1.4 Tdi Struggling to start..

Shhh don't tell her the little A2 will lay claim to her heart and soul.
(in a good way)
 
rotifer said:
Shhh don't tell her the little A2 will lay claim to her heart and soul.
(in a good way)
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Her husband, now departed from this mortal realm had one apparently, so that's a good start. He also had an Aston Martin Cygnet, so was definitely up for a quirky car. She has petrol cars though, so I hope she can get on with a TDI.. Her last summer runabout was a bright orange Renault 4.
 
DaveySprocket said:
Her husband, now departed from this mortal realm had one apparently, so that's a good start. He also had an Aston Martin Cygnet, so was definitely up for a quirky car. She has petrol cars though, so I hope she can get on with a TDI.. Her last summer runabout was a bright orange Renault 4.
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Sounds like potential A2 character traits. Bright orange anything indicates that.
A flower child of the sixties?
Mac
 
So the Grey Dolphin was in for MOT today, I insured her for a couple of days to give myself some leeway and maybe let my neighbour have a test drive if all went well.

And she passed, happy days!! Just an advisory for the crack in the windscreen, which is fair enough.

So off I trundle to the supermarket on the way home, when I stopped to park she had a very lumpy idle, hmm not ideal I think to myself. I did my shopping, came back out, and nope, she wouldn't start. Oh my giddy god.. After cranking for about 15 seconds she finally caught, and ran okay, although on the way home she seemed to be struggling to pick up a couple of times. I turned her off and tried to start again, and she spluttered back into life, but had a very lumpy idle again, rev counter showing 950 rpm and the whole car shaking. So I turned her off and tried again, and nope, not wanting to start.. So I am back to square one again, although the fault does seem to be developing.
 
DaveySprocket said:
Well I start her up every day and so far still 100% success :)

View attachment 119923

I managed to get an MOT booked for next week, so I got her up on the ramps to have a look underneath. Seems pretty good, and I'm sure she's got new discs and pads on the front. I'll get her cleaned up and polish up the headlight lenses.
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I cant get my car to drive up on these unless i make a line of carpetto go under the wheels and wrap over first rung... otherwise they skid forwards all the time.
 
Fuel pick up blocked again?
20240305_170823.jpg
Diesel bug treatment?
I use this for preventative maintenance as I do fewer miles than I used to.
 
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CrispyEdd said:
I cant get my car to drive up on these unless i make a line of carpetto go under the wheels and wrap over first rung... otherwise they skid forwards all the time.
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What you need is a patch of really badly done and uneven tarmac right in front of your house, so that they don't slip 😆
 
I think I have hatched a cunning plan..

I'm confident that nothing much is wrong with fuel pump or injectors etc, as the fault is intermittent. After cleaning the sender the car seems to start and run fine for a while and then problems start occurring.

When I first cleaned the sender it was completely covered in a black slimy substance, which I think is probably also lining the tank. So the latest theory is that this is diesel bug. To properly get rid of it I think the tank needs to be emptied and cleaned out. Unfortunately I just filled it with fuel doh. Anyway I think I will take the sender out again, drain the fuel from the tank via the sender opening, and put the fuel into another vehicle with some Diesel bug treatment. I will then clean out the inside of the empty tank best I can, and start fresh with diesel bug treatment in the tank, and a super clean sender. I guess I'll change the filter as well. I think somebody is going to be smelling of Eau de Diesel for a while.. 😆
 
I've ordered some Marine 16 and a siphon pipe jobby, so will hold off on the grey dolphin until these have arrived..
 
Looking at the number plate lights on the grey one, I should probably try and get the screws out while they are still fairly intact, but I'm pretty sure removing them will end in tears..
IMG_20240307_103425_HDR.jpg
 
DaveySprocket said:
I think I have hatched a cunning plan..

I'm confident that nothing much is wrong with fuel pump or injectors etc, as the fault is intermittent. After cleaning the sender the car seems to start and run fine for a while and then problems start occurring.

