My GTI Randomly Shuts Off - EPC & Check Engine light come on (Video Included)

[ILoveMyGolf]

Hi Everyone! 

The Story:

I have an MK5 GTI 2006 (Almost 250,000KMS) I've owned for about 4 years now and I love my car, the car runs fine, considering how much I spent fixing it, except for one little problem.

For the past six months, my car has been sitting in the driveway, being intermittently driven just so it can stretch its legs.

I tried starting it one day, all it did was crank, the engine did not start. Called a mechanic, he tried a few times and it started, he said there was a carbon build up. Following this, I take it to a VW/AUDI Specialist. he tells me the same thing, fast forward a day, I spend about 5k in the hopes of fixing the car following his advice, and the car ran fine for a few days, got a carbon clean and changed 2 engine mounts, changed the PCV valve, the charcoal canister, water pump (went bad), one injector was changed during the cleaning process, my cam follower as well. All in all, money horribly spent as the problem persisted. As the car wouldn't start and I kept cranking the damn thing out of frustration in the hopes that it would turn over, my starter burned out. I bought a refurbished one and installed it (horrible access point to a bolt when I was under the car, had to buy an extra long spanner)

Fast forward a few days and the car dies on me while I'm driving it. I pull over, try to start it, it cranks, but alas engine would not turn on. I do some more research, I read that the fuel pump could be a problem as it's not providing enough fuel to the engine. I check the high pressure fuel pump at the engine and it's working fine. I figured maybe it's the low pressure pump in the tank (which wouldn't make sense as it's getting fuel to the front of the car and it worked when I tested it but I was desperate). I decided to buy one and changed it myself (Because throwing money at mechanic wasn't working obviously, so I decided to do the labour, might at least save something, I never thought I'd ever spend that much on a car but it added up little by little).

The car is right now sitting in the driveway. I drive it up the street and back, but I don't go any further as it's a ticking time bomb, you never know when it will die.

The Symptoms:

When it happens, the EPC light comes on as well as the engine light. In some cases, EPC comes on and the car goes in limp mode. Turning it off and on again sometimes fixes this. Now the ACTUAL problem, is when the car completely turns off. I used to fix this by disconnecting the battery for 10-15 mins (I've been stuck on the side of the road numerous times) then reconnecting it and starting the car (This reset the electrical system I assume) but now it no longer works as it used to, it's not a guaranteed start. I burned through a battery and it apparently had no cranking power left. Luckily I still had warranty and it was replaced for free as it was almost 2 years old.

Some things to note, my PRNDS lights on the dash are Flashing when this happens, I'm assuming it's a feature not allowing the car to start. Could it be my Mechatronics unit? (I hope not, otherwise the car is complete junk)

Summary:

*Engine is smooth and runs fine when it's working
* Car Randomly shuts off whenever it feels like
*Sometimes I get to my destination, when I try to start it back up after an hour or so, it doesn't always start, just cranks
*PRNDS are sometimes Flashing during this and sometimes they are not. Most recent occurrence, they've been flashing.
*EPC & Check engine turn on when it randomly shuts off. (To be clear, the engine dies, and the car comes to a stand still slowly going down through the gears, the car does still have power from the battery.

Error codes I get after plugging in my Scanner:

01314

I do get a few more but I can't find them in my phone at the moment, I'll update this if I find them again.

PRNDS FLASHING:

PRNDS NOT FLASHING:


Thank you for your time, I hope anyone can help, I've sunk so much money into this and I DO NOT want to buy another car, I preferably would like to get this one going.


EDIT: SOLVED!!!!!!!!!

Hiya everyone, I'd just like to thank everyone that took the time to respond and tried to help me with my problem. I took my car to another mechanic and asked him to drive the car so that he can diagnose it as soon as it breaks down. He took it from me and drove it for a week and a half on his commute from work-home. The car worked completely fine. no ESP light, car didn't just die on him. After $5,000~ and many hours spent diagnosing the car, it turns out that the problem was the BATTERY all along! The mechanic used a second hand battery he used in his shop, and the car worked fine. I ruled the battery out as the old one was replaced under warranty a few months prior. Turns out it wasn't the right battery for my car. The new battery works perfectly fine and I've been driving the car for about two weeks. Starts everytime, doesn't die on me.

Only problem I have now is that when I hit 80 KM/H the car struggles and doesn't really wanna go any faster, the engine starts to rattle. I think It's one of the coils. I got a Misfire on Cyl 4 on my code reader (assuming it's the one on the far left on the passenger side. I swapped the coils around to see if it happens again, then I can change the coil. For now, it's chugging away. Thank you again every! 

[titchy]

could be a faulty inhibitor switch this stops the car starting in gear other than P&N a check on vcds should tell

[MIJ_JAGGER]

Try changing the “458” relay located in the fuse box near the battery

Part number 1K0906381 or try good old eBay

[maxamplitude10]

Start with the simple stuff:
Do you hear the fuel pump priming (Humming) prior to start up?
Is there a spark at the plugs?
Have a good visual around all the wiring and check the engine ecu connections etc
I'm not clued up on the DSG's but assume there must be some kind of switch/ sensor to tell the ecu when the cars in park thus allowing it to start, this may be a good route to check also?

You really need to get a decent diagnostic computer plugged in to provide more detailed info ref the codes?
 

MaxAmp

[ROH ECHT]

Yeah, sometimes 01314 will appear due to connections at the ECM(loose pins), sometimes the ECM itself has failed, and some find it's a relay. But others have found it to be simply related to other codes. Since you have no other accompanying codes...it is likely a power or connection issue. Trying to resolve it will take some diagnostic skill.

[corradovr6]

deffinateley check for codes on vcds

[loop]

I had a similar problem, fault was related to throttle control valve. Solved by cleaning throttle body I think, was a few years ago now when I first bought the car.


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[ILoveMyGolf]

Start with the simple stuff:
Do you hear the fuel pump priming (Humming) prior to start up?
Is there a spark at the plugs?
Have a good visual around all the wiring and check the engine ecu connections etc
I'm not clued up on the DSG's but assume there must be some kind of switch/ sensor to tell the ecu when the cars in park thus allowing it to start, this may be a good route to check also?

You really need to get a decent diagnostic computer plugged in to provide more detailed info ref the codes?
 

MaxAmp

The fuel pump works fine, I even changed it to a new one. I'll look for the location of the ECU and check the wiring.

[ILoveMyGolf]

I had a similar problem, fault was related to throttle control valve. Solved by cleaning throttle body I think, was a few years ago now when I first bought the car.


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After it happened again when I took the car from the mechanic he did mention that the throttle body could be the issue.

I did take a look at it, there is little to no access room to remove it :(

[ROH ECHT]

So, all you have done to it recently is replace the LPFP? Did you do the basic setting after the install of the new LPFP/electric pump? http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/VW_Golf/Jetta/Bora_(1K/5M)

Have you looked at the throttle body data?
The only code you see is 01314?

Sometimes, and just going off of its symptoms of dying, that can be a failed LPFP control module. You may want to remove the back seat for a bit, and when it runs fine but dies...touch the controller on top of the LPFP to see if it is hot. If you look at before doing any of this, see it its casing looks melted at all.