Starting issue 2.0 TDI CR 2018

[Vidmor]

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on the following 

 

2018 Superb 2.0TDI 190 4x4 Combi 

32000 miles 

Owned by me for 3months 5000 miles 

In daily use with regular long motorway runs 

 

Intermittent prolonged cranking. Unrelated to cold weather - often starts fine at 5am on frosty mornings. Seems random when it happens. Engine always starts on first go (eventually). 

 

Obd11 scan clear - no fault codes 

Not had cambelt changed

Start / stop turned off via Obd11 

 

Had similar behaviour about 5 weeks ago, did a scan, and there was relay failing causing the fan to come on inappropriately - replaced relay and the fan doesn't cut in like it used to and the cranking issues settled down for a few weeks but have now returned. 

 

I have searched around for similar issues and there are a wide variety of suggested causes: battery in need of replacement, starter motor in need of replacement, earth cable issue, "injector drift" fixed temporarily by software update, can be mapped out, timing out, normal / don't worry about it. 

 

I have basic diy ability and tools. I don't have a battery tester. 

 

I don't mind taking to a garage if reqd but ideally I would understand what is likely to be going on before hand, or fixing it myself if practical. 

 

I was thinking it may be worth replacing battery in the first instance? 

 

Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer! 

 

David 

 

 

Edited 15 March, 2022 by Vidmor

[Insect_repellent:)]

I just started to observe similar symptoms on my MY 2017 2.0TDI 190. So far I cannot realate it with anything.

[Vidmor]

Thanks. Let me know if you get anywhere! 

[MarkyG82]

The old 1.9 had a similar issue starting when warm. To do with the starter not able to crank fast enough so the fueling system won't pump. Turn over once. Back off the ignition then crank again and it fires right up. Tried a refurbished starter, new battery, new crank speed sensor. The only thing that solved it was a remap randomly. Was happy to have it fixed but lived with it for circa 2 years.

[Vidmor]

Thanks, reassuring. That fits with my reading (including the remap). I think the ECU uses a different protocol for starting when cold (? Uses more fuel) so that would fit as well. 

 

My main concern is that it isn't going to start at all but hopefully that's not the case! 

 

[tom500]

Just had this today as well on my L&k 4x4tdi 190 this morning ironic out side a Toyota dealership(Car was warm). Prolonged cranking to almost flat battery then I left it for 5 minutes to call Skoda assist and it restarted and drove fine for the rest of the day. No codes on vcds. So a possible injector to fuel delivery issue. Though I though it would have flagged a code for low fuel pressure. The only strange thing to happen is the dpf started to regen afterwards. Strange I say because it was the second time it had done on that tank of diesel , Only usual does one regen per Tank

[Vidmor]

Hi tom500, thanks for adding your similar experience let me know if you get anywhere with it! Thanks 

[tom500]

Thanks My plan of attack is to log the fuel pressures next time this occurs.

On a positive note at least I know my Battery is Healthy

[pcspinheiro]

Has there been any development to this? Recently I'm having a similar issue with my 2017 superb 2.0 TDI... It randomly, but not frequently, needs to crank a lot to start (feels like 6-10 revs, but never counted), but the dealer cannot find anything, battery is fine, they say. Seems to be becoming progressively worse... Even when this doesn't happen, I always feel like it starts with a lot of vibration, shakes the car, but have no means to compare to another. Sometimes it does start smooth, like I suppose it should, not mostly it feels a little violent. The car also has oil leaking from the gearbox, engine...  I'm gutted that a car well under 100k km would have these issues (plus likely wheel bearings...). 😭

Edited 6 September, 2022 by pcspinheiro

[Vidmor]

No mine has done it maybe once since the above post. Hope you get somewhere. Sorry to hear it's getting worse in your case. 

[pcspinheiro]

Thanks for replying! I have the feeling that this car will give me a lot of expenses very soon. I hope they sort it out while the warranty extension is still in effect, but the dealership seems so unwilling to do anything... 

 

I'm booked in for them to do some "disassembly" to better document the oil leaks for the warranty. Strangely enough, the guy that called to make the booking asked about the difficulty in starting (which I had reported earlier), so I think they themselves suspect something wrong. They NEVER cared before, but the fact is that my list of complaints about issues with the car on their system is quite long. I suppose it would suck for them if serious issues arise because they failed to act. 

 

[GordoGT]

On 06/09/2022 at 21:35, pcspinheiro said:

Thanks for replying! I have the feeling that this car will give me a lot of expenses very soon. I hope they sort it out while the warranty extension is still in effect, but the dealership seems so unwilling to do anything... 

 

I'm booked in for them to do some "disassembly" to better document the oil leaks for the warranty. Strangely enough, the guy that called to make the booking asked about the difficulty in starting (which I had reported earlier), so I think they themselves suspect something wrong. They NEVER cared before, but the fact is that my list of complaints about issues with the car on their system is quite long. I suppose it would suck for them if serious issues arise because they failed to act. 

 

Out of curiousity, did you manage to get the warm starting issue sorted? If so, what was it in the end?

Reason being, my car, a 150TDI DSG has just started displaying the same horrible symptoms 😒

[pcspinheiro]

Hi GordoGT,

mine had a cold starting issue, it would (randomly, not every single day) crank a lot before starting. However, it always seemed to start quite violently regardless of this. I seem to remember it used to start smoothly without shaking the whole car. I have since parted with it. I was a great ride, comfortable and economic, but I just couldn't take its quirks anymore. Sticking with the old, trusty Astra until it dies... Cheap to run, super cheap to maintain. 

[Gammyleg]

On 23/03/2022 at 18:59, tom500 said:

The only strange thing to happen is the dpf started to regen afterwards. Strange I say because it was the second time it had done on that tank of diesel , Only usual does one regen per Tank

 

Dumb question alert... How do you know when a regen has taken place? The only clue I have is if the fan continues to run after I've stopped the car.

[D402]

13 minutes ago, Gammyleg said:

How do you know when a regen has taken place? The only clue I have is if the fan continues to run after I've stopped the car.

Stop/start is disabled, idle speed is higher, and gearbox holds a lower gear than usual. You wouldn't know if it regen'ed during a motorway journey.

[Gammyleg]

21 hours ago, D402 said:

You wouldn't know if it regen'ed during a motorway journey.

 

That explains a lot. 95% of my journeys are by way of motorway.