TexHess

Hey guys I’m new to the forum and new to this type of car, but I’m pretty mechanically inclined and I have been working on cars and motorcycles for most of my life. I’m not trying to say I’m some home taught master mechanic or anything, but I am familiar with engines and working on vehicles in general.

Anyway, here is the problem: I’m looking at getting a 2000 Audi TT Quatro with the 4 cyl turbo and 5 speed trans. It has about 121,000 miles on it. The car has been sitting and now it will crank but it won’t start. If I can get it to start, or get it close to starting without spending much money I’ll take it, but It barely even acts like it wants to start. No sputter or anything. I don’t know the service history of the car, but im sure the timing belt needs changed/adjusted. That being said, I personally have checked for spark, fuel, and air, and the car has all 3. This is how I checked for fuel and spark. Air was obviously a given haha.

Spark Test:
Pulled all 4 coil packs, stuck the plugs in them, set them on the head, had my ol’ lady crank the car: all plugs spark

Fuel Test:
Pulled the fuel rail with injectors as one unit, had the ol’ lady crank it: fuel sprayed out of the injectors.

Since I have fuel, spark, and the tach moves when cranking, can I rule out the crank position sensor? The check engine light comes on when the key is in the accessory position, so that should rule out the ECU correct? I don’t know if this matters, but the key I was using to start the car had the key fob broken off of it, and the battery that was in the car was not the correct one.

Now we tried to get the car started. I hooked up jumper cables to it (properly), started my truck (the vehicle that was jumping the TT) and cranked it a few times. The car seemed to crank pretty slow, but I figured it was just lack of power from the bat. No start no sputter. –waited a few minutes with the truck running-

I figured maybe it needed a little help so I sprayed some starter fluid in the intake manifold while cranking. No start no sputter.

Figured maybe the junk battery in the car just wasn’t letting enough power get to the starter, so I pulled the battery out of my truck and dropped it in. I noticed the ground wire was very hot. Hot enough to where I could not maintain contact for more than a couple seconds or so.

I added some distilled water to the coolant reservoir because it was bone dry and tried again. No start no sputter. Im pretty sure the whole system is bone dry and I think this may be one of the problems. Are there any sensors in the cooling system that will keep the car from starting? But if that was the case, I would assume I wouldn’t get spark or fuel or either of the 2, but I did. Anyway, I don’t know this system very well, so maybe there is something else?

The car seemed to be cranking pretty slow at first, but it eventually sped up some. It seemed like there was enough cranking speed to start, but I don’t know for sure. Im thinking the starter is going bad given the slow crank and the excessive heat from the ground wire.

Ive heard of guys getting spark, but not getting enough spark and they had to change their ICM. This car has the ICM built into the coil pack correct? – If this is the case, is there any way I can check how well the coil pack is working with a multi-meter or something?

I don’t have any type of code scanner or a VAGcom, and I am extremely reluctant to spend any real money on this car since it isn’t even mine yet. Im just wondering if there is anything else that is a relatively simple fix or some component that I can verify as the problem that I haven’t checked yet. Im planning on going to try to get it started again later today if I can come up with a game plan.

Does anyone have any ideas about what the problem(s) are? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Vegas-roadster

Have you removed the plastic cap at the top of the timing belt assembly to check the belt? If the timing belt is gone/loose, you will need a comopete top end overhaul and lkely some psitons. It is a zero clearance engine. The timing belt. tensioner, water pump, etc must be replaced every 5 years or 60k but most casual owners don't do this.

TexHess

He said it ran when he parked it, and for the first year he would go drive it every 3 months or so. One day he went to drive it and it wouldn't start. Looked under the hood and saw the timing belt looked frayed, so he had a mechanic replace it. It still wouldn't start after that.

Vegas-roadster

The average person would not know where to look for the timing belt, even though it is easy to find. Was the prior owner able to start the car with only the blade and not the fob?