Mk5 GT TDI 140 engine shudder at idle

[pricey01]

Does anyone know why the gt tdi engines shudder slightly at idle? Does anyone have a solution to the problem?

[si.]

lots of chat on hear about this ! common nusense . i recently had new clutch and fly wheel and it not so noticeable now !

[martynah]

Depends if your shudder is constant or intermittent

- Constant - Flywheel / Clutch etc

- Intermittant and dissapears with a slight rise in idle revs with a gentle foot on the gas pedal, then Si is right there are lots of threads on here - including recommending a ECU firmware upgrade by the dealer - just about cured it on my TDI 170

HTH

Mart.

[pricey01]

The engine shuddering only seems to happen when the engine is warm. It never happens when i first drive the car. And it only does it when stopped at traffic lights, traffic jam etc.

[martynah]

I'm not a mech (as many on here are), but this defo sounds like:

- MAF sensor fault , OR
- You need to look at getting the latest ECU software update from the dealer.

I got charged £100 diag fee, because I didnt explicitly ask for just the s/w update - and just booked it in to be 'looked at' to see if the misfire/judder could be diagnosed (my warranty is up btw)

My 57 plate has clocked up about 80k and I noticed that this was getting worse as miles piled on, I understand that on some cars there have been regen issues with the particulate filter - I got misfire at 1500 ish when a regen was happening, and rough running/sluggish as well, that went away during running when the regen finished. (along with the nasty burning smell from the part. filter)

The latest ECU s/w seems to have made the regen cycle more often, so the effects are less noticable, and I'm happy.

There are quite a few threads on here about your issue, so best to read up compeltely first, but the ECU update just about cured this and made it ok for me, but I have had a new MAF sensor in the past as well because of this - so you might need both

People who understand this one. please feel free to chip in and shut me up as I dont actually understand the issue, just wht I did to get it made less of an issue for me 8-)

HTH

Mart.

[dap1977]

I had this on my 2.0 tdi, it was a intermitant shuddering when the car was idleing, could be quite violent at times. I ve recently had clutch and flywheel and it didnt solve this for me.

However, the throttle body motor went on mine this week (motor went I think??), and after replacing it the shuddering has gone from my car.

Cost of the part was 170 quid ish from eurocar parts.

[Crasher]

I have had a few do this due to injector problems, if there are no codes stored it can be quite stressful for the mechanic trying to work out which injector is causing the problem.

[paul.mgrath]

I had this on my mk5 gttdi and it was generally when stopped at lights and warm. It was like i was holding the car on the clutch if i touched the throttle slightly it stopped the car had done around 35K i think. Around the same time i had issues with the manifold actuator flap which was out of warrenty - just! Whilst in at vw they advised me of a sw update which would take about 2hrs to upload and was £90.

Crasher advised me on the fix for the flap and i went to another VW dealer and got the sw update done for free!!!!

This seemed to cure the problem.

Hope this helps

[bin_man]

Same problem with mine, started at around 50K. But only after it went in for a software update and new cam belt. Since then it went back 3 times, but all they suceeded in doing was moving it from hot to warming up.

Just ignoring it now.

Paul

[markyd85]

Yeah i've got a similar problem engine shudders backwards and forwards when warm. My local garage suggested that the automatic tensioner by the alternator shouldn't hammer backwards and forwards like it does. Could be worth a look.

[Crasher]

The belt tensioner moving around violently is an indication of a failed alternator pulley one way clutch.

[anmover]

Ive got a similar problem now on my 04 tdi, the engine is sometimes very rough when idling. Also at 25-30mph it feels like its losing power for a split second every few seconds. I've had the car for 2years and its only done 46k, i've had vw service it twice now and both times theyve found nothing wrong with it!

[markyd85]

My alternator pulley has been replaced within the last 12 months, but still the tensioner hammers, this only happens when really warm sitting in traffic jams for instance.

[Crasher]

It would have the new pulley checked.

[VW_GTTDI]

Ive had my car for almost 3 years and mines judders when idle ever since..... sometimes constant...sometimes intermittent...sometimes even violently! ive had diagnostics and spent hours searching through forums to no avail, people claiming it to be this, that and the other! One thing i can say is that it has never affected the drive at all, my car drives like a dream no misfiring at certain revs, no loss of power or anything at all.

So matey's just let it be!

[markyd85]

I had my alternator tensioner replaced today. Definitely rule that one out, still the same judder when warm. Thats £80 down the pan.

[martynah]

Crasher was spot on - injector failure , hit me on the m4 near
Bristol in December, injector no 4 had failed and shorted out the electrics.

Completely cut out and wouldn't restart.

If you don't fancy a huge bill consider Vw extended
Warranty i got roadside Vw tech diagnosed it then towed
Home and to dealer plus 100 gbp excess got me home
And covered 1500 GBP repairs - 380 GBP a year Inc roadside

Best news of all is that the judder is cured 8-)

[harltech]

I have worked on VAG cars for 10years and have never seen a TDI that idles smooth. they all seem to be a bit lumpy at idle.

I have a mate that works for skoda and he recons they have started putting soild flywheels into taxis with TDI engines and it makes them smoother and more reliable. Although I can not validate this as I have never fitted one myself.

