Hi I have Octavia 2.0 turbo diesel 2005 with 6 speed gearbox and with 108,000 miles on clock. This is a great car and still has plenty power etc. However , sometimes after parking facing uphill say overnight, the car will only start after a lot of turns on the starter. Skoda dealer says diagnostics show nothing wrong. I suspect it is possibly fuel draining back to the tank or some non return valve faulty. Has anyone had this problem before. When engine is warm there is no problem and battery is ok. Thanks for any help.

Yes, this problem has been seen before by a few people with PD140 / PD170 TDIs. It's not all that common, but you should find a few threads about it if you search. You will probably struggle to get Skoda to fix it I'm afraid as the problem could be anywhere in the fuel system and is pretty much impossible to reproduce reliably for further investigation. Off the top of my head, possible causes are an improperly fitted fuel filter, seal on tandem pump, lift pump, possibly a porous cylinder head.

See

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/130788-pd170-not-starting/page__p__1641597__fromsearch__1entry1641597

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/115037-terrible-cold-starting/page__hl__tdi%20starting%20problem

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/71928-pd140-eleg-estate-not-starting-rac-says-air-leak-anyone-else-have-this/page__p__869814__hl__uphill%20tdi__fromsearch__1#entry869814

Welcome

See

http://briskoda.net/...1entry1641597

http://briskoda.net/...rting%20problem

http://briskoda.net/...__1#entry869814

Thanks for your reply. Do you think it could be glowplug relay or temperature sensor as I have seen these mentioned elsewhere.

Not if it's only doing it after being parked facing up-hill.

I'm pretty sure this has been fixed for other people by replacing the non-return valve that forms part of the fuel feed - not sure if it's at the tank or the fuel pump end of the fuel line though.

Try leaving the ignition in the on position for a few seconds before starting to give the fuel pump a chance to prime - You'll hear a humming noise while the pump is running. Possibly doing this a couple of times will ensure the pump has primed. My driveway faces uphill and the only reason I probably should park it facing downhill is that when it rains the doors collect water while the car points uphill (It drains as soon as I hit level ground or open the doors).

I'm pretty sure this has been fixed for other people by replacing the non-return valve that forms part of the fuel feed - not sure if it's at the tank or the fuel pump end of the fuel line though.

Try leaving the ignition in the on position for a few seconds before starting to give the fuel pump a chance to prime - You'll hear a humming noise while the pump is running. Possibly doing this a couple of times will ensure the pump has primed. My driveway faces uphill and the only reason I probably should park it facing downhill is that when it rains the doors collect water while the car points uphill (It drains as soon as I hit level ground or open the doors).

That was my thought really as it only happens in that scenario. I'll just have to try and trace the NRV and check fuel lines etc when weather a bit better. Anyway thanks for info.