2012 Sportwgen TDI - trouble starting

It seems any time the car is parked overnight it generally won't start on the first try. Temperature is not a factor, could be 20 or 70 degrees. I normally wait 5 seconds before turning the key to allow the glow plugs to heat up. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. It starts immediately if it has only been parked a few hours. Car has only 83,000 miles on it.

could be the starter, could be the starter switch

are you saying it spins the motor over but it doesnt fire right away? or is the starter not activating? what problem exactly you having? it could be the immobilizer not reading your key right away. could be a failing crank sensor. lazy starter. you have to be more descriptive than "it wont start right away".


i have a spare starter for an auto. if you want to buy it off me. It was an emergency starter while i waited for the one sent by the dealer. i cleaned it and greased it and it works good. Cleaned all the brush carbon out. cleaned the comutator, cleaned all the old grease out and added new stuff. works well.The starter is cecm controlled and not direct from key. if its above 48f the gp dont activate.

you can also tie into the starter control wire and attach a small light somewhere you can see it with the hood closed. so you can see if the key is activating the starter like it should right away when the car is cold. basically to see if its a bad control wire, starter, or key. with vcds i believe you can activate the starter. could even be a failing cecm. its a complicated question.

and diesels start a bit harder when you first start them because they rely on heat. so taking a revolution or 2 isnt out of the ordinary. mine takes a few seconds to start the first time. its not a gasser.

asgoodasdead said:

could be the starter, could be the starter switch

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I'm sorry, the starter turns over nice and quickly as normal. Combustion is just not occurring.

DivineChaos said:

and diesels start a bit harder when you first start them because they rely on heat. so taking a revolution or 2 isnt out of the ordinary. mine takes a few seconds to start the first time. its not a gasser.

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The car didn't act like this 12 months ago. It would start immediately then.

I probably check the in tank fuel pump to make sure it's working.

Could be the intercooler water problem. Read the first post in this thread: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=302863 .



Water symptoms:
"...Engine will turn over slow / not start (drowning)"

Has your car had the TSB applied? If not, you might want to check to see if there's water. Here's a youtube vid of how much can be in there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_YKBbUX3JU



If there's a bunch you can hydrolock.


Dan

i have noticed that, i have gotten some extended cranking times. usually around 40f. my assumption is either water in the ic, or its warm enough not to activate the gp. My dads even does it. I would start with a tune up. fuel and air filter. make sure the lift pump is working right. maybe the relief valve in the hpfp is leaking. You can view the fuel rail pressure. you have VCDS or obdeleven?

I've also got a 2012 Sportwagen TDI with about 83k miles and have been experiencing the same thing. Only happens in the mornings and takes maybe two or three seconds longer of cranking to turn over. Doesn't happen every morning. Sometimes I'll cycle the glow plugs twice before starting, and most of the time it starts up right away. What's interesting is that I've just recently started to notice the problem, and I've been working from home and haven't taken it on the interstate for any extended period of time for a few months. I've had about three instances this winter that I assume are the water in the intercooler problem. Start the car, takes a few seconds to crank, then shuts off. Do this about four times and then it will start, idle rough, then everything is fine. The shop I take it to (Car Doc in St. Louis, MO) is a very highly regarded in these forums, and they've told me it's common and I can either pay $1500 for the "fix" or just step on the gas every once in a while to clear out the water (or something like that). Maybe since I haven't been driving on the interstate and thus haven't had a chance the really push the engine, that might have something to do with having to crank my engine longer in the mornings.

Before throwing a lot of money at the issue, have the battery checked. These diesels take a lot of battery power to turn over when cold. A new battery is a whole lot cheaper than any of the above recommendations.

There are other threads about this same issue (e.g., links below). I had it too, but for some reason it disappeared on my car for a while now.

Increased Cranking Time When Starting

2015 Golf TDI long crank first start of the day

ksing44 said:

There are other threads about this same issue (e.g., links below). I had it too, but for some reason it disappeared on my car for a while now.
Increased Cranking Time When Starting
2015 Golf TDI long crank first start of the day

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So I watched the video on that thread and it appears the VVT (variable valve timing) body was faulty due to fine metal particles in the oil. It also appears that VW have completely changed the design of the VVT body so this cannot occur again.

That part is listed at $232. Eek. Part # 03L109096B

I read but didn't see it mentioned, are you throwing any codes? Do you have a scantool? If not PM me