Welcome to the forums!  There are several very good VW Techs who frequent the Volks Folks forums.  If you have a question, just ask and maybe someone can point you in the right direction.

Most of my VW experiance has been with later air-cooled Beetles and Buses, but I've owned a couple of water-cooled including a 96 Passat and 79 Dasher.  A few months ago we bought a 05 Passat TDI for my mother-in-law from the dealership in Johnson City, TN.  My 15 year old grandson drove it home.  It was his first long trip since he got his learner's permit, his first time driving in the rain and his first time driving on the interstate . . . and we still got over 42 MPG on the trip.  I'm hooked!  I want one for myself!

Again, welcome to the Volks Folks Forums!

Welcome!

First thing to check, does the glow plug light on your dash come on at all? If so how long? Next if it does stay for the 5-7 secs it should you need to see if the glow plugs are receiving the power. There is a fuse block on the firewall, engine side that may be blown. If it's good and you are getting power to the glow plugs the last thing is to check if they are good. That will require you to take the terminal strap off of them and with an ohm meter go from a ground to the threaded nut you just took the strap loose from. Anything other than an open circuit is usually good, much greater than .09 ohms and I would replace it while you're in there.

If everything checks out to that point next biggest issue is an air intrusion into the fuel lines. These can be a headache to trace down.  Start with the glow plug system. Maybe by then Russ can make this into a new topic in the water cooled tech section.

Welcome to the boards!

Sal