Golf GT TDi MK5 not starting

[Cazza]

Hi all

I have a 2008 Golf GT TDi (two years and two weeks old now) that has starting problems. Within a few weeks of me taking delivery from new it just wouldn't start from cold. The engine just turns over and over until the message Oil Pressure - Engine stop, or just STOP! appears on the info screen.

It has happened 10 times now and has been back to the dealership 7 times. VW technical support have been involved and so far it has had new fuel filter housing, new fuel pump, new slave pump, a relay! and last time all 4 injectors were replaced. There are never any codes stored in it.

The RAC have managed to start it by spraying Easystart into the air intake but I am told that is not good for it.

It is at the garage now, as it wouldn't start on Monday, and as I can understand it VW have no idea what is wrong but they refuse to replace it for me.

The interesting thing is that I can set my watch by it - it happens roughly every 8 weeks. It is nothing to do with the cold weather as it does it in the sun too. Does anyone have any ideas that I can pass onto VW as it is now beyond a joke? I love the car in evry other way but a car that won't start is not fit for purpose in my book.

Thanks in advance

[phil miller]

hi welcome to the site, it sounds a strange problem that it happens every 8 weeks, now please dont let another RAC man spray that **** in your engine again, it is not good for it and an engine can get addicted to it, by the sounds of it vw have tried most things that could be a problem well there is one left but normally when they play up they just dont start altho i have had one that would cutout going round a right hand bend so i think your problem is the ECU is wet inside, a very common problem and one that can be over looked, if it came in to are place after checking the things already checked i would be looking at that is make sure its doing what it should, now before someone says there are no stored codes simple when the ECU is faulty they dont give codes, sometimes they wont even let you in to read codes, hope this is of some help

[Cazza]

Thanks Phil, if I speak to the garage tomorrow and they havn't got any ideas I might mention it.:approve:

[missilemary]

Sounds really familiar to the problems I was having with my MKV. Eventually VW dealership replaced all 4 glow plugs and this seems to have resolved starting issues. Try suggesting this to them, it shouldn't cost much more than £50 ex labour for the job.

[Cazza]

The latest news from the dealership is that they are currently running pressure test on the fuel system as advised off VW technical, they seem to think fuel starvation and flow back is occurring in the fuel system and may be a slight leak somewhere to cause the pressure loss. They have had it 2 weeks now. There was talk of them replacing it but that seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Thanks, I will suggest it if they get nowhere. I have a crappy Focus from them on hire at the moment.

[phil miller]

Sounds really familiar to the problems I was having with my MKV. Eventually VW dealership replaced all 4 glow plugs and this seems to have resolved starting issues. Try suggesting this to them, it shouldn't cost much more than £50 ex labour for the job.

it will start even if all the heater plugs are down, the heater plugs dont aid starting on the mk5

[golf+5]

I don't agree on previous post. In warm / hot weather yes, but in winter car will struggle to start with 2 or more u/s glow plugs & emit more smoke at start.

Why flatten the battery with extended cranking & increase wear to other parts.

Glow Plug problems will show with VCDS & also give Glow Plug Number.

When looking at engine from front of car Plugs are from Left to Right.

(It is easy to replace plugs with correct tools).

[phil miller]

I don't agree on previous post. In warm / hot weather yes, but in winter car will struggle to start with 2 or more u/s glow plugs & emit more smoke at start.

Why flatten the battery with extended cranking & increase wear to other parts.

Glow Plug problems will show with VCDS & also give Glow Plug Number.

When looking at engine from front of car Plugs are from Left to Right.

(It is easy to replace plugs with correct tools).

ok my golf must be special then cos from mid sept till last friday i had 2 plugs down and when it was minus 10 the other week my golf still started on the button first thing every morning

i still stand by my other post that its a fault in your ecu

[golf+5]

I can only know from my own experience (golf 1.9tdi 2005) There must be more smoke until firing properly.

