Dear all

Got 1.9tdi elegance 55 plate.

Every year during the cold snap, when I start the car in the morning, when I turn the key, for a second, nothing happens and then it churns and starts.

This year it's started earlier as the weather is not so cold (6 degrees this morning) so far car has started but I get the impression that the car will not start when it gets colder.

I think it's the battery getting old but not sure?

Bought the car when it was 4 years (80k miles) old and I think it's on the original battery. Now the car is 8 years old and covered 165k miles.

Any idea what the problem can be?

I'd be inclined to agree that you've likely got a battery in the twilight of its career. Or maybe one of the cells is on its way out, which amounts to the same thing.

 

The only way to know for sure is to get the battery tested.

 

If the battery's good, I'd be checking your earthing next to make sure the starter's getting enough amperage.

 

Gaz

Are you waiting for the glow-plug warning light to go out, before cranking the engine? It may be that the engine is waiting for it to heat up first, before it fires up. In the cold, it will take longer...

Sounds like the starter motor.

 

having said that I cannot for the life of me remember the proper technical term for the inner parts so here is the playschool version.

 

The inner part moves towards the flywheel by electro magnetism (the starter motor teeth are not normally in contact with it).

 

When it meets the flywheel the solenoid kicks in which gives juice to the motor itself, this turns the flywheel which rotates your engine.

 

Starter motor or battery.... a good auto electrician will be able to diagnose which one in a matter of minutes.

If the engine does not crank when the key is turned to "start", the first thing to do is to check for a 12V supply to terminal 50 (solenoid feed) at the starter. Use a high wattage test lamp in preference to a meter so that any high circuit reisitance will show up. On my 1.9PD, terminal 50 is accessible when the undertray is removed.

 

If this supply is absent, my first point of call would be the ignition switch.

 

Starters operate as follows: Terminal 50 becomes live (crank request from ignition switch) and pulls in the solenoid on the starter via its pull-in winding. This also applies a low current to the armature, allowing the motor to index but not crank. The solenoid pulls the pinion into mesh with the flywheel (there is a lost motion spring to allow for tooth to tooth contact) and near the end of its travel, full power is applied to the motor, cranking the engine. The solenoid pull-in winding is short circuited and the solenoid remains pulled in via a lower current holding winding until the key is released. An overrun clutch prevents the engine from motoring the starter when it fires. A spring return turns off the starter current and disengages the pinion when the key is released.

 

rotodiesel.

Edited 2 November, 201312 yr by rotodiesel