Questions and Answers

Volkswagen Jetta Just Died Q. Hello Vince. I have a 1994 Volkswagen Jetta GL, 2.0 liter automatic with 121,000 miles. Today I was idling at the stoplight and the car just died. I tried to restart it but won't work. I was near a mechanic shop, so I pushed it there and the guy said it might be the timing belt or the valves are bent. I had the car towed home, and I took a look at the belt and it was fine. I don't know what the problems is?? Please help.

A. There are a number of possibilities here, so first thing we have to do is determine if it is a fuel or ignition problem.

What you can do spray some carburetor cleaner down the carburetor while someone tries to start it. If it runs then you know you have a fuel problem.

If it doesn't fire, take an old spark plug and plug one of the ignition wires into it and lay it on a metal part of the engine. Crank it over and if there is no spark, you have an ignition problem.

Another thing to do is check the base timing. It may not have broken the belt, but it may have jumped time. Get the #1 cylinder on TDC of the compression stroke, cam lobes pointing directly opposite the valves. Then look at the timing marks. It should be at 0° and the distributor rotor should be pointing at the #1 distributor tower. If they all don't line up, you jumped time.