I guess so, but they sold me a duff battery at the same time which had to go back so I'm hoping they'll give an inch.
Did another test, put the old coil back on, fuel primed and there was a very weak spark. I then put the new one back on, no spark at all and fuel not priming. Pretty sure it is goosed now.
Phoned the shop, they said they'd have to send the coil back to get checked, so I tried it again and I now have a spark and fuel with the new one! Still no joy starting though. So I put a brand new rotor arm and dizzy cap on in desparation- no joy. Running out of ideas here, anyone? Please! [:^(]
is a very strange one, apart from swapping the fuel filter as I mentioned in my pm, its worth taking the plug off the ECU to make sure its not got any corrosion on the terminals, if so give em a buff up and try again.
I thought about that but it had a new fuel filter last mot, 3 or 4 months back so I doubt whether that would be it. How do I take the plug out of the ecu? Does the whole thing just pull off?
im not sure on a mk3, it should be under the rain tray somewhere. on a mk2 8v you have to take the whole ecu bracket off the car as there isnt enough room to release the plug fully. Mine had a reasonably new filter as well, which was why I was stumped that it fixed the problem! I was thinking maybe I had a batch of dodgy fuel...
were your spark plugs wet with fuel? I'm guessing that's not the issue as all 4 are wet after cranking for a short time. I'll try cleaning up the ecu connectors first and see if that does it. Cheers for the help, I'll email your pal about the gubbed sensor.
mine had no fuel at all, the k-jet cars need a certaion ammount of fuel pressure before they'll open up! if you turn the key 1 click does the pump prime for a few seconds? I'm thinking more that there is a problem with the spark, either its weak or the immobilisor isnt happy with your key.
Yep the priming thing is going. You can hear the pump for a few seconds and then it clicks off as normal. The spark does look weak, white as opposed to blue, any ideas what might cause that?
I'd be suspecting the coil, mk3 ones are known for being crap! I'm not sure on MK3 ecus, on the mk2 there is a metal clip which yo pull, then you pull the plug in a rotating motion to release the locking tab on the other side. easier to do it than to say
That's what I thought- it's a new one from GSF that got the car going when I fitted it and now I wonder if it has failed. I checked the resistance between the pins under the plastic cover and it read 0.8 ohms, I've heard it should be 0.5-0.7 but the guy from the shop thought that sounded fine. I'll check out the ecu first and if that doesn't sort it I'll have to try another coil I guess.
i had a similar problem with my 1.8 mk3. it turned out to be the imobiliser but i was getting no spark at all. i would seriously consider whether it could be down to something burning out the coil. just a thought but sounds very possible if the one you have just bought has stuffed it already.
Yep, I'm running out of ideas- what else could it be? Would a dodgy alternator burn out the coil or is it more likely to be down to the new coil being duff? The old one has probably been on there for years. I'm a bit concerned about putting a new one in only to have it burn out as well.
if you check out vag-com again it will tell you if the immobilisor is seeing a fault, theres a different immobilisor section in there somewhere.
Interestingly I did that already after checking the ecu wiring, when I first plugged it in, all it found was "00546 data wiring faulty- implausible signal" from the immobiliser module. It didn't even detect the engine module. Plus the fuel wasn't priming. I cleared it, then everything appeared, engine, abs, etc. with no faults. The fuel started priming again, but no vroom. Wierd! Is this because it's unplugged?
hmm, maybe you have some dodgy wiring to the immobilisor, or the transponder ring isnt healthy? do you have any good scrappies close by with post96 mk3s/passats in for parts pilagaging?
Just tried another coil in it- no joy. AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH! Begining to think it'll have to go into the garage. Bang go my hols this year! An observation I made. When I re-connected the battery negative after changing the coil over it gave me the "00546 data wiring faulty- implausible signal" fault again. This time it came back repeatedly after clearing it several times. Eventually after 20mins or so it was gone and the fuel pump started priming on key turn. I took my key apart and there is no chip inside it (and the spare one) this is really wierd as I've been driving the car for 18 months with these keys.
the chip is next to the key barel, its very small and hasd no electronics going to it. I think you need to check the immobilisor out!
My point is that there is no chip in the keys though, thats the way an immobiliser works. key chip communicates with the transponder ring and allows the engine to start. If my keys have no chip in them, how come the car's been running?
Anyone on here Glasgow based that fancies a look at it? I'll supply enough beer to sink a ship if we fix it!!!
