I'm having issues with my 1997 VW Jetta GL.

Lately, whenever it has rained or snowed, the vehicle won't start. The engine cranks but won't fire. I've had a tune-up done and I've had the terminals on the computer cleaned and after that it worked for about a week.

It rained again last night and the car won't start again. Any suggestions?

Any tips would be very much appreciated!

old school....

clean battery terminals, and how old is ur battery ?

check the ground from the battery to the frame, and the quality of the wire.

check all plugs are set properly, and plug wires arent cracked or broken.

spray any exposed wires with WD40 or something with silicone.


Try cleaning the computer terminals again, maybe something got moved
when the 'professional' did it.

thats for starters....

If the engine cranks at normal speed,you can pretty much rule out the battery and starting system. The fact that the engine will not start is indicitive of a problem that affects all cylinders. If you had one bad plug wire ,the car would probaly start but run rough. I believe that the 97 jetta still had a distributor.Moisture tends to affect the high voltage side of the engine the most. You should start at the coil. Then the coil wire to the cap,and then the cap itself.The best way to check is at dawn or dusk.You can use a spray bottle of water to check these componets while the engine is running.The moisture in the air is probally allowing high voltage to arc to ground. At dawn or dusk you will be able to see the votage arcing to ground of the offending componet. Most likely would be the coil. Good luck.

Thanks guys!

any luck yet ?

Yeah, I'd be willing to bet it's on the coil side of things. Cracked distributor cap, bad coil lead. When you find the problem and fix it, go down to Napa or some other auto parts store and buy some dielectric grease and put a little in every lead boot connected to the cap and coil. Not a bad idea to put some on your computer terminals too. It seals out the moisture, prevents contact corrosion and won't conduct electricity.

Definitely an ignition problem somewhere. Does that year have a computer that controls the ignition system? If so it my be in there as well. Certainly sounds like a moisture/ignition problem though.

I had the same problem years ago with a Datsun.
Like QBC said... cracked distributor cap.

Hey guys, here's an update.

I got it towed to my mechanic yesterday and they hooked it up to a computer and the reading came back as a faulty crank sensor. Which is weird cause I replaced it 5 weeks ago. So I got another new one.

I replaced the spark plugs at that time too (5 weeks ago). A month ago I replaced the distributor cap and ignition wires.

I had him check the coil and he says it's not cracked or faulty.

It's starting and running fine but it is sunny here in Vancouver. We're expecting rain this Thursday so I'll know for sure if it's working then!

Crank sensor makes sense. Computer sends the wrong timing to the coil and it doesn't fire at the right time. I think coils are solid state now and not prone to cracking like the old ceramic ones.............at least the ones I've seen aren't ceramic anymore.

Crap you guys got in ahead of me, had a similar issue with one of my range rovers. It started to get moody and sometime would cranl for a lonk time before it roared up, eventually one day it died.

First I checked the fuel pump and it was wizzing for a few seconds to prime the fuel rail and would stop and there was presure in the rail.

Next pulled out a plug to see if it was firing upon crank, a no go. So changed the crank postion sensor and viola all good. As for the rainy day phenomena could be the wire grip/plug of the crank is exposed and might be getting wet. If so insulate it properly, also check if there have been any TSB's ( technical service bullitiens ) on your model of jetta's regarding this issue.

Cheers