thelorry Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 I have been having starter problems, over the last few months but it has got really bad in the last 2 weeks. Back in July 08 I had the starter motor replaced and was told by the mechanic that he was surprised it was still able to start, as it was in such a bad state. It seemed ok for a while, but in the last month i noticed it was struggling to start again. I got it serviced about 2 weeks ago, it was due its service and I was also getting a noise from the engine compartment, like the fan belt was catching, the mechanic, said he thought it sounded like the fan belt self tensioner, was on its way out. When i got it back the noise did appear to have cleared, but all he did was replace the Fan belt. But it did seem to run alot better.But in the last 2 weeks since then, the car seems to be worse than ever. I took it back to the mechanic, as it was struggling to start and once fired up, it would give off a bit of grey smoke. He said from the sounds of it, it sounded like the glow plugs could be failing, so he changed 3 plugs and said that only 1 of the glow plugs had been working, so hopefully now it should be fine. It isn't, its exactly the same. The strange thing, is once i manage to get the engine running, you can switch off the engine and switch back on straight away, its just that initial first start, if its been left overnight or whilst in work for hours. The same noise is back, and its definately a belt as you rev the engine and the noise speeds up. Still getting grey smoke when it fires up, the car runs fine once fired up. At present its got 125k on the clock, serviced regular, If anyone has any advice then this would be much appreciated, as i'm losing faith with this mechanic. He is taking the car back off me for a few days, and the cost is starting to mount up on this, if still no fix then i will have to move on to another garage. Thanks for any help and advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 Does the noise happen when the car is stationery? Does it get worse when you try to turn the steering wheel without reving or moving? The alternator pulley bearings can go and cause extra drag and noise. I had this replaced on my 115 PD Bora. Is the mechanic a VAG indy or 'just' a mechanic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted December 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 thanks for replying, I only really notice the noise when the car is stationary, as I park the car down a shared drive, and i get the echo bouncing of the wall. Haven't noticed if the noise gets worse when turning the wheel, but i will check it in the morning. I'm also going to try and start to the car in the morning with a battery jumpstart, just to see if it makes any difference trying to start. The mechanic said the battery is fine, but from the sound of it, it sounds like the battery is struggling. As for the mechanic, he does have the vag equipment, but so far has said no errors have come up. Will do the checks in the morning and post back with an update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted December 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 I tried turning the steering wheel while the car was stationary and the sound from the engine compartment didn't get any worse. Also tried starting the car with a battery booster, but that made no difference, still struggled to start the car. So i'm still unsure as to what's causing the problem. I'll be giving the mechanic the car on Tuesday for a few days, so will see how he gets on with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjie Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 I'm not sure about the noise being the cause of the poor starting. Tell the mechanic to change the coolant temperature sender... it's a really common failure, costs about £35 from dealers and makes the car start like a pig from cold. It's literally a 10min job to change too, get him to make sure the engine is COMPLETELY cold before it's done though or you'll lose a load of coolant. Also, ask the mechanic to replace all of the braided vacuum hoses with silicone ones - helped a friend change his on his 2000W 1.8T GTI last week and they were all so brittle that they fell apart in my hands - the improvement was instantaneous, the tone of the engine was completely different. Was the fuel filter changed at the last service too? As for the noise, is it a squeak? Which gets quicker as the revs increase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted December 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Thanks for the info Benjie. the noise it makes is like its catching something, and the noise speeds up when you give the engine more revs. As the weather has got milder over the last few days the car has been starting alot better. I'm taking the car around tomrrow soI will mention the coolant temp sender fault to him. once again, thanks for the helpful advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted December 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 forgot to mention the fuel filter was replaced on the last service and the noise is a sort of high pitched squeak, which goes faster when you rev the engine. I mentioned the coolant temp sensor and he said that is a possibility, so he will check it out for me. The car is now in the garage, so I will leave it there for the next few days and see what he finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjie Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Textbook coolant temp sensor is a smokey, rough startup - I'd get it changed anyway, it has a 2 yr vw guarantee. As for the squeaking, and this is where I get a bit sketchy, maybe get him to check the tensioner on the cam belt (expensive just to check), or it could be a pulley or tensioner on the auxhiluary belt... or the belt itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted December 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Ok, he has had the car for a few day and he thinks that the fault is possibly due to the glow plug timer, as he said if you let the glow plug light go out and then the airbag light go off, leave it about 20-30 seconds, then the car will start first time with no smoke or any struggle to start. He has asked me to see how it goes over the next few days, if this is the case, then he will replace the glow plug timer, not sure of the correct name for this part. I've got it back again today so will see how it goes over the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjie Posted December 12, 2008 Report Share Posted December 12, 2008 I've never heard of a glow plug timer before? Has he explained what it does and where it is in the car? They either come on with the ignition or they don't! Ever heard of VAG-COM or VCDS? It's a computer program that interacts with the car's computer (ECU) and it reads stored faults. It may be worth looking at the vag-com/diagnostics section on here and see if anyone near you will scan the car for you in exchange for beer tokens as it may give a more definite answer. ***Call the guy tomorrow and ask him to change the coolant temperature sender*** Can't recommend that enough!... Rule that out before you start looking at more important things - if he doesn't know where it is, I can prob get you a photo of where it is. You literally unplug the wiring harness, pull it out, put the new one in (quickly as you're losing coolant!), plug it back in, job done! What engine do you have by the way? What bhp and engine code (can be found under the boot carpet on the sticker, engine power is in kW. Engine code is next to it, one of these: ATD, AHF, AJM or possibly ASZ/ARL) There is also a glow plug RELAY somewhere but I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 sorry for not getting back sooner Benjie, its been a bit hectic. The advice given about leaving the car for 30 seconds, made no difference at all. It's still not starting straight away, but it is starting