Ok so just picked up my first a4! a few more questions!

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Grangey.

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Right!

So just picked her up, my first a4- 1.9 tdi 130 sport. Love it, one of the most comfortable rides Ive had and considering its weight and that it hasnt been remapped, still goes very well too!

So couple of questions;

The cars done 62k and is mint, the only one thing ive picked up on is that it seems to be abit of an effort to start- ie it wont start after a turn of a key, you have to pump the accellerator a little. Any ideas what this could be? Glow plugs? new distributor? The car has a FSH so i cant imagine its plugs or anything so just thought id check if anyone has any thoughts?

Its next service is due in 90 days or 8900 miles but dont want to leave it until then to get it sorted.

Secondly, it came with the symphony head unit (double din), it kinda looks like either the DIS or the head unit itself should be capable of showing ID3 information (ie track name etc), i put in some burnt cds and whilst they played fine, it just listed track 1, track 2, etc, so just thought id see if its possible?

Also, the car doesnt have DIS (booo), any recommendations where to get this retro fitted? I may consider getting cruise fitted aswell but cant decide yet.

and finally, whos the best at remapping these? Is there any perticular stand out or are they all as good as eachother as long as they stick it to around 170bhp?

Many thanks,

Grangey
 
Grangey. said:
The cars done 62k and is mint, the only one thing ive picked up on is that it seems to be abit of an effort to start- ie it wont start after a turn of a key, you have to pump the accellerator a little. Any ideas what this could be? Glow plugs? new distributor? The car has a FSH so i cant imagine its plugs or anything so just thought id check if anyone has any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Erm you do know the difference between petrol and diesel engines.....? Diesel's don't have a distributor, or "plugs". It could be the glow plugs, is it reluctant to start when warm or cold? You don't need to pump the accelerator. If it's slow to start from cold then it could be the glow plugs, or possibly the battery - has it been stood for a while? If it's slow to start when warm then it's worth changing the Coolant temp Sensor for < £30.

The only place I know who retrofit DIS are Home - Vw & Audi Sat Nav, Bluetooth , TV Tuners, Cruise Control Installations UK but I'm sure there's other places. Where are you?

Track names won't play on the B6 range unfortunately.
 
haha no this is my first diesel engine, so shows you how little i know about them!

Well ive only started it from warm so far and it was from there it was reluctant, so you think this could be temp sensor related?

Any ideas what the cost for glow plugs are?

Im in Oxfordshire bud, thanks for the list, il take a look :)
 
Have a search for Coolant Temperature Sensor or CTS and see what you think. Its worth doing anyway to eliminate it.

Last time I bought glow plugs for mine I think they were about £17 each. If you've trouble starting from warm I doubt its them though.
 
If you want track names, you'll need to get a non-genuine ipod cable. I have a Dension Gateway 100 ad that displays tack names on the DIS, but not on the stereo (I have a single din one though)
 
if the car has been used and the engine is warm it really shouldnt need the glowplugs to start the engine. so if your having issues starting at this point as Quttrojames says it could be your battery so does it sound like its turning over slowly?

Otherwise it could need to be retimed as my car had issues starting since i bought it 18 months ago i had tried a new battery and collect temp sensor and neither helped. i have recently had a new cambelt fitted and the car was found to be almost 2 teeth out of time this has now been adjusted and the car starts perfectly hot or cold.

So if your car has had a replacement cambelt maybe the have not timed the car correctly after fitting it.
 
I think PD engines are timed differently to our 2.5's are they not?
 
Thanks vrbob that is an interesting one. Is it likely to cost much to get it looked at and potentially retimed?

After having the car another day, basically I'm not sure if it's a problem or not so i could do with some advice. Remembering I come from a Honda background and petrol at that, I am used to turning the key, 2 chink chinks and the engine firing. This appears to take about 8-10 turnovers to get it to ignite, and this is the same from cold or warm. Am I just being impatient and this is normal? Or does it sound like it should be quicker? I could take a video if it helps?
 
8-10 turns isn't normal.

Does it put out smoke from the exhaust?
 
Yep. It's only on for about a second. The only lights that are on before I turn the key is the handbrake and the battery.

I called a mate of mine who works for audi earlier and he agreed it didn't sound quite right, but more like it's fuel starvation- Ie everythings healthy but it's just not firing up as quickly as normal. He suspects dirty glow plugs or maybe something's abit clogged. He's goion to check on their systems tomorrow for common faults to see if this is something that's known and then come take a look at it. Either way he agreed it didn't sound at all serious, just something minor that's getting in the way
 
Last edited:
One thing, go out to the car now and turn the parking lights on and then try to start the car. It might sound stupid but please do that
 
Eh ok. May sound silly but by parking lights do you mean the side lights? Or do these actually have a different setting for that? I Havnt touched half the buttons in there yet nore read the owners manual!
 
just turn the light switch to the first position = side lights and then try to start the car
 
Just try it and then Ill tell u :D
Basically
Turn the side lights on
turn the ignition on
start the car

see if it starts as it did before (takes a while) or smoothly :p
 
WTF?! It worked!! Smooth start with sidelights on. Turn them off and try again and it's a delayd start! Do you know what's wrong then????
 
i just called my mate and told him that aswell, he laughed too like WTF?! he wonders now if its relay related and hes heard of it before with a few cars that have come in, but they all do nothing about it so he doesnt know what the cure is without looking at it.

Please tell me know you how to sort this? Nice to know how to start my engine smoothly at least, but would be even nicer to know how to fix it! :)
 
haha i dont believe it, just heard back from my mate at audi and looked on their TPI system for the fault and that sidelight hint, you're right! its the switch thats probably faulty!

How a headlight switch interferes with the engine starting properly I dont know but he said theres a history of cars going in with it and getting it sorted! youre a star mate, im getting it ordered up tomorrow :)
 
just got a price for the switch, about £90 :(, not quite the cheap fix i wanted but hardly the end of the world. Think il order it next month and for now start it with the sidelights on!
 
Hahahaha It sounds funny doesnt it? And not many people know about it but it is a common problem hehe I knew you wouldnt believe me thats why I told you to try it before I was gonna tell you what it was :p
It is the switch thats faulty,
cool though isnt it? :rock:
 
Its a common with both petrol and diesel as far as I Know :)
 
Mine suffers from it occasionally too, but only cracks a couple of times before it goes. Doesnt warrant me paying £90 for a new switch though.
 
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