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06 GTI shuts itself off

Codyoval56

New member
Location
Johnson City TN
Hey guys, sorry in advance for the novel. So I bought a 2006 GTI 6speed with 136,000mi last month. Car was in limp mode so I tear it down and find a bad hpfp and cam. New cam, hpfp, chain, tensioner and associated seals. Also pulled the intake off while is was there and did a carbon cleaning. Get everything back together, start the car drive it around the block and it's running great making boost and all seems well. I pull back in the driveway and let it idle while I'm checking everything out and it just shuts off. Ok...start it back up, idles for 15 seconds then shuts off. Then it wouldn't start at all.

There was no CEL and from my research online it seems like a fuel issue. I left the battery unhooked overnight, so next day I hook it up and the car starts idles for 15 mins then shuts off, won't start back up, still no CEL. So I replace the low pressure fuel sensor and fuel filter, same thing. Replaced fuel pump module, same thing. Hooked up a fuel pressure gauge and it reads 6.6 bar when it primes before starting, then 2.5 bar at idle and up to 5 bar when reving it. So I don't think it's the pump.

Learned if I keep my foot on the gas and don't let the car idle it won't stall. So I had it running for 20 mins, foot on the gas for the first 5 mins the let it idle and it never died but it did throw a code.

08474 throttle/pedal POS sensor/switch E circuit low input
01672 ECM/PCM power relay sense circuit open

Tried to do a throttle adaptation and was unavailable to do it with code (05476 throttle valve control unit insufficient voltage during basic setting.)

I got a new battery because the one in the car was pretty beat. I also checked the wiring at the gas pedal since I read they wear and break, everything looked good. Still doing the same thing and getting those 3 codes. Once the car shuts off it will not start again unless I unhooked the battery for a while and let everything reset then it starts up no problem.

At this point I decide to contact the po and he told me he forgot to mention it had a problem where it would randomly shut off and his mechanic told him it was a bad ECU so they sent it out for repair. When they got it back it was still doing the same thing.

So I'm kinda stuck on where to go from here. I'm pretty sure it's either gas pedal related or ECU related. If I replace the ECU I'm probably going to try to get a stage 2 that has immo defeated so I don't have to deal with the stealership programming it to the car.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, Cody
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
Hmmm, 136K miles - first of all, was the timing belt ever replaced? Second, I was thinking that if your HPFP was bad and your cam was bad - then what about your cam follower? If the HPFP and cam (lobes?) were bad, but the cam follower was in great condition, then it would seem possible that the cam follower was torn up during daily driving of the PO, and upon inspection, the PO just replaced the cam follower (and nothing else) and then, promptly, tried to dump the car.

How were all of the other parts - did it have normal (owner-type) maintenance, like updated plugs, coils, rotors, brakes, air filter... ya know, the kind of stuff a doting MKV owner would do, himself? If not - and it lacked normal maintenance at 136K, yet had a shiny cam follower, I'd be suspicious that it the old one was damaged and metal shards blew through the engine.

Just a suspicion based on what we know so far.
 

Codyoval56

New member
Location
Johnson City TN
I forgot to put in there that I did the cam follower as well. The car definitely was not maintained, I'm assuming the cam follower was original or had not been replaced in many miles. I'm sure metal went through the motor, I hope the filter caught alot of it. When I bought the car I figured it was the cam follower/hpfp causing the issues but I wasn't expecting to have electrical issues also since the PO conveniently left that part out. Not sure about the coils, but I'm not getting a misfire code, just the ECM/PCM and throttle codes. The car actually starts and idles beautifully, revs nice and drives nice if you keep it off idle. It only shuts off at idle.
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
I forgot to put in there that I did the cam follower as well. The car definitely was not maintained, I'm assuming the cam follower was original or had not been replaced in many miles. I'm sure metal went through the motor, I hope the filter caught alot of it. When I bought the car I figured it was the cam follower/hpfp causing the issues but I wasn't expecting to have electrical issues also since the PO conveniently left that part out. Not sure about the coils, but I'm not getting a misfire code, just the ECM/PCM and throttle codes. The car actually starts and idles beautifully, revs nice and drives nice if you keep it off idle. It only shuts off at idle.

Interesting - so, what makes you sure metal shards went through the engine? If the cam follower was never replaced and is in good condition, then maybe that isn't an issue after all.

Funny thing, I just did my coils (VAG OE), plugs (Bosch Iridium), and MAF (Hitachi OE) and after starting the car, I was a bit horrified to hear the engine idling and almost stall. It did not stall, though, and after that point, it's purred like a kitten. The original plugs, coils, and MAF had over 90K miles on them, and I'm thinking that the change in plugs, coils and MAF at the same time, threw the normal reading off what the computer was expecting (and any fuel/air adjustments it made) and it took some time for the ECU to adjust fuel/air to the new readings.

