SOLVED: Polo Sportline no crank no start issue

[Abominable_Snowman]

Hi guys

Hope you may be able to shed some light on this, but having trouble starting the polo since last week.

Had intermittent starting issues early last week, few taps on the starter and fired right up. Few days later, while driving home, dash lights flickered, ABS and steering wheel lights came on, Power steering went dead, boost started fluctuating. About 2km’s further, the car just stalled while in 3rd doing about 50km per hour. Just rolled to a stop. Wouldn’t crank or anything.

A kind stranger stopped and helped me get it started again, drove about a km before the exact same thing happened. This time, no luck at all, wouldn’t start, no dash lights, battery was dead, wouldn’t even kick start.

Got a tow home, did some digging, pulled the starter out, replaced it last night with a working one, charged the battery… Still no crank, but the dash lights are on.

The battery tests at 12.8V while disconnected. New ground cable from battery post to body has been installed.

Could someone please point me in the right direction so I can hopefully get this car running again and I can stop using public transport lol

Just a note: the previous owner had the battery moved to the boot when he had it, it’s since been moved back to the front of the car.
Vehicle info: 2005 VW Polo 1.9 TDI Sportline.

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys

Thanks in advance

[Howie-WP]

Crank position sensor?

[Abominable_Snowman]

Crank position sensor?

Thanks Howie, I'll have a look at it.

[superflyza]

i had the same issue, i just got my 2016 tsi 1.2 on friday, saturday morning no start, starter not even swining, ECR light not, well it ended up to be the Key, they reprogrammed a new key which worked for 1 day, got the spare key and the car started no issues

[superflyza]

hi all,


I just a got a 2016 polo tsi 1.2, i been trying to drive economy mode but for some reason i cant get this car below 7.5 per 100km urban, i change gears before 2000rmp ect..


From what i have seen it should be much lighter than that, any ideas would be appreciated

[J0NN0]

Hi @superflyza I suggest an introduction to the forum first - Introduce Yourself.

Once you've done that, Start your own thread with the issue you have at hand.

[Howie-WP]

Crank position sensor?

Thanks Howie, I'll have a look at it.

First have the car scanned by someone with a vagcom/vcds or obdii scanner, should give you a better idea. Rather than haphazardly buying replacement parts....

[Ashveer03]

A faulty crank sensor wouldn't cause a no crank.

Check ur battery voltage when trying to crank. I seen full powered batteries fail to even click a solenoid, forget cranking.

Since the battery has been relocated, how is the starter wire hooked up now?
Starter b+ should be going straight to the positive terminal, unfused.

If all turns out good, check for power on the solenoid wire when trying to crank.

If u have a known good battery, swap it out and check.

Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk

[Callum229]

I agree with Ashveer03.

Crank sensor won't prevent it from cranking over or attempting to start.

You have to start with the diagnostics, get the car scanned.

Another common issue is it could be the ignition starter thingy (not sure what the name is).

On my car I had no ACC function because the ignition was faulty, Goldwagen sells the part and it also came up with a code 00849 - S-Contact at Ignition/Starter Switch (D): Unknown Switch Condition. Since the ACC function is in the middle of the key cycle, the car didn't detect it hence there a code as I have to pass ACC then ignition on and then engage starter. As the starter is in the end of the ignition cycle, it might not throw a code.

The contacts in the ignition starter switch tends to go bad or break off. This can also cause no power to dash and/or no cranking issues.

But first, try and get it scanned, that will narrow the issues down significantly.

Sent from my Nokia 8 Sirocco using Tapatalk

[Abominable_Snowman]

Hi guys, sorry it's taken me so long to respond, been swamped with work. Anyways... Onto the car, thanks for the suggestions guys, I've had the car scanned, no errors pointing to the ignition switch.

Instead, a range of errors saying "implausible signal". After asking some VW macs, the common response is I most likely have a bad ground/ battery issue. The battery was also checked and it was indeed toast. Got that replaced yesterday, turned the key and now I simply get a single click.

This is progress... Much better than the awkward silence lol. I now suspect the starter/ grounds are at fault. I had replaced the starter with another second hand working one last week, but I'll check it again, maybe it's also decided to go wonky on me. I'll check the starter and all the ground points. It started to rain last night so I had to call it quits.

I can only visibly see 3 ground points (battery to body, one just next to the ECU and one other one just behind the fuel filter), can't seem to see where the engine/gearbox ground strap is located, does anyone know where its placed? Also, are there any other earth points I should check?

Thanks for all the help so far guys, you've helped me a lot!

let me know if you'd like me to post the scan here.

[Abominable_Snowman]

i had the same issue, i just got my 2016 tsi 1.2 on friday, saturday morning no start, starter not even swining, ECR light not, well it ended up to be the Key, they reprogrammed a new key which worked for 1 day, got the spare key and the car started no issues

Thanks Superfly, I'm glad you managed to track the issue down. I doubt my key is the issue, however, this car didn't come with a spare so I can't check it. But I will keep it in mind in case the starter and ground idea doesn't pan out.

[Abominable_Snowman]

Hi guys

So, just an update, she's back on the road. I tracked all the ground points down, cleaned them up nicely and along with the new battery, the car started without any hesitation.

thanks for all your help guys!