[Cazza]

Well I think my Golf must be the most special of all - it is so special the garage still have it and don't want to give it back to me. VW technical support still don't know what is wrong - they are saying it is some sort of fault with the fuel pressure and it must have a leak - I could have told them that nearly 2 years ago and I am just a girl who knows nothing about engines.

Apparentely the relay they changed 9 months ago was something to do with the ECU, would that have solved any problems related to that?

In response to the glow plugs issue - it breaks down at any time of the year, whether it is cold outside or not so I doubt it is that.

:( Getting really cheesed off with the Focus 1.4 l that I have been given to replace it now!

[phil miller]

Well I think my Golf must be the most special of all - it is so special the garage still have it and don't want to give it back to me. VW technical support still don't know what is wrong - they are saying it is some sort of fault with the fuel pressure and it must have a leak - I could have told them that nearly 2 years ago and I am just a girl who knows nothing about engines.

Apparentely the relay they changed 9 months ago was something to do with the ECU, would that have solved any problems related to that?

In response to the glow plugs issue - it breaks down at any time of the year, whether it is cold outside or not so I doubt it is that.

:( Getting really cheesed off with the Focus 1.4 l that I have been given to replace it now!

the fuel pressure can be checked with a gauge, i would have thought they would have checked that already, iirc you can also check the pressure with VCDS so oneway or another that should have been done, fingers crossed they get it sorted for you, nobody likes driving a ford lol

[Cazza]

VW technical support have now requested that the garage put a new cylinder head on the car, but they still can't guarantee that it will come back fixed. How much have they spent on it so far, would it not be cheaper to give me a new car?:confused:

[jon64]

Hi, I am having the sort of problem - was this fixed in the end ?

[tygertyger]

Hi, I know this thread was started a while ago but our Mk5 is having the same problem. Did it ever get sorted on yours? VW are saying fuel related but nothing showing up on their laptop. We have changed glow plugs but no difference. Thinking about changing fuel filter just in case

[Pughster808]

Hi, I know this thread was started a while ago but our Mk5 is having the same problem. Did it ever get sorted on yours? VW are saying fuel related but nothing showing up on their laptop. We have changed glow plugs but no difference. Thinking about changing fuel filter just in case

Hi, my wifes Mk5 diesel (105) also started doing this last week, its a 57 plate. It will eventually start if I jump it from my car, but takes some cranking with clutch depressed and constantly pumping the accelerator.

I've changed the fuel filter, had the fuel sender out of the tank to bench test, got fuel to the filter. After getting the car started, gave it a blast up the road and back to our driveway it stalls, won't restart. Same thing today, will crank but not start on its own battery, but starts if I jump it. It idles without issue for 10 minutes.

This afternoon, connected vagcom, but no codes indicating an engine fault.

Currently recharging the battery as thats my suspicion, although that doesn't explain the stall when running as it doesn't need that to keep going.

It feels like fuel starvation when the stall occurs, but why does it only start when jumped?

Will post back if fault found.

[jon64]

Mine was in the garage for a couple of weeks but of course, it didn't happen for them ! I found it tends to happen more often when the fuel is low although not exclusively. I wait a while then start with my foot on the accelerator and eventually it catches and fires.

[TDiBoraSam]

I had a very similar problem on my previous Bora (AJM engine). It went to several garages, and all sorts of parts were replaced. Ended up costing me over £1000 in repairs. Problem never got sorted, and in the end I just gave up and got rid of the car. It started off as every few weeks it wouldn't start, and it gradually got worse until it was approx once in every 5 attempts it wouldn't start first time. If I let it keep cranking, the 'STOP' warning light would come on and the car shook violently but never attempted to fire. I turned the key back, and sometimes it would fire on 2nd attempt, other times it took 4 or 5 goes.

Fuel pressure OK, filter OK, glowplugs, battery, starter, alternator, compression all OK. Crank sensor replaced after some fault code about 'implausible signal' came up, but still the problem remained.

Only so many times you can keep going back to garages with the same problem - once they've had it in once and failed to diagnose, very often they don't want to touch the car again for fear of the customer asking why they didn't diagnose the first time round!

