Poor starting and low temp gauge

[Deviousdavey]

Firstly my car is a 2001 B5 1.9 TDi avant (115 pd engine)

Just wondered if anyone on the forum could help out with a couple of problems...... Since the cold snap I've noticed that the car sometimes struggles to start on the cold mornings (ie. the engine fires up quick enough, but runs a bit 'lumpy' for 3 or 4 seconds and puffs out a load of smoke, more than normal anyway), after 3 or 4 seconds the car settles down and feels smooth enough. Not sure if it's linked but lately my water temp guage only ever gets up to 80 degrees - never the 90 degree norm that it used to? Fuel economy is about 41 mpg, which i think is not as good as it used to be?

Any help much appreciated:beerchug:

Dave:1zhelp:

[Boy]

Try giving it two cycles of the glow plugs before turning the key to the start position. That may help.

[martinA4passat]

Think it must be the weather as my PD 115 A4 is just the same a bit slow in starting and a bit lumpy for a few seconds. Have done a vagcom check and no fault codes. Last time this happened on a vauxhall omega TD I used to have I changed the glow plugs and it sorted it out.

[Deviousdavey]

Thanks for both replies...... I'll try the double glow plug cycle and see if it's better, and I feel they may be what's causing the problem, as it almost feels like it's only running on 3 cyclinders for a few moments, then all 4 fire up - could it be that i have 1 lazy glow plug?

Does anyone know if these are a diy job to change?

[martinA4passat]

It's quite an easy DIY job with the right tools, I don't think the glow plugs show up as a fault unless they are not working full stop so they can get bad over a long period of time and you would only notice when you realy need them like now. The omega was a six cylinder engine and that would run on 4 cylinders for the first 10 seconds or until it was given a rev. I think I will change mine when the weather gets a bit warmer! the smoke is probably just un used fuel which should clear after you drive away. What is your milage? the only other thing it could be is worn injectors or seals as this will affect starting and smoke on start up.

[Deviousdavey]

Thanks for the reply Martin, mileage is 104000 and other than the cold starts the car is tip top - no stuttering once moving and on a milder morning it start with no issues.

[neil w]

I've owned my AFN engined A4 for about 18 months now and up until the recent cold snap I've always ignored the glow plug lights and the car has started immediately. the TDI motors don't rely on the glow plugs for starting in most conditions. Once started it has always run a dead on 90 on the temp gauge whether it be - 5 or +30 degrees outside.
However, with the recent weather it has struggled to start even after blasting it on the heaters a couple of times , once running it was lumpy and then it wasn't getting up to temp properly ie 75 on the gauge.
It had a LUCAS 096 (the recommended minimum size) battery fitted that was les than 2 years old and seemed okay.
We tested the glow plugs and they seemed fine so as my mate is a dealer we borrowed a 110 (80 a/h) heavy duty battery from stock and tried it. After an night out with temps of - 11.5 degrees centigrade the car spun over as if it was the middle of summer , started immediately without the glow plug light going out and there was no lumpiness on tickover.Mind you the operating temp was still low at 75.
I've therefore, bought the battery.
My mate has had a dozen or so diesels in in the last fortnight with poor starting non of which have needed glow plugs but all have had borderline batteries ( they have either had the lower spec or cheap batteries fitted which are just no up to the job in the recent cold spell ).