Starting issue

C

chris.t

Member
For some reason today our a2 tdi took awhile to start, when this would always would start no problems. The only way I can get it to start is if I keep pumping the gas pedal while trying to start and around 10 seconds later it will start. But if I then turn off the engine and then and try and start it will start no problems. Then if I leave it for a while I have to go back to to pumping the gas pedal before it will start.
We have had the car over 3 years and never had any issues with it, it's serviced every year, but only used for short journeys, never used on a good run so would be something to do with a diesel filter clogged up and needs a good run to clean it out?

It's a 2001 tdi se
 
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A number of possibilities. The easiest to check is the battery. A local garage should be able to measure the maximum current draw. A new battery is only £50-70 for a decent quality one.
Glow plugs are another option. Again a garage can measure the resistance of each plug to test.

As a test, try turning the ignition on - wait for the glow plug symbol to turn off - turn ignition off - turn ignition on - wait for the glow plug symbol to turn off - then start the engine.
 
You will not do your car any favours by never giving it a good run. I do mostly short trips. But make a point of giving it a decent run once a week.

Is the battery the original one? If it is then it's 11 years old and proberly in need of replacing. As the colder weather is coming in, it makes it harder work for our batterys. You could also check the earthing points as this can give trouble starting.

Cheers

David
 
I may be wrong but the battery power seems the same as its always been, it's turning over but just taking ages to fire up.
I don't if this is the original battery, I bought the car off a forum member around 3 1/2 years ago.
 
chris.t said:
I may be wrong but the battery power seems the same as its always been, it's turning over but just taking ages to fire up.
Click to expand...

If that's the case, then the glow plugs look likely. Especially with cold starts the engine needs hot glow plugs to start quickly.
Battery or glow plugs, either way it's not an especially expensive fix.

Battery: usually the year of manufacture is printed on top of one of the terminals. 04 for a 2004 battery.
For price comparison a Bosch S4 battery is £65 from ECP (includes 25% discount code). Shop around for the best deal.
 
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What I will do tomorrow is check the battery, give the car a god run on the motorway for an hr, then if nothing has changed I booked it in for a glow plug change and go from there.
Thanks for the advice all, I will report back with the outcome.
 
From the symptoms described its also possible you have a fuel drainback problem. A few owners have had issues, mainly with pattern fuel filters which can allow fuel to drain back to the tank when the car is stood for long periods. Its usually worse if the car is parked (back-end down) on a slope. If that's the case try parking nose down and see if the starting improves
I'm guessing but assume poor welding or crimping of the pipe connections on the filter result in internal air leaks. Could be worth trying a genuine Audi fuel filter if a new one has not been fitted recently.

Other possibilities are faulty temp sensors fooling the engine into thinking its still warm or a faulty camshaft sensor- although the effect of the latter should not be influenced by standing time or temperature.
Could be worth having a diagnostic scan before buying parts.

Cheers Spike
 
The same symptoms on my A2 1.4 tdi were due to a faulty crankshaft position sensor. Was a few years ago when it cost £150 ish for Audi to replace with a new sensor.
 
Today first thing this morning started first time no issues, had a good run and cannot seem to reproduce the problem at all, i do hope this is not going to be a intermitant fault.
 
Fingers crossed and hopefully it might not reappear.

I certainly wouldn't be throwing money at it by replacing parts willy nilly without knowing exactly what is wrong with it should the problem reoccurr, as has it has been mentioned there are many things it could be and will probably end up being something very minor.
 
Well this problem hasn't gone away, In fact got a little worse, it seems to cut out as well when the revs get dropped, and that's on top of the starting issue. Been holding on booking the car in to be fixed as my wife goes away tomorrow for 2 weeks so can go in then. When I spoke to my mechanic last week and said about the glow plug being changed he reckons on some of these engines they are built in with something else? Anyway giving the car a good runn later and booking in for a fuel filter and glow plug change next week, that's as long as its starts.
 
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I had a problem with mine starting a couple of winters ago. I would start sometimes, I'd park up and then it wouldn't start again! It was very intermittent to start with then it got gradually worse. I had the glow plugs changed as that was what the fault code said the issue was with. For about a week it seemed to fix the issue, but it came back. It turned out to be the crank sensor. Once this was replaced it was ok.
 
Well the car got picked up by the garage, and i got a phone call from them this morning telling me that on the way the car engine stopped 3 times and at one point didn`t nearly start again, so at least they have seen the issue with the car.
 
Garage dropped dropped the car off today, saying they think they found the problem, there was air in the fuel system. I'm a bit confused as I thought you would only get air in the system if you let the fuel tank goto empty then when diesel is put in it would need bleeding. Going use it everyday for a few days a see if it returns.
 
Hi guys. I just bought a new fuel filter for mine and plan on changing it this weekend myself. I got some fuel line clamps to try and not let air into the system. Is there any other procedure i should follow to ensure i don't get any air in the system?
 
Well it's been over a week and looks as if the problem is solved, I saw the mechanic the other day and he told me he scanned it which came back with no error codes, then he put in a Original Audi fuel filter, and he did Say the one he told off was not a Audi one, so spike looks like you were spot on.
 
Thanks for the update. Its this type of feedback which builds the knowlege base of our club

Cheers Spike
 
I have a similar problem on my 2002 Passat Tdi Sport Estate if parked uphill overnight. A lot of cranking needed to start and yet I have only used Genuine VW filters on that car. Inchcape VW in Shrewsbury advised to fit a new genuine filter as they had seen the problem with genuine VW fuel filters as well. ie sucking in air when fuel has drained back to tank overnight when parked uphill. I have the new filter but haven't tried it yet!
Got into the habit of NOT parking uphill....... but one day.......I will and the new fuel filter will be fitted!
 
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