Wussy TDI thinks it's too cold to start

[Lams]

Hi all,

This morning was the coldest in a while, a chilling 16C!

My brother's Jetta TDI had trouble starting. The car would crank but would not turn over. Then I get a call from my mother in-law, hers did the same thing too. She tried again 10 min later and it finally turned over, but the CEL is on.

What is going on! I thought these cars are designed to work in snowy countries. Anybody encountered this one? My 1.9TDI Caddy never had this issue. Both Jettas are '06, both 2.0TDI, both had software reflashed at dealer last year which was suppose to address this issue.

Thanks,
Alex

[STV4SYT]

Sounds like they have faulty glow plugs.

EIther that or they are not allowing the glow plugs time to heat up before starting.

[wokwn]

Yeah you have problems, over in TDI club those crazy Canadians get their TDIs started in -10F (almost -22C).

[velly_16v_cab]

sounds like a problem, my Bora TDI i had back in the uk never had any problems starting.
glow plug would be a good starting point

[mikinoz]

I had this issue and took it to the dealer. There was a remap available, that seemed to help the cold starts. Hope that helps?

[Lams]

I had this issue and took it to the dealer. There was a remap available, that seemed to help the cold starts. Hope that helps?

yeah, both cars had the remap done last year. I also think their owners are not letting the glow plugs do their work

coincidentally my brother's is at M Weber's this morning for the 60k service. Mike tells me the fuel filter's half clogged with crap, so perhaps that added to the slightly colder temperature was enough to cause a problem. We'll see how she starts tomorrow

[gtimk5]

You really dont understand what cold is Lams.... You have a problem with that car and its not related to 16 degree mornings
We had 2 here yesterday morning, I havent heard of any cold start problems down here and I have a lot of TDI customers here.
Having said that, I wait now for the phone to start ringing....

[Lams]

You really dont understand what cold is Lams.... You have a problem with that car and its not related to 16 degree mornings
We had 2 here yesterday morning, I havent heard of any cold start problems down here and I have a lot of TDI customers here.
Having said that, I wait now for the phone to start ringing....

It's definintely temperature-affected. I'm not saying 16C is cold, you poor bugger, but it is coldest we've ahd since October. The problem went away during summer. It's just a little strange that both cars, same morning...

[STV4SYT]

What i noticed is that due to diesel being a relatively new thing in passenger cars here, not many people know about pre-heating. i used to cringe any time a mate drove my GT and just whacked they key straight on without waiting for the orange light to go out.

Growing up in europe and having driven diesels most of my life its just a 2nd nature thing but not even the sales guy told me about it.

Certainly above 20C it shouldnt need glow plugs but once it drops below it gets harder, hopefully this is the issue with them both as it would appear strange for 2 to go at the same time.

[team_v]

I agree with Steve.
Grew up with parent's driving a diesel landcruiser and i used to drive the work ute (also a diesel) so i knew about leaving the plugs to warm up before ignition.

Most people who are new to diesels probably won't know to let the plugs warm up first and try to turn it over right away.

Sounds like the most likely cause to me.

[gtimk5]

Although it was so cold yesterday morning and it was also the first morning since last october that the morning has been under 14 degrees I didnt have to wait for the glow plugs to warm. Started straight up.

[Lams]

doesn't explain why you only get one shot at this though. Once you blew the first chance, you'd have to wait about 10 min for it to work again.

One of the cars had a service this week and the fuel filter was really filthy. Since the new one went in, the car's had no trouble starting since. So fuelling could be an issue here, maybe after a few min and you walk away and come back and open the door again, it would prime again and that's what starts it

The cars are serviced regularly, so there's got to be more 2.0TDI owners out there who are experiencing this...

[Jmac]

There is no need to wait for glow on these vehicles guys. Glow is triggered when the door is opened. the Glow is energised off the door contact switch , you turn the key the cylinder should already be hot
Jmac

[Lams]

ok, most strange
Since replacing the fuel filter on the manual Jetta, it's improved but maybe once every 3-4 weeks it'd still play up

the DSG car however, still refuses to start early mornings. We had the fuel filter replaced too and it seemed to be better.

This morning I decided to head to the inlaws early enough to see the problem first hand. It is a completely different problem
I turned the key, most warning lamps were NOT on the dash. PRNDS were flashing which meant one thing - ECU offline.
None of the engine lights were there, but other lights like tire pressure monitoring, ABS, were all flashing (ECU missing)

I couldn't get the engine to respond in VCDS. I popped the bonnet, wiggled a few fuses, by then it was 17C. I closed and locked the door, unlocked and turned the key, ECU comes back

Seems to be only early mornings that the ECU is a bit 'sleepy'. Without the ECU it would still crank but the engine won't turn. It's got me stumped!!

[PassatB6]

Hi Lams,

Remember this coming up a while ago on TDI forums. This should help.

Car won't start troubleshooting - TDIClub Forums