problem starting my 1999 passat tdi

[pacifica112]

Ive got a nice problem with my passat 1.9tdi. problem is it wont start when its cold. only hppens some times but it is starting to get worse and I havent got a clue what it could be. when i go out to start it the engine turns over really slowly (about 200rpm) and gradually gets faster (to about 600 rpm) but it wont start. the whole car starts to shake like hell while its trying to start up and it piles plumes of black smoke out of the exhaust. on the bad days it takes about 5 mins to start. as soon as it starts i wont have a problem with it starting again, its just the initial start from cold.

I have changed the glow plugs, changed the temp sensor (i knew that had gone), replaced the vacum lines, drained the fuel out of the filter to make sure there is no water in there and its fine

I took it down to the local garage and they plugged it into the vag 5051 to check for fault codes but guess what..... nothing lol. he sugested unpluging the plug from the maf sensor when it does it again because its supposd to run off a generic map if the sensor breakes but that didnt work. has anyone else got any suggestions because i havent got a clue lol.

If anyone has got anyideas i would be extremely grateful.
neil

[zollaf]

have you checked that the glow plugs work. use a multimeter to see if theres any voltage present, or an amp clamp to check current. it could be the relay or fuse at fault.

[adamss24]

Look for air in fuel lines, chances are that the diesel drains back to tje tank and the pump cant hold its prime. Continuous cranking does no good to the starter and from what you said its sticking. Also the battery wont go trough many charge/discharge cycles without lasting effects. The thing is, tdi needs to spin at certain rpm for the pump to inject fuel ! If you have a duff starter or a weak battery then you will need to look into that. Try to use jump leads from another car and see if the starter will spin the engine faster(sign of a weak battery). If the car starts bad still, check the rubber leak off pipes from the injectors as they are known to perrish and allow air in the system ! Also, i would check the timing if its within spec...

[pacifica112]

my car doesnt have fuel injectors. dont really understand it but the fueling is from the pump. if only my passat was as easy to work on as my mk2 golf gti lol.one thing i forgot to mention is that sometimes on really light acceleration/load in first and sometimes second i get a slight hesitation. i think this has got something to do with the fault but i dont know lol.
neil

[pacifica112]

Well since the last time I posted on here about the starting problem I decided to change relay 109 to see if that helped and guess what.... I didnt lol. I have just changed the starter motor and that has not made any difference either. I have had the battery tested and that is all fine so I am completely confused now. Sometimes it starts no problem at all and others it is a complete pig to get started. the only way i have found to start it quicker is to push the plastic arm on the egr valve in and turn the car over for a few seconds. doing this makes it sound like the car is turning over without any fuel. while its turning over if i then let go of the arm and let it continuer cranking it will start no problem. I dont quite know what this is showing though. If anyone could help me and could shed some light on what it could be I would eb massively grateful because at this rate I am thinking of getting rid of the car because of it.
Neil

[martin1810]

Is the egr valve working. e.g does it work properly from the vacuum line. Might be worth taking it off and cleaning it. If it sticks closed you don't normally notice but if it sticks open you can get strange starting and slow rev problems.

[pacifica112]

It seems to close when i go to start the car. when i shut the car off it opens up for about 2-3 secnds then closes. im on nights for the weekend now so am hoping to have a look and take it off with the manifold and have a good clean inside to see if that helps it. Its getting to the point i cant rely on it starting when i need it so im having to drive my wifes micra around lol. i look real stupid so the sooner i can get the passat working the better.
Neil

[pacifica112]

Ok i have taken the egr valve off and cleaned it. wasnt as bad as i was expecting but was a bit horrible. the valve was a bit sticky so that is cleaned and all free'd up but the problems still there. I tried to take the manifold off but it looks like someone has tried to do it before and rounded two of the hex heads so decided against making them worse and left it on. im completely confused now to tell yout the truth.
neil

[martin1810]

Is it only a problem when left over night or for a good number of hours ? It sounds like too much fuel in the cylinders or too little air. Try pulling the air ducting off before you start so that the turbo can suck fresh air. Don't let it suck anything else though. I think this could be weeping injectors.

[pacifica112]

this is happening almost all the time now. i could turn the car off and start it straight back up again and it wont start. my car doesnt have fuel injectors. well not that i can find anyway it just has the main injector pump. someone mentioned to me today about a fault of one of the pipes from the intercooler splitting. do you think this could cause this problem?

[martin1810]

What engine have you got. If its a PD the injectors are pump injectors in the cylinder head. A split intercooler pipe usually leads to lost boost rather than not starting. I would suspect a calapsed or squashed pipe. Perhaps Crasher will come on and help you out..