My car shudders to life

[Okaruss]

Keen to see where this thread goes. My golf tdi has developed all these symtoms. I'm sure i read on here somewhere it was injector seals leaking after engine stops hence hard to start when cold with lots of exhaust smoke. But then i've had the starter turn real slow as well. Don't want to throw money at it with guess work.

[ian]

I used to have the same problem, some time it took 30 seconds of cranking before it would fire up , but it only did it occasionally but when I had the injectors replaced under the recall ,they reset the ECU and I have not had a problem since starts first time every time .

[David F]

Wish mine was that simple ....
I have the 2.0 TDI ( 74,000 k ) at mechanics right now, symptom was hard starting/rattling noise on start. They pulled the starter motor out, tested OK.
But it looks like the vibration damper ( if this right name for it ) is failing. I'm told it should only have around 25 mm free play, actual more like 100 mm. I've not gone to look yet - but quoted price for parts is close to 2K, plus many hours of labour to change.
I asked the mechanic to ring VWA but not much joy there. Yet on enquiring about parts availability with local Barloworld the mechanic was told they have replaced several, and have several of the required parts on the shelf.
Any thoughts, is this common?
Coming only a few months after having to replace the turbo because of an oil leak, we are not impressed! The car has never been driven hard.

[piper26]

Wish mine was that simple ....
I have the 2.0 TDI ( 74,000 k ) at mechanics right now, symptom was hard starting/rattling noise on start. They pulled the starter motor out, tested OK.
But it looks like the vibration damper ( if this right name for it ) is failing. I'm told it should only have around 25 mm free play, actual more like 100 mm. I've not gone to look yet - but quoted price for parts is close to 2K, plus many hours of labour to change.
I asked the mechanic to ring VWA but not much joy there. Yet on enquiring about parts availability with local Barloworld the mechanic was told they have replaced several, and have several of the required parts on the shelf.
Any thoughts, is this common?
Coming only a few months after having to replace the turbo because of an oil leak, we are not impressed! The car has never been driven hard.

Sorry mate but sounds like the mechanic with your car is taking stabs in the dark. I assume by vibration dampener you are refering to the flywheel?? I only say this because for 2k it cant be the vibratiom dampener on the front of the engine as that is a 45min job and parts are under $500.
Also turbo due to oil leak?? Not saying that there was definitely nothing wrong but I have not replaced a turbo due to oil leaks. Only when another component has failed.

Not saying that your mechanic is not good but just saying sounds like you should take your car to a more experienced vga mechanic

[piper26]

Common causes of cranking issues:

-battery
-blocked fuel filter
-injectors + injector harness
- blocked air filter
- glow plugs are not as common but obviously can fail
- timing out of alignment

[David F]

Yeah, I'm told it's the flywheel ? two mass system? .
I can live with noise on starting, but I'm concerned that "if/when" it fails there might be other, more expensive, damage. And my better half loves the car, but HATES any suggestion of unreliability. We don't take this car far from home these days, use the Tig for trips, but
The turbo oil leak was certainly real.... but I take your point about finding a different mechanic, if only for a second opinion.
Any suggestions for Melbourne - ideally S/E suburbs?
Not going anywhere near Barloworld, and not confident with the Frankston guys either.

Don't know if you have ever seen the Farmer " that's once" joke ( it's quite clean - look it up ) but my wife subscribes to a similar philosophy when it comes to cars which let her down. Can't say I blame her, but then the last time I can remember being stranded by a car failure was when the tail shaft dropped out of my FJ holden going up Spit Hill in morning peak hour.... Quite a few years ago, the FJ was later replaced by a new 1200cc beetle....

[David F]

Common causes of cranking issues:

-battery
-blocked fuel filter
-injectors + injector harness
- blocked air filter
- glow plugs are not as common but obviously can fail
- timing out of alignment

- Testing by mechanic involved repeated starting with a second battery jumpered in parallel so it didn't flatten the car battery
- once started the car runs perfectly, it was in for scheduled service with the starting noise as a secondary issue, so I had warmed it up a bit then ( as much as you can do on flat ground ) gave it some stick in sports mode so it would be warm for oil change. It's the same responsive little brick it's always been - and why my wife loves it and we still have both it and the Tiguan.
Whilst I know the mechanic may not have all the familiarity a vga specialist might, I'm fairly confident he would not have started down the rattle / starter motor path if the problem is filters, injectors, glow plugs. He was thinking starter motor, I just wish it was....but it tested out OK.
I'll visit tomorrow and then have a better understanding, he's not pushing me to commit to the full repair. One option is to just put the starter motor back in and run it till it breaks.
( But I think the oil change and rear shockers are a must do .... )

[piper26]

Sorry mate im in sydney so I cant recommend a place with confidence.
The dual mass when worn will give you a consistent rattle type noise especially at idle, not just during or just after startup phase.


Testing a car by repeatedly cranking can/will present concerns in its own right. And will tend to make people incorrectly diagnose a starter motor concern, or create one by overheating the motor.

You would be surprised by the noises especially tdi engines will make when any of the concerns mentioned occur. They create a very hard 'startup situation' and cause an irregular firing of the engine -> rough startup -> excess vibration absorbed via dual mass flywheel and other various dampeners.

Most of the concerns unless completely fatigued will not present a perceivable issue once running as the ecu can compensate for a fair loss in efficiency.

Im just trying to help you not have to pay for a repair that is not required. These cars are very reliable when maintained correctly.

While im glad to hear there is a mechanic not pushing a customer to fork out money regardless of what the fault is prolonged use with worn parts will lead to further parts wearing /failing

[piper26]

As with everything over the Internet though hard to come to definitive conclusions without seeing the vehicle in front of you.

100mm of freeplay in a flywheel is alot and if that is the freeplay when measured correctly then yes requires attention.if it was that much though I feel that you would have a very loud bang on startuo and a thump when taking off and on gear changes in the right conditions. If they have tested it correctly then the labour should not be much more as already accrued (gearbox should already be removed).