Hi, I'm havin a little problem with my 2001 Octavia 1.9TDi Elegance (110bhp)...

It starts first time when cold but when hot (normal about 90 deg) it takes ages to start, no other running problems, pulls fine, idles fine, no noises just takes 5-10 secs to start when hot.

Just wondering if any others out there have had this problem and what the cure was/is, thought I'd try this before paying a main dealer £200 to diagnose and replace a sensor or something.

Cheers,

Jim.

This is usually the temperature sensor; checking the fault codes should confirm or deny this. If you check the VAG-Com forum, there's a directory of people who're willing to help out for free, or a couple of beer tokens.

Agree with Ken

He is a clever chap you know

059 919 501A 4 pin green one

Get a seal for it too

I bought one of these for my son when he first bought his MK4 Golf (same engine as in the Octy`s)

Sarah

Thank you my dear. I've had some good teachers, you included! Add that to a bit of a packrat mind, which rarely completely forgets anything it's interested in...

Thank you my dear. I've had some good teachers, you included! Add that to a bit of a packrat mind, which rarely completely forgets anything it's interested in...

ahhhh , bless

Sweet talking will get you anywhere

Sarah

ahhhh , bless

Sweet talking will get you anywhere

Sarah

If you were single, and I didn't live several hundred miles away, it might even be trying to get me somewhere! :orb_devil

Thanks for the info guys, there's a sensor and seal on their way to me - I'll let you know if it cures the problem...

Cheers peeps

All good, fitted n tested this afternoon - a little more than I thought (£32 from Skoda :thumbdwn:) but it works so I've saved on diagnostic time n cost.

Thanks again

Jim.

If you were single, and I didn't live several hundred miles away, it might even be trying to get me somewhere! :orb_devil

I could always move

Sarah

Cheers peeps

All good, fitted n tested this afternoon - a little more than I thought (£32 from Skoda :thumbdwn:) but it works so I've saved on diagnostic time n cost.

Thanks again

Jim.

Hi Jim

Nice one!!!

Glad you got it sorted , not a hard job really , and very common to fail

It cost £32 as you said a tad expensive , but you have saved yourself quite a bit on the diagnostics

So buy yourself a couple of beers

Sarah

I could always move

Sarah

:hug: So could I, but I don't pinch other bloke's SOs. :nono:

Hi again, erm - well as I last said, replacing the temperature sensor seemed to work - however, intermittently - it still struggles to start when hot 50% of the time, the other 50% it starts n runs perfectly.

Bloody thing.

Any ideas?

Try disconnecting the temperature sensor and see if the hot starting improves. If it does, according to the auto electrician from whom we got to first diagnose the problem the first time we encountered it, there is a fault with the ECU, this seems to be backed up by (the not always accurate) 'Honest John' site.

The best cure would be a new ECU, which at £500+ is not a route that you'll want to take. The temperature sensor is a 4 pin sensor, one pair a feed and an earth go to the gauge, the other similar pair go to the ECU. By wiring a manual switch into the feed for ECU you can remotely disconnect the sensor from inside the car for hot starting and re-connect it for running. If you don't want to have a remote switch, you could get it to disconnect/re-connect automatically by using a 5 pin relay which is triggered from the starter solenoid. The drawback wiith this is that it will disconnect the engine coolant temperature reading regardless of whether the engine is hot or cold. It will also throw an intermittent temperature sensor open circuit code everytime the ECU is interrogated for fault codes.

Hi!

I have been reading about similar problems in VW Jettas on TDICLUB FORUM.

The enginecode was not stated, but they called the car 99.5-model, and it is a common problem for this model..

It is a software-problem. When the engine is hot the ECU does not send fuel until it reads engine-speed over 260rpm.

I do not know if VW has a flash for this, but in the US both software (chip) from RocketChip and Aligator cures this particular problem.

If it is OK for the moderators, I can post a link...

Olit

Edited 26 June, 200917 yr by olit
correcting some misspelled words..

Hi I have the same engine and year as you and had suffered this very problem for over 12 months.

I read early on while looking into this that a new battery would be the fix - but didnt think it would as the car started great when cold even in mid winter but after reading many forums etc I went full circle and back to the battery idea.

As the original battery was now 8 years old I thought it worth a try as it would not be a waste of money to renew it - and - SORTED it has completely fixed the problem and starts even better cold and hot now and turns over much faster even though it didnt seem slow before !!

I have full vagcom and never found any codes when doing scans etc.

As Olit says above - in a thread I read which explained why a battery may solve this, it said that the ecu looks for a minimum engine speed before firing -but only on a warmed engine - from cold it just chucks fuel in whatever and doesnt look for engine speed hence the ok cold starts. No chips or flashing for me the battery sorted it. I guess moding the software is a way of getting around a tired battery but it doesnt seem the correct way to go for me.

I put a halfords hcb096 battery on as i got it trade (£70) - they retail at £100 - other places like gsf etc are around £70 for a decent one - if you are keeping the car its worth getting a good one.

hope this helps and you sort it - I know how annoying it is !!

Edited 26 June, 200917 yr by octywagon

Hi!

I totally agree that a old battery will make the problem even worse, having problems providing enough amps to make the starter crank the engine to 260rpm. So a good high capasity start-battery is essential.

But a software-flash/chip would not hurt either. This is not the only "fault" with this ECU according to the gurus at TDICLUB...

Olit

Thanks Octywagon, thankfully I'm a trade card holder too (saved me loads over the last couple of years) they've got a battery at my local store so I'll grab one tomorrow n see what happens...

I'll keep you posted

I have the same problem with my car but changing the battery has not done much to cure the fault. I will look into changin the temp sensor now and see what that throws up but on a diagnostic check, no faults were found.

Right, as Octywagon says above - it didn't seem to be a slow cranker but... It's now so fast it almost starts before I turn the key - hot/cold/lukewarm whatever!

So YAY!!! Thanks to all who helped/suggested things, the problem has been cured by a new battery and the temp sensor can only have helped too.

Cheers all!

Good luck to anyone else with a similar problem.

Jim.

Nice one - glad your sorted :thumbup:

HI

Have the same problem as jim also get a slight hestitation at times too ,car start first time every time when cold have fitted a new airflow sensor,please can you HELP.

HI

Got my car starting when hot thank for all the advice new battery sorted it out.

Thanks Again CATSON

I removed the starter motor, split the motor body from the solenoid / pinion assy by removing the two long screws, popped the plastic cover off the small bearbox that sits between the motor body and nose of the motor, lubed gears with grease, re-assembled and since then ...no probs starting the car.

There is a fuel temperature sensor in the injection pump.

The dealer will tell you you need a new fuel injection pump, but most bosch derv injection specialists can easily change the temperature sensor.

That means a bill for a few tens of pounds rather than a few hundred.

HTH