My 98 vw passat 1.8L won't start.

Asked by mikescarprobs Feb 23, 2014 at 01:25 PM about the 1998 Volkswagen Passat 4 Dr GLS 1.8T Turbo Sedan

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My 98 vw passat 1.8L won't start. The car sat for a bit, the alarm drained the battery all during winter. so it sat for like 4 months and thus that battery failed, apparently a cell collapsed. so i bought a new battery, the car still has 3/4 of gas, ran fine before, has oil and again it still doesn't start. It cranks with more power now, but does not turn over. I tried the battery terminal hold together reset, still nothing, jump start nothing. Any other idea's

3 Answers

1,415

I would check the coilpacks, spark plugs, fuel pump. Basically you want to make sure you have fuel and ignition.

1,415

Also, a very common issue on the 1.8T is the Engine Speed Sensor/ Crankshaft Sensor. Would result in a crank but no start.

3 people found this helpful.
3,410

You might have some water in the gas lines, or the gas octane has dropped too low to ignite properly. Buy a few small cans of gas line antifreeze and pour them into your gas tank, along with a bottle of injector cleaner, octane booster, and gas stabilizer. Buy a can of starting fluid, and have a friend handy. Turn the ignition key enough but not to start, wait 20-30s, turn it off, then repeat it 2-3 times to build-up some fuel pressure. Now disconnect the air duct between the air filter and the fuel system, and then spray the starter fluid into the throttle body and have someone try to start the vehicle. Once the vehicle starts up, it will run rough for a few minutes while the computer tries to retrain itself again. Very common problem for older VW and Audi's.

3 people found this helpful.

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