It could still be immobolised - sort of- 12volts is not getting to the fuel solenoid cut off valve. It will turn over but not start if that happens, Im not sure if the immobiliser going wrong could cause that to happen but its worth a check, yoh may also have disturbed some wiring and/ or blown...

If yr oil cooler pipes are both hot does it mean the thermostat is ok? Is that how you eliminate this as a possible cause? I just ordered a new viscous coupling from paddocks to eliminate that.......

Ill be interested in advice you get on this, on my 96 tdi with aircon ive replaced the water pump and stat, flushed the heater and rad, and cleaned the fins, but it overheats still when towing a 1.5 tonne trailer up severe hills eg 30mph slogs for several minutes, ambient temp less than 20deg c...

Spring on the seal goes towards the pressure, which in this case is towards the oil.........

Other side of the world me and same opinion as most of the above posts, paid 2500 nz (1250 gbp) for my 96 tdi with over 200k miles, love it, cost me around 500 nzd in first year to pass compliance test , swivels, service parts, hoses, fluids, and new cambelt kit, did work myself, I intend to...

You would know if you had abs swivel parts as the top swivel bearing is a bush with abs and the bottom a roller bearing, whereas both top and bottom would be taper roller bearings if non abs. Its possible a car originally with abs has had the swivel parts swapped out for non abs........ The...

Ref the gasket i made my own from 0 .8mm paper works fine and was roughly same thickness of oem gaskets, your original looks TOO thick imho

Thanks quattro I'll give it a go.......

Thnks quattro thats next on my list even tho it all looks good...any tips for doing this job of removing scuttle panels please? (Sorry if this hijacking the thread)

By the way my 300tdi leaks into the footwells and has no significant rust anywhere or sun roofs and i have no idea where its getting in, had lots of theories and eureka moments and still not figured it out :mad: Ive had the wings off and re sealed the vertical seam and improved the drainage of...

Fingle not sure of the drain holes you are after but at the bottom of the a pillar there are 10mm dia holes that can get bunged up causing the a pillar to fill with water.....not hard to find them no need to take anything off etc If you have aircon there are rubber type 2 drain tubes for that...

If the batteries are not at fault then look into whether the glow plugs are working, duff ones or wiring fault can make the motor turn over slower.

Those special bolts that were a bastad to undo did you notice the blue stuff ? I think thats the culprit its frigging extra special loctite, but if you heat it up a bit it softens and they undo ok, too late for you of course! Fwiw i reckon you will have to fill the swivels with the grease...

Some switches get kicked by a wife taking her welly off :wtf:

Its by design and in the manual, its a crash detector device, under left hand side of the dash, it opens the doors and turns the hazards on :-)

Retro did you watch the youtube vid cos that explains everything my car looks ame as yours and the solenoid is easy to remove and check if its faulty put back less the spring and plunger and it should start

If the turbo spindle has that much play it might be worth checking the boost pressure....also...if the turbo lets go the engine can eat itself as im sure you know so it might be a place to start!

Does this vid on youtube help? Diesel Stop Solenoid 200tdi / 300tdi RTC6702 Fault Diagnosis - YouTube

Not sure which type solenoid fuel cut off valve you have but some can manually over ridden so you eliminate the wiring to the valve and the valve itself as sources of your problem, I suggest you try that test, if fuel is getting to the pump. My 300tdi had an intermittent fault in the wiring to...

Another possible cause is an iffy crash sensor, this device unlocks the doors and turns the hazards on. On my 300tdi its under the dash passenger side, my wife kicked it when taking a wellie off.......to reset it one has to lock the car, unlock it, turn key in ignition etc but it took me a few...