1.4 TDi difficulty starting

B

BananaSplit

Member
Hi. My 2005 1.4 TDi 75 has recently started taking a few goes before it starts, especially from cold. All of the lights seem normal and it turns over strongly, but this evening it took 3 goes of maybe 5-7 seconds of cranking before it spluttered into life. Once going it seems to run fine. The only other thing of any note is that the fuel consumption last time dropped from around 65 to 53mpg.

Annoyingly, I've just had a service done last month at the independents AVIT, in Slough. I think it happened once prior to having the service done, but has recently become much worse. Has anyone any suggestions as to what might be worth checking myself? Could this be the glow plugs? A dirty MAF sensor? Presumably if there had been anything that would have shown up on the diagnostics it would have been apparent during the service?

Thanks,

Clueless Mike
 
As with most things of this nature, the first step is to have a diagnostic scan done.

Cheers,

Mike
 
A couple of club members have had problems with faulty fuel filters allowing fuel drainback. The longer the car is left standing, the harder it is to start. Sometimes there may be a small fuel leak from the filter - which is on the passenger side, in front of the back wheel. The fault can occur if a replacement filter has not been installed correctly - was it changed when serviced ?

Cheers Spike
 
spike said:
A couple of club members have had problems with faulty fuel filters allowing fuel drainback. The longer the car is left standing, the harder it is to start. Sometimes there may be a small fuel leak from the filter - which is on the passenger side, in front of the back wheel. The fault can occur if a replacement filter has not been installed correctly - was it changed when serviced ?

Cheers Spike
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input guys. Spike, you are a star! Just read your post & I think you might be right on the money :D

When I went to put my daughter in the car leaving work this evening, I noticed there was a wet patch on the tarmac, just where you mentioned. The car had been sitting there since 9am. I wasn't sure what it was at the time, my sense of smell is awful

I was trying to phone the garage today to query what could be going on but I couldn't get through. This certainly gives me some ammunition when I call them tomorrow. I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers, -Mike
 
Took it back to the garage today. It appears that the little plastic screw that holds the filter cover in place is worn and not taking enough torque to fully seal the fuel filter assembly. They said that the screw was not available separately, and that the filter housing is only available as a complete unit at cost of approx 43uk + vat. They can fit it on Monday for parts only cost with a full discount, which I think is being fair.

The screw in question is some sort of black thermoplastic torx fitting with a wide flange, about 15-20mm long. Is this part really not used anywhere else on the car or available separately, but just not listed as such on the part diag? It seems such a waste to throw away the entire unit for the sake of a 10p part.

Cheers, -Mike
 
If this is the diesel filter we're talking about, then yes, they are right - the bolt in question is not available separately.

It is actually a wide flanged 10mm hex bolt and is pretty fragile especially if you try undoing it with a bi-hex socket. In this case, I suspect that someone has been a little ham-fisted which is why it's become damaged.

You really haven't a choice here - so get them to fit a new one and ask for the old one back so you can inspect it (and post photos here if you can). Oh, and as the new housing comes complete with a new filter element, make sure that they fit that too, as opposed to keeping it back for a future customer!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Thanks Mike. I'll make sure I get the old unit to take some snaps. Its going back in first thing on Monday.

Cheers, -Mike
 
I'm glad to say the problem is now resolved. Unfortunately, I completely forgot about getting the old unit from them. Thanks to everyone for their advice.

Cheers, -Mike
 
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