Car wont start..i have no idea now

**Black_97 A4** · 01-02-2009 08:03 PM

My car has been in the shop for 2 weeks now...a few weeks ago car wouldnt start, would crank forever but not turn over..so i figured it wasnt gettng any fuel so i put in a new fuel pump and fuel relay...still wont start..

I was thinking maybe the ICM or N122 whatever people call it thats ontop of the air box...

anyone have any other cheaper ideas on what it might be!?

**B5A4Kevin** · 01-02-2009 08:25 PM

are you getting fuel now? is fuse 28 ok? what do the spark plugs look like? have you checked the timing belt yet? are there any codes? icm is a possibilty. you can buy a cheap spark tester at harbor freight (<-- awesome for some stuff).

*that picture is matco however.

**Black_97 A4** · 01-02-2009 08:43 PM

how can i tell if it is getting fuel or not? fuses were all fine...new spark plugs a few weeks ago..not sure about the timing belt..it ran for awhile...drove 2 hrs and then got home, went to leave again and it wouldnt start...

how could the timing belt get messed up?

**MacDaddy** · 01-02-2009 08:43 PM

try pumping the gas pedal

honestly your going to have to do some diag work, spark, fuel, etc. a vag com can help point you in the right direction.

**mnsirtee** · 01-02-2009 10:45 PM

disconnect all your coils and remove one of your spark plugs and and have someone crank the car while pumping gas. you should see gas spitting out from the plug hole. remember to unplug all the coils.

**njm23** · 01-03-2009 12:01 AM

I always get so confused when i see threads like this. I don't get why you would just guess or 'assume" something without knowing. Great way to waste money.

No symptoms as to why it stopped turning over? Any misfires ect.. prior to it happening? The ICM going bad would create random/multiple misfires prior...It isn't the timing belt, even if it was 1 tooth off it would start, if ti was more your engine wouldn't be cranking really, probably don't gotta worry about that... Check for spark as said before, any stored codes or anything?

**Rickz96** · 01-03-2009 06:58 AM

Engines are fancy air pumps, to simplifiy things, gasoline engines need three things to work, Air, fuel, and ignition. You do not have at least one of them. Unless you have a tennis ball stuffed in the intake, you can assume you have air. The easiest way to check to see if the fuel pump is delivering fuel is to disconnect the incoming fuel line from the fuel rail, put the end of it in a decent sized plastic cup (12oz or so), and turn the ignition switch to the run position. The fuel pump should run for a few seconds (should hear audibly). If you have fuel in the cup, you are getting fuel to the fuel rail. Ignition, pull one of the plugs out and stuff it in the boot, ground it on the valve cover and have someone crank the car over. If you see spark, then you have spark.

These are the VERY basic things of an engine, if you have these three things, then bust out the Bently and start with the troubleshooting section. Major sensors that probably wont let it start is the crankshaft position sensor, the camshaft position sensor. If you have DBW, (EPC light on dash) then that most likely wont let it start either if it is failing.

I just went through this with my car at the beginning of the week. Same thing, car was running (misfiring in the upper boost/RPM levels) then later that night, no dice. Would crank over but no start. Mine turned out to be the plastic line that runs from the top of the fuel pump to the cap on the fuel tank ruptured. The misfire was caused by a hole in that same line before it completely gave way.

This is going to take a lot of effort and some basic skills. This is why mechanics get paid to do this. Troubleshooting sucks, but it is rewarding when you finally figure out what is wrong.

**Black_97 A4** · 01-03-2009 07:49 AM

No previous problems..one day it jsut started cranking and took awhilt to turn over next day wouldnt turn over at all...

it has spark in all the cylinders..no misfiring or anything..no cel nothing. I'm going to try to borrow someone's vag and run some tests...i'm avoiding taking it to the stealership....

**B5A4Kevin** · 01-03-2009 07:58 AM

the timing belt can strip out all the teeth at the crank pulley and cause the starter to spin the crankshaft and not the head. the engine would still crank but it would sound abnormal.

you forgot the 4th thing that you need for an engine to run:

Compression.

bent valves and no camshaft rotation will definitely cause a no start and ive seen it before. it may not be likely, but its worth popping the 2 front clips and looking at the belt for tension. it takes 2 seconds.

another easy way to check for fuel pressure is to remove the black cap at the tail of the fuel rail near the fuel pressure regulator. crank the engine for a few seconds and push in the pintle of the valve to see if fuel sprays out.

after you eliminate the easy stuff, you are going to need to start pin-ing out wires and sensors. you definitely need to hook up a scan tool

**njm23** · 01-03-2009 09:33 AM

^^ sounding abnormal is an under statement haha.

**Black_97 A4** · 01-03-2009 12:36 PM

..update on the car..it has spark..not getting fuel even though it has the new pump and relay. The pump runs when the relay is jumped, but otherwise it wont...whre the relay plugs in one of the ports should have a constant charge, which it does, and two should have a charge when the key is turned to the on position...but they don't? I dunno what to do now...ignition switch?

the car will start with starter fluid, but not with jumped relay.

**Black_97 A4** · 01-04-2009 07:27 AM

anyone have any ideas?

**Rickz96** · 01-04-2009 08:38 AM

If you are not getting the supplied voltage to the relay when you turn the ignition on, I would start by tracing out wires. PM me your email address and I will send you a pdf of the manual that will walk you through the process