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Golf Mk6 GT 1.4 TSi 160 Starting Problem

PeterG

New member
I thought I would share my recent problem with my 2009 Mk6 Golf GT 1.4 TSi 160. I bought it in May 2015 from a local VW dealer with only 7400 miles on the clock (that's right, seriously low mileage for a 6 year old car). However within a week it developed an intermittent problem where it would turn over but not start. After five or six attempts it would eventually fire up. Once running everything was OK.

This happened mostly first thing in the morning, but one day it happened several times. On one occasion the Engine Management and Oil Warning lights came on. No codes were displayed on my OBDII reader so I took it back to the VW dealer.

They had the car for a week. After managing to replicate the problem the ECU displayed so many codes that they could not identify what the problem was. The decided to replace the ECU, under warranty thank goodness, otherwise it would have been a £1900 bill.

All was fine for about three weeks when the problem happened yet again. The Engine Management and Oil Pressure lights came one. But this time no matter how hard I tried I could not get the car to start. It would turn over but not fire up. I could hear the fuel pump prime when I opened the drivers door. I called the AA, who suspected it was a fuel starvation problem. The AA man used his box of tricks to reset the ECU and the was able to get the car started. So I drove it straight back to the VW dealer. They had it for another week. Eventually they diagnosed the problem...

The fault was corroded/tarnished terminals in the fuse box.

After replacing the entire fuse box and a couple of relays the car has been trouble free ever since. This would not have been covered by the 1 year VAG warranty, but as they had already replaced the ECU unnecessarily they did it free as a good will gesture. Apparently the corroded terminals were causing an unreliable power supply the the ECU.

So if you have an intermittent starting problem with your Mk 6 Golf 1.4 TSi engine and the garage is contemplating replacing the ECU, get them to check the integrity of the fuse box connections first.

I hope that helps?
 

blower

Ready to race!
Thanks for the info - i have never heard of corroded terminals in the fuse box, sounds like water has got in there at some point.
 

mthunzi

New member
Info on fuse box

I have exactly the same problem with my car can you specify which fuse box did you change and the relays that you changed
Thanks
 
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