Help!! ADVICE NEEDED Glow plug Electrical Fault

[SID]

Hi all. Ive got an AUDI A3 2.0TDI SPORT, and for the past few months I have had trouble starting up the car in the morning. After putting the key in the ignition and waiting for the lights to go off i start the car up. And I get nothing. I turn the key back and try again and then all of a sudden its about to start and it dies and then whilst the key is turned still it finally starts up. The car shakes for a few seconds and then it is normal. The issue only occurs in the mornings first thing. Once the car fires up I have no issues with it during the day. Some mornings I have no issues with the car starting up, its starts up fine. And some mornings I have this problem.
So I took the car to a local garage and had it put on a diagnostic. the diagnostic came back with fault code-
"P0673 CYLINDER 3 GLOW PLUG CIRCUIT -Q12:ELECTRICAL FAULT". The mechanic had no solution into fixing this issue as it could be various problems. A bottomless pit. So earlier today I had the same problem with the car starting up. Wouldnt start on the first try, after the third try it fired up. So I took it to a diesel specialist. Again had the car was put on a Bosch Diagnostic and it came back with "FAULT 269 GLOW PLUG CYLINDER 3 OVER TEMPERATURE". The mechanic had said to me its an ECU fault as the ECU is sending out wrong information out to the car. As far as I've been told any ECU problems can only be dealt by from main AUDI dealers. As they can only program the ECU. And could cost approximatly £1800 to replace.

Before I take the matter any further I was wondering if anyone on here has had a similar issue to what I have and what procedure was undertaken to resolve this issue.

Any Audi specialist technicians or electrical technicians, your advice would be very much appreciated

Cheers

 

[jamessg1962]

Hi SID
Sounds like a glow plug fault.
You can check the glow plugs if you have multi meter, if not any garage should be able to do it in 10 mins .
If the resistance is high it's knackered ,i beleive it should be less than 5 ohms.
Even if your not mechanically minded try a search on internet for a good write up on how to do it

 

[SID]

Hi jamessg1962,
Thanks for the advice. Did you mean if the glow plug resistance is too high the glow plug is knackered?

 

[zedzo]

its nothing to do with the glowplug it is an electrical fault. sometimes its to do with a snapped wire, try cheking the loom in ur engine. ( wires near battery under it etc ) my friend has the exact same fault in his seat Fr. he gets it on cold mornings, or if he tries starting it first time.it also gives him an engine light. when he turns the key to ignition and leaves it there for 3 4 minits then trys starting it starts perfect. clocking forward n back dosnt work for him.

 

[zippyijk]

Old thread but no point in starting a new one!

I've got the same issue (SEE BELOW) but originally I was getting it in Cyl 1 and Cyl 4, now getting it in Cyl 3 aswell.
Your explanation zedzo would make sense if all 4 were giving trouble, it'd probably be the harness but it'd be unlikey...not impossible though

James you said to do a resistance check. I know some tdi's have them out easy to check in the open but on the 2.0TDI BKD engine I have, I believe the glow plugs are situated under the cylinder head cover?? (from Elsawin)
If so it'll be a pig of a job to check them

So does anyone think I should just go and replace all 4 while I'm at it? Or at least have them on standby while I'm doing the resistance check?
And has anyone here removed the cylinder head cover on a BKD engine before?
I have the instructions from elsawin and it doesn't look TOO difficult bar those 2 nuts that need to be removed from the top back side of the engine. Is it a job I could do in the driveway at home?
Would there be any parts I'd need to replace? (gaskets etc.)

17055 - Cylinder 1 Glow Plug Circuit (Q10): Electrical Fault
P0671 - 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 819 /min
Torque: 52.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 13.45 V
Bin. Bits: 00101111
Temperature: 14.4°C
Bin. Bits: 10110000


17058 - Cylinder 4 Glow Plug Circuit (Q13): Electrical Fault
P0674 - 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 819 /min
Torque: 52.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 13.45 V
Bin. Bits: 00101111
Temperature: 14.4°C
Bin. Bits: 10110000


17057 - Cylinder 3 Glow Plug Circuit (Q12): Electrical Fault
P0673 - 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 882 /min
Torque: 46.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 14.36 V
Bin. Bits: 00101100
Temperature: 8.1°C
Bin. Bits: 10110000