QuestionGreetings, I have a 97 Jetta 2L (250,000 Km) that does not like to start in the morning or when left setting for more than a few hours. It cranks and cranks but when the let go of the start position, it fires a few time and then quits. To get it going I have to pump the gas or hold the petal to the floor. I’ve checked the TPS with an ohm meter and it reads ok ie the value changes as I move the throttle up and down.
It is particularly bad when it is cold or damp and cold. I have replaced plugs, ignition wires, distributor cap and rotor several times. I replaced the original coil ( it had a crack on the high voltage turret and was arcing badly in wet weather) with one from an older model which was bigger but it still puts out a hefty blue spark both from the wire and from the plug. I checked and it looks like it is getting gas to the gas manifold for the injectors. I have not pulled an injector to see if it is actually squirting as it looks a little complicated to do so.
I surfed the web for answers and one person, who had similar problem, said it was the crank position sensor but at $300 a pop I don’t want to start guessing.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and take care .. Vic
AnswerHi Vic,
Most likely the problem is your thermo-time switch or cold-start injector.
The thermo-time switch in your Jetta tells the cold start injector to add extra fuel to the motor when it's cold (kind of like a choke-effect). When the engine is warm the thermo-time switch turns off, thus turning off the cold-start injector.
The best way to check this is to see if you are getting voltage to the cold-start injector by unplugging the wire, and having someone start the car while you have a test light on the plug. If no voltage is present on a cold engine, you can pretty much bank on the fact that the thermo-time switch needs to be replaced.
If there is indeed voltage, suspect the cold start injector.
Both parts are each below $75.00.
This should solve your problem.
Happy Motoring!
Ron