So, back to the scanner -- do you have that Ross VAG COM software, or a better scanner? Also, does the MAF appear to be original? When I was looking at the MAF readout on my scanner, I noticed the reading seemed fairly low. It wasn't triggering a code, but when I googled it, what I read seemed to suggest the readings were low. At any rate, the MAF could be a culprit related to air mixture that leads to a stall at idle... so, if you have a decent scanner, you can at least monitor the MAF reading (in LIVE data mode) at idle, and immediately prior to stalling.

Also, as another aside - I bought my MAF for around $100 (after 5% coupon for spending more than $200) at FCP Euro. I've got 3 German cars, and have bought a s-load of stuff from that company... a couple awesome notes is that they offer free shipping at only $50, their prices are extremely good, they show they carry a bunch of German brands and indicate which brands were used as Original Equipment on the car (eg - such as the OE MAF was made by Hitachi, the OE shocks made by Sachs, the OE DV valve made by Pierburg, etc)... AND, they offer a LIFETIME guarantee. So, if you buy an OE MAF, or even an OE cam follower (made by INA) -- they guarantee it (to you) for life, so you can order a new one, send the old one back, whenever you want, and then they credit your account. A bit off track, but if you plan to keep the car for some time, and plan to buy a lot of parts, then this is definitely something that may be valuable to you.
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
So did you every confirm that the relay J271 and wiring for ECU was fine??

If and when you do the TBA again get a battery charger on car to perform it.
 

Codyoval56

New member
Location
Johnson City TN
Interesting - so, what makes you sure metal shards went through the engine? If the cam follower was never replaced and is in good condition, then maybe that isn't an issue after all.

Funny thing, I just did my coils (VAG OE), plugs (Bosch Iridium), and MAF (Hitachi OE) and after starting the car, I was a bit horrified to hear the engine idling and almost stall. It did not stall, though, and after that point, it's purred like a kitten. The original plugs, coils, and MAF had over 90K miles on them, and I'm thinking that the change in plugs, coils and MAF at the same time, threw the normal reading off what the computer was expecting (and any fuel/air adjustments it made) and it took some time for the ECU to adjust fuel/air to the new readings.

So, back to the scanner -- do you have that Ross VAG COM software, or a better scanner? Also, does the MAF appear to be original? When I was looking at the MAF readout on my scanner, I noticed the reading seemed fairly low. It wasn't triggering a code, but when I googled it, what I read seemed to suggest the readings were low. At any rate, the MAF could be a culprit related to air mixture that leads to a stall at idle... so, if you have a decent scanner, you can at least monitor the MAF reading (in LIVE data mode) at idle, and immediately prior to stalling.

Also, as another aside - I bought my MAF for around $100 (after 5% coupon for spending more than $200) at FCP Euro. I've got 3 German cars, and have bought a s-load of stuff from that company... a couple awesome notes is that they offer free shipping at only $50, their prices are extremely good, they show they carry a bunch of German brands and indicate which brands were used as Original Equipment on the car (eg - such as the OE MAF was made by Hitachi, the OE shocks made by Sachs, the OE DV valve made by Pierburg, etc)... AND, they offer a LIFETIME guarantee. So, if you buy an OE MAF, or even an OE cam follower (made by INA) -- they guarantee it (to you) for life, so you can order a new one, send the old one back, whenever you want, and then they credit your account. A bit off track, but if you plan to keep the car for some time, and plan to buy a lot of parts, then this is definitely something that may be valuable to you.

I think it was confusing the way I worded it but when I got the car and pulled the hpfp off the follower was worn all the way through, the fuel pump stem had ground into the cam lobe and the cam shot. So I replaced all 3 of those along with everything else I put in the first post.

I have not replaced the coils, plugs or maf. I haven't looked at the mad reading since I've been going off of the codes so far but I will do that now that I know it can be a problem without throwing a code.

Thanks for the heads up on that store, I will definitely check them out when I go to buy more stuff. I always use oem, or equivalent brands on my cars. Everything I bought so far was from ecs tuning, I'd rather buy good stuff once than buy shit parts over and over.
 

Codyoval56

New member
Location
Johnson City TN
So did you every confirm that the relay J271 and wiring for ECU was fine??

If and when you do the TBA again get a battery charger on car to perform it.

I'm honestly not sure how to check a relay. Any advice on that or should I just try a new one. They're cheap enough I could replace it. But would that randomly fault out or do they usually just go bad and that's it?

I did check all the wiring from the ECU to the fire wall. It all looks fine. I'm suspicious about him saying he had the ECU repaired. Is that possible to repair a bad ECU, it seems most people just replace them. The ECU has been opened because the tape is cut.

I will do a tba again with the charger hooked up.

