Car won't start, turns over, but refused to fire up.

SEAN.WEAVER2004

MEMBER
1995 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
160,000 MILES

I have a 1995 VW Golf III Sport. It has the 2.0L ABA "C" Vin motor in it. I was heading to work the other day and the car began to buck and jump and run as though I was one cylinder down and then just shut off and refused to start again. The CEL didn't come on and I have not taken it anywhere to get ERROR codes read.

It will crack over. When it does, there is a spot that when it gets to it, it tries to seize up, it continues past this point, but it happens every time it turns over at the exact same interval. While cracking over, it back-fires and also has a "gasp" that sounds similar to compression being released.

Things I have tried:
Spark Plugs (Bosch Platinum Plus, gaped according to the Bently Manual)
Ignition Coil (from AutoZone)
Distributor Cap and Rotor (from AutoZone)
Spark Plug and Coil wires (Bosch from AutoZone)

Things that I have replaced:
Starter is just over 18 months old. The old starter developed a "dead" spot.
Fuel Pump Relay was replaced about the same time as the starter. Because of buying the starter, I was forced to go to a junkyard to find the relay. It worked and never gave me a problem.

I just last week removed the intake manifold and compression tested the cylinders. They were all giving 105-115 psi.

This car was my daily and has been reliable. I'd like to get it back up and running ASAP. Any answers or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Sean

1 Reply

PROAUTOTECH

MECHANIC
288 POSTS

From that description, it sounds like head gasket. Not good. If you can tell me more, please do. You need to do a leak down test on each cylinder where you force air into each cylinder at top dead center and see if they can hold psi. If you hear air coming out the tail pipe it could be a bad exaust valve, if you see coolant bubbling it's head gasket, if you hear it from the intake its intake valve. That's how to test a compression/head gasket issue. Let me know.