1.9 TDI Elegance Estate

58 reg and low mileage: just under 8000 miles

Had (first) major service approx 500m ago

Used for occasional 50m motorway drives - no short runs

Filled with BP or Shell diesel (in case this makes any difference!)

No change in economy (very good, according to the display)

Of late, the car has become increasingly difficult to start. This morning, it took perhaps 45secs to a minute of turning before the engine fired. Seems significantly worse when the car has been standing outside, even when the temperature is not very low: this morning, the car had been standing for 48 hours and the temperature was about 2 degrees C.

I'm absolutely delighted with this car (and with my 02 160k Fabia 1.9tdi, which has never had similar problems) and am not especially worried, as it's still under warranty (although it's a pain to get to the nearest dealer.) I just wondered if anyone knew what might be up

1.9 TDI Elegance Estate

58 reg and low mileage: just under 8000 miles

Had (first) major service approx 500m ago

Used for occasional 50m motorway drives - no short runs

Filled with BP or Shell diesel (in case this makes any difference!)

No change in economy (very good, according to the display)

Of late, the car has become increasingly difficult to start. This morning, it took perhaps 45secs to a minute of turning before the engine fired. Seems significantly worse when the car has been standing outside, even when the temperature is not very low: this morning, the car had been standing for 48 hours and the temperature was about 2 degrees C.

I'm absolutely delighted with this car (and with my 02 160k Fabia 1.9tdi, which has never had similar problems) and am not especially worried, as it's still under warranty (although it's a pain to get to the nearest dealer.) I just wondered if anyone knew what might be up

My car (very same model as yours) did this 3-4 times in the first year of ownership and when it did eventually start it would show "emissions light" on dash, however, car never needed garaging and problem disappeared after a couple of months and never returned. my car is now almost 4 years old with 180k on the odo.

Did the dealer change the fuel filter for you?

That would be somewhere I'd be looking at as a first port of call.

Another thing to do is to get the car scanned for fault codes by a dealer or somebody on here with VCDS.

Many thanks to both the above - it doesn't sound too serious, then.

I would hope and assume that the fuel filter was done, if it's a regular part of a major service, as I'm pretty confident that the dealer (Horton's of Lincoln) is careful and competent.

Because it's quite difficult to get there, I'm going to have to leave it for a few weeks, anyway, so we'll see what happens.

Thanks again (any more thoughts welcome, though.)

Did the dealer change the fuel filter for you?

That would be somewhere I'd be looking at as a first port of call.

Another thing to do is to get the car scanned for fault codes by a dealer or somebody on here with VCDS.

Erm why would changing the fuel filter affect cold starting?

Erm why would changing the fuel filter affect cold starting?

They change the filter, the hoses don't go on quite right or a seal doesn't seat quite right and air can be pulled in.

Leave it overnight or for a while and the air getting in allows the fuel to escape back to the fuel tank. At that point you have to effectively prime the pump before it will start again as there will be no fuel in the lines to feed the engine.

cheezemonkhai's is correct about fuel filter , There is not much to go wrong to diesel compared to petrol, when i had a Tipo 1.9 TDI in the early nineties any problems i had were down to glow plugs, but it had done a high mileage by then. Cheap and easy to to replace yourself, but as your car is under warranty take it back, that is why you have it.

Did you get this sorted?

the car had been standing for 48 hours and the temperature was about 2 degrees C.

At 2C the pre heater should be coming on to warm things up before ignition. Are you waiting for the little light to go out on the dash before you attempt to start?

I would also have a very good look at the battery. Diesel vehicles need a lot of omph from the battery to get them going and a slightly dodgy battery combined with cold temps could be a problem.

Another random possibility (Based on a previous thread here) is if the car is parked pointing uphill and there's a fault in the non return valve in the fuel line, the fuel will have drained back to the tank when you try to start the car the next day. When you turn the key to the 'on' position do you hear a soft humming noise coming from the engine bay? That's the fuel pump priming (Some VAG cars prime the pump when you open the driver's door, so listen for it then too in case your setup is different to mine) - if the note from it changes or you don't hear anything then the pump may be either sucking in air or not running correctly at all. Test for the fault by parking the car pointing downhill and seeing if it starts better.