I've just had my car serviced at VW/Skoda dealer today and the following comment has been left on the notes......

 

No engine light, but vehicle has cam sensor fault log in system. Vehicle is hard to start when hot - possible sensor, wiring or timing...investigation required.

 

My car starts immediately when cold or warm, but takes a few turns for maybe 3 or 4 seconds when it's been run to hot. It's something I've lived with for quite a while and to be honest, hasn't given me any grief.  The estimated cost of investigation has been recorded as £75.  The battery is now 7 years old, but never has any trouble starting the car, so I don't think that can be the problem.  It's passed the MOT with no problems right after the service and surely engine mangement problems would have shown in the readings.

The same garage last year mentioned bump stop wearing and scratching of discs, but they weren't mentioned this year so I'm a bit wary of comments on bits of paper, especially when the service manager didn't mention it when he spoke on the phone to arrange payment.

 

Should I take it in for investigation as suggested or just monitor things and see how it goes?

I've just had my car serviced at VW/Skoda dealer today and the following comment has been left on the notes......

No engine light, but vehicle has cam sensor fault log in system. Vehicle is hard to start when hot - possible sensor, wiring or timing...investigation required.

My car starts immediately when cold or warm, but takes a few turns for maybe 3 or 4 seconds when it's been run to hot. It's something I've lived with for quite a while and to be honest, hasn't given me any grief. The estimated cost of investigation has been recorded as £75. The battery is now 7 years old, but never has any trouble starting the car, so I don't think that can be the problem. It's passed the MOT with no problems right after the service and surely engine mangement problems would have shown in the readings.

The same garage last year mentioned bump stop wearing and scratching of discs, but they weren't mentioned this year so I'm a bit wary of comments on bits of paper, especially when the service manager didn't mention it when he spoke on the phone to arrange payment.

Should I take it in for investigation as suggested or just monitor things and see how it goes?

If you doubt the dealer get an Indy to take a look

If you doubt the dealer get an Indy to take a look

The dealer has always been good, but I've always thought 3 or 4 seconds to start the engine while hot was OK, but they think it's a problem. It's not been a problem that I've noticed suddenly and I'm hoping that it'll be OK and that it's not going to cost a lot of money.

A few years back they mentioned that there was a fault on a small motor within the heating / cooling system that was going to cost £400 to repair & I've still never noticed anything wrong & everything works just fine.

I think what I'm trying to find out is whether it might be something that might technically be a fault, but won't affect the running of the car, or if it's something that simply MUST be attended to in case the engine might fail.

Edited 21 January, 201511 yr by Border Collie

The dealer has always been good, but I've always thought 3 or 4 seconds to start the engine while hot was OK, but they think it's a problem. It's not been a problem that I've noticed suddenly and I'm hoping that it'll be OK and that it's not going to cost a lot of money.

I'd say it likely is an issue as normally you'd fire pretty much instantly

I'd say if your happy to take the chance that one day it might not start as its unlikely to cause any damage to the engine as is, save the money until actually needed.

 

My old MK1 1.9 TDI PD had exactly the symptoms although I always thought it might be a temp sensor issue and did tens of thousands of miles like that.

 

Scott 

When the sensor packs up the car won't start and get it changed then sometimes cars log faults that are intermittent

This is definatly intermittent as the car wouldn't start by now if there was a problem

Thanks for the comments / advice guys.  I figure that if it had been serious, they would have spoken to me about it, as they did about the rear wheels being well out of alignment. So I'm going to pop in the the service dept tomorow and have a chat with the engineers about the likelihood of failure and probability of what the fault might be + likely costs. Then I'll decide on what to do. As I said, a few seconds to start is no great deal to me so long as the car runs good and starts from cold. I seldom start it from hot anyway.

Thanks again.

Battery??

 

Has to spin the engine at 300RPM when hot.

 

Dave

Battery is good, despite it being 7 yrs old. Engine turns over quick enough, but it takes a few seconds to start   - but only when still hot - if cold or warm it starts immediately.

Anyway, I dropped in at the dealers today and spoke to the service dept, they spoke to the mechanic and he's not too concerned as no dashboard lights have come on. He's just obliged to mention these things, as he also mentioned that my rear pads will be due for renewal by annual service next year. They phoned me about the front discs and pads, so I got them done...lasted 73,000 miles sine car was new.

3-4s to start would feel like a liftetime to me and my nervous car disposition.  Worth a second opinion at least if you have doubts.

takes a few turns for maybe 3 or 4 seconds when it's been run to hot.

The battery is now 7 years old

1 second is ok, 2 is already 'something wrong'

7 year old battery must be already 2 ago recycled. no matter how it feels and looks, 5 year is MAX for battery on the car.

3-4s to start would feel like a liftetime to me and my nervous car disposition.  Worth a second opinion at least if you have doubts.

Thanks, I took the car down to local KwikFit to have battery checked and was ready to fork out for new one. Mechanic tested it thoroughly and told me that there's nothing wrong with either the battery or the charging system. He said that if it's in good condition there's no need to change it, no matter how old it is.  My estimated time for starting was a bit out. I had a friend time it when engine hot & it was 2.1 seconds. I can live with that until a warning light comes on, then I'll pay for investigation.

Consider buying a cheap OBDII code reader and see if the fault code is still there. The dealer should have cleared it at the service.

Mark