23 replies to this topic

[Dc]

i have a 1993 volkswagon fox
everything was running fine till somone else tried to start my car and stalled it
now it just turns over but wont start
the distributor cap seems fine
i thought it might be flooded so i let it sit, still no good
everything electrical seems fine
fuel pump fuse is good
i havent checked the timing belt yet, will probably do that tomorow
the whole fuel system seems fine
does anyone know what else if could be?

[Bunny]

Starter motor could of died.. Or coil/and or leads. =)

[Shaginator]

If you checked the fuel pump and its good than you can eliminate that obviously its not a fuel problem...unless somehow your fuel filter is clogged.

Its not your starter because if it was the motor would not be turning over.

Its most likely an ignition problem check all your plugs and wires and make sure the engine is getting fire. Its possible in that situation that you may have fouled a plug but....that shouldnt be enough to keep the motor from starting completley. In that situation it should start but just run rough because one cylinder isnt firing.

Even if it had "jumped time" again, alot of times it will still run for a little but but run rough as hell. Hopefully this isnt what happened because its gonna cost a little to get it fixed.

Edit : Heres something else I found that may be helpful.

Cranky Foxy
If you own a VW Fox with a recurring no crank condition, and you seem to have checked everything from the starter to the main electrical connections, the problem may be at the fuse box. Some Foxes without passive restraint seat belts have a jumper connection where the passive restraint relay would have been. We have found some of these jumpers to be either loose or corroded, causing the vehicle to randomly not want to crank. So, before starter, first check this jumper. Note: You will only find one jumper connector on your fuse box!

Edited by Shaginator, 15 August 2005 - 07:03 AM.

[Dc]

ive checked all fuses and i could find and whatnot, they are all fine.
i wil check the timing belt, all wires having to do with ignition, and the fuel filter.
i just hope its anything BUT the timing belt, cause i had to replace one on my 84 volvo before and damn, replacing that thing is hell.

[alone]

Cars don't have kill-switches do they?
Cus I've made that mistake on my bike before, just turns over but never starts. Don't actually know anything about cars/driving, but input is always good!

[Crane]

Cars don't have kill-switches do they?
Cus I've made that mistake on my bike before, just turns over but never starts. Don't actually know anything about cars/driving, but input is always good!

My car has an immobiliser that causes the same effect. The immobiliser would not deactivate at one point because the microchip in my car-key was damaged. But looking at the age of your car I don't think yours has such an immobiliser.

The spark plugs are fine, I presume.

Can't you take it to a garage and let the mechanics check it out? If someone tried to start the car and it stalled, it might have already had a problem and the jolt from the stall made it worse.

[Dc]

well my car does have a kill switch, if the driver seat belt is not in, it wont start, but it wont even turn over if its not in, so that is not the problem. i would take it into a mechanic, but the car is not worth that much. i dont wanna spend much money on it. and the car didnt stall, the person in my car stalled it. its a manual. and she tried to start moving in 3rd gear with the emergency brake still on. besides this, the car has ran fine. the only other problem was tht the alternator went out like a month and half or two months ago.

[Sneaky]

Sounds to me like the chick that can't drive manual owes you some money...

[Sourcream]

sounds like a dead battery or bad alternator.. Possibly even bad wire feeds the car is like 14 yrs old So id have it tower to the shop and let them give it a tune up...

But i would Geuss alternator or bad battery..

[Shaginator]

if it was bad battery or alternator...it wouldnt turn over...could be the alternator but generally if the cars battery has enough power to turn the car over it has enough power for the electical system to feed off of it for it to at least start

Edit : I cant type

Edited by Shaginator, 16 August 2005 - 04:27 AM.

[Dc]

its not the alternator or battery
and i wouldnt take money from her
today is her birthday

Edited by Dc, 16 August 2005 - 07:31 AM.

[newb2]

You have to get it fixed ASAP because crunchy rolls.

[Issy]

Those run off of Fuel Injection systems. Check the fuel injector lines. Make some none of them have dirt or anything in them. Pull out the spark plugs, make sure they are ok. And on the fox's they had a rotor underneat the distributor cap. Pull the distributor cap off and make sure that the rotor isn't bad. (rotors are like 20 bucks at a parts store) Try that out. Make sure as well underneath the distributor cap that there is no black deposits or burns. Normall that means a mis fire. And one other thing, make sure the spark plug wires are on correctly. (not sure of the firing order, but my volkswagon was 3 1 2 4, make sure that the appropiate plug wire is on the appropiate spark plug and plug on the cap)

[fallen]

