nakamichi1

Read my post again. I clearly stated that it doesn't crank. I clearly said in my first post that it doesn't crank.

It's really not the battery. The battery is fully charged and it doesn't start first turn of the key. It doesn't even crank. I get nothing at all. I have to keep turning the key and eventually it will start. I suspect an ignition fault but thanks anyway.

It's nothing to with the battery. It won't start even with a full charge.

It's a 2.0 sorry. The battery is only 2 years old and has been tested and confirmed to be good. It holds charge and comes up at 80% on the SOC indicator in the car.

I have a MK3 1.9 TDi that has a strange starting issue. The battery is fully charged. Every morning the car fails to start. I get an error/escape/and and tyre pressure warning and the engine doesn't crank. After taking the key out and locking and unlocking the car several times it will eventually start and drive fine. All the error codes disappear. A mechanic scanned for fault codes and found nothing. It can take up to ten minutes of locking and unlocking before it starts. When it does start, I can turn the engine on and off several times with no problem but several hours later, the problem returns. Very occasionally, it will start first time. Any ideas?

There are a couple of guides but they don't explain every step. I struggled to fix mine but in the end it is a simple fix. 1.Take out parcel shelf and lay upside down on a bench with the pull out part towards you. 2.Look at the end caps and you will see 4 slits. You need to remove the right hand one as you look at it. In the car it will be on the left but you now have it upside down. 3.Insert screwdriver and break off piece of plastic between the slits.This part may not be necessary but it made it easier to see inside. 4.You should now be able to remove end cap with a bit of force and by pushing the locking tabs in. 5.The cap has two parts with a large spring in between. 6.Take roller out completely, it just pulls out easily, and wind up as if you are rolling wrapping paper. 7.Put back into the sleeve. 8.Keep pressure on the rolled up shelf so it does unwind. 9. Take the piece of the end cap with the notch in that matches the notch on the end of the roller and match the two together. 10.Rotate the cap towards you about 15 times. This creates the tension.It is important to turn it the correct way. 11. This is the tricky bit. Push the cap back into the roller without releasing it or the roller will unwind! 12.Once the cap is slotted back in,replace the outer part of the cap and the spring by sliding it back on. 13.It should now work properly. If it retracts too slowly repeat step 10 and wind it a few more times. I hope this helps. Difficult to explain but very simple once you figure it out. Took me ages the first time but if I have to do it again it will take five minutes.