hi all 67vwhyper im new to rice, this forum and water cooled auto repair im a vw guy, german born so thanks to all that hear my cries in advance im doing all this for my son who doesnt have the time or funds recently joined the california conservation corps hes doing great however hes getting bad marks for being late and missing days kinda my fault i helped him get the car from local tow yard salvaged anyways heres my problem only driven 3 or 4times cant get it running to pass saftey/dmv for registration runnin on empty funds and know how first let me say day 1started up fine,overheated a little changed thermo,flushed ect,went over engine checking misc,prepping for smog= oil change, hoses,changed ing lock had keys made ect oh yeah found out it was theft recovery/salvage after it was bought, after checking obvious was amazed that it was in such good cond so passed smog on way home kinda sputterd on freeway just once got home got non op for 1 day on way to dmv broke down no start seemed to be fuel related left for about hour brought gas back put in thought mabe gas gauge not working had no tools it started but sputterd home did ecu jump no codes no cel killed battery trying to start charged got started every time i push on gas pedal it dies previously read some postsat first it was dying when driving ie warmed up now no cold start or rather when pushing accelerrator checked ingnition switch spark fuel seemed to happen when warmed up changed main relay/new checked fuses,plug connections ect noticed after third click ignition without starting if i push gas pedal clicking sound from ecu/pass side dash either no start or ruff start dies when gas pedal pushed is there a switch or connection that may be shorting at gas pedal please help no time and little funds

 

Long post with almost not breaks between issues, kind of hard to follow.

Sounds like you have a no start condition? Turn the key, starter spins just the car will not run. Have you sparyed carb cleaner/starting fluid into the tb to see if it runs?

For spark, have you pulled the plugs and checked for spark? Also inspect the plugs to see if they are worn....could just need a tune up?

 

sorry about post being crowded my 1st time its starts fine idles then i push gas pedal and it dies if i try to start and it doesnt and i push on gas pedal i hear clicking noise seems like pass side by ecu did code flash no problems come up it was idleing fine and starting fine the other day tryed to get vin verification at dmv drove fine until about 5 miles died and would not start seemed like no fuel came back hour later put gas in started ok chugged a little got home tryed to start next day no start also fuel gage does not go back down when key on or off didnt notice if it did before had the car two weeks never worked on anything other than vws can anyone shed some light nothing has changed or done to car since it ran and started fine last week passed smog with great results only thing smog guy did was put new gas cap ps poorman thanksfor reply

 

Hey 67vwhyper,

You last post is one run-on sentence and is impossible to understand what is going on. Most people on here are willing to help, but won't if they can read what is up with your car.

 

Ok, I tried to understand.

Re-read first post. You replaced the t-stat. Be sure to check the ground cable on the housing. Should-needs to be clean and tight. Clicking sound could be coming from the ECU loosing ground, ground for the ECU is on the t-stat housing...a reach I know.

Then. Check tune up items (cap, rotor, wires, plugs). You just got the car so you don't know how they are or when they were last changed. Aslo when you pull the wires, look for oil in the tubes where they go, for that matter also be sure there isn't oil inside the dist cap.

Question, key to on. Does the CEL light come on for a few seconds and then go off with a small "click" under the dash on the left/drivers side (LHD, correct?).

Also check the fuel pressure at the fuel rail, or replace the fuel filter (again, you are not sure if or when that was done).

one more for now, .....how long was the car sitting...bad gas??