GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

HARD START

jbres79

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Windsor, ON, CA
Hi All, the search funtion is giving me some problems so i need to start a new thread.

Has anyone else had a problem with their GTI's having a hard start in the morning or when the engine is cold?

My 07 GTI stumbles or hesitates when i turn the key to start the car. after the engine turns over and starts its fine and idle is good. Sometimes the engine acts as if it does not want to start.

i took the car into service, they did some software updates but it does not seem to have helped. :frown:

any info will help. thanks
 

Chongman805

have a BIG one ;-)
Location
Back in the 805!
the same thing happens to me. 3 times of cranking it and nothing but a "oil pressure too high" I have actually got warning lights and dinging, as well as my EPC flashing and the warning saying to take car to dealer immediately. I've had the oil can Icon on my MFD too. I've had my car in and tested somewhere better than the dealership and my car is 100% fine.
 

2zzge

Banned
Location
SoCal
Car(s)
GTI
there's a generic list of things and a specific list of things that can cause "hard starts".

some generic (not GTI/VW specific) stuff to check: (assuming everything is actually working normally)
  • higher octane fuels are often harder to ignite in colder conditions. the closer to freezing it gets, the harder is may be to ignite.
  • "loose" compression can make for hard starts. often times, after a cars sits for a while, the film of oil on the cylinder wall disipates enough to actually loose a bit of compression. its normal, but some cars are more prone and/or susceptible.
  • sometimes the fuel in the lines partially cyphens back into the tank. this means it may take a few more cranks of the engine to get the fuel back to the motor.
some VW specific stuff to check into:
  • all of the above
  • there have been issues with the fuel delivery system on these cars. you may be experiencing what has now been determined as "normal faults" such as
  • low pressure fuel pump
  • fuel filter/regulator (low pressure end)
  • high pressure fuel pump/regulator
  • HPFP cam lobe assembly (early builds were made with a defectively soft cam (it runs the high pressure pump)
  • coil packs
  • software (which you have already had 'fixed')
that's all i can think of off of the top of my head....all the best to you man. :w00t:
 

jbres79

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Windsor, ON, CA
thanks for the quick and knowledgeable replies guys.

Its strange because the car runs copmletely nornal after the engine fires. its just having a hard time starting. it kinda struggles to turn over. Im using sunoco 91 and its been about 30-50F degrees outside this week.

If anyone else can think of something else I can talk to VW about please let me know. I will try to find the thread that "mose6161" is talking about.

edit:

a few other points:
- hard start was happening in mild weather as well (50-70F) so it isn't just cold weather.
- according to the technician, no faults were being registered.
 
Last edited:

Superted

Seat Leon 2.0TFSI
Location
Hampshire UK
thanks for the quick and knowledgeable replies guys.

Its strange because the car runs copmletely nornal after the engine fires. its just having a hard time starting. it kinda struggles to turn over. Im using sunoco 91 and its been about 30-50F degrees outside this week.

If anyone else can think of something else I can talk to VW about please let me know. I will try to find the thread that "mose6161" is talking about.

edit:

a few other points:
- hard start was happening in mild weather as well (50-70F) so it isn't just cold weather.
- according to the technician, no faults were being registered.

Don't worry old boy it's not a conspiracy, it's happening over here too! This has been happening to mine for some months, all through the summer ('what summer i here you ask') mild weather even, and now cold, seems to be better.

Dealer had for three days and no fault found, in fact, it started bang on each morning they had it................:mad: How mad can one get...:frown:
 

jbres79

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Windsor, ON, CA
ok, i know the quality is not great with this vid, but turn up your volume and you can listen to an example of a rough start i am having. Pay special attention to the RPM's on start it. it actually stops and sputters at 500 for a second or two. on a good start this does not happen as the RPM's climb smothly to about 1,200 or so.

please let me know if anyone else has this or has any further ideas of what the problem is. The dealership is not finding any error codes so they have not done anything to fix it.

http://jbres79.googlepages.com/bad6.avi
 

2zzge

Banned
Location
SoCal
Car(s)
GTI
up until about a month or so ago, my car was having some rough idle issues. it made for some difficult cold-starting and would idle rough. (mostly just a bit of 'coughing' and 'missing'...not severe)
about 6 or 7 times it actually was severe. spit and sputtered, choked and misfired and barely was able to idle above 400rpms...let-a-lone idle at all.

it turned out to be one or more coil packs.
the dealer was nice and honest. they told me that there was nothing to be done until a "code" was logged. because of that i just swapped them out on my own, cash out of pocket.
FIXED!! yeah!!!!!

fast foreward 6 weeks or so to the present.

a (not so) funny thing has happened in the past two days.
after the car has been sitting overnight and i go to start it on a cool (for aournd here) morning ~50*, the engine just turns over....doesn't fire at all.
just cranks away.

as soon as i stop turning the engine over, go to try again, it fires right up. idles fine.

i think on my car, (i'll have to take it in to the dealer to be sure) but i think the fuel is cyphening back into the tank.
if i'm not mistaken, there's a sort of check valve somewhere back by the tank. either in the filter or by the low pressure pump.
crap.

sorry for the hijack...just wanted to let you all know that these two things could very easily have happened at the same time instead of being spaced out over a month or so.

you may have more than one issue with your car at the moment.
VW knows about these issues as they seem to be common enough...but most dealers won't 'fix' it if they can't produce it themselves and/or if there isn't a CEL.

sorry for the long post...its still early here on the left coast :biggrin:
 

boomergti86

j-dub in da haus
Location
Dallas, TX
Car(s)
'09 GTI MkV
I'm having the same issues as jbres79. Started my car this afternoon, 104 F, and hear a somewhat loud "pop" from the engine and felt the vibration in the brake pedal. The engine started and idled fine, though. I took the car into the Dealership and they were never able to replicate the issue or find any problems. The problem seems to be intermittent. I guess all we can do is hypothesize why this is happening until the dealer can actually get the engine to start bad....
 
Top