Well, here I am again. Starting issues on the fabia 1.9tdi sort of solved. The glow plug fuse had a hairline crack in the casing, garage replaced it and although it still doesnt start on the key its a lot better. They said its got a lazy starter motor, but if this is the case then how come after its been started once it starts almost straight away?

Now the heated seat on the drivers seat only works randomly, comes on then goes off (sometimes doesnt come on at all) and the little red light inside the drivers door doesnt always work. Sometimes the radio dims and switches off, as do the headlights at night and the dash lights, but that hasnt happened since the fuse done, tho I cant imagine thats connected.

Just to top it all, a stone flew up of the road yesterday and now got a huge crack in the windscreen

Any ideas on the random stuff would be appreciated, Thankyou!!!!!

Edited 8 March, 201016 yr by Donna.C

corroded connections, dodgy earths etc, sounds like the wiring needs a good going over

as for your cracked windscreen, Autoglass

Mmm..I sort of guessed that but is it something my hubby can do or is it a garage job? and are we thinking lazy starter motor, does it make sense that after the first start it starts ok, if it was a lazy starter wouldnt it be hard to start every time?

My sons electric windows have stopped working again too!! think we might ditch the skodas!!! get BMWs lol!

the slow starter could also be caused by a wiring problem, corrosion on a terminal somewhere in the circuit

as to whether your hubby could fix these issues, i dunno

first off check the big fuses on top of the battery, these are known to corrode

then just look for earth cables, check for dirt, corrosion and whether they are tight

after that he will be into checking for corrosion in plug connectors and the like

have you had the fault codes read off, this might be a good idea

An update:

- The glowplug issue was fixed by having one of the big fuses on the battery replaced.

- VCDS showed an alternator fault code, and the alternator wasn't kicking in until revving briefly to about 2500-2900RPM. This explains the dimming of lights and occasional flat batteries etc. This turned out to be the common issue of the "load sense" wire being broken at the plug. Unfortunately it broke right inside the plug and so we decided to just bypass the plug completely. The alternator is now working fine again.

- We have self diagnosed the drivers side electrics (beeping when headlights are left on, no courtesy / puddle lights etc) as the "door open" switch being faulty on the drivers side. We've ordered a new switch for a few quids and are going to try and fix this one, rather than pay a quoted £225 for a whole new lock mechanism as it's a part of that!

- The drivers side heated seat still doesn't work. I can't see it being connected to the door switch, but it's not a top priority issue right now really. We'd rather have the cold start solved.

However, the car still has big trouble with the first start of the morning if it's been left for a day. The starter motor doesn't really sound like it's being 'lazy'. It chugs away for about 10 seconds and eventually fires up with a fair amount of white smoke out of the exhaust. If I immediately turn off and try to start again, it'll start on the key as it should!

We wouldn't have thought it would be a lazy starter motor, as it starts just fine after the initial start. We'd have thought if it were a lazy starter motor it would be hard to start all of the time, no?

Previous mention of the fuel lifter pump (in the fuel tank?) could be lazy when we had a new turbo fitted. We do hear the bubbling priming noise when we turn the key as with my vRS. Perhaps we should try priming it a few times before trying to start it, or would that not really make a difference?

The big fuses on the battery have been checked. I believe the earth cables have too.

Any ideas as to what we can look at next? I'm sure it can't be anything too major, as after that initial pig of a start it runs nicely for the rest of the day.

Edited 8 March, 201016 yr by mark.r.cullen

- We have self diagnosed the drivers side electrics (beeping when headlights are left on, no courtesy / puddle lights etc) as the "door open" switch being faulty on the drivers side. We've ordered a new switch for a few quids and are going to try and fix this one, rather than pay a quoted £225 for a whole new lock mechanism as it's a part of that!

I would like to know what switch you've ordered, many good men have tried to identify the switch and failed, it's a burgess with flying leads attached but the part number has eluded many. It usually fails because the plastic coating on the operating cam tears and rips the (tiny) plunger off the switch. Please post details of what you've ordered.

I would like to know what switch you've ordered, many good men have tried to identify the switch and failed, it's a burgess with flying leads attached but the part number has eluded many. It usually fails because the plastic coating on the operating cam tears and rips the (tiny) plunger off the switch. Please post details of what you've ordered.

That sounds like the pictures we've seen on the web. I'm not sure if it's an official part or not coming from ebay, but we're going to try this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280464206197&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

EDIT - is there any way we can change the thread title to something more along the lines of "Cold starting problems" - Figured it out!

Edited 8 March, 201016 yr by Donna.C

That sounds like the pictures we've seen on the web. I'm not sure if it's an official part or not coming from ebay, but we're going to try this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280464206197&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

EDIT - is there any way we can change the thread title to something more along the lines of "Cold starting problems" - Figured it out!

