1.6 won't start

[stewart08]

When trying to start the car it stalls after about 2 seconds, had it scanned over the weekend but wasn't reading any faults/didn't seem to be connecting up to the ecu properly.
When the ignition is on and the car not started the immobiliser warning lamp constantly flashes, the alternator lamp stays on until the car tries to start and the alternator makes a whizzing noise when it disengages then the lamp goes away then comes back on.
After a while the brake system lamp(constantly illuminated) starts flashing and sounds 3 tones.
The ABS lamp is constantly on



I've pulled off the dash below the steering wheel but the immobiliser is connected and can't see anything wrong with any cables.

...any ideas?


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[Stan]

will it start with a spare key?

[stewart08]

I've got two regular keys, one with a button and light(apparently, it's never worked so left that key as a spare) plus the plastic emergency key.
Tried it with both proper keys and it's a no go


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[Jmac]

Sounds like the Immob has dropped offline mate, some 1.6 Golfs have magnetti marrelli clocks and can be problematic, just a flat battery with a magnetti unit can cause this. Id suggest you firstly disconnect the plugs at the back of the cluster, leave off for around 5 mins. reconnect and leave ign on for around 30 mins. If that doesn't work you will need to find someone with an eeprom reader to suck out the SKC code from your cluster and make an attempt to remarry the clock to the engine ECU. If the scanner wasn't talking to the cluster its possible my first idea may work. Try it and try to rescan. All else fails send a pm.
Cheers
Jmac

[stewart08]

Sounds like the Immob has dropped offline mate, some 1.6 Golfs have magnetti marrelli clocks and can be problematic, just a flat battery with a magnetti unit can cause this. Id suggest you firstly disconnect the plugs at the back of the cluster, leave off for around 5 mins. reconnect and leave ign on for around 30 mins. If that doesn't work you will need to find someone with an eeprom reader to suck out the SKC code from your cluster and make an attempt to remarry the clock to the engine ECU. If the scanner wasn't talking to the cluster its possible my first idea may work. Try it and try to rescan. All else fails send a pm.
Cheers
Jmac

Thanks heaps I'll be definitely giving that a try tomorrow.
The scan seemed to pick up the ABS I'm pretty sure but nothing really besides that.
Hopefully I can find someone with the scanner around my area


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[stewart08]

Success! Thanks Jmac, didn't need to leave the ignition on for more than 5 minutes and it kicked over first go, now to tackle the knocking noise(sounds like my lifters), going to change the oil again tomorrow and run some lifter treatment through it and see how she goes.
Then to find a tap and die set to fix a threaded hole on my FL caliper, get the FR strut tower to drop back into its spot then it's back to the roads!


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[Jmac]

Nice. Good to hear
Jmac

[stewart08]

Anyone know why my coolant reservoir would be emptying itself after I start my car and can't find any leaks?


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[JustCruisn]

The reservoir is designed to allow the expansion and contraction of coolant and will purge if there is too much also.
Does the level drop initially and then fill again once the engine gets up to temp ?
Does the low coolant alarm activate on the dash when it "empties" ?

[stewart08]

The reservoir is designed to allow the expansion and contraction of coolant and will purge if there is too much also.
Does the level drop initially and then fill again once the engine gets up to temp ?
Does the low coolant alarm activate on the dash when it "empties" ?

The alarm has come on but the car was left unstarted last night and this afternoon the coolant was almost empty


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[Jmac]

These reservoirs are common for failing after time, however I would recommend bypassing internet diagnosis for that mate, have ot pressure tested, it wont lie. If you fill it bleed mate, it has to go somewhere, hence the recommendation for pressure test. If it is the res they are cheap as chips.
Cheers
Jmac