Hard Start / No Start - Is your intercooler frozen? Check Here!

[pknopp]

I'd think that gunk would plug a hole sooner or later.

 

[arto_wa]

We have not seeing reports of plugging the drain hole - have we?

 

[Chris]

Looks like smooth gunk to me (not chunky).

It's not like it's going to dry out.

 

[ray96disco]

I'd think it's better to check the hole from time to time than have that slop ingested.

 

[Matatk]

We have not seeing reports of plugging the drain hole - have we?

Good question. It was the afternoon of 3/5 when I cleaned out the gunk. I drove about 25 miles the following morning (3/6) and parked. Upon start up later in the afternoon I had a rough idle for 2-3 seconds on start up and then no problems. I drove home about 25 miles and parked. The morning of 3/7 I had a rough idle upon start up for about 2-3 seconds again, then no problems. On 3/8 the car ran fine upon start up, but I didn't drive it far, only a few miles.

Today I took the skid plate off to see how much "drainage" I was getting. I did observe some oily streaks and water, indicating something had been coming out, but there was nothing dripping from the hole. It did seem as if the "gunk" was blocking the hole. I pulled the intercooler hose and took about an ounce of water out.

At this point, I've ordered Andrew's drain kit and will be installing it next week.

So far from my experience, I think the hole helps, but might not be a complete solution.

 

[Matatk]

Quick update...
The hole seems to not have been a viable solution for me. I still experienced a rough idle once or twice since the last post. Pulled the skid plate today and it was dry under the hole with no oily residue. It appears it was plugged. Pulled the hose and got a small dribble of water, less than an ounce. More sludge/gunk was in the hose.
I installed Andrew's drain kit. No longer the season for intercooler condensation, but look forward to updating with positive results.

 

[Matatk]

As far as positive results....I used the drain today. Weather was cool this morning, around 40 when I left. Apparently I had some water condense during my morning drive. This afternoon when I started it up, I noticed a rough idle. Shut it down and opened the drain. Some water dribbled out. Fired it up again with the valve open and a little more seemed to come out. So far that's a good result.
Anyone still following this?

 

[bobt2382]

I am! I'm certain there are quite few more. Really appreciate the feedback. Once VW/EPA/CARB figure out if I can keep my car, would love to have a setup like that.

 

[2micron]

As far as positive results....I used the drain today. Weather was cool this morning, around 40 when I left. Apparently I had some water condense during my morning drive. This afternoon when I started it up, I noticed a rough idle. Shut it down and opened the drain. Some water dribbled out. Fired it up again with the valve open and a little more seemed to come out. So far that's a good result.
Anyone still following this?

Great update. You can open the valve and give it a quick, short burst in First gear.
It will blow out all that crap, just like when you blow your nose.
You'll find it will take 3 to 4 different times, over the first 3 to 4 days to get rid of all that Gunk trapped in the lower section of the Intercooler.
After this, it's mostly water. You'll find a routine of leaving that valve open ,often overnight when it's condensation season - right around freezing, up to 10 degrees above. Just close the valve in the morning!!
Worst case with the valve left mistakenly left open, you will certainly hear it and after 10 miles you get a check engine light, warning a MAF fault. Don't do this!!!
Great work on the install, looks great!!!!
Thanks!!!
Andrew

 

[pknopp]

As far as positive results....I used the drain today. Weather was cool this morning, around 40 when I left. Apparently I had some water condense during my morning drive. This afternoon when I started it up, I noticed a rough idle. Shut it down and opened the drain. Some water dribbled out. Fired it up again with the valve open and a little more seemed to come out. So far that's a good result.
Anyone still following this?

Someone had done one of those awhile back that was set up so you could open it from the front of the car without ever getting under it.

This is probably the best solution but I didn't have a single hiccup all winter with the block in place......I'll probably remove it this weekend.

 

[Matatk]

Someone had done one of those awhile back that was set up so you could open it from the front of the car without ever getting under it.
This is probably the best solution but I didn't have a single hiccup all winter with the block in place......I'll probably remove it this weekend.

That's Andrew (2micron) the poster above you. I don't have to crawl under the car, there is an access flap in the fender.

 

[Matatk]

I am! I'm certain there are quite few more. Really appreciate the feedback. Once VW/EPA/CARB figure out if I can keep my car, would love to have a setup like that.

Thanks. For me it was worth it regardless of dieselgate. Can't risk a hydrolock. Once this is all over I'll be doing an egr/dpf delete and tune.

 

[pknopp]

That's Andrew (2micron) the poster above you. I don't have to crawl under the car, there is an access flap in the fender.

Cool. Sounds like a good set up.

 

[Matatk]

I have been using the valve the past couple of mornings and I see condensation each time I drain it (25 mile drive one way). Only takes 10-15 seconds to bend down and open the valve.

Here's a picture of the flap:

 

[kjclow]

I'm still following too.

 

[GetsomeTDI]

So I have been reading about this and checking on it and I have had zero of these issues on my 2011 Jetta TDI in North Dakota until I moved to Michigan! It has happened Twice with the start and die and act like the battery is dead in the last six months. I have 125,000 on the girl right now! So is Andrews drain the best fix so far? Thanks

 

[ATR]

So I have been reading about this and checking on it and I have had zero of these issues on my 2011 Jetta TDI in North Dakota until I moved to Michigan! It has happened Twice with the start and die and act like the battery is dead in the last six months. I have 125,000 on the girl right now! So is Andrews drain the best fix so far? Thanks

The easiest fix so far seems to be drilling a small hole in the lowest part of the charge piping:
https://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=431560

Only a couple folks have had the holes plug up. Perhaps a slightly bigger hole would be better? I think 2mm would be a safe bet.