That looks like it could work, may need a little doctoring, have you seen this:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1542461

By the way, i took off the plastic coating from the operating cam with a soldering iron.

I've had another thought - on 1.4 petrol engines the door open switch starts the fuel pump when you open the drivers door, as it assumes you will be starting the engine, if yours is the same your fuel pump won't run until you turn on the ignition. Would that explain your dodgy starting?

Edited 8 March, 201016 yr by kwacka

Difficult starting plus white smoke suggests glow plug problems. A warm engine doesn't really depend upon them hence the difference.

Difficult starting plus white smoke suggests glow plug problems. A warm engine doesn't really depend upon them hence the difference.

This is the trail we initially followed. Glow plugs have been replaced and there was a hairline crack in one of the big fuses at the battery that was preventing them from working which is now fixed. The problem remains.

Also I never gave the engine time to warm up at all. I switched it straight off and tried starting again. It started instantly with no cloud of smoke the second time. No lumpy idle or hesistation starting the second time.

If the fuel pump is engaged when the drivers door is opened that might make sense. I assume we can test that by priming the pump a few times before starting. I think we will give that one a go first given we have previously looked at the glow plugs.

Thanks.

If you have smoke, then you must have fuel. Have you checked for how long the plugs are 'on' when you start the engine? They should preheat then go 'off' (dash light goes out and you turn the key) then come on again as the engine spins. Are they doing this? Have you checked the connections on top of the battery (I guess you have) and especially the engine earthing system? If there is a resistance then when turning the engine the total current flow allowed could be insufficient for both starter and plugs. You could try getting a jump start cable and taking it from the engine near the plugs to the battery terminal. A few years ago I had an Isuzu which behaved in a similar manner. Being under guarantee (and me being naive) I had to accept the garage's decisions. They insisted that it was a fuel problem and deprived me of the car for days at a time week after week. Guarantee expired; glow plugs and relay replaced and car started at a turn of the key. The plugs needed replacing because the relay had stuck on and they had burned out. HTH Best of luck, please let us know how you get on.

That looks like it could work, may need a little doctoring, have you seen this:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1542461

By the way, i took off the plastic coating from the operating cam with a soldering iron.

I've had another thought - on 1.4 petrol engines the door open switch starts the fuel pump when you open the drivers door, as it assumes you will be starting the engine, if yours is the same your fuel pump won't run until you turn on the ignition. Would that explain your dodgy starting?

We tried this today. Ironically just before attempting it, the damn thing seemed to start working again. Then we shut the door and it was dead again.

We've ended up worse than when we started with respect to the door switch. One of the window lifter things on the window runners broke as we were attempting to remove the inner panel (which at least was bolted on, as opposed to riveted like my vRS). We couldn't figure out how on earth you're supposed to actually get the lock mechanism out. We were so close, but it started to rain.

It's a royal pain to put the thing back together too. Seems like the window runners (which were riveted on. I hate rivets) needed to be done whilst the inner panel was sat where it should be, as otherwise it looked impossible to get the lock knob back through???

So yes. I'm booking it in to the local Simpsons to have this one sorted out. I expect it's going to be > £300 now we've also got broken window lifter thing that needs sorting as well. Great stuff. I think we'll leave inner inner door stuff (anything past removing the plastic door bits) to the "pro's" from now on.

Best of luck to you if you decide to attempt it!

If you have smoke, then you must have fuel. Have you checked for how long the plugs are 'on' when you start the engine? They should preheat then go 'off' (dash light goes out and you turn the key) then come on again as the engine spins. Are they doing this? Have you checked the connections on top of the battery (I guess you have) and especially the engine earthing system? If there is a resistance then when turning the engine the total current flow allowed could be insufficient for both starter and plugs. You could try getting a jump start cable and taking it from the engine near the plugs to the battery terminal. A few years ago I had an Isuzu which behaved in a similar manner. Being under guarantee (and me being naive) I had to accept the garage's decisions. They insisted that it was a fuel problem and deprived me of the car for days at a time week after week. Guarantee expired; glow plugs and relay replaced and car started at a turn of the key. The plugs needed replacing because the relay had stuck on and they had burned out. HTH Best of luck, please let us know how you get on.

When the glow plugs were confirmed working again (relay replaced, fuse fixed etc) we twiddled with the preheat time with VCDS. We tried increasing this to no avail. Glow plugs lights on the dash are doing as expected and everything.

We've also tried the jump cable from plugs to the battery before.

A few days a go we also tried one of those jump start battery packs hooked up to it as well, to try and test the theory of not enough current. No difference.

I forgot to note this car had one of the old leaky tandem pumps, we've had that replaced with the revised version a while back too.

