Hey guys, I was doing a search on google for a problem that I am having with my 01 Jetta tdi and came across this site. I have found some great info and I wanted to present my problem/get your thoughts. Here are the details of the car/problem. Please forgive the length but I wanted to be thorough.....
-01 Jetta tdi, just shy of 100k, timing belt/water pump changed by local shop (1 month, 1k miles ago), fuel filter is brand new (changed after the problem started)
The problem is that when driving the car suddenly becomes unresponsive/bogs down when throttle is applied. This happens at out nowhere and without warning. The car will be running perfectly fine and then I lose all acceleration while driving. When it first happens, I can VERY SLOWLY reach about 25mph (I could run the same distance faster than driving). Then within 1/2 mile of driving, I can barely reach 5 mph at full throttle, it almost stalls, and the exhaust spews light/medium grey smoke that smells horrible (almost a burning smell). Turning the car off and restarting immediately had no effect, the problem was still there.
This has happened 4 times within the last 2 weeks or so (travelled by plane a lot recently so I have not driven much). The first two times that it has happened, I could let the car sit overnight and it started just fine as if nothing was wrong. I could drive it around town for a day or so and then it would happen again while driving with no warning. The third time was this past Thursday and it happened within 1/2 mile after driving. It sat until this morning, I drove it around for 10 miles and then it happened again.
Only 1 CEL has been thrown the whole time: code P0402, EGR excessive. This was thrown just once this whole time and it was thrown during a normal operating time. No CEL thrown while the problem is happening.
So.........................I am wondering if it is the fuel shutoff solenoid that is acting up from time to time and practically cutting off all fuel flow????? This might explain why it goes from perfectly normal acceleration while driving to very poor to only being able to reach 5 mph and the car wanting to stall within a 1/2 mile distance. ANY THOUGHTS on the problem would be greatly appreciated.
-01 Jetta tdi, just shy of 100k, timing belt/water pump changed by local shop (1 month, 1k miles ago), fuel filter is brand new (changed after the problem started)
The problem is that when driving the car suddenly becomes unresponsive/bogs down when throttle is applied. This happens at out nowhere and without warning. The car will be running perfectly fine and then I lose all acceleration while driving. When it first happens, I can VERY SLOWLY reach about 25mph (I could run the same distance faster than driving). Then within 1/2 mile of driving, I can barely reach 5 mph at full throttle, it almost stalls, and the exhaust spews light/medium grey smoke that smells horrible (almost a burning smell). Turning the car off and restarting immediately had no effect, the problem was still there.
This has happened 4 times within the last 2 weeks or so (travelled by plane a lot recently so I have not driven much). The first two times that it has happened, I could let the car sit overnight and it started just fine as if nothing was wrong. I could drive it around town for a day or so and then it would happen again while driving with no warning. The third time was this past Thursday and it happened within 1/2 mile after driving. It sat until this morning, I drove it around for 10 miles and then it happened again.
Only 1 CEL has been thrown the whole time: code P0402, EGR excessive. This was thrown just once this whole time and it was thrown during a normal operating time. No CEL thrown while the problem is happening.
So.........................I am wondering if it is the fuel shutoff solenoid that is acting up from time to time and practically cutting off all fuel flow????? This might explain why it goes from perfectly normal acceleration while driving to very poor to only being able to reach 5 mph and the car wanting to stall within a 1/2 mile distance. ANY THOUGHTS on the problem would be greatly appreciated.