Cold start problems A3 Diesel + Video

[Blacky165]

Hi Everyone,

Hope someone can help. I'm having some cold start problems with my 2005 A3 2.0l tdi BKD Auto (mileage 95k).

If its left for more than a few hours it struggles to start, it feels like fuel starvation. It also hesitates badly at low speed. However once it's warm it drives perfectly - great mpg 60+, no issues. In the last 100 miles I've had the cambelt done and also the fuel filter. Only just taken ownership of the car so not sure if it was bad before the service.

Had a look at the fuel hoses around the fuel filter and they all look ok (not split). It came up with some glow plug faults a few weeks ago: codes: 17055, 17056, 17057 & 17058. Should I replace all the glow plugs?

Just filled up with a tank of V Power diesel and given it some Redex......

Ill post a video of the problem in a few hours what does everyone think?

 

[MrLapou]

Yip at the mileage I'd change the glow plugs and possibly the relay to.

 

[Geraldy212]

If the engine is cranking strongly I would suspect that the glowplugs do need changing. You can measure the resitance of each glowplug. Search on this forum for advice on how to do this and what to expect as resistance readings. Also checkout or replace the glowplug wiring harness (perhaps combined with the injector harness). Good luck.

 

[nokia_aid]

i had a cold start problem on mine, that went away when warm,turned out the cambelt wasnt fitted correctly

 

[Blacky165]

i had a cold start problem on mine, that went away when warm,turned out the cambelt wasnt fitted correctly

Eh...was hoping this wasn't the case. I'll talk to the mechanic that did the cambelt after i've tested the ignition systems.

 

[H88]

I had the similar and I just replace the glow plugs. It starts much quicker and better than before.

 

[max69vk]

Lets clear a couple of things up here, the glow plugs are only used at engine start up & not after, & even then they only really do something when the temperature is very low, as the weather isn't freezing at the moment I'd go out on a limb & say they aren't the cause of your problems.

The Injector loom & Glow plug loom are linked & it is a well know fault on the BKD (& BMN) that they can fail & give intermitent signals (hence the fault codes), it worth getting this checked.

You say that the cambelt was recently done, did they also check the Torsion value after the belt was done? Ideally you need to be at 0 to 0.5 degrees or the engine can be an absolute pig to start & will idle really rough till the engine warms up.

 

[Blacky165]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I've just tested the battery on my multimeter and it's coming back with 12.49v so it appears to be fine.



Its not exactly thrilling but the above link shows the problem - admittedly it started second time but it's usually the 4th or 5th time. You can hear the accelerator click on kick down as it requires a heavy right foot to get it to start, unless you kick down nothing happens.

Please note It sounds especially tractor'ish as the window is down on a cold engine. It sounds alright when warm - honest!

 

[Blacky165]

If anyone stumbles across this post with the same symptoms I can confirm that my timing belt was out - 2 teeth retarded. Horrible cold start, big cough of white smoke from exhaust and a terrible hesitation until warm.

Garage suspect a small piece of the timing cover had broken off and slipped the belt. Who knows.....all fixed now though.