HELP! *sad face*

[BTJ]

Ok so, for the past week now I've been having a little problem.

On cold starts (early morning or after a day at work 6-10 hours) my little polo is struggling to turnover on the first go.

I turn the ignition and it fires then seems to struggle and stall. Sometimes if i pump the gas it will push through and rev properly.

When it stalls i try again and it starts then.

Any ideas as to what it might be?

Polo 07 club 1.4ltr btw.

Thanks guys and gals.

[seangti]

You might be thinking fuel pump/injector related or something like that, I'd probably 1st check the health of the battery. You can get that checked at a reputable battery shop.

I say this as I've had a few friends lately with battery issues which started to show in a similar fashion as you've suggested.

[pologti18t]

With fuel injected cars you should never touch the accelerator while starting.....

[noone]

With fuel injected cars you should never touch the accelerator while starting.....

I had not heard that. My last car started best with a few pumps of the pedal before turning the key.

I thought somewhere I had read there is a fuel pump when the driver door is opened, maybe this is not happening, the noise is quite clear.

[mikinoz]

Check your battery connections Brendan. It sounds like your battery is original and is now about 3 years old so I would consider it a precaution.

As far as what I do, I never touch the accelerator when starting a modern car that has fuel injection/ECU.

[BTJ]

my first thought was battery actually. Will get that checked asap.

As for the fuel pump i can clearly hear that when the drivers door opens.

Sounds space age.

Thanks guys. I think id die if there is something seriously wrong with my baby!

[Sharkie]

The battery is on its way out ... time to have it checked and replaced IMO.

[Blitzen]

Pumping the accelerator will not do anything on a fuel injected car. The injectors are opened by an electrical current from the ECU, and with no electricity being supplied to the injectors before the engine is started, they won't open.

[BTJ]

okay so next question,

good battery brands?

[Blitzen]

Exide, Champion...Even stick with the brand that is in your car currently...Are you still under warranty??

[BTJ]

Vw warranty? yeah.

plus a dealer warranty.

Is the battery part of that but?

[seangti]

Vw warranty? yeah.

plus a dealer warranty.

Is the battery part of that but?

I wouldn't have imagined it would be. You should get a 12month warranty on a new battery, some offer longer. If buying a battery, check the date on it and make sure it's not more than say 4months old. As they generally last only a few years, you don't want one that's already 12months old.

In saying that, my sisters battery on a Hyundai Getz lasted 7years. Gotta be happy with that. Running heaters/demisters, lights and wipers put quite a drain on it so with the recent weather in QLD it's meant a big increase in dead batteries lately - had a battery replaced last week on a friends car and spoke to the battery guy.

[Blitzen]

Vw warranty? yeah.

plus a dealer warranty.

Is the battery part of that but?

Take it in and get the codes read under warranty...Tell them whats happening, and they will be able to better diagnose it than us on here...

You may luck out and get a free battery out of it.

[AusScare]

Had the exact same problem with my Pug 206, it'd struggle to start cold (and stall if I drove off immediately), but if I then turned it off and on again, it'd be fine.

The fuel pump was on its way out, it was losing pressure after charging up initially. However, this is on an '03 model with 120k kms..

I thought battery first too, but got it checked and it was fine.

Does the car shake at all when you try and start it? I also like to leave the car to idle for 30s before driving off on cold starts.

[NickZ]

Battery should be covered under the original 3 year warranty. It won't be covered in any dealer warranty though as even Allianz exclude it from the official VW extended warranty.

But if it is under warranty anyway, regardless of the problem just take it into VW and hopefully they will see what is wrong if anything.