VR not starting! - Crank sensor not getting power!

[VR6 0]

Thanks for the explanation Doc - very helpful.

 

I've swapped over the potentially faulty relays so I guess I may as well swap ignition switches while the battery's charging. Time to prepare my back for some agony I think! Best thing is that the car's parked on my drive which is practially a 90 degree angle. Wonder how much blood can pool at the back of my brain before I pass out!

[VR6 0]

Changing ignition switches is officially a royal pain in the ass! Doesn't help when you have to remove one from another car to begin with.

 

So that's another vote on this thread for changing the ignition switch if your car turns over but won't start. Mine seemed quite intermittent as well - sometimes it would start first time and others it would take quite a while before firing into life. Then it just gave up starting altogether. I have swapped relays as well but I'm 90% certain it's the switch change that's cured it. I'll swap the relays back out again to isolate the problem as being the switch.

 

Slight variation on the Wiki article on changing the switch: leave the seat in and instead of trying to do everything from in the footwell, lie across the driver seat on your left-hand side and using your left hand and a small/thin screwdriver from behind the column, there is a gap you can see through to in order to guide in the head of the screwdriver. A slight bend in the screwdriver also helps as it is extremely difficult to locate it in the screw!

[Critical_Mass 10]

OR knock the old one out with a hammer and screwdriver and cable tie the new one in.

 

The amount of time i tried getting to that little screw, even with a bent screwdriver, proved near impossible. I did the above in the end. PLUS if it needs doing again at all, itll be a 2 min job.

[VR6 0]

This is doing my head in now!!

 

After changing the relays over and a different ignition switch, and removing the battery to charge it, the problem went away for a few days. But now it's back! Now it could be that the other ignition switch is also dodgy but can anyone else give me some ideas? I'm ordering a new switch but I was wondering if having the battery off has reset the ECU which has meant it ran ok for a few days. Is it possible that this is where the problem lies? It had a new VAG blue temp sender a year or two back btw.

[yeti 0]

glad you got it sorted fella!

 

I thought the full OBD2 conversion only cost a few hundred quid, and gained you driveability, and around 3 miles per gallon? It'll pay for itself in a year or two!

If you're looking at an ECU repair it may well be cheaper to go OBD2 in the medium term.

 

:offtopic1: hang on converting to obd2 only costs £250 and gets you an extra 3 mpg... can someone confirm this? as i dont mind doing the work myself and at the mo am covering 400 miles + a week in my vr! cheers

[bigpants baby 0]

This is doing my head in now!!

 

After changing the relays over and a different ignition switch, and removing the battery to charge it, the problem went away for a few days. But now it's back! Now it could be that the other ignition switch is also dodgy but can anyone else give me some ideas? I'm ordering a new switch but I was wondering if having the battery off has reset the ECU which has meant it ran ok for a few days. Is it possible that this is where the problem lies? It had a new VAG blue temp sender a year or two back btw.

 

I had the same problem:

 

All sorted now,there is 3 white multi plugs in the back of the fusebox(for the engine harness) it turned out to be the middle plug,gave it a wiggle & "o happy day"

It was looked in place with that fusebox locking bar aswel?

So by the looks if your vr conks out check ign switch,fuses,relays 109,167 & this connector on back of fusebox

[bigpants baby 0]

I bought one of these:

 

Sealey Auto Probe 6-24V

 

 

 

A brilliant tool for the auto electrician and mechanic. Carry out the following tests on systems from 6Volt up to 24Volt quickly and efficiently: Polarity test. Power up components prior to fitting including:

[VR6 0]

Cheers for the reply BPB - something else to check.

 

Cheers.

[VR6 0]

Thought I'd fixed it and then it just started happening again. Swapped ECU and it seems to have sorted it.

 

Touch wood!