there is an earth wire from the box, check it is connected. Bet you have found the problem by now.

[michelinmeister]

Open the key, check you have a chip in there. Take key out turn over, try other way over.

The spare key was tried also, no go

Then take out steering surround and cluster. Follow wires from loop around key barell to the immobiliser box. Check everything is plugged in, there is an earth wire from the box, check it is connected

yep everything was connected and earthing of the immo was good
Still waiting for an answer to this, havent heard from the crowd where I sent my ECU, immo, coil reader ring and keys to which is worrying..

[michelinmeister]

My car starts!

Just wanted to finish this thread on a positive and share the knowledge which took me net just over 3 months to solve. After much deliberations, time and money consumption including buying a second ECU from the UK, my problem ended up being a faulty immobilizer! This was preventing me from talking to the ECU. The key was the advice of a member on clubgti which was simple in hindsight but crucial to my chances of resolving the problem:

- The ECU on a seat is wired via the immobilizer. And even though I had tried to bridge the k-line connection at the immobilizer, the faulty immobilizer was still responsible for interfering with the ability to receive a signal from ECU

My ECU was good all along...shame the company I sent everything to for testing the components were not competent enough to tell me..they were no help at all and I had to pay for their miserable effort. So anyway I binned the immobilizer and ordered a immobilizer emulator from china for $20 and soldered it in and wala i fired it up on the weekend...big relief. Hope it dosent last commensurate with what I paid for it

hope my story helps save someone time and money in the future. Thanks to all for the suggestions and advice

[Martin]

Man, what a saga!

Thanks for posting the details - could save another sole in the future