VR6 Starting Problems - Help Please !!!

[BurntOut 0]

My Vr6 has been gettin an engine rebuild due to a broken piston, so new pistons

etc etc etc, all fitted now,

It has been built back up now and i got a call the other night from the mechanic

tellin me to go see him as he couldnt get the car to start, and to show him how to use

the Clifford Alarm, in case it was not allowing the car to start.

 

I was wondering if the clifford alarm would be stopping the car from starting??

Some observations i did notice was that the remote fob would now not lock the car,

but once the fob was pressed and the key inserted into the ignition my dash lights

would come on as normal but when i turned to start the car all we get is a ticking

noise, (not the battery it was on a charger), I even think the guy workin at it said

that he wasnt gettin a spark??? He said he would get back at it to see if any sensors

where'nt connected properly, would be good to get a heads up if it might be some

other problem

 

Anyone think that maybe the clifford Alarm if stopping the car from functioning due

engine re-build.

 

Any ideas greatly appreciated, would luv to get my car back on the road again..

 

Thanx Folks !! (sorry but i havent a clue when it comes to cars inners LOL)

[Crasher 3]

That is probably the starter clicking and if it was OK before I would suspect he hasn't reconnected the main body to engine earth cable or there is an earth fault to the engine/starter for some other reason.

[BurntOut 0]

OK further update, having a real mare with this, car been with this guy now since middle July and its still not runnin :( .

 

Ok It wasnt the clifford alarm, got a specialist down who bypassed the alarm and still get the same result, turn on ignition,

dash lights up ok, when try to start the car just a ticking sound, also when the key is initialy turned you dont here the fuel

pump kicking in, I think this happens when you turn the ignition its fist notch you here a noise, well any way had the fuel pump

out of car and checked it is fine.

The Car is getting NO fuel and NO Spark, even had it to an autosparks and allegedly they couldnt pinpoint the fault, now someone

my mechanic m8 knows is saying maybe a faulty wiring or immobiliser prob :( :( :(

 

Anyone any ideas?? or is there anyone on here from Northern Ireland who specialises in the vr6, i am at my wits end, last time my ass

was in the car was start of march and its been off the road since :( :( :( :( :(

 

I even have my forum stickers & all, cant even bring myself to fit them yet :( LOL

[mattkh 0]

Hi

car in neutral then energize the starter solenoid with a wire from the solenoid straight to the positive +ve on the battery. Tell me what happens.

[Supercharged 2]

Hmmm - must be something fairly fundamental to stop the starter from actually turning the engine regardless of whether it then runs or not...

 

Factory imob or ignition switch i'd say... i'd expect a good autoelectrician to be able to pinpoint the fault within 30 mins!

[BurntOut 0]

by mattkh on 04.11.2007, 14:13

Hi

car in neutral then energize the starter solenoid with a wire from the solenoid straight to the positive +ve on the battery. Tell me what happens.

 

Will get him to try & report back.

 

by Supercharged on 04.11.2007, 17:14

Hmmm - must be something fairly fundamental to stop the starter from actually turning the engine regardless of whether it then runs or not...

Factory imob or ignition switch i'd say... i'd expect a good autoelectrician to be able to pinpoint the fault within 30 mins!

 

I know m8 hav another bloke comin out to look on Friday, fingers crossed

[BurntOut 0]

by mattkh on 04.11.2007, 14:13

Hi

car in neutral then energize the starter solenoid with a wire from the solenoid straight to the positive +ve on the battery. Tell me what happens.

 

Will get him to try & report back.

 

by Supercharged on 04.11.2007, 17:14

Hmmm - must be something fairly fundamental to stop the starter from actually turning the engine regardless of whether it then runs or not...

Factory imob or ignition switch i'd say... i'd expect a good autoelectrician to be able to pinpoint the fault within 30 mins!

 

I know m8 hav another bloke comin out to look on Friday, fingers crossed[/quote:3uzvzz4v]

 

 

Well surprise surprise, the bloke didnt show, tryin to get things done in NI is a nightmare, so got fed up and opened the phone book, booked another company for this Friday afternoon hopefully they will come this time, their advert says 'we diagnose, we repair', well ya all know i will be keeping my fingers crossed lol, let yaz know how it goes!!

[BurntOut 0]

OK actually had someone out today looking at the car, he came up with the following,

 

No fuel is due to a faulty fusebox all relays etc r working ok, he said he can bypass the faulty section and get it fueling ok,

 

No spark is due to a faulty crankshaft sensor, he put the meter on the sensor and got no feedback at all.

 

Does this sound reasonable??? (hopefully getting close to gettin sorted)

[Supercharged 2]

Sounds like b0llocks to me - change the ignition switch anyway...

[BurntOut 0]

Sounds like b0llocks to me - change the ignition switch anyway...

 

You where right m8 it was bollocks got a new sensor and fitted it and same result, (so prob hav a perfect 2nd hand sensor now),

Think its time for the bullet biting visit to the VW stealership, my head is done in goin here & there and still no luck.

[dr_mat 0]

Nightmare dude. I wouldn't expect fuel or spark till the engine was turning, the ECU isn't that stupid. Crank sensor always reports an error if the engine isn't turning. The fuel pump will only prime once; as soon as the lines are up to pressure it won't run again.

 

What's the voltage coming out of the battery?

Is the engine turning freely by hand? Perhaps the starter engages (click) and then simply can't turn the engine?