and it doesnt sound as noisey as it was originally, but the weather hasn't been to cold of late. The engine code is ALH & 66KW. To make matter worse now, i'm now having a problem with the driver door lock, when you put the key in the lock, the key is sticking to the right instead of springing back and opens all the windows, i've tried WD40 inside the keyhole, but its made no difference, so looks like another payout on the car before christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjie Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 It's ok, I regularly don't reply to posts for weeks on end! Oh yeah, ALH. Fairly good engine, my mate has it in his MkIII. I'm sticking by Coolant Temp sender. You won't know anything more until you change it or plug it into the diagnostic software. So do that. As for the door lock, I have no idea about that, sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted December 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 The doorlock is back to normal, no idea what happened, but its been working fine now for the last few days. As for the coolant temp sender, i've had a look at how to replace it, may even have a go at it myself, as it looks pretty straight forward. Sayin that, probably easier leaving it to the experts. I will keep you posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted February 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Hi Benjie I ended up taking the car to another garage to get it looked at. He said it was a little rough starting but would then be run fine once fired, so i learned nothing new there! he sprayed some lubrication on to the throttle cable as he said sometime it can stick and i think that was about all. I thought i might as well fit the coolant temp sender myself, as no mechanic could put his finger on the fault. Picked up the part from VW, cost £30 for the "o" ring clip and sender and fitted it myself, it was a 15 minute job at most. Since fitting the sender, the car is still the same, the performance seems better though, seems to shift better, or that might just be convincing myself that it has made some difference. The old sender i removed, had a thin layer of brown crisp coating and there was only a small area of the sender that was still visible. But it's still struggling to start first thing when its been left overnight. Any more ideas? Up to now the mechanics i have used have told me that the starter motor has been replaced, the glow plugs replaced. I've replaced the temp sender and i did get a full service carried out in Oct i think! The fan belt was replaced, but I'm still getting the catching noise off a belt, not sure which belt, but the next job that will need doing is the cam belt. Could this just be down to the age and mileage the car ?? its a 2001 reg, with 129k on the clock. I'm really not sure what to do now, other than get through the summer and look at changing motor come next winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted March 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 I've been lookin into this problem further and found another VW forum, were another guy was having the exact same problem, cold starting problems, then fine once engine starts. everyone who was posting, was suggesting that the problem, sounding like a timing issue on the cam belt? any idea on the cost of getting the timing checked? the cambelt has got another 10k on it, so would it better just to get the belt replaced now or just get the timing checked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted August 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 Hi All Looks like the poor cold starts are back again. Since my last post, the car has had a new battery fitted december 09 and had the cam belt changed and service carried out in May 10, but the car is once again struggling again to start. First turn of the key, the noise is a slugish turn over like a dead battery, turn it over again and it then turns a few times and will eventually start. I'm doing around 70 motorway miles a day to work and back, so i believe i'm putting enough charge back in to the battery. since the cam belt change in may the car has been fine, so i put all the issues previously down to the timing, but the same fault appears to have returned. any advice would be appreciated? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 You could get the alternator output checked? Any other issues? As the alternator pulley bearing sometimes goes, so might not be as efficient in output as it was?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted August 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 Thanks for the advice Cruiser647, I was discussing this with a mate just before, and he offered the same advice as to look at getting the alternator checked out. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 At the risk of sounding patronising, and having not read the rest of the thread, are you starting it correctly? A lot of people don't know how to start a diesel, I.e. Ignition on, wait for glow plug light to go out, start engine. Also if you cycle the glow plug heating stage a few times before actually firing the engine, does that make any difference? If so it points to the glow plugs causing the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted August 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 I'm starting the car correctly, waiting for the glow plug light to go out then starting the engine, the glow plugs were changed about 2 years ago and made no difference, around the time the starter motor was replaced. Its been an on off issue for the last two years, but when the cam belt was changed, since then, i'd had no issue starting the car first thing. When the engine is warm its fine, its just that initial start first thing in the morning, or if its been left in the carpark for 8hrs, its sluggish starting, sounds similar to a flat battery, once fired up no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted August 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 just to keep you updated. The car wouldnt start at all sunday night, cleaned all the connections on the battery and starter motor, but still no joy. Got it started by getting a tow and then starting in 2nd gear. drove it to the garage, turned the engine off, tried again and just a click again. Turns out that a leak had been dripping on the starter motor and this had caused it to jam up. The garage took it to an auto electrician, who stripped it all down cleaned it, and put it all back togther, car is now starting as good as ever. The thing is though, i've no idea what could have been dripping on the starter. All the hose pipes around the starter all check out fine,with no leaks. I did notice rust on the casing of the stater, but couldnt work out how this got like this. Just glad its back on the road, as i had to borrow the wifes car, which is a 1.1 peugeot 206, look nice enough, but no power in them at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Oooh. Have a look under the front tray where the wiper motor is. Check the drainage holes above and clear them out. They sometimes fill with crap and get blocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelorry Posted August 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Thanks for the advice cruiser647, i've been decorating the house for last few weeks, but i should get a chance to take a look on friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex26 Posted March 16, 2011 Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 hi wonder can u help i am havin the exact some problems with my bora an its 01 as well changed battery all plugs etc an still the same now its not startin at all can u tell me the exact problem it was so i can get it checked coz no 1 can seem 2 find the fault with mine an how much did it cost u in the end off it many thanks alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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