2000 Passat won't start

[tasievert]

I recently bought a 2000 passat, V-6, 5 speed maunual, with 3700 miles on it. It was used as a shown car and rarely driven. It now has 4500 miles.

When I first bought the car it ran great. In the last week, it shut off without warning a few times as I came up on a stop light (yes, I had the clutch pushed in). It restarted without issue. Today, as I pulled in the parking lot at work, it shut off again and I could not get it restarted. It cranks and acts like it's trying to start, but it won't fire. It acts like it's starved for fuel, but it never really ran rough or gave any sign of the fuel lines being dirty.

Any suggestions?

[jvillefranc]

Originally Posted by tasievert

I recently bought a 2000 passat, V-6, 5 speed maunual, with 3700 miles on it. It was used as a shown car and rarely driven. It now has 4500 miles.

When I first bought the car it ran great. In the last week, it shut off without warning a few times as I came up on a stop light (yes, I had the clutch pushed in). It restarted without issue. Today, as I pulled in the parking lot at work, it shut off again and I could not get it restarted. It cranks and acts like it's trying to start, but it won't fire. It acts like it's starved for fuel, but it never really ran rough or gave any sign of the fuel lines being dirty.

Any suggestions?

Hey! yeah I have a friend who had the same problem. So it appears that most passats and jettas have that problem. It's probably the ignition coils; bring the car to VW dealer and ask for the ignition coil recall for your model. Hope this helps. Later !

[chipyoung]

I had a similar problem on my 1998 6 cyl. It would not start when the engine was hot. I was getting a fault code though. The problem was that the coolant temp gauge was stuck at 55 degrees so on restart it gave the car too much fuel. I had the gauge replaced and everything is wonderful again.

Chip