Intermittent starting problem.

[Sharkie1976]

Hi all.
I have been having this issue for some time now and would really love to get to the bottom of it.
Car: Audi A3 2.0TFSI (57)
Engine: BWA.

The problem is that every morning (mainly cold at the moment, but also when outside temperatures are nice), the car fails to catch on cranking.
After the first start of the day it is normally fine afterwards, but does sometimes do this later in the day or when I leave work it does it too.
Once started it runs absolutely fine.

When I turn the car over it turns well, so seems like starter is fine.
Battery is new within the last 3 months.
The revs raise to about 1500 rpm and then drop quite low, but then raise again and it fires up.
On rare occassions it needs a second crank.

I have recently changed the following items:
New plugs.
New coil packs.
New Air filter.
Oil & Filter Service.
New fuel filter.
CTS.
Cam follower.
Battery.

I do have a genuine VCDS cable and it gives me no errors on auto scan.
All temperature sensors give a true reading when checked.
Fuel pressures seem good.
I have carried out basic settings on Thottle plate, Intake manifold flaps and fuel pump.
I'm now totally stumped.

Has anyone experienced this and found a resolution.?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob.

 

[Sharkie1976]

Anyone?

 

[Marcusmate]

I had intermittent starting when my flywheel was shot! i knew it was knackered but couldn't afford to get it done at the time! after a while of a noisy clutch the starting problem began. sorry I'm no expert but hope it helps!

 

[Sharkie1976]

any way of uploading a video direct from my iPhone.?

 

[Sharkie1976]

I had intermittent starting when my flywheel was shot! i knew it was knackered but couldn't afford to get it done at the time! after a while of a noisy clutch the starting problem began. sorry I'm no expert but hope it helps!

--------
Thanks Marcus. Do u mean the clutch (solenoid) on the starter? or the actual gearbox clutch?

 

[kanecullen89]

I think you may be able to upload it to the photobucket app, then paste the link in this thread.

I'm not sure about the tfsi engines but I know that some of the 2.0 tdi engines had starting problems. If it wasn't the battery then it was the starter motor. After time it doesn't effectively turn the engine fast enough when cold to catch.
I didn't see if you had replaced the starter? May be worth some testing?

 

[Sharkie1976]

I think you may be able to upload it to the photobucket app, then paste the link in this thread.

I'm not sure about the tfsi engines but I know that some of the 2.0 tdi engines had starting problems. If it wasn't the battery then it was the starter motor. After time it doesn't effectively turn the engine fast enough when cold to catch.
I didn't see if you had replaced the starter? May be worth some testing?

Hey mate. Thanks for your reply.! Appreciated.
I also thought about the starter but need to look into it before I spend the money on one. I'll have a look at that Photobucket and try and get the vid posted. I've seen videos of others starting their engines and tbh they look a lot worse than mine. It's just bugging me that one day it's fine, the next day it's not. Mainly not though

 

[Sharkie1976]

http://s12.photobucket.com/user/bob...C-4159-8763-F6752A995489_zpsuiavxos1.mp4.html

Not sure if this works???

 

[Sharkie1976]

Seems to be working. If u look at the video it is normally a couple of seconds longer before it catches.

 

[Sharkie1976]

Going to also swap my coil packs back to the oem ones tonight, as I don't recall having starting issue with those. I swapped them out for a set of Awesome Gti ones a while back to try and help with judder at idle (which didn't cure it). Can coilpacks contribute to a poor start? Car runs and pulls fine.

 

[Sharkie1976]

Ok, swapping the coil packs back to the original OEM ones has made the car start swiftly again, hoorah!! I don't want to name and shame the supplier but I won't be buying these anywhere apart from TPS in the future. They were described as OEM and came in the VAG boxes but noticed the were made in Turkey and have read about poor quality from there. Anyway, fingers crossed that the problem is now behind me. I'm wondering if there should be a warranty on the duff one/ones? Might be worth trying to get some money back, the coils are just not man enough for the job.

 

[Sharkie1976]

Oh well. Spoke too soon, it stumbled a bit again this morning.
Back to stage 1.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Sharkie1976]

FIXED. Just to let people know, who are experiencing the same problem. I have now switched to Esso Supreme for the last 4 tankfulls and car started firing up straight away from day 1, and has continued to do so over the last few months. Either the Shell garage I use have problems or my car just doesn't like the v-power nitro.
I was reading about the higher RON fuel being a bit less combustible, and thought I'd drop down to Esso Supreme 97. Wasn't sure it would change anything, but I can happily say that it fires up straight away every day.!