[Metamorphosis]

Hey,

I've owned a few VAG cars (VW Golf and Audi A6) back in the day and I had been looking for a bigger car after moving here from London.

So being a VAG fan, I bought myself a 2005 Touareg V6 a few weeks ago, the car has 49K miles/80K kms on the clock. I had it inspected before I bought it and it didn't really show me any problems except cosmetic issues and a fuel pump/battery issue.

I used ClubTouareg to do a lot of work on the car myself and a few things with the help of the local workshop.

- Battery Replaced (CT DIY Guide) - Original was a 80Amps, I put in 88Amps
- Fuel Pump Replaced (Mechanic)
- New VW Rear Badge (Simple Enough)
- Paint retouch on the the driver side door (Simple Enough)

The car was pretty much perfect apart from that. I ran it for a couple of days, took it to the detailer to get it cleaned up. Did a decent enough job of it. So all cool, car ran fine for a few days, no issues... Until a couple of days and now today it gave up on me!

Initial Symptoms

- When I press down on the accelerator, it would lose power, no acceleration but it would be fine on lower revs.
- I thought it might be water on the coilpack/airbox/sensor so I opened it up and cleaned it just in case but no change.
- The car ran a bit better today, even responding up until 4K RPM and then the same slacking/lack of power/refusal to accelerate/stalling behaviour.

Current Situation

- When I got into the drive way, the car sorta spluttered(?) and died.
- I waited a few seconds, tried to start it up again and it sprung back to life and then a few seconds later, just died again.
- Third time I tried, it comes on again and I got a warning on the MFI saying 'ALTERNATOR WORKSHOP' and the car died again.
- It starts up but dies in a few seconds of that. I don't know what's up.

Anyone want to read through and offer me some advice? The VW shop here has a bit of a bad rep and terribly expensive! I got all the work done in-house (Thank you ClubTouareg DIY's)/local workshop who did an alright job.

What do you guys reckon? Any tips for a fellow owner?

 

[koushtj]

First thing you need to get yourself is a Ross-tech cable, you can't own a dub without one. Once you scan for codes im sure a lot more people will be able to help you with your problem.

 

[Metamorphosis]

First thing you need to get yourself is a Ross-tech cable, you can't own a dub without one. Once you scan for codes im sure a lot more people will be able to help you with your problem.

I've had a look around, I can't seem to find one in the local market or on the local online retailers. A bit tied here bru! I will try have a peek around again but so far haven't had any luck.

 

[Metamorphosis]

Ah I just noticed something else.

- 14V when I turn the key in and if I don't start the car, it dips to 13V
- I start the car and it goes back up to 14V but then the car dies in a few seconds

It just seems odd that the alternator would decide to fail so suddenly, when inspections showed nothing wrong with the car and it was driving beautifully a couple of days ago! It has previously been maintained by VW, all papers and history show no issues but two tyre changes per recommendation.

Could it be a battery issue? Or does it most definitely look like the alternator? Any other ideas?

 

[rarod58]

Ah I just noticed something else.

- 14V when I turn the key in and if I don't start the car, it dips to 13V
- I start the car and it goes back up to 14V but then the car dies in a few seconds

It just seems odd that the alternator would decide to fail so suddenly, when inspections showed nothing wrong with the car and it was driving beautifully a couple of days ago! It has previously been maintained by VW, all papers and history show no issues but two tyre changes per recommendation.

Could it be a battery issue? Or does it most definitely look like the alternator? Any other ideas?

Hmm...do you happen to know which of the two fuel pumps your mechanic replaced and when? Any sputtering or rough idle? Have the coil packs beeen replaced? Unforunately, a number of ignition type issuess will throw completely unrelated codes/warning (example is the cam timing sensor which can be triggered by a misfire).

 

[Metamorphosis]

Hmm...do you happen to know which of the two fuel pumps your mechanic replaced and when? Any sputtering or rough idle? Have the coil packs beeen replaced? Unforunately, a number of ignition type issuess will throw completely unrelated codes/warning (example is the cam timing sensor which can be triggered by a misfire).

Hi Rarod,

The mechanic replaced the LHS (Driver Side/Main) fuel pump but the car was running fine for a couple of days after that. The coil packs look really clean, haven't been replaced since the 60K major service.

It starts everytime, lets me rev it if I want to but just dies. Also there seems to be a slight tapping noise coming from under the airbox/top of the block/near the sensor.

I have put down more information in the introduction thread (A couple of posts down in that thread).

Hi from Dubai & Help Needed =) - Club Touareg Forums

If you can offer some insight, that would be great too. I am working on ordering the VAG-COM in the meantime. I'm just a bit vexed because I feel perplexed at the sudden appearance of this issue. Oh well, joys of a Dub! :anger: