Driving around 70–80 km and then shutting the engine off?

2018 VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER
20,000 MILES • MANUAL • DIESEL
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NEMANJA0710
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MAN van, year 2018, 2.0 engine, 103 kW.
The van starts normally, but after driving around 70–80 km and then shutting the engine off, it will only crank and will no longer start.

As soon as I perform “Clear DTC”, even though there are basically no relevant fault codes stored, the problem disappears and the van starts normally again.

The van has only 26,000 km.

According to live data, it seems like the engine ECU is somehow not allowing the injection system to begin building fuel pressure. After “Clear DTC”, the van starts normally again.

What could be causing this problem?
May 14, 2026 at 8:26 PM
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STRAILER
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This can be many thing but I would try unplugging the MAF sensor when the engine will not start to see if that works, when this sensor gets hot it can stop reading which will tell the engine computer the engine is not taking in air, in this case the ECU will not allow the fuel pump to turn on which makes the engine not start. When you unplug it the computer will substitute a default value and allow the engine to run. The sensor is located in the air intake tube of the engine, also is this engine a turbo? Also, make sure the fuel filter/water separator has been serviced. Can I ask what the code numbers were?
May 15, 2026 at 3:51 PM
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NEMANJA0710
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You can. I started suspecting that someone may have tampered with the software, because the only fault code I had was related to the IBS battery terminal. After I fixed that, there were no more fault codes, yet the computer still accepts “Clear DTC,” which is really strange.
May 18, 2026 at 9:10 PM
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STRAILER
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Yep, It sounds like it or the ECU is bad. You might want to try tapping on the ECU as the engine is running to see if the engine stalls.
May 19, 2026 at 2:27 PM
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