personally I would get someone to give me a hand and losin the adjuster's on the distributor cap (mark it in its current position) and have some one roll the engine over and try retarding and advancing the timing by turning the distributor cap clockwise and if it doesnt start then counter clockwise. If that doesnt work tighten it back up in its old position, were it is standard I would find myself a decent hill and let it roll down a bit and pop the clutch out in second gear while the key is in the on position. If that doesnt do it then you know u have 1 of 3 issues. 1. no fuel getting into the engine 2. no spark or firing. 3. No air getting into the engine/fuel system.....to check these things you could, try taking the inline fuel line off of the injector system/carbarator itself cause if its getting that far chances are its making it to the engine, so just remove the line and turn the car over for a brief moment and the fuel pump should make gas stream out the line...for issue 2 witch I am willing to bet it probley is....is the car isnt getting any spark, for this you can try a few things...the more brave way to check this would be to take a spark plug out of the engine leave it connected to the spark plug boot (black cap on the top of the spark plug) and hold onto the spark plug while someone "flicks" the engine over.. if u get a decent shock then its firing another way to check would be to hold onto the spark plug boot and hold the spark plug close to a ground (like a peice of metal that u know is grounded somewheres) u would only want like a half an inch gap from the bottom of the spark plug and the ground, then turn the car over if u see a spark you will know it is firing although I think this is the problem cause if its getting gas and spark and u are turing it over and its not starting typically it will let out a few loud backfires. (as the gas builds up in the cylinder and the car get spark it backfires) ... If you are getting spark and gas you may wanna check out ur air filtering system make sure the path ways are clear and the filter it self isnt completly stocked full of crap...anyways dunno if any of that makes sence to you or if I have typed it correctly but good luck.

[Dc]

we tried turning the engine over then checked the spark plugs, and they were completely dry, so im guessing it is a fuel problem.
we are replacing the fuel filter right now, well see if that fixes it. i just hope its not the fuel pump, cause the car is not worth that much.

[Issy]

personally I would get someone to give me a hand and losin the adjuster's on the distributor cap (mark it in its current position) and have some one roll the engine over and try retarding and advancing the timing by turning the distributor cap clockwise and if it doesnt start then counter clockwise. If that doesnt work tighten it back up in its old position, were it is standard I would find myself a decent hill and let it roll down a bit and pop the clutch out in second gear while the key is in the on position. If that doesnt do it then you know u have 1 of 3 issues. 1. no fuel getting into the engine 2. no spark or firing. 3. No air getting into the engine/fuel system.....to check these things you could, try taking the inline fuel line off of the injector system/carbarator itself cause if its getting that far chances are its making it to the engine, so just remove the line and turn the car over for a brief moment and the fuel pump should make gas stream out the line...for issue 2 witch I am willing to bet it probley is....is the car isnt getting any spark, for this you can try a few things...the more brave way to check this would be to take a spark plug out of the engine leave it connected to the spark plug boot (black cap on the top of the spark plug) and hold onto the spark plug while someone "flicks" the engine over.. if u get a decent shock then its firing another way to check would be to hold onto the spark plug boot and hold the spark plug close to a ground (like a peice of metal that u know is grounded somewheres) u would only want like a half an inch gap from the bottom of the spark plug and the ground, then turn the car over if u see a spark you will know it is firing although I think this is the problem cause if its getting gas and spark and u are turing it over and its not starting typically it will let out a few loud backfires. (as the gas builds up in the cylinder and the car get spark it backfires) ... If you are getting spark and gas you may wanna check out ur air filtering system make sure the path ways are clear and the filter it self isnt completly stocked full of crap...anyways dunno if any of that makes sence to you or if I have typed it correctly but good luck.

That doesn't work with that year of VW's. The cap is situated by a metal clip that you just clip right onto it, it doesn't effect the timing.

[fallen]

sometimes in the older cars when u think its the fuel pump it can actually be the wiring going to the fuel pump I would recomend testing it with a test light or if u dont have one u could run a wire from ur battery to the fuel pump and see if it runs once u connect it.... if it does a cheap solution is to hook the fuel pump up on a toggle switch u would just have to remember to turn it on when ur going to start the car and off when u are turning it off or it could cause some issues like flooding, running ur battery down and empting all ur fuel. Only problem is in alot of cases the fuel pump is mounted on the top of the gas tank so u have to drop it down to troubleshoot it witch means u will need new gas tank straps when ur done .. or if ur not willing to spend any money at all and just dont care about the car I have seen plp cut large holes in the truck to get access to the tank without dropping it down.

[«™®?¨CHaÏNY¨?™»]

Just a suggestion before you go ripping off timing belts and trying to find top dead center at 2am with a lighter and candle <I speak from experiance hehe> I'd suggest you either check to see if theres water in the oil or get yourself a pressure tester and see that you haven't cracked or warped your head. If you not getting compression she won't fire up. I am not sure which the 93 one is but my 90 model was one of the few vw's where I actually bent a valve, a mean feat in a VW since they have glorious valve clearance. My Fox finally had it's engine opened to redo valve stem seals and rings, bearings, big ends and mains after she'd clocked a hefty 300 000kilometers. It still had the factory paint markings on the head when we opened her once I'd knackered the valves.

[Dc]

ive had head problems before on another car of mine, so thats the first thing i checked. the head and all gaskets are fine.

[fallen]

Have u checked the fuel pump ?

[Dc]

im pretty sure the fuel pump is working
when we try to start it, it pumps gas, we can open the lines in the engine and see that
but if we then take out the spark plugs, the are bone dry
could it be the fuel injectors maybe?

[fallen]

It could be ya .... you might wanna try spraying some ethier or WD-40 or if you dont have any a bit of gas down through the air system as u try to roll it over. Just make sure u are sparying it in the direction of the intake. It should at least sound like its gonna start and some what turn over. Or if u take out a spark plug or 2 you can pour a little gass down in the head and see if it tries to start if you try this one though make sure u dont pour to much as it isnt the greatest on the head gasket if you put to much in.

[Dc]

i realized that i do not have all the time i used to for working on my cars, so shamefully, i have done somthing i have never done with one of my cars yet.
i towed it to Harloff automotive today, to have them look at it.