[Crasher]

I had my alternator tensioner replaced today. Definitely rule that one out, still the same judder when warm. Thats £80 down the pan.


It was probably not the tensioner; it is the one way clutch alternator pulley which makes the belt and tensioner flap.

[markyd85]

Crasher, i had this problem before the clutch pulley was replaced and it continued after it was replaced so unless the clutch pulley is faulty in some way i find it hard to see it's this.

I took it to the local vw specialist and he said exactly the same thing as you, the clutch pulley. I told him this had been replaced, he didnt have anymore suggestions. It's been like this for best part of 18 months so im not too bothered, i've done 25k since ive had the car and ever since this judder when idling warm has always been there.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

[Turbokiisseli]

I had a slight judder at idle on my BKD 2.0tdi as well. I got rid of it by cleaning the EGR and installing a new seal with a smaller hole to minimize EGR flow. The seals is VW part number 028 131 547B

[Crasher]

I had my alternator tensioner replaced today

You did not say you had replaced the alternator pulley.

[teddy2k5]

ya as people are saying mines is doing it has done for months an mine has 109 tho on clock full vw service and its never caused a problem still drives perfect

[skymaster]

I have owned by MK5 GT TDI Sport 2008 golf for a week and it does this... I am new to the MK5 forum having frequented the B7 Audi A4 forum for the last 13 months...

I bought the golf from a VW dealer and they put 12 months warranty on it for me... but this shuddering is annoying... only when warm, heavy traffic brings it out mostly...

I thought flywheel maybe?

Mmmmmmm.... new car... new problems...

[Sufian]

I've experienced this in 2 cars (same age 05 reg) - its bit of a shake (a mini earthquake if you like), seems to happen in a cycle, havent really had the patience or the determination to time the shake to see if happens in a certain engine cycle (i.e. after fixed no of mins/secs).


thanks

[skymaster]

The VW garage have looked at my car and advised that :_

"Some of them do this, and some don't, but VW have decided it's something called EGR tickover, and is not something they will fix... apparantly we just have to put up with it... "

Surely logic would dictate that if some cars do it and others don't then there must be something wrong???

:mad:

[richgolfmk5tdi]

if it does it only when the engine is hot its probably a injector

[Crasher]

Probably but I would not like to try and find out which one at £500 each...

[skymaster]

Maybe VW are not keen on replacing injectors?

[Crasher]

The only way they will replace them under warranty is if Guided Fault Finding identifies it/them as being faulty. Without the print out, VAG will not pay the dealer. It is not as if we even talking a couple of hundred pounds either, four genuine injectors fitted is around a retail value of £2300.

[skymaster]

I do find the cost of these parts offensive... VW will sell you a brand new golf TDI for £24,000 or so... but I would hazard a guess that if you went to the parts desk and asked them to price up each and every part for the car the collection would probably cost over £100,000... a set of injectors, flywheel, turbo and cat send you well on the way to the price of the whole car when new!

[richgolfmk5tdi]

i've got an 04 golf gt tdi 2.0 66,000 i had it new , it started rough idling at 3,000 mile when hot, slowly got worse not terrible but worser.
then at 45,000 i took the injectors out and had them tested and one was low on the low delivery out put of the injector, which made sense the engine was'nt getting enough fuel and making it run uneven when idling, only when hot tho
the diesel injection bloke said he could adjust the injector but had'nt had perfect results in the past of rebuilding or adjusting, in the end said he had adjusted it so it was nearer to what it should be but not perfect
i put them back in and he was exactly right it was better than it was, but was not perfect, he did say that they were all out a bit but one was out alot which would cause the problem i had, cost was £150
tried loads of things before i came down to injectors, it seems the tdi 2.0 does suffer from this injecter problem on some cars
my mate had a new car same as mine same model same time his was alot worse than mine, and he kept taking it to the dealer and they never did get it running right, so i did'nt bother taking mine in to the dealer when it was in warranty until they fixed his, lol
i've got bosch injectors in mine which are normaly good, but they did'nt get some of these quite right !

[Nasfire]

Hi, Interesting read so far with many of you offering different solutions..

Anyway I have the VW golf mk5 manual 04 plate now on 76K have had cambelt change and had my yearly service done just last week.

I have had the same problem over a year now and its been occurring when I start the engine and even when its fully warmed up (though when fully warmed up its alittle less but when jsut started its very violent) and was originally diagnosed as faulty glowplug. So right now only have 3 glowplugs working was told by VW garage and VW specialist Nirro that its probably the glowplugs and the loom.

So having the glowplugs and loom changed next week, so lets see what will happen and will report back on this..

Also a new problem just occurred for last 3 weeks the car when its fully warm @ traffic lights the rev counter revs up to 1k and just stays there but if I carry on driving and stop again at lights it goes back to normal idle around 0.8k revs.

Thanks

Nasfire

[Crasher]

Possibly a faulty pedal, next time it sticks, put your toe under it and give it a gentle lift up.

[Nasfire]

Possibly a faulty pedal, next time it sticks, put your toe under it and give it a gentle lift up.

Thanks will try that next time it happens.