engine died!

[ventogirl]

Hello all!

I have no idea what's wrong with my 1996 2L vento classic! Excuse my non-technical lingo as i'm not quite the expert otherwise i could probably fix the car myself!

I started up the car yesterday, the engine cranked over fine then died after 2 seconds! The battery and oil signal came up. My oil and coolant are fine and spark plugs are new. but when i rev it above 2500rpm it works again. she was fine again until this afternoon when it happend again..!

My boyfriend thinks it's electrical? help!
Hope someone knows what i can do..

[BlackVr6ix]

Sounds like immobilizer/Ignition Barrel. is there anyone nearby that can Scan the car for codes?

[DubSteve]

Where abouts do you live VentoGirl?

[h100vw]

This happens when the immobilisers is playing up.

Have your boyfriend, assuming that he can do this, drop the bottom plastic cowl under the steering wheel. Around the ignition lock there should be a code reader, if you follow the cable down the steering column you should come to a plug, disconnect it and reconnect it a couple of times and then see how the car goes.

If there is an immobilisation problem I think a key symbol should come up on the dash somewhere. Have a read of the car handbook if you still have it.

Having a scan of the ECU would be worth it.

Gavin

[bsting]

Could be lots of things. Ime Vagcom will show up nothing.
However give it a shot.

If you have a second key, try using that. It might be an immobilizer issue.

Replacing the #30 ECU relay is recommended for all mk3s as the black factory one is crap if it is a made in Malaysia or Tunisia one.
If the ECU detects the slightest drop in current it will cut out.
These black non-german made relays are rubbish. And they are 10 years old now.

Replace with a Vagmade grey/brown one with 'made in germany' on it (the part # is on the relay) any VW dealer will have them.
As above the cover below the steering wheel houses the fuse box and the relays are above that, you will see one with a #30 on it.

The Coil (all 2L engines and below & early vr6) is common to die too as is the crank angle sensor...

[rayray086]

Could be lots of things. Ime Vagcom will show up nothing.
However give it a shot.

If you have a second key, try using that. It might be an immobilizer issue.

Replacing the #30 ECU relay is recommended for all mk3s as the black factory one is crap if it is a made in Malaysia or Tunisia one.
If the ECU detects the slightest drop in current it will cut out.
These black non-german made relays are rubbish. And they are 10 years old now.

Replace with a Vagmade grey/brown one with 'made in germany' on it (the part # is on the relay) any VW dealer will have them.
As above the cover below the steering wheel houses the fuse box and the relays are above that, you will see one with a #30 on it.

The Coil (all 2L engines and below & early vr6) is common to die too as is the crank angle sensor...

I have/had the same problem too ventogirl. I thought it was common in all Mk3's at first, as the manual said the car may not start on its first go, and a few minutes waiting with the key out of the ignition is all that it's required. After some research, I have found that it may be due to an electrical problem - the above two things that bsting goes over is exactly what I was told too (relay and ignition coil/coilpack). I have since replace these, but it still happens, so I'm now thinking of replacing the spark plugs and leads on my next service.

The VAGCOM might not show anything either - I had Matt give it check and the only faults I got stemmed from a vacuum line.

ventogirl, does your car misfire while running? i.e. does the RPM's jump around without your input and make the car jolt?

[ventogirl]

hello all!
my boyfriend says it isn't the coilpacks and he said so before that it might be the immobiliser. i'll get it checked asap!
thanks so much everyone!

[SOHC]

oh well... first had it with the immobiliser for the scan code, so got a new key for around $80
however problem persist, did it the same, rev it hard and it starts
the plugs were brand new and leads were pretty fine...
anyway after a while its all gone

[Bora Sport]

Is the problem that it won't idle at all or does it just cut out sometimes?

[ventogirl]

Is the problem that it won't idle at all or does it just cut out sometimes?

it wont idle at all
cuts out right after the engine cranks

[DUBING]

it wont idle at all
cuts out right after the engine cranks

did you play with the key, like open it up? do you have a spare, if so give it a go, same thing happend to my vr6 after i played with the key

[Bora Sport]

When my wife's Vento started doing that we did the usual of checking all the above. However it turned out to be the butterfly for the throttle. After around 200,000 k's it had gotten a thin coating of oil on it. It is easy to check. Just take the black plastic intake pipe that runs from the air cleaner to the intake/throttle off at the throttle end. You will be able to see the butterfly quite easily.

If it is slightly oiled up then as ours was the good book will tell you to take it all apart and carefully clean it etc. However we just gave it a liberal spray with injector/carburetor cleaner and quickly replaced the intake pipe and started the car.

Problem solved. The engine settled down to its usual idle and it has done another 100,000k's since then with no further problems. But as I said the good book says not to do it that way so do it advisedly.