long crank time to start '04 PD tdi jetta

Hi Guys, I have a small issue I'm hoping someone here can help with.

I have a 2004 jetta sport tdi and I've noticed once I had the timing belt changed it seems to need to crank longer to start.

The mechanic that did the tbelt for me is a gasser expert, not tdi, but he's still very capable.

We were throwing ideas out there that may be causing the vehicle to crank longer than normal before starting, and he suggested perhaps the starter was missing a tooth or was on it's way out, or perhaps the battery was dieing (original battery, 2004 car).

I've recently read a thread here about ip timing on an ALH engine possible being the issue and I was wondering if this could be the case with my BEW engine?

All maintenance is kept up and the car is loved and well maintained.

As I travel to the cottage in the boonies often in the summer, I'd like to get this issue taken care of ASAP.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks

It is almost a sure thing that something is not right with the timing. Do you know if your mechanic has VCDS or equivalent, and did he use the lock down tools? It is necessary to fine tune the timing after belt replacement using VCDS or other diagnostic tool to read the torsion value.

Starter missing a tooth? Sounds like he is in over his head and guessing.

Paul

Alchemist is right. Have the torsion value checked. This can be done with VCDS which is the mac-daddy of scanners for the VW Family.

What Alchemist said. The use of the lockdown tools are a must. I also hope the mechanic replaced the single-use bolts, the timing belt tensioner and roller and water pump.

As for the battery, you might as well replace it now, before you get stranded in the boonies. 8 years on the original battery? That almost has to be a record. Make sure you replace it with the proper 80 amp-hour one. A lot of places will try to sell you the 72 amp-hour one for the gas-powered VWs.

--Nate

A gasser mechanic will often turn the timing belt tensioner the wrong way, and it will not last long that way.

If a leak in the fuel system was created, then you can get longer crank times as well. Much longer, approx 30 to 40 seconds, if the fuel rails are draining back to the tank due to air inleakage.

Remember, guys that the torsion value substituted in when the cam sensor disagrees with the crank sensor position too much is 0.0 units, which appears perfect. If you are setting the cam to crank timing and turn it too far out (more than +4.0 or -4.0 units) it will stop reading high numbers and go to zero. Puzzlingly, you may not get a code with this - though you can and will if the sensors disagree by a huge amount.

Quite often you can see the torsion value change by 0.5 units or so during cranking, sudden acceleration, or sudden deceleration. So I validate a perfect reading of 0.0 by watching (or logging) the torsion value during those evolutions; if it ever goes to + or - 0.5 for a reading, then I know it is truly at zero and not a substituted value.

Thanks guys.. I'm pretty confident the timing belt was done correctly. He does have the proper tools and vcds. He's also done a lot of TDI timing belts, but he doesn't consider himself a "guru". He specialty is gassers.

So for a course of remedy besides having the timing checked (which I will have done), what would you guys recommend? is there a way to do a pressure test for air leak in the fuel line? There is no obvious leak. Also, even though everything seems ok with the battery once the vehicle is running, is it possible that is the cause?

Thanks again!

2004PlatinumTDiSport,

I just did the timing belt on my wife's 2005 Jetta Wagon. After everything was back together, the car ran about 5 minutes then quit. I couldn't get it started. Turns out the lift pump was bad. Since I pulled the fuel lines off the filter, I lost the prime on the fuel system.

You might check if your lift pump is working by pulling a line off the filter and turning the key on. If it's working, it should push fuel out the line.

Eric

Shenandoah said:

2004PlatinumTDiSport,

I just did the timing belt on my wife's 2005 Jetta Wagon. After everything was back together, the car ran about 5 minutes then quit. I couldn't get it started. Turns out the lift pump was bad. Since I pulled the fuel lines off the filter, I lost the prime on the fuel system.

You might check if your lift pump is working by pulling a line off the filter and turning the key on. If it's working, it should push fuel out the line.

Eric

Click to expand...

Thanks Eric, I'll give that a try!