'03 jetta TDI engine stall

[drak10687]

so like the description says, we have a '03 jetta TDI (manual), with which we have not experienced any serious problems... until now.

I live in Quebec City, Canada, where the temperature now is about -20 C (without windchill).  This winter, my dad has noticed a large fuel consumption increase (about 40%), which has never happened during any other winter.  But more disturbingly, last weekend we were driving out of town to go ice fishing, and while making a u-turn, the car stalled.  Being half-way in the middle of an intersection, my dad didnt wait for the "orange-coil light" to turn off before trying to start the car.  Still, it was surprising that it took about 2 minutes to get it started again.  finaly, we got on the highway, but my dad had the gas pedal to the floor while we could barely reach 100km/h.  The car then started to slow down.  We finally went off to the side of the road, where upon stopping, the car stalled again.  Eventually, after several attempts at starting the car, we got it towed to the VW dealership garage and left it there for the weekend.  We thought that it might have been the gas pump, but on monday, my dad had to pick up the car, as the mechanics started it with no problem, and after running their computer through it, they found nothing wrong.  For now its running fine, but still with large fuel consumption.

BTW, before setting out, we had a full tank of gas... uh diesel, so it couldnt have frozen.  We also stopped by at the carwash right before setting out, which possibly might have frozen something besides the doors.

Anyways, we're not sure what to do now.  But thanks for reading and any suggestions.

[jtanguay]

thats a pretty weird problem... first thing i would suspect is air in the lines... do '03's have lift pumps???

and you said the glow plug light came on after trying to start the engine warm??? very odd as well...

most vehicles that have the AIT (air intake temp) sensor will pretty much send as much fuel as they can during winter because of the denser air... i wonder if thats what is going on for the bad fuel economy.  doesn't make sense though... 40% drop is huuuuuge!

i would say change the fuel filter and run some diesel fuel conditioner (a good one that disperses water, keeps from gelling, and lubricates the injection pump)

[andy2]

Definitely change the fuel filter it could be partially plugged and may have some water in it.Last winter the shop I work at had several VW TDI'S towed in that had quit on the road.We changed the fuel filters and put Stanadyne addadive in all of them and none of these cars have been back to our shop since, this leads me to believe that they was no other issues with them!

[vixentd]

Sounds like what happened to me. THe was in the fuel filter is plugging up the fuel when it is that cold. Add power performance or an additive for cold starting for diesel.  With mine it would run very slow until the fuel warmed up then great then slow.  Power blend I think is the nice of the additive truckers use for cold weather.

[drak10687]

thanks for the advice.

My dad said that the mechanics put in some additive, but they said nothing about changing the fuel filter.

Some of his colleagues advised the same thing.  Someone also said that its possible that the diesel from the gas station had water in it... though that wouldn't explain the constant fuel consumption.

Anyways, we'll see what happens.

[jtanguay]

well if you think about it.. if the fuel is really thick and full of bubbles that will give you problems right there.  you will need to depress your pedal much more to get going at the same speeds as you would normally, therefore increasing your fuel consumption.  winterized diesel supposedly has less energy in it too.  and water in your diesel is very very very bad for your injectors...