[s-cars] Need Help - Won't Stay Running

[serge]

Fuel pump relay. BTDT on my VW, same intermittent symptoms.


Serge Filanovsky

95 S6 Avant



> Help!
> 
> 
> 
> I have an odd problem.  My 92 S4 sometimes will not stay running after
> starting. It will start fine but after about 10 to 15 seconds, it appears
> the fuel pump shuts off and the car dies. It can be restarted but each time
> it runs for a shorter period until it will not run at all. Most of the time
> after 6 to 10 tries it starts up and runs fine.
> 
> 
> 
> Since the problem started about 3 months ago, this has happen 4 or 5 times,
> each time it eventually started and ran with out a problem. I have checked
> it with my Prodiag after the events but it has not shown any faults. Again
> after is starts it runs fine.
> 
> 
> 
> The last two days we have had some quite cold weather here in Portland, 15 -
> 20 degF. Sunday night the car would not start at all so I had it towed to my
> friends shop on Monday. Sure enough, it would not start for him. He put a
> fuel pressure gauge and confirmed that the fuel pressure starts to fall and
> then car dies, leading to the idea that we are losing fuel rather than
> ignition or injector trigger signals. Of course, after the car warms up in
> his shop it runs starts and runs fine. He is an Audi expert with almost 30
> years experience and has seen a lot of strange things but this one is new.
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the most interesting point of the story. Whenever it will not start
> the System Diagnostic display, you know with the bulb check and stuff, goes
> crazy showing low fuel, bad brake lights, etc AND the front parking lights
> come on! Dim but they are on. Once the problem goes away so does the problem
> with the display and the parking lights.
> 
> 
> 
> So it sound like a ground problem and the whatever is bad is finding a
> ground path though the parking lights. But how can the parking lights be
> related the engine electronics? This problem did start after I replaced the
> cam belt drive gear. Since I had to pull the front end off and swing the
> radiator out is it possible I left a ground loose or pulled a ground wire
> off? I don't remember anything like that when I did the job but who knows.
> Well, I hope someone on the list does!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, Sorry about the long post.
> 
> 
> 
> Tom Feller 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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