Please help.....VR6 not starting!

[Storm_VR6 0]

Hi guys,

 

As some of you maybe aware, I had my car for sale recently but unfortunately it did not sell. Now the winter months are here and my car has decided to go into hibernation mode....It would be much appreciated if someone would help me out in layman’s terms as I am not mechanically minded even though I try & mess with things I should really leave...

 

When I try and start the car, all she does is make the starter sound but doesn't fire. I read a few of the forums and discovered that it could possibly be the relays. I had access to a Mk2 Golf GTI fuse box. Looked the same, so I pulled out the fuel pump relay and the load relay and fixed them on the VR6 fuse board...still no luck....after several attempts of trying to start the car, I killed the battery so I plugged on a set of jump leads and continued to try and start the dam thing.....to my surprise, she started...turned her off, 1st attempt - no start, 2nd attempt - fired again...Off again and exactly the same thing, won't start on 1st attempt, then starts on second. I then put my old relays back in the car, she started again, only on the 3rd or 4th try, however this time as soon as I would let go of the key after she had fired up, the revs would not catch.....so I pressed the accelerator a little to hold the revs and the car stayed on. Each time after that, she would start but as soon as I let go of the key, revs would drop very low, on some occasions the car would switch off on others they would catch....anyway, I started her up again and let her run for a good 20 mins so that she could warm up in this cold wintry weather....I then noticed water leaking...I discovered that it was overflowing from the expansion tank...so I thought nothing of it, I turned the car off and the water level was low in the expansion tank so why was it overflowing...I started her up and when she heated up, just before fans kicked in, water would bubble in the expansion tank and then spit out of the overflow ( what I mean by overflow are the holes nearer to the top of the tank which are covered by a black plastic housing) Why is this happening ??? I have had the cooling system flushed recently in preparation for the winter but don't see any reason for this to happen...Heater still blow out hot air, the pipe from the top of the radiator has pressure and is hot and so is the one below it...why is this happening to me???

 

Just so that I have covered everything, when the cooling system was flushed, I took the car out for a drive, had the heaters blowing on hot on full power and kept my eye on the temp gauge.....it seemed to be normal but then suddenly it started to drop and went all the way down to very low or even no reading, checked oil temp, it was just over 100....this worried me so I drove the car back towards my house, heaters were still blowing out hot air and oil temp was normal....as soon as I was nearer to my house, the temp gauge registered again and was back to normal....approx 90 degrees...I also noticed this water leak then, the water would bubble in the expansion tank, then would spit out of the overflow....the best way I can describe the bubbling is as if the top is slightly unscrewed which causes the water to pressurise in the tank...Please, please tell me that it's not the head gasket???? Could this in anyway be the reason for my car not firing up ????

 

Following on from what I said previously, I took off the jump leads and parked her on my drive….went to start her, she started again hesitantly on 2nd attempt…….went back to the car a couple of hours later, she wouldn’t start, didn’t want to try too much time as I didn’t want to kill the battery again……checked the water in the expansion tank and it was low, what’s going on guys, please help me, my car is sick and I have lost numerous hours of sleep thinking about what it could be, I am well and truly lost!!!!! I am sorry if some of what I have said doesn’t make sense, just constructively criticise my descriptions and I will try and explain further…….oh and 1 last thing, these problems only started after a friend fitted a new stereo into my car, on the day he did the stereo, he killed the battery, it was late so I put the car in reverse dipped the clutch and he pushed it and bump started…since this new stereo has gone in, the b1tch won’t start…I have put a brand new battery in to check if this could be the cause but still the same problems……I thank you all in advance for your help!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Sounds a bit like either the key or reader coil is dodgy.....

 

Water bubbling could be an air lock.

[Storm_VR6 0]

Hi kev

 

How do I get rid of air lock ?? - if I unscrewed the top off the expansion tank, let the water overflow, will this get rid of any air locks ??

 

Is a new key a main dealer only thing ??? Any ideas on cost ??

 

Thanks again.

[Walesy 0]

The search should help you with that mate....getting rid of airlocks has been covered anyway :D

[Storm_VR6 0]

"Sounds a bit like either the key or reader coil is dodgy..... "

 

Is the reader coil in the ignition barrel ? Is it easy to change ??

 

Thank you

[Storm_VR6 0]

Hi,

 

weekend is almost here, please guys, give me some urgently required tips on how to get my car sorted....i'm sure a lot of you know how it feels when your car is off the road and you haven't a clue what to do.....very depressing!

 

HELP!

[Walesy 0]

Have you had a new key made for the car mate?

 

Did the search throw anything up on the airlock aswell?.

[Walesy 0]

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... eader+coil

 

Theres a thread I just found on reader coils aswell. A guy that bought my first raddo off me rang me a few months after he bought it with the same problem , it took us ages to work out that the reason it only happened sometimes was that he had got a new key without the transponder in it and that was the problem. Your problem also seems intermitant to a degree so i'm wondering if you have two keys? ..just on the offchance :wink:

 

Type reader AND coil into the search , theres quite a few threads there...the AND refines the search

 

Chin up. :D

[Storm_VR6 0]

Theguitarmanuk - Thank you.

