I have a 2001 Passat GLX 5sp. a few weeks ago out of nowhere my car did not start. i tried jumping the car but that didnt work. i had to pop my clutch to get it started. i put in a new ignition switch but thats not the problem. i also tried a new starter but thats not case either. everything comes on and the car will run, theres just no power getting to my starter. as of right now i have run a wire from my starter to my battery in order to start the car.

i dont know whats wrong!

 

I would replace the wire from the battery to the starter then.

 

Replace the battery. The amount of power needed for ignition is huge compared to what is needed to run. Even if the battery seems fine.

Just reread your post and it sunk in that you can start with a hot connection. This may mean you have a wiring problem. In an old car I had it was called the fuseable link, it may be that there is a fuse in the wiring between the ignition and the starter that is broken. In any case as you probably know the connection is interrupted somewhere between the ignition and starter. Trace the wires and look for a short.
Please let me know if this is helpful or not.

 

Any update on this? My mother in law is having a similar problem, but it is an automatic so we can't pop the clutch. (Oh, I'm 5 hours drive from her too).

I read another post where someone had power window and power lock issues at the same time as this problem. They stated that fuse 14 was blown. I also read that there are some issues with a wiring harness to one of the computer systems that gets corroded.

Thanks,
Mike Gilbert

 

Ok, so I had them check the fuses. At least fuse 14 was bad. When they attempted to replace it, poof, it blew the new fuse, so that obviously means there is a short somewhere... Anybody have wiring diagrams for these monsters?

Mike