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

How many miles has it done?

It could be the glowplugs if it is only cold start issues....

I'd look at heater plugs first as the symptoms seem right for these. How does the car run generally? I would have thought Skoda would have scanned the car which would have shown up faulty heater plugs but you never know.

See if you can find someone who can scan it for you.

http://www.tdiclub.com/TDIFAQ/TDiFAQ-8.html

This link may be useful for diagnosing non-starters. It's a bit old, but still relevant.

That sounds like a fuel feed problem, with the initial 'cough' and the fact that it happens only when cold. My wife had a normally reliable Peugeot 205 GRD that had the same symptoms after it had been serviced by an incompetent dealer.

I'm no technician but I think that some form of filter was faulty and allowed fuel to slip back towards the fuel tank - thus creating a gap. The initial cough is the last dregs of fuel in the system, and the subsequent churning on the starter is bringing the fuel back up again.

Two main candidates IMHO:

1) Glow plugs are worn out.

- Try cycling the glow plugs (ignition) 3 or 4 times then trying to start.

If this improves this, then the glows are likely.

2) Fuel filter pipes are letting air in and allowing fuel to get back to the tank and air into the lines.

- Try checking all the joints on the fuel filter and if required put a small smear of grease (vaslene) etc over each one.

If this improves things, remove the grease one line at a time, until the problem comes back and you have found the air ingress.

Check that this pipe is seated and locked properly and if it is, then replace that pipe section with a new pipe and connector.

If this doesn't help, try changing the fuel filter, making sure they put a new rubber seal in the filter and also looking at replacing the small seal (washer like) on the top of the fuel filter under a screw, as this can let air into the filter.

Edited 2 December, 201114 yr by cheezemonkhai