When I first cleaned the sender it was completely covered in a black slimy substance, which I think is probably also lining the tank. So the latest theory is that this is diesel bug. To properly get rid of it I think the tank needs to be emptied and cleaned out. Unfortunately I just filled it with fuel doh. Anyway I think I will take the sender out again, drain the fuel from the tank via the sender opening, and put the fuel into another vehicle with some Diesel bug treatment. I will then clean out the inside of the empty tank best I can, and start fresh with diesel bug treatment in the tank, and a super clean sender. I guess I'll change the filter as well. I think somebody is going to be smelling of Eau de Diesel for a while.. 😆
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I work as a marine engineer here in Greece and deal with diesel bug on yachts and occasionally cars almost every week. It is an organism that lives in the water that is always present in diesel fuel. The black slime (which eventually turns to a spongy rubber like material) is actually this organisms excreta. My advice is to drain the tank, clean it out as thoughly as possible, (wear gloves you are effectively dealing with s**t) change the fuel filter and then treat the fuel (overdosing on the treatment is not harmful) and put it back in the tank. Don't put it in a different car because you run the risk of cross contamination. The treatment will kill the bug and allegedly break down the excreta. Continue to dose the tank for a couple of fills, then change the filter again. After that all should be OK. Cars normally only suffer from diesel bug if they are laid up for a while. So if you are not using a diesel for a while it pays to put some bug treatment in the tank and fill it to the brim. A full tank reduces condensation which is where a lot of the water in the tank comes from. Good Luck
 
JHB said:
I work as a marine engineer here in Greece and deal with diesel bug on yachts and occasionally cars almost every week. It is an organism that lives in the water that is always present in diesel fuel. The black slime (which eventually turns to a spongy rubber like material) is actually this organisms excreta. My advice is to drain the tank, clean it out as thoughly as possible, (wear gloves you are effectively dealing with s**t) change the fuel filter and then treat the fuel (overdosing on the treatment is not harmful) and put it back in the tank. Don't put it in a different car because you run the risk of cross contamination. The treatment will kill the bug and allegedly break down the excreta. Continue to dose the tank for a couple of fills, then change the filter again. After that all should be OK. Cars normally only suffer from diesel bug if they are laid up for a while. So if you are not using a diesel for a while it pays to put some bug treatment in the tank and fill it to the brim. A full tank reduces condensation which is where a lot of the water in the tank comes from. Good Luck
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I was aware of the existence of Diesel bug, but didn't really know anything about it, so that is very helpful information thanks! I will be sure to follow your advice. Thanks again
 
I took the sender out of this on Saturday, and dropped at least 40ml of Marine 16 straight into the full tank, so by today it should have done it's job pretty thoroughly. I was hoping that once it was started and some clean diesel had run through it, it would be okay. It started after about 20 seconds cranking (poor old battery and starter motor 😳). It seemed to run okay, and drove quite nicely for a short drive, but has a very rough idle, kind of shaking the car rough. I tried starting it again after 30 mins and it didn't want to start again o_O.

I scanned the car to see if any faults were showing up, and nope nothing. In some respects I am okay with the fault developing, because it might make it easier to fix, thinking positive here 😏

Tonight will be spent scouring the internet for new ideas for the way forward, to include looking into the injector loom..
 
This is not normal to have so much gunk in the fuel repeatedly. I would be suspicious about some hose not rated for fuel giving up 🤔
 
BigBang said:
This is not normal to have so much gunk in the fuel repeatedly. I would be suspicious about some hose not rated for fuel giving up 🤔
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It seems very likely that the fuel has been contaminated with diesel bug. Apparently the black slimy stuff that was covering the sender unit, and is on the inside of the tank is the poop of the diesel bug organisms. I've treated it, but really need to empty the tank and clean it properly. I'm waiting for a couple of 20 litre containers, as unfortunately the tank is full.. I'm not sure what it does to the injectors, but I don't suppose it does them any favours!
 
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