I have a 1999 VW Jetta iV GL 4 cylinder standard. It will not turnover. I tried new battery, had alternator, cylanoid and starter tested all were fine. I was driving car it started smoking but i could not pin point where the smoke was coming from. I was wondering if ther might be anything common i should check. I figured it was something electrical.

 

This happened to me on another vehicle. There is a power wire that runs from the battery (main bus) to the starter. Then from the starter back to the ignition switch. When you start the car, the ignition switch puts tells the solenoid to power the starter, then disconnects. Sometimes when the solenoid locks up/breaks/misbehaves, it shorts this wire out, and a large fuse mounted on the firewall or in-line with the main bus to the starter. Check contunity on this wire, for me, i just had to run a new wire from the fuse to the starter, and replace the main fuse attached to this line, and it worked fine. Ohm out the fuse connected to the power line of the starter, if it is bad, replace, if good, you just need the wire going to the starter (the biggest one). If this one is good, check the one going back to the ignition switch. Mine smoked as well.

Good luck!

Wilma

 

Thanks, I think I thought I saw a melted wire but I wasnt sure to were.

 

I tried messing with it today, at some points it would try to turn and start. I was thinking it could be the ignition switch. Does anybody have any ideas?

 

I had the same problem with starting on my 98 and my 99 jettas. It turned out to be the ignition switch. You should have all the lites and such working but the starter will not engage. It can be other things too but the ignition switch does wear out. You have to pull the steering wheel to get at the part. A mechanic job is about 1.5 hrs. The same switch will cause other problems too....like the heater fan not working at times. good luck

 

Changing that switch is such a pain, I just pulled the ignition wire out of the bundle and ran it to a 12v hot wire, and connected it to a button switch. It was cheaper for me to do this in a few instances. basically you put the key in the ignition and turn it to "on" then press the button to start the car. This is cheaper than a new ignition. If you melted the wire going to the starter, it very well may have damaged the ignition.