VW engine dies when closing door

As soon as the door switch is pressed the Tachometer bottoms out even before the engine finishes dying.

Now it won't start at all. It just cranks and cranks and cranks.

It is fuel injected.

Gas can be smelled at the tailpipe when cranking.

themattfella wrote in news:CpeVs.453$BV7.136 @newsfe24.iad:

You've got no spark.

Sounds like a ground problem. That the tach goes to zero indicates that the low-tension current that's supposed to go to the ignition module or the coil or distributor is being routed to ground instead. Or the igniter/coil/dist is losing its ground through the ECU or wherever it's supposed to ground. I'll bet the door switch and the igniter/coil/dist share a ground.

Got any visible corrosion anywhere?

Well why do you keep closing the door?...

Do the interior lights come one when opening the door, and go off when closing it? Do they look normal? Does anything else look funny?

I would start by checking all of the fuses to try to get it running again. I'd also pull that door jamb switch out and look at the wiring, etc. See if there is any wiring behind the switch inside the A pillar that might be shorting. I guess there is some chance it is a ground problem, but it might be combined with something else, too. Just go around the car and tighten all of them, or if they are corroded, unbolt and clean them. There should be at least a few under the hood - and check anything on the engine block. There should be more around the kick panels on both sides, but you'll probable have to remove the trim. Same with under the dash, probably near the column and support, or the pedal brackets.

Yours is a tad weak. ----

- gpsman

I'm sorry for not understanding. A few what?

Ground connections.

The spark plugs were changed yesterday, before the problem occurred, for maintenance, not because there was anything specifically wrong with them.

What do the engine and the frame lighting have in common? When you find that, you have found your problem.

Grounds are the first thing I'd think of... a bad engine ground can cause all sorts of weird interaction issues.

But it might not be grounds... those cars have multipin connectors and cable bundles that can degrade and develop shorts between elements.

I'd get the full electrical manual and get out the ohmmeter and start checking, but first I would check out all the ignition system grounds. The manual will tell you how everything is supposed to be grounded so you can compare. You can also work your way from the distributor back checking against the manual.

--scott

What was removed in order to get to the plugs? Did it include the engine ground strap? Did the tech remember to put the strap back where it belongs?

--scott

You did something while changing the plugs. Have an alarm system?

gpsman wrote in news:85ddd87a-5c89-4559-a094- snipped-for-privacy@m12g2000yqp.googlegroups.com:

And the Viagra isn't even helping.

! -----

- gpsman

As others have theorized, bad grounds.

Is this vehicle rusting out?