Volkswagen Passat Forum banner

1.8t Won't catch, checked fuel pump,pushed on relay and horn honks

3185 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Tomvw
1.8t Won't start/catch, checked fuel pump,pushed on relay. and horn works

Please bear with me... passat noobie ( 3 weeks). manufactured 5/98 wagon stick shift. car is too much fun, getting pulled over once a week on average. friend at junkyard said "maybe you should change your shoes ?"

The condition ; car running well, has gas, routinely fixing with recycling yard parts (interior etc). just replaced glove box, turned off car. wouldn't start next morning ( turns over ...no catch or trying to catch. dead. did rain previous night. Op ( is this operator ?) is bad with keys attached to wallet, pulls routinely on ignition. (will correct soon...with fancy new remote keys when i can afford).

no water on mats. checked for "car wash condition" turned car over multiple times. put batt on charger( in car). checked for fuel, plugs dry. checked fuel rail, pump not activating. manually hot wired pump with extra batt, pump works. checked all fuses( replaced #14 anyway as per advice). tore cover off pump relay pushed on it no pump ( apparently...no start still exists). tested icm. removed ecm,was dry(and attached harness connectors to interior harness).

horn honks so it's not ignition ? :banghead: thoughts ? Thanks so much in advance. i'm boggled by amount of info here at PW... it's got me this far ...who knew ?! i feel lots better knowing what some of this newfangled gibber-underdash is. this place ( PW) is better than reading a factory manual ( $100 ? wth, guess i'll get it later )

AWESOME.

i should check for spark but it's always fuel OR spark right ? oh yea, not in 70's anymore.check ground was mentioned but...where ? thanks again ?
See less See more
1 - 2 of 6 Posts
Your title is confusing: ...checked fuel pump, pushed on relay and horn honks. That makes it sound like the FP relay operates the horn. Perhaps you were actually pushing the horn relay contacts??

Now that you know the pump runs, but not by pushing the FP relay contacts (you are sure?) then there is either a wiring or ground problem to the pump, or there is no power available at the relay. With the relay cover off, do you see the contacts close while cranking, then open again when you stop cranking the engine? If so, the ECU is doing its job. Now use a DVM to probe the two contacts of the pump relay relative to grounded metal. One should have 12V or so at all times. The other should only have 12V when the contacts are touching. If that one does, then somehow the current is not getting to the pump. Be sure to check the brown (ground) wire at the pump connector for low resistance to grounded metal.
See less See more
Good job, though still not sure what fixed your car. So you had a bad ECM, loose battery clamp, and a fuel pump wiring problem?
1 - 2 of 6 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top