Strange Starting Issue

[chris1052]

Last weekend I took my 97 gti out to some mountain lakes, friday it ran great, no issues. Afterwards was towing it up and down some winding mountain roads, not sure if this has anything to do with the problem. Took it out to another lake Sunday and went to hit the start button. It started to turn over for a second then lost all power. No oil light or anything when hitting start. I check the battery wires and they were tight so I disconnected the battery and started tapping the terminal with the black wire to see if I would get any spark. There was a slight spark, not as strong as I would expect, but I hooked the cable back up and tried to start it again and it cranked right up like nothing was ever wrong. Does anyone have any ideas on what the problem could have been? It's almost as if the computer needed to be reset but is that even a thing? I do have an aftermarket mpem, previous owner had it replaced and I guess didn't want to pay for an oem replacement. Is this a sign of a possibly more serious problem? I don't want to get stranded out on a lake, that's no fun lol.

 

[Mickirig1]

Check all your connections and clean them. Pull apart connection plugs and look for crud or green powder which shows corrosion. Protect with Dielectric tune up grease. Do not put in connection plugs! Swab on male plugs. Check the connection on engine, the negative cable is very important to operation.. Protect with the grease. Feel all the wires for rough places or breaks. Look at fuses too, they can have problems too.

 

[mwat65]

Check your terminals for cracks. I over tightened mine once and cracked the terminal and it did the same thing.