Judder under cold start...

[Vrs beast]

Hi I've move on from my much loved mk1 Fabia vrs to a mk3 octavia 1.6tdi black edition and a month or so after collecting the car it has developed a judder on cold start up its a dsg just wondering if anyone has had the same or similar issue? Been into the dealer 3 times and they are saying its a characteristic of the car and it's normal for a diesel to judder on cold start up which isn't right at all any help would be great

[octavianestate]

No issues with mine (2.0 TDI dsg)

Clarify though is the judder felt at idle? Does it occur when pulling away?

Always dissappears when engine warm?

[Vrs beast]

Yeah mate when it's cold and on idle it judders weather it's left in drive or any other gear if you lift the revs to like 1200rpm it stops and as soon as temp gauge moves it stops and can't feel it when pulling away

Edited 28 February, 2016 by Vrs beast

[LewJo]

Totally different engine I know but when it's below zero my VRS Petrol DSG often judders until it warms up

[MrAdamwood]

A diesel will judder as the fuel won't burn properly until there's enough heat there to atomise the fuel properly and give a decent burn. If there's no warning lights on, it drives ok and its in warranty don't worry yourself about it.

[octavianestate]

Have you always driven diesels? If you come from a petrol to a diesel they will vibrate significantly more. Like I said though mine does not judder when cold but I have a different capacity engine maybe that differs? I would not like to say.

My mazda6 juddered when cold but this was more through the transmission when pulling away. I sought advice from the dealer who advised me it is was a characteristic of the diesel engine in my mazda. I did correct them as it was a petrol engine! They were not interested in the problem initially but eventually they replaced the clutch and the judder was no more!

[Vrs beast]

I had my Fabia for over 3 years and even when we had bad snow and it was like minus 5 that never did this.. And to be honest I've had 5 different cars and not one has done what this does yes they run abit rough when it's cold but non of them have been anywhere near as aggressive as this is it's almost like its down on one of the injectors if I'm honest

[SuperbTWM]

When you say Judder, do you mean like a misfire at idle after starting?  Does it kick any smoke out while its doing it?

[Vrs beast]

Yeah it's like a misfire.. And not that I have noticed no I've look round at the exhaust a couple of times to check for smoke when it's doing it and haven't seen any

[SuperbTWM]

My last PD130 did this on cold mornings. My best guess is that the injectors were worn out and not atomising the fuel as good as they should to burn the fuel cleanly in cold temperatures. The car had a hard time in a previous life and did a lot of towing. 

[savvy5]

Think this has been covered elsewhere but yes my TSI VRS does the same so not to worry. Likewise I find the choke very annoying at startup if colder - revs high before changing up (DSG) until choke goes (when ideally you want to keep the revs low for turbo protection). Can't believe a new car in this day and age would have these characteristics....

[Gromle]

Likewise I find the choke very annoying at startup if colder - revs high before changing up (DSG) until choke goes (when ideally you want to keep the revs low for turbo protection). Can't believe a new car in this day and age would have these characteristics....

I dont experience this on my 1.8tsi. Even in -10degrees it still changes up early with a cold engine. It goes into 3rd gear in 30ish km/h uphill (its not much of an incline, but its still uphill).

Edited 29 February, 2016 by Gromle

[Croat]

Same here 1.6 TDI DSG. When engine and oil warms up it goes away.

Edited 29 February, 2016 by Croat

[sjrainsford]

Yep, it's normal on the 1.6 diesel.  I've driven a few (including mine) and they all do that odd little miss fire when on idle and cold.  

[Gerrycan]

My understanding was that the glow plugs continued to operate after the start in really cold weather in the new generation of diesels. Maybe one of the plugs is not operating properly (at all?).

Might be worth while getting it checked out anyway.

[SuperbTWM]

My understanding was that the glow plugs continued to operate after the start in really cold weather in the new generation of diesels. Maybe one of the plugs is not operating properly (at all?).

Might be worth while getting it checked out anyway.

Not just the new generation, they have been doing that for many, many years. And not just when its cold. ECT dictates if it needs any pre-start and how long they stay on post start. You can sometimes hear the relay click after driving for a few minutes in certain models

Edited 29 February, 2016 by SuperbTWM

[Gerrycan]

Not just the new generation, they have been doing that for many, many years. And not just when its cold. ECT dictates if it needs any pre-start and how long they stay on post start. You can sometimes hear the relay click after driving for a few minutes in certain models

Not surprised, I had absolutely no problems with my old 1.9pd so it was not a topic I really needed to investigate. Mind you it does not get really cold here (Adelaide) either.

 

The following is for the 2.0L TDI engine but probably similar for the 1.6TDI:

"Post-start glowing helps reduce hydrocarbon emissions and combustion noises during the warm-up phase.

...Post -start glowing lasts a maximum of 5 minutes after starting the engine or until coolant temperature reaches 24 deg C"