Thanks guys
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
I think it was confusing the way I worded it but when I got the car and pulled the hpfp off the follower was worn all the way through, the fuel pump stem had ground into the cam lobe and the cam shot. So I replaced all 3 of those along with everything else I put in the first post.

I have not replaced the coils, plugs or maf. I haven't looked at the mad reading since I've been going off of the codes so far but I will do that now that I know it can be a problem without throwing a code.

Thanks for the heads up on that store, I will definitely check them out when I go to buy more stuff. I always use oem, or equivalent brands on my cars. Everything I bought so far was from ecs tuning, I'd rather buy good stuff once than buy shit parts over and over.

OK, wow, now I've got it. Your cam follower WAS toast, then. That's what I expected... maybe not that bad, but expected it to be rather worn. So, that debris in the engine is a definite complicat-or when attempting to diagnose other problems (you can't rule out that metal shards in engine are part of the issue). That said, plugs and coils are inexpensive low hanging fruit, and the MAF sensor is a bit more pricey, but it's super easy to replace (and FCS offers lifetime replacement for free).

Yeah, ECS is great as well, but the lifetime guarantee on things like the MAF (which you could change out every 10K miles if you wanted with free replacement) is tough to beat --- and same goes for things like cabin air filters. Believe it or not, they even guarantee oil filters as well. Seriously - but you have to send back the old filter (note, you could by 3 to reduce shipping costs and ship all back at one time for full credit).

So, yeah, when you get the chance, run your scanner and see if you get any body code fails (non-CELs) and watch your Live Data results, as well - esp on that MAF sensor. At 130K miles and over a decade old, it's likely shot. Also, please follow up (it's always great to hear a resolution - whatever it may be).

Good luck!
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
I'm honestly not sure how to check a relay. Any advice on that or should I just try a new one. They're cheap enough I could replace it. But would that randomly fault out or do they usually just go bad and that's it?

I did check all the wiring from the ECU to the fire wall. It all looks fine. I'm suspicious about him saying he had the ECU repaired. Is that possible to repair a bad ECU, it seems most people just replace them. The ECU has been opened because the tape is cut.

I will do a tba again with the charger hooked up.

Thanks guys

Check your PM
 

Codyoval56

New member
Location
Johnson City TN
OK, wow, now I've got it. Your cam follower WAS toast, then. That's what I expected... maybe not that bad, but expected it to be rather worn. So, that debris in the engine is a definite complicat-or when attempting to diagnose other problems (you can't rule out that metal shards in engine are part of the issue). That said, plugs and coils are inexpensive low hanging fruit, and the MAF sensor is a bit more pricey, but it's super easy to replace (and FCS offers lifetime replacement for free).

Yeah, ECS is great as well, but the lifetime guarantee on things like the MAF (which you could change out every 10K miles if you wanted with free replacement) is tough to beat --- and same goes for things like cabin air filters. Believe it or not, they even guarantee oil filters as well. Seriously - but you have to send back the old filter (note, you could by 3 to reduce shipping costs and ship all back at one time for full credit).

So, yeah, when you get the chance, run your scanner and see if you get any body code fails (non-CELs) and watch your Live Data results, as well - esp on that MAF sensor. At 130K miles and over a decade old, it's likely shot. Also, please follow up (it's always great to hear a resolution - whatever it may be).

Good luck!

I will definitely keep this thread updated, nothing worse than finding a good thread that has the same problem as you and getting to the end to find no resolution.

So I went ahead and ordered plugs, coils and a maf. I'm going to use information that 'GTI' sent me to check the ECU this weekend. We shall see
 

MagicMK

Drag Racing Champion
Location
PA
I will definitely keep this thread updated, nothing worse than finding a good thread that has the same problem as you and getting to the end to find no resolution.

So I went ahead and ordered plugs, coils and a maf. I'm going to use information that 'GTI' sent me to check the ECU this weekend. We shall see

Best of luck. Did you run a full body scan, again, btw? Did you not find any additional fault codes? Also, take a look (and even record) your Live Data on the MAF sensor. Just to check where it's at now and where it's at when you replace it.

Anywho, look forward to the updates. Best of luck.
 

Codyoval56

New member
Location
Johnson City TN
Alright, so after lots of testing and checking and trying stuff I came to the conclusion that the ECU is indeed bad, or atleast i couldn't find anything else wrong so that was the only thing left. So I ordered a ECU off eBay that was already stage 2 and immo defeated, basically just a plug and play deal. Plugged it in and boom problem solved, no more stalling. I was also able to successfully perform a throttle body alignment with the new ECU. Put a downpipe on the car, left the stock intake on for now car runs healthy. It took me about 3 months to get the car all sorted out but I'm only into the car about $1300 including buying the car so overall I'm super happy. Thanks guys for the help, definitely appreciate it
 
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