We've ordered a new in tank fuel lifter for £80. Seemed worth a shot, and a trusted tuning place (Clive Atthowe, helped us with various problems before that no one else seemed to have a clue with!) suggested it could be this way back when the turbo was replaced. We've had an Octavia before that had problems with this pump, and upon pulling it out it was caked in ****.

Will let you know how we get on with that at least. Part should arrive Wednesday, but it'll probably be at Simpson's undoing our door "fixing" efforts!

We tried this today. Ironically just before attempting it, the damn thing seemed to start working again. Then we shut the door and it was dead again.

We've ended up worse than when we started with respect to the door switch. One of the window lifter things on the window runners broke as we were attempting to remove the inner panel (which at least was bolted on, as opposed to riveted like my vRS). We couldn't figure out how on earth you're supposed to actually get the lock mechanism out. We were so close, but it started to rain.

It's a royal pain to put the thing back together too. Seems like the window runners (which were riveted on. I hate rivets) needed to be done whilst the inner panel was sat where it should be, as otherwise it looked impossible to get the lock knob back through???

So yes. I'm booking it in to the local Simpsons to have this one sorted out. I expect it's going to be > £300 now we've also got broken window lifter thing that needs sorting as well. Great stuff. I think we'll leave inner inner door stuff (anything past removing the plastic door bits) to the "pro's" from now on.

Best of luck to you if you decide to attempt it!

When the glow plugs were confirmed working again (relay replaced, fuse fixed etc) we twiddled with the preheat time with VCDS. We tried increasing this to no avail. Glow plugs lights on the dash are doing as expected and everything.

We've also tried the jump cable from plugs to the battery before.

A few days a go we also tried one of those jump start battery packs hooked up to it as well, to try and test the theory of not enough current. No difference.

I forgot to note this car had one of the old leaky tandem pumps, we've had that replaced with the revised version a while back too.

We've ordered a new in tank fuel lifter for £80. Seemed worth a shot, and a trusted tuning place (Clive Atthowe, helped us with various problems before that no one else seemed to have a clue with!) suggested it could be this way back when the turbo was replaced. We've had an Octavia before that had problems with this pump, and upon pulling it out it was caked in ****.

Will let you know how we get on with that at least. Part should arrive Wednesday, but it'll probably be at Simpson's undoing our door "fixing" efforts!

Best of luck & many thanks for taking the trouble to give such a comprehensive reply.

Best of luck & many thanks for taking the trouble to give such a comprehensive reply.

No worries.

It's been a long time since the problem was last looked at, but relays were replaced and I believe we tried disconnecting and replacing the coolant temp sender from what I remember, that obviously didn't do it either :-)

I checked for any fault codes with VCDS this morning, and there was only the one related to the AC compressor ( yeah that's broken too :-( ), so no info to report there.

Thanks muchly for the suggestions (and luck. we'll need it i'm sure)!

issue with the first start problem in the morning could be a drop in fuel pressure i had an issue with a braded fuel line being perished and over night causing a drop in pressure enought to effect first start it could also be a faulty fuel filter had this once on an octavia 1.9tdi after a service

One small update regarding the door open switch. I booked it in today to have the switch and our window lifter balls up fixed. I got home from work and was told that the door open switch is now working fine!! Indeed it is. Everything is working as expected when you open the drivers side door now. We've slammed the door and everything. It continues to work. We didn't actually check if it was working or not after we pieced everything back together yesterday. Maybe all the battering the door lock got when we were trying to figure how to remove it has somehow fixed it.

The in tank fuel pump arrived today too, so that's been picked up and fitted. The priming noise is much more like that of my vRS now. Previously it was a barely audible short bubble noise. Apparently the old one was caked in a black sludgy yuk on the filter part. The tubing is stained a pure black on the inside too. If I wasn't told they were supposed to have been clear I would have thought they were supposed to be black. Lovely stuff. There's some black gunk sitting inside the plastic swirl bottle thing at the bottom, which had presumably managed to get past this filter.

Will let you know tomorrow if it's helped with the first-start-of-the-day problem. Fingers crossed....

Sadly the fuel pump hasn't fixed it. The door open switch is still working though.

The car was recently serviced (couple of months a go) and all filters were changed.

Will see about checking fuel lines next I guess.

Damn.

Sorry to bring this back up but what was the outcome of all the starting problems if they were eventually sorted out.Same issues here to the letter.

Hi

We dont have the car any more. A trusted garage reckoned it was a lazy starter motor. Theyre usually correct with their diagnosis. Parents got it reconditioned and it seemed to help a bit but it still wasn't right.

From what I remember it turned out it had an incorrect battery fitted.... from a Skoda dealer no less! We had previously ruled out the battery as that battery was actually new and changed to see if it would help the issue! I couldnt tell you what battery we replaced it with as the car got sold a long while back... but a beefier / correct size battery seemed to sort the issue!

.......exactly what Mark said, thanks Mark, lol