Smuggler

Do you have your alternator connector plugged in, the one which shows the battery warning light on the dash? Also did you remove/refit he alternator charging lead, are you certain its in the right place?

Single wire is for the battery warning light, and i'm not too sure on what the extra plug is for, I replaced one with the same plug but has not given me any problems by not connecting it, mine did come from a sharan or galaxy though so that maybe why, not sure though.

When it does start does it run ok, run smooth? Coolant sensor would not stop the car from starting though.

What does it crank like? Does it sound healty and turn over fast, or slowly even after a charge? If it's slowly even after you charged it, then it sounds like either the battery, or alternator, but I wouldn't take any notice of the fault code, that could just be where you've tried starting it and run the battery down. Try and get it started again and measure the charging rate of the alternator, and the voltage at the battery and let us know. I'm wiling to spin the wheel of diagnosis and say a crankshaft position sensor though if they're fine lol, but ya never know.

I would check the battery first, make sure you have enough voltage, sometimes if you don't then the starter won't even attempt to turn. What happens if you put the headlights on and then try and crank it? As a general rule of thumb, if they flicker then I would say it's the battery, if they don't do anything, then I would start to look at the starter solenoid, relay, and motor, but check the battery with a multimeter if you can, should have between 12 and 12.5v for a good battery.

Hi guys, Some of you may remember this happened to me a good 7-8 months ago now so it's no biggie, I just got thinking about it as I never decided to investigate the cause, instead I just replaced the engine a week later. I was driving, coolant temperature was fine, and I now seem to recall there were a few plumes of blue smoke coming out of the exhaust on deceleration, burning oil. This got increasingly worse over the space of a couple of minutes before the engine decided to seize. Now I didn't particularly notice the clouds of smoke at the time because I have a tinted glass on the tailgate,

You should expect a little heat from it, it may not be as bad as you think though, but if it is more than normal it is sometimes possible for a misfire to raise temperatures in either inlet or exhaust side.

Get the arcing lead(s) sorted out first, it certainly could cause such a misfire especially if you can see it arcing straight away. Failing that, I would say it's either your coilpack or MAF, do you have access to a VAG com?

I recently replaced my VR6 engine but kept the original gearbox which was absolutely fine, and never had any noises at all or anything. Now when I put it all back together, I have this kind of tinny metallic rattling noise. It goes away when the clutch pedal is depressed which leads me to believe that its possibly the throwout bearing, as I didn't replace it when refitting the gearbox, didnt get a chance to. I just wondered if anyone else could confirm this as i've never heard one make this noise before. Video is here: Thanks

Tried changing the fuel filter? Does it have a standard air filter, if so has it been replaced recently? Next thing would be to check fuel pressure at the rail, then injectors.

Doh, nevermind that post, just saw you said your plugs were wet lol.

how long did you crank it for? if you ran the engine empty of fuel then it would of drawn a lot of air in through thr fuel lines and can take a while to start. Over 20 seconds cranking is not uncommon, so make sure you've given it a good go before looking at other things first.

Leads or coil pack, sounds like the plugs had taken most of the strain off whats causing the problem, but has now come back which indicates ignition fault in my opinion.

I know for certain that the coolant light flashes on the mk3 for low coolant, as when i started the car from cold with my water leak it would be flashing constantly.

Try maf first, then camshaft sensor second, but sounds like a new mass airflow sensor is needed to me.