# 2.5 in 2005.5 jetta 2.5 won't start and an hour from the nearest dealership



## bryanp22 (Jun 27, 2005)

I have a 2005.5 jetta 2.5. I am at my parents house and went to move the car and it just died after going a little bit in reverse. It turns over, and I can see the pulleys moving that has the belt on left side of the engine, but it won't even attempt to start. Does this indicate the timing chains/belts are intact? After turning the engine over for a few seconds I can smell gas. It's hard to tell if the engine is functioning mechanically since I don't know what it's like for it to crank awhile as it normally started immediately. Any ideas? Just from reading about volkswagen's I'd guess either coil pack or timing belts, but I am need asisstance in trying to diagnose either. I say timing belts as my car has already had it replaced twice under warranty. Prior to this the only issues with the timing was the check engine light would come on, but that car still worked fine. This time we got no warning and the car just died. I am five hours away from my normal dealership, and an hour away from any volkswagen dealership so I was hoping to have a few things I could check on my own before calling the dealership for a tow. We also checked all the fuses in the engine compartment. Since the car never starts I cannot tell if the check engine light is on. Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

can you put the radio on? 

do windshield wipers work? 

care to share a vid..? does anyone close has vag com?


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## bryanp22 (Jun 27, 2005)

I'll try the windshield wipers, and the radio in the morning. No vag-come that I know of near me. What would you like the video to show the engine bay or the dash when attempting to start it?


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## tchilds (Nov 21, 2008)

This motor does not have a timing belt. It has timing chains that are lubricated w/oil and internal. If they were replaced twice under warranty, you have some serious problems with this motor. If this is your third timing chain failure, get your car replaced under lemon law. 

The motor in your rabbit has a small but notorious history of timing chain failures with similar symptoms to those you have listed. 

Your motor needs to have the timing, compression, and ECM checked for fault codes or problems. You need to have your car towed to a mechanic, there is nothing you can do. Start finding all the documentation from your other warranty repairs while your car is at the dealership and post up the details here. 

You could easily get screwed on this one. If your motor is actually on its third timing chain you really need to look into your lemon laws and see what options are available. 

If you are truly on your third timing chain. DO NOT, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT repair this motor on your own dime. Buy a good, used, low mileage 2.5 motor and get it installed for a total of around $2500 tops. Repairing a motor that has had multiple timing chain failures is an exercise in futility and would better be used as a paper weight.


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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

tchilds said:


> This motor does not have a timing belt. It has timing chains that are lubricated w/oil and internal. If they were replaced twice under warranty, you have some serious problems with this motor. If this is your third timing chain failure, get your car replaced under lemon law.
> 
> The motor in your rabbit has a small but notorious history of timing chain failures with similar symptoms to those you have listed.
> 
> ...


 i agree, but we can't be sure right now. 

it'd be better if he provided more info, before sending him to tow the car to the dealer.


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## tchilds (Nov 21, 2008)

thygreyt said:


> i agree, but we can't be sure right now.
> 
> it'd be better if he provided more info, before sending him to tow the car to the dealer.


 he smells gas and the car isn't starting! it has a history of major failures and repairs under warranty. he also clearly doesn't even know what those repairs were. so that leaves him with compression and timing check, as well as ignition. be my guest if you want to take on the task of walking someone through all that who doesn't know the difference between an accessory belt (i'm assuming) and a timing chain. 

Bry, 
This car needs to go to a mechanic. Don't mess with it because you clearly don't know what you are doing or talking about when it comes to this motor. I'm telling you this because I don't want to see you wasting your time on a piece of junk or making things worse for yourself. Even changing the plugs on the alloy cylinder head, you could easily strip the threads or break an ignition coil removing it w/out proper tools or experience. Save yourself the headache and get this car to a mechanic if it is an option. It does not have to go to the dealership one hour away to have a basic diagnostic run on it to determine the cause of the problem. 

If compression has failed, ignition has failed, or timing has failed... do you have the tools and knowledge to attempt to resolve these issues? If not it will have to go to a mechanic anyway, after you spend all your time "doing what you can". If you really have to, pull the plugs and see if they're gone. That is the only thing you're really going to be able to do that might resolve a non start issue. 