 

I appreciate your help....I only have one key for the car, will get a new key the weekend and will also try and get rid of the air lock by leaving the cap off the expansion tank. I hope this sorts out all my problems...out of interest, is the fusebox on the MK2 Golf GTI the same as the VR6 and are the relays for the load & fuel pump compatible ?

 

Thanks again mate. :)

[Walesy 0]

Not a clue mate , I know fack all about Vr6's...never had one. :D

 

As for the key...I wouldn't replace it ...if you've had the same one all the time and the problems only just started then it's unlikely to be that (( plus the fact that they are bloody expensive! )

 

Does your problem not sound more like it could be the reader coil?..i'm certainly no expert ...just pointing out that there's loads of threads on here with info if no-one is around to help. :D

[Storm_VR6 0]

Okay, better not replace the key then....the only thing that concerns me is that the people who have had the reader coil problem. their cars start and then die...my car only turns and doesn't fire.........well this was what was happening before anyway. When I did get it started with the jump leads on, only on some occasions would the revs not catch.....even when they didn't I could rev it a little and the car would stay on after that....

 

Main problem is that she's not firing, so is it the reader coil ?? :?

[NickRStorm 0]

Nope, non-reading of the reader coil would allow it to start & run for about 1 second.

[Storm_VR6 0]

Cheers Nick.

 

Someone please give me some ideas before the weekend arrives so I can get my Storm on the road again....

[NickRStorm 0]

Assuming you have absolutely no sparks at all, I'd be checking the ignition switch (a known weakness) or possibly the coil-pack.

[Storm_VR6 0]

the car does turn, just doesn't fire...i did notice a little break in the coil pack a few months ago, the plastic had broken off around one of the contacts...i put insulation tape around it and it was fine, surely even if one lead was off, the car would still start just not run right ??

 

Will check to see if the insulation tape is still holding the plastic securely...doubt it's that though, I hope it is!

 

how do you check the ignition switch ?

[RW1 0]

Have you checked all fuses + are all relays pushed home on the relay panel?

 

Not a coil/key reader problem as it would at least fire sa said.

 

.

[Storm_VR6 0]

I will check all the fuses and relays again.....

 

If any of the other relays, apart from relay 18 (load) and relay 167 (fuel pump) were faulty, would this cause for the car not to start ?

 

I wish I could afford for a professional mobile mechanic to come and sort my car but I can't...have considered calling RAC but from what i've heared on here, they are not very familiar with the C's....

[Walesy 0]

If you're a member of the RAC then why not call them? that's why you pay your membershi fee's....whether you get a goodun depends on the guy that gets sent to you, some of them are good and it can't hurt to get their suggestion, it may be something simple that you haven't noticed.

[Storm_VR6 0]

I don't have home start..so i'd have to push the car a certain distance (not sure how far) before they'd come out....if i'm not successful this weekend, I will call them.

[Storm_VR6 0]

Got the car started via push start...

 

The bubbling in the expansion tank was due to the cap.....put a new one on and no more water leak...

 

Still not sure why my car is not starting properly...checked all relays fuses etc..i'm clueless! still need some help guys!

[NickRStorm 0]

Suspect a weak battery &/or a bad earth. The coilpack won't produce a spark if it doesn't get at least 11.5 volts. As it started when pushed but won't when cranked, it's obviously not got enough battery power for some reason.

[Storm_VR6 0]

That makes sense Nick....thanks.

 

It always starts with a push, it must be battery or the alternator could be weak and not charging the battery properly, could that be a possibility?? The reason why I ask is because I’ve had the belt changed and there seems to be a slight noise from the tensioner, cud it be that the belt is not on tight enough??

 

Finally, is there any particular battery that I can buy which is more powerful then most?? And where from?

 

Regards

[Storm_VR6 0]

This may be a stupid question but how do I check if the earth cable is bad, where is it located ?

 

If I fix a jump lead to the negative of the battery and connect the other end to anywhere metal on the car...if it is a bad earth then this should work ?

[Niges16V 0]

Hi Storm_VR6, don't mean to misguide you from the experts on here, but I had a very similar problem a few weeks back and suspected the key/transponder. Engine would turn over but not fire, only on occasions though! One thing I did notice was that there was no clicking from the vacinity of the relays when this happend. If I fiddled about down there then it would fire (sometimes).

I changed the ignition switch and cleaned the ECU relay and have had no probs since.

 

I suggest you remove the ECU relay (no. 109 I think) and carfully pop off the top and clean the contacts inside - mine felt a bit sticky. I assume from 11 years of on/of/on/off. I'm think that the movement of the car while being pushed might be making the contact?? Maybe a longshot but it certainly proved to be the cheapest fix ever on myC!

 

Good Luck

[NickRStorm 0]

This may be a stupid question but how do I check if the earth cable is bad, where is it located ?

 

There are 2 earth cables going to the battery. Thick one is for the starter which we can assume is OK. The thinner one is attached to the body & is the one that may be bad. A jumper cable from a good clean earth on the body to the negative battery terminal will eliminate the thinner cable as a problem.

 

I'd be more inclined to suspect the battery personally. A new Bosch silver top 63AH battery is only about £50 from GSF.