Cold Engine Startup

2000 Bug TDI, It is starting to get cold here in Central Illinois, when my daughter starts her bug, it smokes for a few moments. She is complaining, anything other than telling her to quit whining that I should do. Also what oil should I use?

A few seconds worth of white/grey raw-smelling diesel smoke is normal when starting TDIs when the temps drop below 40 degrees F. Its unavoidable. Cycling the glow plugs more than once does not help either and shortens plug life.

First Winter with the diesel? /images/graemlins/grin.gif To minimize the smoke and cold running roughness, use the best diesel fuel you can get (not necessarily the cheapest) Amoco premier, BP Supreme and the like. All the suppliers are or should be treating their fuel to keep it from gelling up in the cold and this tends to drop your MPG and increase the smoke while cold a bit too. Use a quality fuel treatment religiously, that'll help too. Otherwise tell her to quit whining and remember how much she's saving on fuel. /images/graemlins/grin.gif
I won't go into the whole oil thing but i will say if you follow the owners manual recommendations on weight and the use of synthetic diesel rated oil, you should be fine. Also, keep an eye on the battery charge state, these cars will not start without enough juice to roll them over fast enough and the cold puts a greater strain on the whole system. Good luck and stay back away from the plow trucks!

Another thing I thought of, find someone with a VAG-COM near you and check the timing and if it's not, try to get it (timing) into the top half of the normal range for better starting and less smoke. A search in the FAQs as well as elsewhere on this site should reveal a wealth of info on this procedure if you are unclear on what it entails. Good luck!

Multiple cycles of the glkow plugs does not shorten the life apperciably. Period. It does help get a little more heat to the combustion chamber too and will help with the smoke somewhat. Fuel quality is the biggest issue. When I run Premier, there is maybe a 1x2 ft cloud. Garbage diesel from anywhere else? 3x10 ft easy. Either w/ or W/O additive.

What is a cold startup? My TDI never heard such a thing.... /images/graemlins/cool.gif

good point terry, i know its your product, but as long as i am near a plug in, no smoke, instant heat etc

get a TDI heater, it only took me 20-30 minutes to install

I recently purchased an 04 Jetta TDI PD, and am a diesel newbie. This coming weekend I'm planning on heading north and am wondering if/what I should do in preparation for my trip to Temblant? I hope to be able to park underground once I'm there but I'm not sure if this will be the case or not. Other than using a quality fuel, and making sure all my fluids and pressures are up to snuff what would you reccomend? I have heard about fuel additives but am unsure of what brand or product to buy. Any advice would be great. TIA.

Congrats on your new purchase. I am also a diesel newbie. This is my first winter with my '03 Jetta wagon (it's not even winter, yet...). I use Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement; the stuff in the white bottle (the gray bottle is for the summer). I put 8 oz. in a tank to prevent gelling. Last week at 14 deg.F the car started right up. This morning the car was covered in snow and after cleaning it off, it started right up in 19 deg. temps.

Good luck with your new car!

Anyone else reccomend certain products?

Read the Fuel and Lubricants Forum for more than you'll ever want to know /images/graemlins/smile.gif (Hint - go back more than 90 days for your search).

I use the POWERSERVICE. I have not had any problems starting since '98.

multiple cycling of the plugs does help. doing it twice should be sufficient if it's really cold and you have all 4 plugs working... doing it more than 3 times is really just a waste.
it "might" shorten plug length... but i'd rather spend 80 bux replacing the plugs, than replace the starter or battery, after excessive cranking in the cold.

i always cycle my plugs twice when it's cold, and after 81k, i had 1 plug fail.

I was surprised mine started so easy this morning. A good cold soak over the weekend and down to 20F or below this morning. Started on the first crank after about 7 sec of glowplug.

I'll tell you what. My TDI's have more reluctance starting when it is mid to high thirties than when it is zero. It has got to do something with the ECU and at what temperature the glow plugs become operable. When it is in the mid thirties my plugs never stay on for more than a second and it turns over a little rough for a second. When it is 10 degrees the plugs will stay on for 7-10 seconds and the thing fires right up, smooth as butter.

Fresh, the only thing I can suggestis good winterized Diesel fuel if it is really cold. I have been driving Diesel cars for years, but in our mild climate.

I am now the proud owner of a 2004 TDI Jetta wagon that runs like a top.

Personally, I never have used a fuel additive; the Pacific Coast just does not get cold enough for fuel to gell, except maybe in some mountain passes.

Never use a starting spray!

No need to cycle the GPs multiple times. The GPs stay on ("afterglow") for about an additional 10 seconds or so after the GP light goes out. When it's wicked cold out, just turn the key, wait about 10 seconds after the GP light goes out, and then crank it. It should fire right up.

If it's harder to start when it's 30F out than at 0F, it may be a sign of retarded injection timing. It has something to do with how long the GPs operate and how much cold start timing advance is provided by the injector pump, commanded by the ECU.

Some amount of cold startup smoke is normal. It's a fact of Diesel life. The smoke is a mist of atomized but unburned fuel. Use only the best fuel you can find in your area and use an additive to help.


~ n1das