Starting to think that B5's might be lemons from all the troubles that everyone is saying. My car died on me today after i left work. I made it about 2 miles and it just shut down on me. Put a multimeter on my battery and it still has its 12volts. All belts are in place and not have slipped off. When i turn the key it doesn't even try to crank over. All i hear is the grinding from the starter. Not for sure if its the crank pulley. Can someone please give me some advice on what it could be or what i should do to eliminate possible prblems. By the way it has the AEB motor, about 130,000 miles on motor!

 

12V on a meter doesn't mean your battery is ok. You can only tell under a load. If you hear starter griding, that's not good. It could be it doesn't have enough power. It could be the battery or alternator going out.

The fact that it died while driving is not a good indication though. Why not have someone pull codes on the car? Know anyone with a VAG-COM?

If it won't start, did you get it home?

 

No i don't know anyone with a VAG-COM. Where can i find one and how much are they. And no i didn't get it back home its at a parking garage that i coasted into when it died.

 

Of course, you need to provide the laptop, but Ross-Tech sells them for about $230 or $250, depending on if you use USB or Serial Port. Will give you a wealth of data on what's going on in your car. (who has serial ports on there laptop now days?)

Might help to know what your car thinks is wrong. ;-)

 

a battery is 12.6 volts fully charged, if your multimeter says its above 12v, with the exception of having a damaged cell in the battery, its probably good. have someone turn the key while you stick your head under the hood. do you think its the starter gear grinding against the flywheel? is the crank pully (and all the accessory belts) moving while you hear this grinding sound? can you elaborate more on "shut down"? what year is the car? auto/manual?

 

I have a lap top, ill have to look into getting that scanner. My car is a 99 A4 quattro. When turning the key its really more of a winding sound. All belts and pulleys make a slight movement when turning the key over. Except the crank pulley and belt. My battery is above 12v, i can still turn on my stereo system and it will play no problem unless i turn it up then i would drain the juice out. Got a friend of a friend who could look at it but not til sunday. Just thought i would try and get a jump on it and eliminate some possible issues

 

all the belts are driven from the crank pulley so they all better be doing the same thing. take your timing belt cover off and take a look at the timing belt. also- define "slight movement".

 

My brother was the one looking under the hood while i was turning the key. He said it was a small jerk motion. Nothing under the cover moved at all. All the belts are on and not fraid, riped or broken. Im going to take someone to look at it tomorrow to see what they think it might be.

 

Hate to say this... but sounds like you might have broken a timing belt... or it jumped... Take the TIMING BELT cover off and have them look at that. Try getting a big wrench and turning the crank by hand and see if it turns.

Josh

 

Had a friend take a look at my car. He said that the pin in the key way of the crank gave way. So it not getting enough pressure to turn it over. I have the AEB motor, i would assume that it is a zero tolerance motor. And probably have damaged my exhaust valves maybe more. Which would mean alot of work that would include head work. Can anyone give me any insite of what they think? At this point i am thinking of selling it as is, and buying a new car.