2006 Fabia VRS BLT Intermittent trouble starting

[06vrsandy]

Evening all,

 

Got a problem with my 2006 Fabia VRS (BLT engine)

 

When engine is cold it sometimes starts straight away, really quickly, other times it takes a LOT (10 secs +) of cranking to start. The ambient air temperature has been between around 7 and 15 degrees C on most occasions that this has happened

 

When it takes a lot of cranking to start, sometimes on the initial key turn it almost starts, but doesn't, then you have to continue cranking for a long time for it to eventually start.

 

So far it has had new battery and also some relay or other part number 6Y0906381 located under the steering wheel. Anti shudder valve appears to be operating (not stuck shut or anything)

 

I've read the codes with an OBDII reader and one that's appeared a couple times is P0672 Cylinder 2 Glow plug. Prior to this there was P2100 (manufacturer specific) but that was cleared some time ago and not come back.

 

Anyway, any ideas?

Does intermittent glow plug failure sound like a likely culprit? Its not been that cold recently...

 

Thanks

Andy

Edited 6 April, 2014 by 06vrsandy

[silky16v]

Try camshaft sensor and check sync timing in vagcom had exact same problem with mine recently

Re-timed engine and replace sensor been perfect since

[eric87]

Coolant temp sensor ?

[alex_e3]

I had the same problem with mine years ago. New camshaft sensor later and it was perfect!

[silky16v]

next time it does it unplug the camshaft sensor the car will take longer to start and 2-3secs as it has to do a full revolution to find its place and run in a limp mode

[06vrsandy]

Thanks everyone for responses.

 

Took it to work today, started OK straight away in morning and in afternoon. was running a bit lumpy initially until I blipped the throttle then it settles down OK. Monitored coolant temperature - 14 degrees C - same as air temp - prior to start up.
 

Whilst on motorway settled around 70 degrees cruising and then at the end of the journey on idle it settled around 80 degrees. Didn't appear to give any dodgy coolant temp readings. After the engines initially warmed up, the dash gauge hangs around 90.

 

Tacho reads accurately, presumably that comes off the crank sensor? Don't think I can monitor any cam sensor values through OBD2 so hopefully cam sensor will be the next part that gets replaced.

 

Silky16v you mention re-timing the engine - is this a process done on VAGCOM/VCDS or is it a mechanical process of shifting something or other a few degrees?

 

Assuming that it is the cam sensor, is it likely to do a lot of damage driving on it like this? EML isnt on so presumably its not defaulting to safe values or anything as as far as I can tell it doesn't know its a fault... Doesn't sound knocky, performs well, definitely not tractoring, and not at all dissimilar to most other pd130s I hear driving around, maybe a little more gruff than newer models...

 

Thanks for the help so far

Andy

[silky16v]

Yeah get the cambelt timing set again and also need to see what your sync angle is doing in vagcom

[Steve Neate]

I'd do a continuity test on each of the glow plugs.

 

If the cam sensor was faulty it would register an error code.  Mine was faulty and it started without a problem.

 

SN

[06vrsandy]

had the trouble starting again this morning. coolant temp was higher than ambient temp but only by 5 degrees or so, I doubt this would be enough to cause the starting problems. Would it?

 

Regarding disconnection of the cam pos sensor, underneath the engine cover on the front of the engine, there are two plugs / sockets on the right of the engine. The top one is black, bottom one grey. I'm guessing the cam position sensor is the top one that runs to the left side of the engine near the cambelt cover and perhaps the bottom one is the crank sensor - is this correct?  

 

On EasyOBD2 on the way in I noticed that ignition timing advance cyl #1 is stuck at 64 degrees advance (+). I initially ignored this as I though that it would only refer to petrol engines due to the word ignition, but perhaps it refers to injection timing in a diesel engine. Other unused fields are shown as greyed out in this software.

 

The PID is as follows (from wikipedia)

 

0E

1 Timing advance -64 63.5 ° relative to #1 cylinder (A-128)/2

 

Does this value change on anyone elses BLT through OBD2? Surprises me though that if cambelt timing / position sensor is out - it hasnt flagged a fault.

 

Is the change of the sensor a difficult job or just take the cambelt cover of and its somewhere under there?

 

Thanks

Andy

[silky16v]

its the grey plug mine never registered a fault code

 

its under the cambelt cover 10 bolt and remove a rubber grommet its abit of fight

 

BTH they rarely go wrong but dirty on them and and cambelt timing that is out can cause issues

 

you really need to check your sync angle with vagcom as this will tell you if it is out of scope

[silky16v]

my bad its the black plug not the grey that crank

[06vrsandy]

my bad its the black plug not the grey that crank

thought it was - looking at where the cables coming out the plugs go to - thanks for getting back to me on this.

 

Strangely its been starting OK the past few days... but I am now blipping the throttle the moment it first catches. Whether it is this that prevents the engine from conking out immediately, or it has just not been misbehaving, I dont know... time will tell.

 

Got me ebay VAG cable on the way and going to have a look on VCDS-Lite see if that gives any clues.

[jamwatn]

could be your timing, it's fairly easy to correct with vag.

[06vrsandy]

Right... Seems like the problem has gone. Its been starting OK for over a week now.

I have had the injector seals replaced which seems to have cured it.

[tqhussain]

Hi 06vrsandy, I have a similar issue so just wondering if your car is ok now? what made you replace the injector seals?

[06vrsandy]

On 13/12/2015 at 14:28, tqhussain said:

Hi 06vrsandy, I have a similar issue so just wondering if your car is ok now? what made you replace the injector seals?

Longest delayed reply ever. Apologies.

Just to close this out, yes the car has been fine (in this respect) ever since these injector seals were replaced.