Car wont start after clutch/flywheel replacement

[mkvTDI]

My car is a 2006 Jetta with manual transmission. I just finished getting everything back together. Turn the key and nothing. The car has power and the lights come on as normal. The starter doesn't make a sound. I made sure both thick cables are connected to the starter and the the plug in the back of it was connected.

I am able to shift in all gears with or without the clutch pressed in. I haven't driven the car in 3 days but if I had to guess, I would say its lighter than what I remember. I am going to look at the slave cylinder and make sure it's in the divot of the fork. Would that cause the car not to crank?

The other thing is that I spun the engine counterclockwise while trying to get the dmf flywheel bolt holes lined up. Could I have thrown off the timing or done any damage doing this? I figure even if this was the case the engine should still turn over.

I will check batter voltage and make sure that's not an issue. The battery is fairly new. I cant imagine it discharging after 3 days.

Any help is appreciated.

[Seatman]

It'll be battery/starter related for sure, double check the battery cables are on the right way too, I don't know if your car's the same but someone on the tdiclub put one on the wrong terminal (negative) because it was black. The other thing is test the big thick cable for continuity, check the starter bolts are tight and also make sure the earth strap is connected to the gearbox.

[Keithuk]

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like a starter circuit related problem especially if it doesn't attempt to make a sound while trying to crank. You need to get a multimeter and do some voltage and volt drop tests. You could top the battery back up if you have a charger. Check all fuses first?

Turning the flywheel the wrong way won't upset the timing unless you've had the timing belt off as well or the tensioner has jumped because the belt is slack but that still won't stop the engine cranking.

[mkvTDI]

Thank you for the quick response.

I dont recall a ground strap on the transmission. Can anyone confirm there is one on the MKV transmission? I will check voltages and respond back with results.


Thank you again for your help.

[Keithuk]

Well there is either a seperate earth strap going from the engine\transmission to the body or the battery earth lead goes straight to the engine this is the thickest lead as the most current draw on a vehicle is the starter motor which can be 140-200 amps depending on the size of the engine.

If depend on the exact procedure you used in checking the starter circuit especially the volt drop that will tell you if the engine earth is connected correctly?

Starter Circuit Voltage Drop

[mkvTDI]

While troubleshooting the no start issue. I double checked the slave cylinder and battery. Why testing for voltage at the starter. I noticed the plug at the rear of the starter slid off when removing the cover. I don't know if the issue was with the plug not being on securely or whether the little red clip on the plug was in the wrong condition.

I replaced my flywheel and clutch with the LUK dmf kit. It's a very light clutch feel. Definitely less effort to press the clutch in versus the OEM clutch feel.

Thank you again to all those that responded. This site is a great resource to the TDI community.