[BurntOut 0]

Now parked on my driveway, eventually got towed back here lol expensive paper weight LOL, dont think i will do anythin now til after crimbo. :(

[BurntOut 0]

Actually got the car onto Vag.com today, as my ABS light was on i got the abs faults 3 of them 2front wheel 1rear wheel, however the programme couldt not pick up my engine management system, its as if the car didnt have one, just said cannot find, could after all this my ECU be fooked?????????????

[BurntOut 0]

As requested by mods upped here to original thread:

 

I know i have been on about this before but as some new info has came to light i thought a should go over it again, and as i am gonna try to narrow the problem down myself as no-one seems to want to work on the car here in N Ireland here goes.

 

Ok engine rebuilt though during this the clifford alarm went off and rather than use the keyfob to turn it off the bloke just pulled off the battery terminals, now since the rebuild i have no fuel goin to the engine (the pump clicks as normal when ignition turned on) and no spark either, all lights etc work ok and car turns over but just wont start at all.

 

I since have managed to get the car onto VAG.com which brought up my abs faults i knew about, but when we tried to get into the Engine Managment System Vag.com came back with cannot find Engine Management System.

 

Now having read different bits on the forum am i right in saying it could be my ECU Relay (fuse) ??? How does this affect me if its the immobilser, cause I would assume that the alarm has done its bit thinkin someone was stealing the car and prob immobilsed it, though since the rebuild i got the alarm disconnected.

 

Any thoughts folks??

 

Thanks for your replies would love to get it on the road again, been offoad for a year now

[Reggit 0]

It'd be worth checking the ECU relay, but something you said caught my eye;

 

You've had the alarm disconnected, but is it still installed? If so I think this is still your problem. If a tea leaf was robbing a car and just disconnected the immobiliser you would hope that the device would be clever enough to prevent the car working. In other words does it have a normally open relay in the ECU circuit which closes to allow power through when the immobiliser is disarmed?

[BurntOut 0]

It'd be worth checking the ECU relay, but something you said caught my eye;

 

You've had the alarm disconnected, but is it still installed? If so I think this is still your problem. If a tea leaf was robbing a car and just disconnected the immobiliser you would hope that the device would be clever enough to prevent the car working. In other words does it have a normally open relay in the ECU circuit which closes to allow power through when the immobiliser is disarmed?

 

 

Hi Reggit, gonna try and get my hands on an ECU relay from the stealers & try it, I got a clifford guy out to the alarm to disconnect it as i thought it might be stopping it starting but it is still installed in the car, as i wanted it working again when i eventually get the car sorted, he said when he disconnects it, its now as if the car has no alarm at all. Gonna get a relay 1st to see if i have any luck.

[BurntOut 0]

UPDATE:

 

Ok the car has been with a electrical company for 3 months now, clifford alarm fully removed from the car, 1st we replaced the coilpack, still no joy and recently I got another ECU for the car & it has been fitted now too, but still gettin same results car will turn over but NO SPARK, is there anything else I can try cause I am swiftly loosing faith in my vr6 :sad:

 

Also the guy at the electrics place is telling me my diagnostics connection under the gator when you trace the wires the plug isnt connected in to anything???? This hardly sounds correct??? Anyone??? Also the guy was saying its as if the ecu is not picking up the engine churning over so if their is no pick up then nothing will happen??

 

THANK YOU in advance

[mattkh 0]

Hi

A simple thing to change is the ignition switch. Try that.

[BurntOut 0]

Hi

A simple thing to change is the ignition switch. Try that.

 

 

Hi matt apparently he has checked this switch i mentioned this to him after a few searches on here, but he says the current one is fine :scratch:

[was8v 0]

From the diagnosis of no spark and VAG com not finding the ECU, I'd suspect no power to the ECU.

 

Get a pin out of the ECU (bentley manual) and stick a pin through the correct wire and see if its getting power.

 

Superglue the pin holes up afterwards.

 

Theres a million and two things it could be though, sounds like you need a decent auto electrician - not something you are likely to find at a dealership.

[mattkh 0]

Hi

Put up a picture of the relays.

You should have an ECU relay in positon 3.

[BurntOut 0]

Guys thanx for all your comments, but I am now at my wits end, its a nightmare here in NI to get people who know wot they are doing lol. Looks like I am just gonna throw onto fleabay as a non runner, hopefully a project for someone who has plenty of time to throw at the car. Really gutted my dream car has turned into my worst nightmare :( . Hopefully 1 day I will have saved anuf for another one, :shrug: which i will defo be buying from this forum

[bigpants baby 0]

I had the same problem,I changed Ecu relay,ign switch etc

It turned out to be a bad connection on one of the block connectors on the fusebox,drop the fusebox down,wiggle the wiring whilst turning the ign

[slabbridda 0]

i had the same problem with my 1994 carrado it was the ecm when you turn the ignition on does your check engine light if not that was my sign i changed the ecu and it was fixed let me know because its a new part # but i know it

[dr_mat 0]

Basics of starting a VR6.

1) fuel pump primes

2) turn engine

3) crank sensor MUST provide a timing signal to the ECU - (it only does this while the engine is turning)

4) ECU signals fuel injectors, signals spark

5) engine fires.

 

Sounds to me like you have number 2 working now, and you've replaced the crank sensor with no improvement, so it's likely there's nothing wrong with that. You can test the fuel pressure in the lines to make sure that's ok, but low fuel pressure wouldn't prevent you getting spark.

 

So that really means the ECU is either plain not working (I know you've replaced it..), or it's not getting the signals it requires, or it's not getting any power at all. Did anyone ever check if the ECU is actually getting 12v or not??