Hello,
I am new here............but I have down some reading and searching on your site for this issue.
This beetle happens to be my mothers and I have been driving it around to get a better handle on what the issue really is.
Day 1 (morning):
26 degrees out, turn the key glow plug light only on for about 2 seconds. I cycled it twice more and tried to start the engine. All I got was some stumbling and once I pushed the pedal down about 3/4 the way down, it lit right off.
Day 1 (evening):
45 degrees out, turn the key on and still the glow plug light is on about 2 seconds. I cycle it twice more and try to start the engine. This time no stumbling and it didn't even try to hit. I pushed the pedal most of the way down and it started stumbling and lit right off.
When I got home that night, I unpluged the engine coolant sensor and tried the glow plugs like I read on your site. This time the glow plug light was on a least 15 seconds.
I should add that the engine starts fine after it has been run even a short time........which leads me toward the glow plug issue. Also, the battery and crank speed seem to be fine. I done some full throttle runs up hills to test degrading power (fuel restrictions, filter, etc.) but everything seems good.
I also read that retarded injection pump timing could be the reason for the hard starts in the cold.
At this point, I am thinking that replacing a $8.99 coolant sensor would be a cheap gamble unless you guys can point me in another direction.
Any ideas?
thanks,
I am new here............but I have down some reading and searching on your site for this issue.
This beetle happens to be my mothers and I have been driving it around to get a better handle on what the issue really is.
Day 1 (morning):
26 degrees out, turn the key glow plug light only on for about 2 seconds. I cycled it twice more and tried to start the engine. All I got was some stumbling and once I pushed the pedal down about 3/4 the way down, it lit right off.
Day 1 (evening):
45 degrees out, turn the key on and still the glow plug light is on about 2 seconds. I cycle it twice more and try to start the engine. This time no stumbling and it didn't even try to hit. I pushed the pedal most of the way down and it started stumbling and lit right off.
When I got home that night, I unpluged the engine coolant sensor and tried the glow plugs like I read on your site. This time the glow plug light was on a least 15 seconds.
I should add that the engine starts fine after it has been run even a short time........which leads me toward the glow plug issue. Also, the battery and crank speed seem to be fine. I done some full throttle runs up hills to test degrading power (fuel restrictions, filter, etc.) but everything seems good.
I also read that retarded injection pump timing could be the reason for the hard starts in the cold.
At this point, I am thinking that replacing a $8.99 coolant sensor would be a cheap gamble unless you guys can point me in another direction.
Any ideas?
thanks,