2005 golf, hard starting in cold ??

hi everyone,

just got my first diesel, wow! why did it take so long for me to buy one.

anyway, the car is having a hard time starting in cold weather when left outdoor overnight. I have to crank it 5 times before it turns over. When parked in the garage overnight, it does not have any problem starting.

the car only has 83000 km.

i just changed the air filter, engine oil. fuel filter is scheduled soon.

after searching this forum, i can't find anything.

thanks in advance.

Report back after the fuel filter change, and listen for the in tank tandem pump when you turn the ignition on .

bruca003 said:

hi everyone,

just got my first diesel, wow! why did it take so long for me to buy one.

anyway, the car is having a hard time starting in cold weather when left outdoor overnight. I have to crank it 5 times before it turns over. When parked in the garage overnight, it does not have any problem starting.

the car only has 83000 km.

i just changed the air filter, engine oil. fuel filter is scheduled soon.

after searching this forum, i can't find anything.

thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Can't find ANYTHING? It's cold out man, check your fuel filter and add some anti-gel to the fuel tank. Get a frost heater.

Heck, I can find this stuff and I am in Texas where it was 65 F today!

Is American diesel that bad or is the Canadian stuff far better. In 7 years and 2 TDI's , I have never had a fuel issue

As you may know, diesel's rely on compression to ignite the fuel to create combustion. Not spark and explosion like a gasoline engine. Therefore they are more prone to temperature changes.

They use glow plugs to rapidly preheat the combustion chamber prior to starting. Make sure you let them cycle once (light goes off) before you try to start. You can do this a few times by flipping the key back and trying again.

These cars came with an oil pan heater from factory which isn't very effective. You should get an inline recirculating coolant heater because lets face it, Canada is stupid cold. www.frostheater.com for a premade kit or you can check your local Canadian Tire for the ZeroStart brand. I went through last winter without one however, and never had a problem.

It is normal for some hard starting to happen occasionally during winter. This can be minimized with regular maintainence (ie fuel filter change a very good idea) and keeping a good set of glowplugs in it. I even keep a spare set with a ratchet in my car, just in case. How old is your battery? It might not have enough juice left in it when it's cold to turn over the starter fast enough. Good batteries are a must.

Just some helpful hints. Enjoy your TDI .


Also: Wouldn't worry about anti-gel.. I've never used it, and never had a problem. Our fuel is winterized and for the most part good into the -50's.

Some of the pumpe duse TDIs (which yours is) have difficulty starting in the cold. At what temperature does the trouble begin? And describe exactly the starting difficulty.

For example, at anything below 38 degrees F, my '04 stumples and misses for a few seconds and white smokes when starting. If it is below freezing, the smoking is awful. At 25 degrees, it sputters and runs awful for 10 seconds and completely smokes my neighbor's yard out. White unburnt diesel smoke. It has done this from day one, brand new, and I consider it normal. I use a frost heater in the garage in the morning and put up with it for the evening start at work, but it is 15 degrees warmer outside by then.

A while back VW had a recall for this issue that was quite radical--It involved replacing the 4 injectors (with updated ones), replacing the glow plugs and glow plug controller (different part numbers again) and reflashing the ECU. This ran VW about $3500 per recall. I never had mine done, figuring it was risky having VW hack on my car like this.

Others have reported similar starting like mine on this list.

On a side note, you do know you must use VW 505.01 spec engine oil, right? If not, read up about it on this list.

--Nate

That's the typical of any Diesel engine cold starting problem in the cold freezing weather when is parked outside overnight.
So, park it inside in the garage since you've a garage, then do this,

OE coolant heater

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=196203

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=236565&highlight=heater

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=195368&page=3

OEM coolant heater

http://pics.tdiclub.com/gwillie/zerostart%20install.htm

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/517/ZER...STALLATION.pdf

My 05 PD Jetta Wagen behaved exactly as Nate described in the cold weather and has done it from day one. Aside from the roughness in the cold at startup, I've started it in -10F weather without a problem. All that was with the original engine and "time bomb" ceramic glowplugs. The engine experienced a timing belt failure during the summer which trashed the engine. I've got a factory NEW PD engine (crate motor) in there and the new engine has the steel GP update and the ECU although Rocketchipped has the steel GP update. I'm scheduled to get the car back this week so I'll find out how it starts as the weather up here in New England gets colder.

OP: From your description, it sounds like you're just barely able to crank the engine at all and would probably start OK if you could crank it fast enough. A minimum of 250 RPM is needed during cranking. Maybe time for a new battery?

Good luck.

Coldest I have started mine in is -35C. I have a ****ty calix coolant heater.

What's the temp in Toronto right now? Do you know if you/the previous owener, did the ill-fated glow plug recall?

T_D_I_POWER said:

That's the typical of any Diesel engine cold starting problem in the cold freezing weather when is parked outside overnight.
So, park it inside in the garage since you've a garage, then do this,

OE coolant heater

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=196203

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=236565&highlight=heater

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=195368&page=3

OEM coolant heater

http://pics.tdiclub.com/gwillie/zerostart%20install.htm

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/517/ZER...STALLATION.pdf

Click to expand...

there is no garage at work, outdoor parking only!

ok, so i turn key, wait for GP light to go out, engine turns over but dies right away. it does this about 5 times before it starts up. runs rough for 5 seconds and then its ok.

I called the dealer, they told me it needs an injector cleaning, and egr cleaning, and possibly a battery??... but this is without looking at the car. The dealer told me that the tdi should start on the first try all the time, otherwise, there is a problem..
I will try to look up injector cleaning procedure. any ideas here?

Fuel filter will be replaced soon. engine oil and filter just replaced with the proper grade, straight from the dealer.

thanks a lot for all the input.