1995 Jetta doesn't run in rain

Hello again!

My daughter's car will no longer start in the rain. If it's give some
time to dry out everything seems to rectify itself. The motor cranks
but doesn't start.

I think I recall reading about a problem with the ignition coils
cracking on this car. Is that correct?

Aside from checking plugs, caps and rotor what else should I be taking
a look at?

Thanks guys!

Jeff

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, tombstone wrote:

>
>My daughter's car will no longer start in the rain. If it's give some
>time to dry out everything seems to rectify itself. The motor cranks
>but doesn't start.
>
>I think I recall reading about a problem with the ignition coils
>cracking on this car. Is that correct?
>
>Aside from checking plugs, caps and rotor what else should I be taking
>a look at?

In the dark (or dim light), look for arcing under the hood. Look
around the coil(s) and the plug wires. If you don't have high
humidity during your test, you can make your own with a fine mist.

2.0 engine?
What Tom said................
first mist with water at the spark plugs SLOWLY working your way along the
spark plug wires, distributor cap and then to the ign coil........and when
you replace the ign coil (ign. transformer) ONLY buy one from the dealer, or
the exact same brand. I have yet to see another brand last longer than 12
months and some don't even last 1 week!
OR you can possibly reseal the ign coil with some 5 minute epoxy. ;-)
--
later,
(One out of many daves)



"Tom's VR6" > wrote in message
...
> In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, tombstone wrote:
>
>>
>>My daughter's car will no longer start in the rain. If it's give some
>>time to dry out everything seems to rectify itself. The motor cranks
>>but doesn't start.
>>
>>I think I recall reading about a problem with the ignition coils
>>cracking on this car. Is that correct?
>>
>>Aside from checking plugs, caps and rotor what else should I be taking
>>a look at?
>
> In the dark (or dim light), look for arcing under the hood. Look
> around the coil(s) and the plug wires. If you don't have high
> humidity during your test, you can make your own with a fine mist.
>

Yes it is the 2.0 engine.

I did some digging and I have spark coming from the ignition coil.
Initially I didn't see any sparking, but after I missed it I saw some
at the distributor cap but was unable to repeat it when I tried again
so I'm not exactly sure where the spark was coming from.

I'm thinking I'll do a cap and rotor since they are cheap. Is there
any type of water shedding sparay or grease that I can use for this as
well?

Thanks again!!

Jeff

I didn't realy missed it ... I mist it.

You buy new Bosch plug wires.Same with cap and rotor. Problem might be
solved. I am not a big fan of cheap parts. For my car I have to order
everything as no parts house seems to stock what I need.
www.parts4vw.com www.germanautoparts.com are my first two choices for
gas powered cars and www.worldimpex.com/ is another possiblilty.

On Fri, 3 Apr 2009 19:07:24 -0700 (PDT), tombstone >
wrote:

>Yes it is the 2.0 engine.
>
>I did some digging and I have spark coming from the ignition coil.
>Initially I didn't see any sparking, but after I missed it I saw some
>at the distributor cap but was unable to repeat it when I tried again
>so I'm not exactly sure where the spark was coming from.
>
>I'm thinking I'll do a cap and rotor since they are cheap. Is there
>any type of water shedding sparay or grease that I can use for this as
>well?
>
>Thanks again!!
>
>Jeff

Yes replace ALL ign components, spark plugs & wires, cap and rotor but your
problem is................
...................that ign. coil/transformer. ONLY buy it from the dealer
or get the EXACT same brand part.

Shhhh OR take off the ign coil and reseal it with 5 minute epoxy if you want
the cheap $5 fix. ;-)

BTW I have bought new Bosch spark plug wires for the watercooled VW engines
and have had problems with some sets so I opt for other brands, such as STI
brand wires. NEVER had a problem with STI yet.

Mileage may vary! ;-)
--
later,
(One out of many daves)

"Jim Behning" > wrote in message
...
> You buy new Bosch plug wires.Same with cap and rotor. Problem might be
> solved. I am not a big fan of cheap parts. For my car I have to order
> everything as no parts house seems to stock what I need.
> www.parts4vw.com www.germanautoparts.com are my first two choices for
> gas powered cars and www.worldimpex.com/ is another possiblilty.
>
> On Fri, 3 Apr 2009 19:07:24 -0700 (PDT), tombstone >
> wrote:
>
>>Yes it is the 2.0 engine.
>>
>>I did some digging and I have spark coming from the ignition coil.
>>Initially I didn't see any sparking, but after I missed it I saw some
>>at the distributor cap but was unable to repeat it when I tried again
>>so I'm not exactly sure where the spark was coming from.
>>
>>I'm thinking I'll do a cap and rotor since they are cheap. Is there
>>any type of water shedding sparay or grease that I can use for this as
>>well?
>>
>>Thanks again!!
>>
>>Jeff

dave AKA vwdoc1 wrote:
> Yes replace ALL ign components, spark plugs & wires, cap and rotor but your
> problem is................
> ..................that ign. coil/transformer. ONLY buy it from the dealer
> or get the EXACT same brand part.
>
> Shhhh OR take off the ign coil and reseal it with 5 minute epoxy if you want
> the cheap $5 fix. ;-)
>
> BTW I have bought new Bosch spark plug wires for the watercooled VW engines
> and have had problems with some sets so I opt for other brands, such as STI
> brand wires. NEVER had a problem with STI yet.
>
> Mileage may vary! ;-)

Me too, the "Bosch" wires you buy at your FLAPS are not the ones that
came on your car OEM. This was close to 10 years ago but I had done a
"tuneup" on my old Scirocco and then took it in to a shop when it
started running like crap two months later. You guessed it, I should
have just left the old wires on there!

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, tombstone wrote:

>Yes it is the 2.0 engine.
>
>I did some digging and I have spark coming from the ignition coil.
>Initially I didn't see any sparking, but after I missed it I saw some
>at the distributor cap but was unable to repeat it when I tried again
>so I'm not exactly sure where the spark was coming from.
>
>I'm thinking I'll do a cap and rotor since they are cheap. Is there
>any type of water shedding sparay or grease that I can use for this as
>well?
>
If you want to try something like that, look for dielectric grease.
I like the tube. http://www.levineautoparts.com/peditugr.html but
your local parts store will probably carry it.

I had success with an arc tracking from the base of an insulator
toward ground, by forcing the dialectic grease into the emptied
insulator and pressing long and hard to drive grease into the
inferred crack in the insulator. I then just put the spark plug wire
thru the grease back into place.

This was on a car with a rather expensive 3-coil pack and no
distributor. Replacing a distributor cover or even a single coil
would be the better solution, and not all that expensive.

Note that when a spark has been burning a track for a while, that
track can get more conductive somehow. So that argues for the
replacement. But if you can clean and dry an area, if a bead of
dielectric grease can increase the distance a spark would have to
travel, it may be sufficient for you.

Some have also reported success with epoxy glue. It's up to you how
much messing around you want to try. Since the failure doesn't
generally leave you stranded, you might want to consider cheaper
alternatives.

Incidentally, maybe you want to check your high voltage wires with
an ohmmeter. If one is open (more than 100,000 ohms) it could
contribute toward the tendency to arc by letting the voltages go
higher than they would ordinarily. Replacing the wires anyway just
due to age wouldn't be a bad idea.... but where do you stop?

I didn't see any arcing from the ignition coil area - only around the
distrubtor cap.

NOBODY around here carries Bosch parts ...

The plug wires were replaced by her boyfriend last year with some el
cheapo brand from pep boys.