2002 Jetta 1.8T - won't start

[styman19]

Hello,

My car has been giving me this problem - I will drive it around for a bit, park it, and when returning to my car, it won't start. When I turn the ignition switch, I hear a continuous clicking noise, and all the lights go on. I have to boost my car to get it going again. If it stalls once that day, it's guaranteed that it will stall every time I go to turn it back on that day. After letting it sit over night, the car fires up no problem the next morning. That is why VW is having a hard time 'pinpointing' the problem, because it is behaving well in their presence :S

They have run all their 'computer' tests, and said everything is perfect. They jumped the gun and changed my stereo thinking that it wasn't kicking in to sleep mode when the car was turned off, draining the battery supply. Nothing improved. They recently changed the ignition switch...same problem. Just dropped my car off this morning for the same issue. Any ideas as to what it could be? I have dropped the car off 7 times now for the same issue in the matter of a month. This is getting really annoying and tiring!

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Styman19

[veedubmechanic]

Whens the last time you changed your fuel filter?

[styman19]

I follow the regular maintenance schedule for my Jetta. Unfortunately, they have my little black book because my car is with them. I am now at 60,000 km (maybe you are more familiar with the service schedule). They called me today to tell me the car finally didn't start in their presence. They checked the battery and found that it was almost drained. They went ahead and changed my battery, and will drive it around for the weekend and see if it acts up again. So far, they changed the stereo, ignition switch, and battery.

Any input is greatly appreciated! My little *angel* is gonna drive me nuts!

Thanks