Can anyone shed any light on my cold start issue. I have had the car for nearly three years now, it is a 2.0 170 tdi 2008, it really does not want to start on a cold day, to the point now it just won't fire. I know this topic has been covered plenty in the past but I cannot find the correct answer. I have had a new fuel lift pump fitted over a year ago now and in the back of my mind knew it never cured the issue. Could it be a possibility that the timing is slightly out from when I had the cambelt done a few years back, although the car runs fine once started. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. A little more info is that it has covered approx 76k, I've had it read there are no fault codes, injectors and glow plugs seem to be working fine, although the glow plug light does flash when cranking and today when it just won't fine I've had a low oil pressure warning light.
Help needed- Cold Start Issue
- Thread starter Sam90
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SnazzyWafles
Registered User
Had the same problem on mine (2.0tdi 170 tdi 2007) , had quite a few things done in the past few months so not sure which one actually cured it but the main thing I think was the crank sensor, this caused the car to die and refuse to start with the coil light and oil pressure message.
This was replaced with a new one which also failed, apparently the oem ones are crap so insisted on a genuine part and all was good,not perfect and still took a few turns to start from cold.
The next was full dpf removal and egr clean, this made a massive difference but turned out most of the dpf problems were caused by a hole in the intake manifold where the bar for the swirl flaps had broken, this was upsetting the air/diesel mix and generating more smoke causing the dpf to regen more often, the obvious sign of this was a build up of soot around the swirl flap actuator.
Like I said I have no idea which one was causing the problem but the crank sensor is a cheap fix and egr clean is diy with plenty of howto's available, intake manifold is an easy visual inspection ( look for soot deposits on the front left hand side of the engine) or an increase in dpf regens. Unfortunately I took the sledge hammer to nut approach when I could have just cleaned the egr and replaced the intake manifold but I had no idea until the dpf was off how much more smoke the car was spewing out ( loads!! ) which led to the intake manifold but at least the car drives nicely and starts first time on a cold morning like a normal car!!
Thanks for that, seems like that every post I have read there are different cures. I do not have any smoke issues which slightly confuses me more. I look after my car which frustrates me as I'm slowly falling out of love with, you expect an Audi to start on the button but this seems to be a common problem.
Same here, looked after it , serviced it and still had to put up with the embarrassment every cold start,unfortunately you will come to the same conclusion as many other 2.0 170 owners that Audi crippled it quite badly with the dpf and egr and the only way of making it behave like a normal car is to rip it all out and remap it, or get a newer Audi with a common rail engine which works much better with a dpf.
I'm not saying that your problem is anything to do with the dpf though but I would start with the crank sensor and definitely clean the egr, if you haven't cleaned it already it will probably be full of gunk and will also add to the cold start problems.
I'm not saying that your problem is anything to do with the dpf though but I would start with the crank sensor and definitely clean the egr, if you haven't cleaned it already it will probably be full of gunk and will also add to the cold start problems.
The weird thing is now it won't start at all, in the past it has hesitated but started after a few attempts but now just cranking and nothing. This leads me to believe that something has given up, I'll speak with the specialist I use on Monday and hopefully it will be resolved.
If it won't start I would say there's a good chance it's the crank sensor, a scan with vcds should confirm it. Mine did exactly the same, it would turn over but not fire then after a few attempts the glow plug light would flash, it would then display oil pressure warning.
If it is the crank sensor make sure they replace it with a genuine part otherwise you will probably be back within a month with the same problems.
If it is the crank sensor make sure they replace it with a genuine part otherwise you will probably be back within a month with the same problems.
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millsy4002
Registered User
solved some of my clod start issues with a spanky new battery but not all,
ill keep a eye on this, same as every 170 owner will lol
ill keep a eye on this, same as every 170 owner will lol
So I've had the car with a specialist for a week and they have done some digging, no faults have been found, so they advised me that a battery change would be a good starting place. Low and behold it's like a new car, it seems it still had the original battery, almost 8 years old. I guess I thought this couldn't be the issue as in warm weather it started fine but obviously the colder weather was effecting the battery more than I thought. Thanks for all the replies, I'm just thankful it was nothing major.
millsy4002
Registered User
Yes, the battery is past it's best after 8 years. When staring a diesel car from cold in the winter, the battery is is supplying a lot of amps to the starter and glow plugs at the same time, the voltage rapidly drops and the electronics, sensors need 12volts to work correctly. I'm surprised the battery warning light and the power steering warning light never came up for a few seconds when you eventually started it.
millsy4002
Registered User
Yes I had no other warnings but as I said all fixed now. I had it done with s garage so I do not even know, I will have a look tomorrow. My next issue is my head unit is now locked out, it's an after market one and there is no password reset so looks like that is going to need to be replaced if I cannot get it sorted.
