VW Caddy Problem

sann

Hi. Just said i would throw this out to a few of the vw techies.
Before it is said i know i will probably have to go out and get a scan carried out but i thought i would post it here in case some one has experienced something similar.
It is a 05 1.9tdi caddy van. Slow to start. All heater plugs are ok but when ignition is turned on the glow plug symbol illuminates for a few seconds and then begins to flash. The van will then start after cranking it for 7 or 8 seconds. There is no supply to the glow plugs at any stage as far as i can see. Could it possible be the coolant temp sensor telling the ECU that there is no need of pre glow due to a false high reading? I will probably get it scanned tomorrow but any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

barneygumble99

sann wrote: »

Hi. Just said i would throw this out to a few of the vw techies.
Before it is said i know i will probably have to go out and get a scan carried out but i thought i would post it here in case some one has experienced something similar.
It is a 05 1.9tdi caddy van. Slow to start. All heater plugs are ok but when ignition is turned on the glow plug symbol illuminates for a few seconds and then begins to flash. The van will then start after cranking it for 7 or 8 seconds. There is no supply to the glow plugs at any stage as far as i can see. Could it possible be the coolant temp sensor telling the ECU that there is no need of pre glow due to a false high reading? I will probably get it scanned tomorrow but any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Is it slow when it's hot or cold or always slow no matter what the temp of the engine is?

Waterson

It's not cold enough for the glow plugs to be actuated for any considerable length of time, not sure where you are, but I would imagine it is a fuel supply issue. A flashing gkow olug light would indicate a logged fault. As you say, a scan would very quickly tell you if you have a functioning coolant temp sensor.

sann

Cheers for the feed back. It seems to be slow to start at all times. It is actually my brothers van so I'm only going by what he has told me. He has said it has gotten progressively harder to start over the last few days. A scan it is so I guess. Any recommendations around the killarney area?

sann

Quick update. Got it scanned and it came up with cam sensor failure. Not sure of the exact fault that was logged. So i changed sensor and still no joy. I have since learned that it has had this hard start and stalling at low engine speeds with a few weeks and it all started on a day where he drove through very high water during floods in November. I wonder is it possible the timing belt may have jumped a tooth due to water entering a cylinder that day?

George Dalton

You haven't given enough information for anyone to be able to provide you with anything other than guesswork.

You say the scan gave a cam sensor fault. But what was the exact fault?
No signal?
Electrical fault in circuit?
Signal outside specification?

Wiring looms give a lot of trouble in these and I would say that is quite likely to be the source of the problem but without any more info that is just an educated guess.

sann

Hi George. Thanks for the reply. As i have said the van belongs to my brother and he is dealing with a mechanic buddy of his that is working at a local main dealer of another brand and does a few bits at home in the evenings. He scanned it and told my brother the cam sensor needed to be replaced. I never actually spoke with him and for this reason i dont know what the exact sensor fault was. I was off work yesterday and the needed sorting asap so i went ahead and sourced a cam sensor and fitted it myself as the mechanic said he wouldn't get a chance until next week.
I think at this stage i will probably advise my brother to try and source a good indy vag mechanic and see what he thinks. Van is a 05 with 340k on it so there is no way he will take it to main dealer. I have also heard of the wiring loom problems on these.
Thanks again George for your help!

OP just our of curiosity, has the dual mass flywheel been replaced in that caddy or any wheel bearings ?

I had an 05 and after about 15,000 kms the front left wheel bearing and flywheel had to be replaced. Very common problem on these around that time.

sann

Yes. The flywheel was replaced with a dual mass OEM about a year and a half ago.

George Dalton

Deleted User wrote: »

OP just our of curiosity, has the dual mass flywheel been replaced in that caddy or any wheel bearings ?

I had an 05 and after about 15,000 kms the front left wheel bearing and flywheel had to be replaced. Very common problem on these around that time.

I see you have over 7000 posts. You must have mentioned your Caddy DMF problems in 1000 of those. It's a long time ago, it's time to get over the trauma and move on....

bigroad

Is it possible the airfilter is soaked from when he went through the flood also could be some leaves or muck stuck in the airbox. Diesels like a lot of air so if that is of short supply it wont run too well.

sann

Update. After changing the sensor made no difference this morning I went to start it this evening and hey presto. Van started first time and glow plug is no longer flashing. Must be a wiring loom problem me thinks and all the messing around with the cam sensor may have upset the wiring loom.

George Dalton

George Dalton wrote: »

I see you have over 7000 posts. You must have mentioned your Caddy DMF problems in 1000 of those. It's a long time ago, it's time to get over the trauma and move on....

I didn't ask you ?

I'm long over it, you obviously have other issues if a simple question upsets you so much.

I certainly haven't mentioned it 1000 times.

sann

Final update thankfully. Traced the problem to a damaged wiring loom where it had been chafing on a bracket under the air filter box. Replaced with one from a breakers and the van is back to full health. Thanks again to all for their help and suggestions.

Waterson

Ive seen that on a few of these caddys. Will start grand one morning, then poorly the next. Scan will show a cam fault code. Putting the van in reverse would sometimes stall it. Just like that, the wiring loom is stretched where it goes across the gearbox bell housing, when putting into reverse, the torque shift on the engine 'pulls' the wiring, causing van to either stall or go into limp home mode. The wire itself is actually for the crankshaft sensor, can be misleading if you go by codes alone and dont follow up with scoping the wires, as your mates mechanic found.