New Guy Here With a 2011 JSW TDI

Hey guys have been eye balling this forum for a while now since I got my JSW three weeks ago. Love the car and everything is all well. Started using PS with first fill-up and am following the guidelines posted on here. However this is my first diesel vehicle and it does take some getting used to with maintenance. I am a gear head so working on these things don't scare me I have rebuild and raced plenty of turbo cars.

I have a question though, my car seems to hiccup (miss) before it warms up with light throttle applied once or twice everytime I drive it cold. Once it's warmed up it goes away. Is this a TDI thing? Also I sometimes feel like the engine slightly backfires or "pops" through the throttle pedal when I change gears. There is no audible engine back fire or hesitation. This is just probably me being to anal with a new car but I am a perfectionist by nature. Sucks!

Cool forum by the way. I belong to many and this one seems pretty friendly and laid back. This shall be my new home for the next couple years.

faithless said:

Hey guys have been eye balling this forum for a while now since I got my JSW three weeks ago. Love the car and everything is all well. Started using PS with first fill-up and am following the guidelines posted on here. However this is my first diesel vehicle and it does take some getting used to with maintenance. I am a gear head so working on these things don't scare me I have rebuild and raced plenty of turbo cars.

I have a question though, my car seems to hiccup (miss) before it warms up with light throttle applied once or twice everytime I drive it cold. Once it's warmed up it goes away. Is this a TDI thing? Also I sometimes feel like the engine slightly backfires or "pops" through the throttle pedal when I change gears. There is no audible engine back fire or hesitation. This is just probably me being to anal with a new car but I am a perfectionist by nature. Sucks!

Cool forum by the way. I belong to many and this one seems pretty friendly and laid back. This shall be my new home for the next couple years.

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It's a CR-TDI thing, meaning that it doesn't happen on any of the previous generations of TDI. The new TDIs (09+) have two EGR loops- high pressure and low pressure. The low pressure EGR loop has a flap in the exhaust pipe the cycles shut at ~1800 RPM. It usually isn't noticeable on a cold start, but more so after a warm restart. If you accelerate moderately briskly (you don't need to floor it) through 1800RPM, you probably won't feel it.

faithless said:

I have a question though, my car seems to hiccup (miss) before it warms up with light throttle applied once or twice everytime I drive it cold. Once it's warmed up it goes away. Is this a TDI thing?

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Perfectly normal (unfortunately). As you noticed it only occurs under light throttle. Just give it a little more accelerator pedal between 1800 and 2200 rpms and the "problem" pretty much disappears.

Welcome to Fred's little corner of the internet.

Have Fun!

Don

If that is so, then just increase the idle rpm from 1800 to say one where the hiccup stops. Test drive another new car at the dealer to see if this type of issue is common or standard, although should not be.

Dodoma said:

If that is so, then just increase the idle rpm from 1800 to say one where the hiccup stops.

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LOL. wut?

PlaneJob said:

LOL. wut?

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I don't think ours (our TDI or Russian Blue) do this...

It's normal, it only lasts for a second or two. There are several other odd behaviors the software imparts to these engines for the sake of emissions. For example, if you rev it with the clutch in it will limit how much throttle it gives to reduce smoke. Also, if the engine bogs too low, even if you clutch in time to recover, the ECU will turn the engine off. Also, occasionally, you'll kill the engine and the fans will come off. This is because the DPF was regenerating and if the fans don't run, plastic could melt. They'll stop on their own in a bit. Unfortunately it's against forum rules for me to tell you how mine has all these things fixed.

I have a question though, my car seems to hiccup (miss) before it warms up with light throttle applied once or twice everytime I drive it cold.

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I don't think this is normal at all. Any time I have had rough operation it was because I did not wait for the yellow Glow Plug lamp to go out before starting. This becomes even more important when temperatures are low.

meowguy said:

I don't think this is normal at all. Any time I have had rough operation it was because I did not wait for the yellow Glow Plug lamp to go out before starting. This becomes even more important when temperatures are low.

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Get the car good & fully warmed up. Then stop for 30 minutes or so at a supermarket, department store, etc. When you restart the car, drive it in 1st at ~1800RPM for a minute or two. I can almost guarantee you'll feel the hiccup.

But...on a '10 it's much more subtle than an '09.

Be sure to read the whole "Another Frozen Up Intercooler" thread, if you haven't already. Sometimes they will 'hiccup' due to a big glob of water in the lower intercooler pipe. This can be very serious, even fatal (hydrolock). It seems to be caused by the intercooler de-humidifying wet air from the low pressure EGR in cold, humid weather, then parking the car in a warm garage.

I have a 2011 Golf and mine does the hiccup thing every morning. I start the car, sit for @ 30 seconds, and take off down the road. At almost the exact same spot every day about 2 minutes down the road, the car will jerk(hiccup), and then that's it for the day. The car runs perfectly after that.
I've also experienced all the other oddities that ToeBall outlines above, except for the revving with the clutch in deal. I haven't had a reason to try that one.

I dunno. I would take it in and have it looked at, or at least call to talk about it. I got a 2011 JSW a month ago, and there is no hiccup. If it started now, it would worry me...

bvencil said:

I dunno. I would take it in and have it looked at, or at least call to talk about it. I got a 2011 JSW a month ago, and there is no hiccup. If it started now, it would worry me...

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My '09 first did it with less than 100 miles on the odometer. Took it to the dealer twice. No codes were ever stored.

Drive more, worry less.