I've got similar problem on my A3 170hp tdi.
New batery. New sensors engine both, and fuel temp. New alternator. Ecu back to stock and still same cold start issue.
When it starts rpm idle goes to 1100, after 2minutes it goes totaly normal.
It starts always at 1st turn. But fuel temps are always negative even with new 2sensores already replaced.
One more thing, after it gets 90°C , when I stop on a gas station, I turn off the engine, and when I turn it on, no cold start simptoms but temps goes to 32°C , EVERYTIME i start the car again. Then it slowly goes to the real temp 90 in 1-2mins.//cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5bf07c9fe09e8/received_1085662718272885.mp4
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New batery. New sensors engine both, and fuel temp. New alternator. Ecu back to stock and still same cold start issue.
When it starts rpm idle goes to 1100, after 2minutes it goes totaly normal.
It starts always at 1st turn. But fuel temps are always negative even with new 2sensores already replaced.
One more thing, after it gets 90°C , when I stop on a gas station, I turn off the engine, and when I turn it on, no cold start simptoms but temps goes to 32°C , EVERYTIME i start the car again. Then it slowly goes to the real temp 90 in 1-2mins.//cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5bf07c9fe09e8/received_1085662718272885.mp4
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Hi people,
I too have also had this problem last week. The car is a 2006 Sline 170 and has had new dpf, alternator etc (although not sure about battery) and works perfectly in terms of starting once the car had been stared for the first time in the morning (problem is only when particualrly cold). My previous car was a Saab 95 which weirldy had the same problem.
The best immediate cure i have found for this problem is to prime the ignition 3/4 times before actually cranking over, this is also curreny working on the audi (for now). However i will investigate the battery and see if this makes a difference.
Although not a cure, it would be good to know if this method of cold starting works for others.
I too have also had this problem last week. The car is a 2006 Sline 170 and has had new dpf, alternator etc (although not sure about battery) and works perfectly in terms of starting once the car had been stared for the first time in the morning (problem is only when particualrly cold). My previous car was a Saab 95 which weirldy had the same problem.
The best immediate cure i have found for this problem is to prime the ignition 3/4 times before actually cranking over, this is also curreny working on the audi (for now). However i will investigate the battery and see if this makes a difference.
Although not a cure, it would be good to know if this method of cold starting works for others.
That's what i initially thought, however all of the glow plugs in my wagon have been replaced and are new, and from looking back at some previous posts on this issue, many others seem to have had theirs replaced as well but still suffer the same issue!
Is there a date on the battery? If it is original. 12 years is way past it’s best.Mine failed after 8 years which is what I would expect. Now it’s getting cold it will suddenly fail one morning.
I have a similar problem sometimes...... Mine 2.0 170 occaisionally would take ages to start.... it would just crank and not fire, I thought it was the injector issues that the cars had following the recall and retrofit of new injectors but it wasn't. My issue was the the vacuum pump/second fuel pump (03G145209D).... It's driven off the inlet camshaft and and provides vacuum and delivers fuel from the filter housing to the injector rail within the cylinder head. The unit is basically two seperate pumps in one housing and both are driven off an internal shaft which has a seal on it between the two. Over time ( in my case about 90000 miles) the seal wears a grove in the shaft and then allows fuel pressure to drop and cause an air lock hence why the car struggles to start sometimes especially if its stood a while and its very cold. Most times it would eventually start, but sometimes I would have to manually run the tank fuel pump using VCDS to re prime the system. You can get the seals and rebuild the pump ( thats how I found the wear on the shaft) but its only a short term fix... a new pump is the solution. A genuine Bosch unit can be found new on ebay for around £165.00. Hope this helps.
Mine always start very fast. But when outside temp is 15-20•C . fuel temp is -70 when not warm
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