I have recently purchaced a 2006 1.9 TDi Octavia and it is proving very difficult to start in the mornings.

The weather is not that cold yet so I dread to think what it is going to be like in the winter.

It gives one cough then takes about 3 to 4 mins turning over before it comes to life. During the day it starts first touch and the engine seems to go well. It has been in a Skoda Dealer and they have not fixed it, just presented me with a heafty bill. To be honest they wont get a look at the car again as I think they are incompetent, not fit to be a main dealer.

A new battery and starter motor cured it for about 3 weeks and now it is back to its old ways.

Any clues, anybody?

Gary

Did they check glowplugs it only takes one not working to b***er things up!

New glow plugs, is a quick and relatively cheap job too. If one plug is 'off', you can get an intermittent non start.

If you think about it, your car only starts on one cylinder and it depends which cylinder, due to how the engine comes to rest when you take the key out.

So say plug 3 is poor, then it will start fine on 1,2 and 4. Just luck of the draw.

And...bad plugs don't always show up on the diagnostic.

The same thing happened to my old mk1 Octy, but the dealer should have checked this I would have thought.

Cheers, Martin.

Hi and welcome aboard.