Mark 4 Golf Starting problem.

[Oztrexx]

I was wondering if someone could help me with a little problem please.

I have a 1999 Mark 4 Golf GTi 20v and I am having a starting problem with it, please bare with me while I explain the problem.

I recently got in my golf and turned on the ignition and all the dash board lights came on as usual but when I turned it further to start the car all the lights went out and it did'nt start (it does'nt turn over at all, the lights just go out) If it was turning over very slowly then you'd think it was the battery. I again repeated the procedure and the same thing happened. A neighbour thought it might be the battery, so I pulled out my battery charger (which has a boost charge switch on it), connected it up and turned the car over over where it started straight away! I then switched it off and put it on a charge for 10 hours (low) and after that it started no problem and I used the car for a couple of days. Now this morning I went in to the car (After it had been standing all night) and the same thing happened. Another friend stated it might be the alternator, so after using the boost on the battery charger again (started straight away) I have gone to my local motor parts dealer who has carried out a test on the battery & alternator and both come up as being 100% fine?
A couple of pointers: Once I get the car going I can drive around a little and say go to a shop, turn off the car, go and do my chores etc and return to the car and switch it on and it starts no bother. It just seems that whilst leaving the car overnight and then trying to start it is the problem first thing in the morning. I can get the car going easily with a boost from my battery charger and if I use it all day it's fine but the morning's it is'nt. With the battery & alternator showing they are fine I am at a loss as to what it can be.
Any help would be very gratefully recieved. thank you.

[kenney]

Hi You need to check if there is something draining your battery overnight

[adfow_uk]

sounds to me like bad battery/ earth connections. Clean the contacts at the battery, starter and earth points. When there is a bad battery terminal this fault occurs on nearly all cars. hope this helps

[SamJames]

My 2001 golf has had a similar problem. I bought a new battery which solved the problem in the main but the car is still a bit reluctant to start after being left for a while. Ticks over a few times before kicking. Thought it might be a problem with the starter motor but like you said, is absolutely fine after a run around. Will watch with interest what others have to say.


Good luck and let me know if you find the problem!
Cheers, Sam

[Oztrexx]

sounds to me like bad battery/ earth connections. Clean the contacts at the battery, starter and earth points. When there is a bad battery terminal this fault occurs on nearly all cars. hope this helps

I think this might be the main problem. I will do the above and get back to you, thanks very much for all your comments

[2ndV5Man]

I had a similar problem with my 2002 V5. If I did not use the car for a couple of days it would turn over very slowly or not at all, but, if it did start and i travelled to work or a short distance then stopped and started again it was fine. Also if i jump started it with leads it was fine. I had the battery changed with a little success but the problem returned so took it to the dealer to sort. They connected it to whatever they connect it to and told me the instrument clocks in the binnacle were draining the battery so they changed the clocks (quite expensive) but since then it has been OK and last week I did not use the car for 6 days and got in and it started straight away. Maybe the moral of this story for me was that I should have taken it to the dealer earlier to save me the cost of a new battery and lots of stress when the car would not start.

[Oztrexx]

Well I started the car first time yesterday and this morning so I'm slightly puzzled as to what has happened Anyway, I have cleaned the connections etc so hopefully it might have been a loose connection or a dirty connection. Whatever it was, I want to thank you all for your imput and if the problem returns I have a few pointers off the forum to consider how to fix it or I'll be back on. Thanks again guys.