2006 Passat Won’t Start

My son has a 2006 VW Passat that won’t start. It does turn over but won’t fire. The guy he got it from said it just died while they were driving it, but he didn’t do any kind of troubleshooting. He thought it was the starter or the alternator, so we swapped those out, but nothing changed. We’re getting fuel to the high-pressure fuel pump, but don’t know if it’s getting any farther. I ohmed out the solenoid on the high-pressure fuel pump and am getting about 1.5 ohms. I’ve been searching for what they should have for ohms but can’t find anything. Just wondering if anybody has any experience with this. I haven’t had any luck finding any info so far.

Had an S15 pickup die on me on the freeway in the 90s. Just like you turned the key off. Would crank and crank and not start. It was the ignition module. I don’t know if that car has one.

Netguy wrote:

I was wondering about that too. We’ve had a OBD reader hooked up to it, and we don’t get any fault codes. I would think we’d get some sort of fault for anything. I do know the fuel pump in the tank is working. It’s under the back seat so we took that out and can feel it when we turn the key on. I just don’t know if it’s getting through the high-pressure fuel pump.

I was wondering about that too. We’ve had a OBD reader hooked up to it, and we don’t get any fault codes. I would think we’d get some sort of fault for anything. I do know the fuel pump in the tank is working. It’s under the back seat so we took that out and can feel it when we turn the key on. I just don’t know if it’s getting through the high-pressure fuel pump.

Oxygen…Fuel…Ignition

Are the spark plugs getting juice?

What engine does it have?

B-man wrote:

Oxygen…Fuel…Ignition

Are the spark plugs getting juice?

That was my next test. It looks like a PIA to get the spark plugs out, but we’ll probably work at that tonight. I wanted to make sure we’re getting fuel up there first. I saw that you should be able to feel that solenoid when it energizes, but I couldn’t feel anything so I ohmed it out. Problem is I don’t know what the resistance is supposed to be on that coil. I know the battery sparks pretty good when I hook it up with that solenoid hooked up, but not quite as bad with it unhooked, so I’m thinking it might be shorted out.

Dave maze wrote:

What engine does it have?

It’s got the 2.0 engine.

I have a 2015 Passat that my son drives. I just got info on a class action lawsuit against VW for the high pressure fuel pumps on the 2.0 engine. I’m no mechanic, but I’d keep that in mind.

TH wrote:

I have a 2015 Passat that my son drives. I just got info on a class action lawsuit against VW for the high pressure fuel pumps on the 2.0 engine. I’m no mechanic, but I’d keep that in mind.

Thanks for the info. I did read something about a service bulletin about them a while ago.

Dumb question but, have you checked the timing ?

Check fuel rail pressure, starting fluid shot into the intake? if it fires you know the problem. Pull a spark wire and a spark tester to see if you got spark. Swapping out a alternator on a car that turns over does not make any sense, nor does the starter if you hear engaging. Good luck

B-man wrote:

Oxygen…Fuel…Ignition

no spark plugs on a TDI

I have 2 2002 VW golfs with the 2.0L, the Passat should be the same generation I believe. I would check the crank position sensor. Causes the same issue, will crank all day but wont start. I’ve had the crank position sensor fail on both vehicles. If its the same as mine it should be right at the bottom front of the motor.

Take it to a shop and have it diagnosed, by the time you keep buying parts and tossing them at it you could afford to have it figured out by a pro. You already have what $300-400 dollars in new shinny parts, that it clearly did not need from your description of the symptoms.

Like B-Man said, air, fuel, and spark are the important things. Other things that come into play like timing and compression are important, but it would still normally run, just poorly.

I’d check fuel pump, then ignition coils, and plugs. I’ve also seen cars turn over and never start due to not recognizing the key fob. I don’t know if those have chipped ignition keys or not, but that’s a fairly common issue in other vehicles. I don’t know a whole lot about VW in particular.

John Rasmussen wrote:

Take it to a shop and have it diagnosed, by the time you keep buying parts and tossing them at it you could afford to have it figured out by a pro. You already have what $300-400 dollars in new shinny parts, that it clearly did not need from your description of the symptoms.

I was thinking the same thing. Sounds like you have no idea what you are doing, when that is the case take it to someone that does. You pay for skilled labor because they can diagnose and only fix what needs fixing. Anyone can replace parts and hope it works but it will cost as much or more. Good luck.

Thanks for all of the responses!

I’m done throwing parts at it, and I’ve thought about bringing it in, but it’s a project with my son and myself so he can learn more about vehicles so I’m going to hold off on bringing it in.

I’m planning on checking for spark tonight, then go from there. The previous owner just put new coil packs on it, so those should be good.

What confuses me is that there aren’t any fault codes when we scanned it. The previous owner also said he had an expensive scanner that didn’t get any codes either.

Arent all VWs diesels?