ouTTie914

It's obvious that the timing belt doesn't look healthy. Car has 121k miles on it, first TB (including all that goes with it) was replaced at 56k miles. I know it needs to be replaced sooner rather then later to avoid impending doom.

But here's my question, is this the reason my car won't start? My 2000 quattro 180 has been sitting for awhile now. It ran fine before having sat for so long. I've replaced the battery, plugs, coils, fuel filter, fuel pump relay, fuel pump, engine oil and filter. Before my laptop with the bentley manual and VAG-COM died I only had a few codes for misfires on cyclinders 1 and 4 I believe. I started messing with the fuel parts after discovering that I kept blowing the fuse for the fuel pump. After replacing the fuel pump the fuse seems to be happy, but the car still won't start. Today I decided to take a peek at the timing belt and the attached photo is what I found.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Jim TT

No, I don't think it is your timing belt (it does need to be replaced); you need to scan the car. It could be a cam or crank shaft position sensor but you won’t know without scanning it, if need be buy a cheap OBDII reader.

BR TT

Is it turning over like it's trying to start and not getting fuel? I would double check the connections to your fuel pump. Also you may have your fuel lines completely empty (full of air) so you may have leave the key in the on position for a bit then crank the motor for 10 seconds or so to get fuel all the way back to your motor.

J. Patterson

Agreed. Got to scan it. And when it is running, DO THE TB and WP and Tensioner!

ouTTie914

Yeah it cranks, it sounds like it wants to start but just won't give me that final purr of satisfaction. I still have the back seat out and I check the fuel pump connections before and after each time I try to start it. They're on and tight. I just finished cleaning the injectors with carb cleaner. It started for about half a second then stalled out. Now I'm started to think the injectors are failing, or there is a blockage somewhere in the lines.

It's a snow day so I'll dig out my old OBDII reader and see what it says. I'm almost positive that this is a lack of fuel issue.

frozen-stitches

it might be a fuel issue, when i did my Rear brakes and my car (MK1 3.2) was tilted for a few hours (had to get a special tool) it wouldn't want to start. and when it did it ran really rough for about 5 minutes and stalled out twice. could be some blockages or just not enough fuel in the lines to keep her running. But check with the scanner and don't go ***** nilly replacing parts diagnose it right before throwing parts at it.

ouTTie914

It was a combination of bad gas(dark yellow/amber, looked worse then leaded gas from the 50's), and the hose for the sender unit that kept disconnecting itself. A $8 syphon from walmart to get the bad gas out, reconnecting the sender unit hose, and some fresh 93... She started like there was never a problem.

Every now and again the sender unit hose on the fuel pump keeps disconnecting. It's been a pain, but I've noticed if I keep the tank half full it stays connected. I'm thinking the gas keeps the hose floating and happy.

Now it runs and I've started to replace the timing belt and accessories.