If you want some help with this problem you're going to have to post more than stuff about a timing belt that doesn't even exist on this motor. Sry if I come off rude but I want to help you and your initial post is confusing. Can you look at the work orders and list what they've actually repaired on this motor? 

Also, any universal scanner will work for something major like this. vag com is nice for detailed information, but something like this will be easily depicted by a universal scanner from any auto parts store. DO NOT LET THEM ERASE ANY CODES TELL THEM TEN MILLION TIMES NOT TO ERASE ANYTHING 

If it were me, I would hook up the tow chains to my vw and drag it down to nearest auto parts store w/a friend. Scan it, if anything about timing then straight to dealership. If nothing obvious, check plugs and replace (rent a torque wrench from the store its important for spark plugs on this motor). If you can get this car scanned, by any good universal scanner, both ignition and timing faults will be extremely obvious and do not require a vagcom to explain in detail or "decode". You can also run a compression check in the parking lot w/rented tools while you're working on the plugs in the parking lot. Checking compression is something you will probably need a little help with from an ol'grease monkey working at the store. 

If my motor had a single timing chain failure, I would just buy a new one. FYI. three is just stupid. We need you to look at work order and actually list what the dealership did. Because if all they did was retime the motor after it kept skipping a tooth, they owe you about $5,000. Those work orders and invoices are linked to parts that dealerships are required to purchase and are tracked from the manufacturer. Something smells rly fishy about a motor that went out of time three times in its life, if that is truly the case. This is a long shot but worth looking into, Rly need to know what those papers say though. 

I really hope that your motor just has a bad ignition coil or five, or bad plugs, or both. That could also easily cause these problems. Its just rly hard to decipher anything from your initial post because this motor does in fact not have a timing belt. Any mechanic can change the plugs or diagnose the ignition system problems of a VW. The only thing your car absolutely has to go to the dealership for is any job that requires the cylinder head to be removed or a safety equipment fault such as air bags or seatbelts.


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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

yeah... i didnt think over the complete diagnostic. 

i'm going to assume you are not very wrench handy, you do not have proper tools for diagnostics, not very car knowledgeable, and well... you made a mess on the first post. 

so yes, tay is right... call a tow and get it to the dealer, because in my opinion, even if it were something as simple as a bad ground, then you just wouldnt be able to spot and fix... 

hell, most people have trouble removing the stock cover. 

anyhow, a car that doesnt start and smells funny can be anything. so much that when my ECU crashed and went into protect mode or whatever, the car would start, but iddle would be at 1100 rpm, it wouldnt rev past 2k, no faster than 10 miles per hour, and it would smell funny. 

so, yes. tow it, and find all of the car's medical history. it is VERY important.


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## tchilds (Nov 21, 2008)

yeh well i'm still not convinced this isn't just a troll :banghead: I mean timing belt? Really? Sry Bry but that is like nightshift material. j/k bro 

lol i'm going to laugh if the dealership invoice calls the chain a belt and that's the source of confusion. 

Any way he's looking at a trip to mechanic, our help with coils and plugs, or a long fight with the stealership over a severely defunct chain job/scam and VWoA/his lawyer, maybe lemon law if he lucky case. 

I'm rooting for coils because his car is old enough to have the pre-revision coils that would warrant a full replacement under recall! That would be the happiest ending. Hopefully it just turns out he never took his car in for the recall. I love these types of threads, never know where they are going haha. 

Can you post up the repair information, and let us know if you've ever had any recalls performed? (should be in your paper work) 


Can you also check the fuel line near the fluid washer resevervoire Bry? There is a fuel line that gets a hole rubbed in it there, if you haven't performed that recall either. This would make the car smell like gas and eventually not run if it actually wore all the way through the inner wall of the gas line. when i had a broken injector oring, my car still ran fine on 4 cylinders but it sprayed gas all over the motor and I could hear it actually spraying, smell it, and see it after attempting to start the car. The fuel line is grouped with two others near the washer fluid reservoir, in a small plastic bracket that holds all three together. The fuel line is the one running off the fuel rail, the metal square thing on top of your injectors (where the wires go that don't go to the coils)


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