Starting problem

Bartonprince

Just noticed yesterday in the car park after work that when i now try to start the car, it's a little rough, and takes a couple of revs. And sometimes it starts clean.seat toledo 1.9TDI (110BHP). Anything major wrong?

zuutroy

Bartonprince wrote:

Just noticed yesterday in the car park after work that when i now try to start the car, it's a little rough, and takes a couple of revs. And sometimes it starts clean.seat toledo 1.9TDI (110BHP). Anything major wrong?

You'll need to be a bit more descriptive. Starting problems have a wide variety of potential causes.

Bartonprince

zuutroy wrote:

You'll need to be a bit more descriptive. Starting problems have a wide variety of potential causes.

Ok. I turned on the key to all lights came on. Left it for a coupla seconds. I then went to start and it kept making the starting/coughing sound cars make when starting up, and it didn't start. I turned the key again and nothing happened. so i turned it off and back on again and it came to a spluttery start.

Then this morning it started first time but it felt a bit rough? if you can get what i mean. Drives fine, no probs. It's a 99'.

The_Magoo

Is there heater plug light in these? are you waiting for the heater plugs to warm up?

jhegarty

The_Magoo wrote:

Is there heater plug light in these? are you waiting for the heater plugs to warm up?

sounded like the plugs to me too...

how about if you let the key on , but don't try to start for a few seconds longer before trying to start ?

Bartonprince

jhegarty wrote:

sounded like the plugs to me too...

how about if you let the key on , but don't try to start for a few seconds longer before trying to start ?

Ok, i usually turn it on, and wait for all of the lights to go on. The battery light stays on until i start the engine. Do i have to wait for that to go off?

The_Magoo

Is there a heater plug light, it looks like a spring? When that goes out, turn the engine over and it should start clean.

crosstownk

AFAIK the VAG TDI engines do not light the glow plug light unless the engine temp is quite low - it used to be 5C in Audi 80 TDIs but I think it's a bit higher nowadays. Direct injection engines need less glow period compared to the older engines that had pre-cumbustion chambers. In a VAG TDI the glow plugs begin to heat when you open the door as the glow plug relay is wired to the door contact switch in the lock - so the glow plug light (yellow coil symbol) on the dash may not light as the glow period may have finished by the time you turn the key. A faulty door lock can delay starting - if your interior light comes on when you open the door then the lock is probably ok from that point of view.

I't is also possible that there may be a problem with the emgine temp sender - I've seen a lot of VAG cars with engine temp problems.

If you send it to a garage to get it fixed ask them to do a complete diagnosis rather than just diagnosing the diesel engine electronics. If you temp guage is faulty it may not show up as a fault as quite often these senders are sending the incorrect temp reading to the engine control unit. In other words if your engine is at, say 15C, the sender may be sending a signal of 80C which will mean that the engine is hard to start but 80C is a valid temperature so the self-diagnosis system doesn't see at as being a fault. The glow plug relay also utilises this temp reading to determine whether or not a glow period is required.

Bartonprince

crosstownk wrote:

AFAIK the VAG TDI engines do not light the glow plug light unless the engine temp is quite low - it used to be 5C in Audi 80 TDIs but I think it's a bit higher nowadays. Direct injection engines need less glow period compared to the older engines that had pre-cumbustion chambers. In a VAG TDI the glow plugs begin to heat when you open the door as the glow plug relay is wired to the door contact switch in the lock - so the glow plug light (yellow coil symbol) on the dash may not light as the glow period may have finished by the time you turn the key. A faulty door lock can delay starting - if your interior light comes on when you open the door then the lock is probably ok from that point of view.

I't is also possible that there may be a problem with the emgine temp sender - I've seen a lot of VAG cars with engine temp problems.

If you send it to a garage to get it fixed ask them to do a complete diagnosis rather than just diagnosing the diesel engine electronics. If you temp guage is faulty it may not show up as a fault as quite often these senders are sending the incorrect temp reading to the engine control unit. In other words if your engine is at, say 15C, the sender may be sending a signal of 80C which will mean that the engine is hard to start but 80C is a valid temperature so the self-diagnosis system doesn't see at as being a fault. The glow plug relay also utilises this temp reading to determine whether or not a glow period is required.

Jaysus. Do you speak english!??

Nah thanks i think i know what you mean. But it's only been happening the past 2 days. Why does the Battery Light stay on until i start the engine?

crosstownk

The 'battery' light actually indicates whether or not the alternator is charging the battery. The alternator only charges the battery when the engine is running so it is perfectly normal for the battery light to be on if the engine is off. You only need to be concerned if this light comes on while the engine is running.

Bartonprince

crosstownk wrote:

The 'battery' light actually indicates whether or not the alternator is charging the battery. The alternator only charges the battery when the engine is running so it is perfectly normal for the battery light to be on if the engine is off. You only need to be concerned if this light comes on while the engine is running.

Thanks for your help. I need the timing belt done and a few bits. Full service basically. How much do you think it will cost for a 99' seat toledo TDI? 500+?

It's only got 3 services in it's 124k miles. If i keep getting it serviced now, will it leep it's value more?

crosstownk

It all really depends on where you get the car serviced. Main dealers are obviously far more expensive than non-franchised garages. Shop around is the best bet.

Keeping a good service history from now on may not add too much value to the car but it will certainly make it easier to sell and will give you another reason to avoid any 'haggling'.

Bartonprince

crosstownk wrote:

It all really depends on where you get the car serviced. Main dealers are obviously far more expensive than non-franchised garages. Shop around is the best bet.

Keeping a good service history from now on may not add too much value to the car but it will certainly make it easier to sell and will give you another reason to avoid any 'haggling'.

Well ballpark. How much do you think a dealer would charge for a full go over

maidhc

Bartonprince wrote:

Well ballpark. How much do you think a dealer would charge for a full go over

You really don't want to know.

I reckon you wont see much change out of €1500. €1000 seems the going rate for doing the belts on a TDi, and you wont be long pissing away another €500!

Going to a good non franchised dealer makes more sense really.

Bartonprince

maidhc wrote:

You really don't want to know.

I reckon you wont see much change out of €1500. €1000 seems the going rate for doing the belts on a TDi, and you wont be long pissing away another €500!

Going to a good non franchised dealer makes more sense really.

Thanks for your help. How's the monitor going? They're grand aren't they!

maidhc

Bartonprince wrote:

Thanks for your help. How's the monitor going? They're grand aren't they!

It's going great. With two 19" monitors and a Pentium 4 in the room I no longer need to switch on the heating!

Bartonprince

maidhc wrote:

It's going great. With two 19" monitors and a Pentium 4 in the room I no longer need to switch on the heating!

haha, thanks for your help all.