 

[b1jackson]

I put a cover on the lower grill this winter and have had no issues. And this has been an insane winter of up and down all around the freezing mark on a daily basis. Had intercooler freezing issues all kinds of times before the cover went on.

 

[Campbellonh]

Despite having a winter cover and the third "fix" from VW and it being well above freezing, it happened again this morning. arrggghh

 

[ATR]

Despite having a winter cover and the third "fix" from VW and it being well above freezing, it happened again this morning. arrggghh

Yeah these swinging temperaturesare brutal for this issue

 

[RedBug]

Just happened again here as well. Latest kit installed. The kit seems to help but it does not eliminate the issue. The Mercedes solution is what VW needs to do, with the approval of the EPA as Mercedes did. Shut off the EGR below 50 Deg. F

 

[RedBug]

The easiest fix so far seems to be drilling a small hole in the lowest part of the charge piping:
https://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=431560
Only a couple folks have had the holes plug up. Perhaps a slightly bigger hole would be better? I think 2mm would be a safe bet.

I have been thinking about this. What is to keep water from being sucked in in high water situations?

 

[Chris]

I have been thinking about this. What is to keep water from being sucked in in high water situations?

The fact that it's pressurized while the engine is running.

 

[ATR]

I have been thinking about this. What is to keep water from being sucked in in high water situations?

As Chris said, the charge pipe is always under at least a little bit of positive pressure while the engine is running.

 

[akjdouglass]

PITA spring clamp!

I haven't hard any hard starts or rough idling yet, but I have been pulling the lower hose to check for water at each service (just did 70k oil change tonight). I have the baby-poop-looking goo in there like most of the pics in this thread, with a couple teaspoons of water, too.

I tell the wife to accelerate aggressively occasionally to help prevent the moisture and goo from building up, and it seems to have been moderately successful.

I wanted to clean it out a little more thoroughly, but the spring-loaded hose clamp was really a pain to release, so I had to settle for scraping out as much as possible from the screw clamp end.

Exactly how to do you get the spring clamp to release? I was able to get both sides pulled out, but couldn't get the plastic clips to hold in the released position, and the hose wouldn't budge.

I've had the hose completely off before and I don't remember it being such a hassle taking it off.

 

[wackypete]

Hey Guys.
On April 4, 2016 I tried to start my car. It fired up and, about 1 second later, died with a thud. My 2nd attempt maybe made half a rotation before stopping. After about 30 minutes of waiting for a tow truck I decided to try one more time. It worked but ran very rough for the first 5 seconds. I was able to drive it home and have been driving it since. All seems okay except my mileage has dropped All things being equal I went from 48 mpg to 42 mpg. Anyone else experienced this? Ideas?

 

[Chris]

Hey Guys.
On April 4, 2016 I tried to start my car. It fired up and, about 1 second later, died with a thud. My 2nd attempt maybe made half a rotation before stopping. After about 30 minutes of waiting for a tow truck I decided to try one more time. It worked but ran very rough for the first 5 seconds. I was able to drive it home and have been driving it since. All seems okay except my mileage has dropped All things being equal I went from 48 mpg to 42 mpg. Anyone else experienced this? Ideas?

Have a compression test run.

 

[Matatk]

So I have been reading about this and checking on it and I have had zero of these issues on my 2011 Jetta TDI in North Dakota until I moved to Michigan! It has happened Twice with the start and die and act like the battery is dead in the last six months. I have 125,000 on the girl right now! So is Andrews drain the best fix so far? Thanks

Sorry for the delay. I can't say specifically for you, but for me it was. I drilled the hole as per the "hole mod" thread and it clogged twice within a day or two. And I did clean out the pipe each time. So far Andrew's drain kit is working out out perfectly.

 

[Jeng51]

@wackypete
I had an issue back in January where my 2010 Golf TDI started, stalled, and would not start again. Acted like a dead battery. Had to have it towed to dealer. After the dealer got it to start the following day I noticed it had a rough idle that was not there before, but would go away when the engine heated up. Took it back to the dealer who ran some more tests with the assistance of VW on phone. To make a long story short they found low compression in #3 cylinder, and measured that the #3 piston was no longer reaching the same height at top dead center as the other pistons. Bent connecting rod. The quote to fix was $7500 for a used engine, or $12000 for a VW re-manufactured engine. The car has 165K miles on it and not worth it. I drove it for another week like this, but has since been parked in my garage for the last couple months while we wait to see what VW is going to do with the "TDI Recall" IF I had read about drilling the hole in the pipe prior to this I would have gladly done it. Once out of warranty you are pretty much out of luck with this. Was amazing to note also, even though living in Wisconsin none of the service staff seemed aware of the icing problem.

 

[arto_wa]

Hey Guys.
On April 4, 2016 I tried to start my car. It fired up and, about 1 second later, died with a thud. My 2nd attempt maybe made half a rotation before stopping. After about 30 minutes of waiting for a tow truck I decided to try one more time. It worked but ran very rough for the first 5 seconds. I was able to drive it home and have been driving it since. All seems okay except my mileage has dropped All things being equal I went from 48 mpg to 42 mpg. Anyone else experienced this? Ideas?

I agree with Chris - get compression test done. It sounds like a bent connecting rod and perhaps damaged piston


Here is my experience with similar problem couple of years ago:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=4720059#post4720059

The difference is that mine must have bent the rod during highway driving since I never noticed anything drastic, until check engine light!
The fuel mileage had been little lower.


Try again and harder to get VW to cover most of the cost, as they did on my 2010 about two year ago