My new A2 - starting problem

Alexhert

New Member
Hi Everyone,

I bought my A2 it's a 3 cylinder 1.4 TDI in November this year, knowing it had a starting problem but not knowing the full extent of it but a friend of mine said that they could have a look at it for me... Well I really wasn't told the full facts so found out the hard way...

The fuel system is unique in that no one knows how the fuel goes from the tank to the engine, every part of the fuel system was taken apart and it now works much better but if the fuel goes below 30% then the problems of fuel going to the engine reappears... it finds it hard to start the engine and has also died while driving?? That is the main problem... Any ideas please but I am willing to live with it as it is a great car to drive...

I need to change the petrol flap motor as that has broken and I can't find any youtube videos, the steering rack also needs replacing but that is for sometime in January oh next week!! also not as important I will be changing the emergency boot cord as that doesn't work which I found out when the car battery died... I might of left the passenger visor down..

I do love the car and can see why people do and I know this will take some time to everything done as I am not a mechanic and already feel guilty with my friend spending 20 hours in partially fixing the fuel problem..

To sum up Fuel not getting to the engine when it tank goes below 30% (i was told that it may have something to do with a flap as there is no pump in the tank)
Also, Audi changed the spec to a 4 cylinder and used a pump for the diesel to engine!!
Steering rack needs changing
petrol/diesel motor flap needs replacing
emergency boot cord needs replacing

Any help with getting this car back to A2 perfection (fully driveable) would be greatly appreciated.

Happy new year
 
Emergency boot cord is easy - relatively. It is attached to the latch. Accessing it is a pain though - you need to get the inner trim off the boot lid, which is held in place by 7 or 8 friction / spring clips all around the inner face of the boot lid - essentially you need to work on one corner to get it to release the first, then using the inner bootlid handle (which contains two of the clips) essentially shock it off the lid on that side. Once a few clips have released then it gets easier.

see https://a2oc.net/community/index.php?threads/help-boot-door-stuck.35816/#lg=post-312997&slide=0

and various threads / posts in this list


Steering rack - someone more mechanically adept will need to advise - I know it is integral with the front subframe and takes quite a lot of effort.

Fuel not getting to engine. I had this on my AMF car when the original LUK diesel-vacuum tandem pump was failing - it can be running fine, then leave it a couple of days and it takes quite a lot of cranking to get the head of fuel back up to the engine. If this is the case - also worth checking whether the old one has leaked down the side of the engine block as the diesel gently digests cooling pipes below here which risks a catastrophic coolant loss. If you have an AMF, the Bosch pump is the preferred replacement. This won't fit a BHC *unless* you also add a short extension to the pipework for the EGR which otherwise obstructs the Bosch fitting in the later car. @depronman I think has engineered a solution for this.

I'm not certain where your reference about Audi changing spec from 3 to a 4-cylinder engine in the A2 comes from - the Tdi A2s are all three cylinder (ANY/AMF/BHC/ATL), the petrol cars have the 4 cylinder AUA/BBY 1.4 or BAD 1.6 engines - there wasn't a layout change for either diesel or petrol engine families during the production history.

Fuel flap motor - I assume this is the solenoid that is released by the door frame button?


In the above thread there is both info on how to get to the solenoid, but also simple diagnostic logic tests to work out what the problem is : ie, it could be a failed solenoid, but if the solenoid isn't moving when you press the button it could equally be a problem with the driver's door microswitch not passing on that the door is open to the control unit (so is a door circuitry problem, not a fuel flap problem).

And finally - if the starting isn't great (for the above reasons), but the battery lost charge starting easily - it is worth cleaning up the starter motor earth - I've done this on 2 cars recently and it improved the starting massively.

Good luck.
 
I had this fuel problem the fuel gets to the engine via pump on engine but there is a fuel level sender unit ( NOT A PUMP) in the tank if you look under the rear passenger seat you will se a round cover remove this to access the sender unit take this out and if it is damaged or drawing air when fuel gets low as mine was this is your problem mine was a defetive o ring fiddly job but quiet easy hope this helps
 
Thank you guys, I will pass on all this information and my learning curve for this car has greatly increased.

i will keep you posted on the results
 
I had this fuel problem the fuel gets to the engine via pump on engine but there is a fuel level sender unit ( NOT A PUMP) in the tank if you look under the rear passenger seat you will se a round cover remove this to access the sender unit take this out and if it is damaged or drawing air when fuel gets low as mine was this is your problem mine was a defetive o ring fiddly job but quiet easy hope this helps
The first ANY and AMF A2's did have an electric pump at the tank end.

RAB
 
Thanks Hedley,

I think thats what my friend said but he said it was split in half... no pump in the tank and then it changes to electric pump..

my problem is that its been a big struggle so i can't remember exactly what was said ... so will go through this over the new year
 
No electric pump on the A2 diesels. tandem pump on the engine ( plus the electric ones in the fuel tank ONLY in the very early ones ).
 
It sounds like this must have been done but just in case, Make sure the fuel filter has been changed and no leaks from the housing. Can cause starting issues.
 
Alex I suggest you do some research on your car and its issues. I am saying this because it sounds like most of the information you have about the AMF A2 is WRONG. Fuel system is not that unique nor is it mystical. Next you will be telling us we can not open the bonnet without special Audi tools ;). All rubbish. Do not be afraid to ask questions, but if you do not like the answers remember we are a free resource. We all give up our time for free to help others and generally solve their issues quickly. This requires the person asking the original question to do a few things. Tell us as much detail about the issue, what has been done either prior to or subsequent to the issue and feed back what has helped or not. That way others can search for an issue and may find the solution has already been found. Every body has to learn so ask by all means but a bit of self study will benefit all.
 
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