# HELP!!! Passat W8 won't stay started. Possible fuel injection issue?



## Metaforce W8 (May 13, 2009)

Greetings,
I'm new to this board, so please forgive me if this isn't the right place to post this problem.
I have a 2003 Passat W8 Tiptronic. I love the car and have had few problems with it aside from blowing a fuel injector clamp once.
Anyway, I just left work and the place I work is located on a busy highway. Many times, I have to full-throttle it to get out into traffic. Today was one of those occasions. Anyway, I didn't go more than maybe 1/8 of a mile and the car just lost all power and died (in the middle of a busy intersection, of course). I was able to restart it and get it into the parking lot of a gas station before it died again.
Now parked, I started the engine. It turned right over. However, after a few seconds the idle turned lumpy and died. I restarted it and gunned the engine slightly (3500 RPMS) it revved up fine, for a second, then the idle got lumpy and when it tried to rev again, it made like a sucking sound along with the hesitant revving. I opened the hood and checked the fuel injection hoses for any sign of trouble, there was no obvious issue. Everything else under the hood looked alright, too. Anyway, I decided to try to start it again. After my further attempts failed, I gave up, and now my baby is sitting in a gas station parking lot in a bad side of town 2 minutes from my house. My current plan is to try and start it again in an hour or so, hoping maybe it'll reset the engine computer or something. When that surely fails. I'm gonna have it towed to my house.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? Am I gonna have to take a loan out to get it repaired? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Joe


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## 2deepn2dubs (Oct 27, 2002)

*Re: HELP!!! Passat W8 won't stay started. Possible fuel injection issue? (Metaforce W8)*

try the simple things first, to me it sounds like the intake pipe came off and air is bypassing the maf sensor???


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## Metaforce W8 (May 13, 2009)

*Re: HELP!!! Passat W8 won't stay started. Possible fuel injection issue? (2deepn2dubs)*

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention that I'm not the most mechanically inclined person. Is there any way you can explain where to look for the intake pipe? Everything looks pretty crammed in, will I need special tools to remove things? Again, thanks for your help.
-Joe


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## 2deepn2dubs (Oct 27, 2002)

*Re: HELP!!! Passat W8 won't stay started. Possible fuel injection issue? (Metaforce W8)*

just look for hoses or pipes that have popped off or are loose, wiggle test, and wiring connectors that may have come off, around the intake or maf sensor... visual inspection is the easiest form of diagnosing http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif any MIL lights on? did you scan for codes??


_Modified by 2deepn2dubs at 2:00 PM 5-17-2009_


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## Metaforce W8 (May 13, 2009)

*Re: HELP!!! Passat W8 won't stay started. Possible fuel injection issue? (2deepn2dubs)*

That's the weird thing. No check engine lights of any kind or messages in the display. I say it's weird because, before this happened, I would get my check engine light coming on almost once a week, but a day or so later it turned off again. I've never noticed any change in performance, so I never bothered to get a code scanner or anything like that. That's why I think this incident is especially odd. When something actually seems to be going wrong with the engine, there are no warning lights. Anyway, I'm going to go and check around under the hood in a little bit. Thanks.
-Joe


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## 2deepn2dubs (Oct 27, 2002)

*Re: HELP!!! Passat W8 won't stay started. Possible fuel injection issue? (Metaforce W8)*

there can still be stored MIL codes without any lights coming on http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Metaforce W8 (May 13, 2009)

*Re: HELP!!! Passat W8 won't stay started. Possible fuel injection issue? (2deepn2dubs)*

Just a quick update. It has now switched into limp home mode (EPC light illuminated) along with the illumination of the check engine light and the ESP-off light. So, now that it sorta runs, at least I can get it over to a mechanic in the morning to read the code for me.
Thanks,
-Joe
P.S.
Do I need a code reader, or is there a way to manually have it display the engine code?


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## Monko760 (Oct 20, 2009)

I am dealing with this same problem right now. Asking at Justanswer.com I will let you know what they tell me. Any luck at the mechanic?


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## Metaforce W8 (May 13, 2009)

*Re: (Monko760)*

It turned out that the intake pipe was loose and fell off. My VW dealer charged me around $500 to reattach it and to clean the fuel injectors. I hope you have better luck.


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## Monko760 (Oct 20, 2009)

Same exact problem, It was the intake pipe. EASIEST FIX EVER!!!! 
TY Meta again
I should have noticed this before I came on the forum but it was dark last night when I was checked.


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## 2deepn2dubs (Oct 27, 2002)

*Re: (Monko760)*

good! ya you can fix alot of issues with a good visual inspection http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## vertigoeffect (Jul 8, 2004)

*Re: (2deepn2dubs)*

Yea mine did that in south carolina at a light in the middle of a busy intersection. I keep vice grips in the trunk though and had it fixed by the time the next light cycle began. Dont forget a W8 is just a VW, keep duct tape, vice grips and a set of hex tools in the trunk and you can tackle alot of little problems. Im only mildly joking.


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## 2deepn2dubs (Oct 27, 2002)

*Re: (vertigoeffect)*

dont forget zip-ties!!


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## vertigoeffect (Jul 8, 2004)

*Re: (2deepn2dubs)*

zip-ties....my bust, i thought those were a given


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## Metaforce W8 (May 13, 2009)

God, I feel like a real chump now. It seems like even I could have reattached the pipe myself, heh. And I'm not all that mechanically inclined. In my defense, however, I honestly thought my engine was totally screwed. That's why I had it towed to the VW dealer. Anyway, despite all this, I do realize I still am a chump. At least I can admit it today. Admitting it is the first step to recovery, after all.


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## vertigoeffect (Jul 8, 2004)

*Re: (Metaforce W8)*

Well in your defense, for even a moderately mechanically inclined individual it could be a tough catch. If the bottom edge of the hose popped off behind the the intake planum it would be hard to catch, dont feel bad.


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