kanatarider
09-17-2008, 02:16 PM
First off, this is more of an advanced problem, so no "is your battery good? is it hooked up right?"
1997 VW Golf, 2.0L, converted to 5 speed, has been running fine up until this point...
So a few days ago, I was driving around, AC on. Suddenly, alternator failure symptoms galore; gauges start jumpin around, my dash lights begin to flicker and fade, etc etc. Off goes AC and fan, and we're all good. Park the car, go out next mornin. No start. Doesn't Try to crank, nothing. So I roll it down the hill, figuring a battery and decide to bump start it. Roll, clutch, fires up....gauges go crazy car shuts off.
So, I put in an alternator and spare battery (go'bless the parts car), and nothing. Try boosting the car...nothing. Which caused me to scratch my head and investigate a little more....findings are as follows.
1) Fuel pump relay going click-click-click-click. Turn key and doesn't sound like the pump is priming. Underneath the car it is making noise, but it doesn't sound quite like proper fuel pump noise...almost like it's cycling on and off REAL fast.
2) As soon as you crank the key to IGN, everything resets; ie clock sets back to 12.
3) Car won't try to crank. The starter solenoid once in a while gives a clunk, but no actual starter action.
I talked to a few garages, contemplating just bringing it in, or at least get an idea of what's goin on...of course they treat me like crap and tell me to check the battery, make sureI had the boost cables on properly etc etc.
After some investigation I stumbled upon...
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4011999&page=1
Same problem as me; the listed possibilities are bad grounds, ECU not getting power, or fuse box problems. ECU is making alot of sense...if the ECU isn't on it won't tell the fuel pump to prime...Anyone have a similar experience? I am about to search up a list of all the ground locations and check those (I don't feel like getting too in depth today), but plan on checking the ECU and fuse box possibilities a bit later....any advice would be grand!
Actually, since taking a look at teh web...how many ground points are there on the vehicle, and where are they located approx?
1997 VW Golf, 2.0L, converted to 5 speed, has been running fine up until this point...
So a few days ago, I was driving around, AC on. Suddenly, alternator failure symptoms galore; gauges start jumpin around, my dash lights begin to flicker and fade, etc etc. Off goes AC and fan, and we're all good. Park the car, go out next mornin. No start. Doesn't Try to crank, nothing. So I roll it down the hill, figuring a battery and decide to bump start it. Roll, clutch, fires up....gauges go crazy car shuts off.
So, I put in an alternator and spare battery (go'bless the parts car), and nothing. Try boosting the car...nothing. Which caused me to scratch my head and investigate a little more....findings are as follows.
1) Fuel pump relay going click-click-click-click. Turn key and doesn't sound like the pump is priming. Underneath the car it is making noise, but it doesn't sound quite like proper fuel pump noise...almost like it's cycling on and off REAL fast.
2) As soon as you crank the key to IGN, everything resets; ie clock sets back to 12.
3) Car won't try to crank. The starter solenoid once in a while gives a clunk, but no actual starter action.
I talked to a few garages, contemplating just bringing it in, or at least get an idea of what's goin on...of course they treat me like crap and tell me to check the battery, make sureI had the boost cables on properly etc etc.
After some investigation I stumbled upon...
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4011999&page=1
Same problem as me; the listed possibilities are bad grounds, ECU not getting power, or fuse box problems. ECU is making alot of sense...if the ECU isn't on it won't tell the fuel pump to prime...Anyone have a similar experience? I am about to search up a list of all the ground locations and check those (I don't feel like getting too in depth today), but plan on checking the ECU and fuse box possibilities a bit later....any advice would be grand!
Actually, since taking a look at teh web...how many ground points are there on the vehicle, and where are they located approx?