[hollow]

any one thought about the starter motor cranking too slow ? it would definately be something to check it would also explain starting with jump leads as the extra amps would turn the starter quicker

[Pughster808]

Our car was booked in with a local diagnostics guy recently, he lived locally and said he'd come and pick the car up and drive it work. I said the car didn't start the last time I tried, but he was welcome to try. Damn car started first time right in front of him, he drove it for 8 miles without a problem, started it up throughout the day and never had an issue, his VAGCOM showing nothing apart from glo plug #2 (open circuit) and we all agree that this isn't causing the cutting out problem. It was returned to me that evening. We didn't trust the car, so parked it up and left it for 2 weeks.

The other day, I went to move it and the PITA car started up first turn. That evening, I drove it twice to the shops, no issues at all, it started first time and felt / performed like a new car, no misfires / no loss of power / idling smoothly / pulling smoothly etc. Thinking it had miraculously cured itself an the fuel additive had finally worked some magic, my wife took it to work then popped to the shops at lunchtime - all good, no issues. Coming home, the car died 50yds from home, just after she'd turned into our road. Same old story, cranking till the "Stop" warning appears. Last night I fully charged the battery and it took 15 seconds of cranking to start it this morning, it started but sounded really lumpy - finally cutting out as I nudged it onto the drive.

It's just really weird that it cut out almost in exactly the same spot for her as it did for me (one of the times), so thinking about fuel being drawn through pipes, fuel sloshing in the tank around the roundabout. But, if it were road conditions / angles / cornering, then how come it drives perfectly in those same conditions at other times. And why when it works, does it feel like a perfectly good car, drives without any sign of issue or untoward noise. I'm really thinking along the lines of an intermittant fault in the fuel tank sender unit/pump, I've bench tested that part and for me it worked well although this proves nothing with an intermittant fault.

The fully charged battery / jumped assisted theory would support this, creating a more powerful / consistant crank to draw the fuel to the filter housing.

I'd prefer it if the car never started, at least you can change parts and see a difference. How it is now, I could swap out the fuel sender and be fooled into thinking it worked, only for it to fail again at some inappropriate moment.

[utopiaplanitia]

Very similar problem that I'm having with my MK5 Golf TDI (105bhp) 57 plate.
Got the AA out and the diagnostic came up with speed sensor fault i.e. the crankshaft sensor was faulty.
Changed the crankshaft sensor and also changed the fuel filter (which was black) and the engine now starts up with no problem. However the car can't go forward for more than a few yards before conking out. However - no problem going in reverse. Engine runs fine.
Got a VW mechanic mate of mine round to run more VAG-COM diagnostic checks. No problems detected. He suspects its the fuel pump as he mentioned my comment about the blackness of the fuel filter.
He is coming round on Sunday 10th Nov to run another kind of diagnostic check using a sensor that detects fuel pump problems.
Will keep you appraised.
Thank Gawd I have my trusty 1995 MK3 Golf VR6 to use in the meantime - that car is bulletproof. Never had any problems like I have had with the TDI.

[richard@thebrae]

See this on filters going black and from there is lots of reports on this condition
Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel - The Truth about Performance - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSlntB-Ht0)

[Pughster808]

I finally solved my problem, it was a faulty lift pump in the fuel tank. The biggest issue in diagnosing it was the fact that it worked some of the time, leading me to believe it wasn't faulty and VAG-COM couldn't spot it. In the end, I bit the bullet and changed it anyway (such a simple job, takes 15 minutes). Eurocarparts had a discount running a few weeks ago, so it was £128, which in the scheme of things isn't too bad I suppose. Much better than throwing it over to the main dealer.

Hope you solve your problem, don't rule out the lift pump - even if like me you get it out and bench test it, when I did that it worked - very odd. Maybe it doesn't lke cold dark places. lol

[utopiaplanitia]

Very similar problem that I'm having with my MK5 Golf TDI (105bhp) 57 plate.
Got the AA out and the diagnostic came up with speed sensor fault i.e. the crankshaft sensor was faulty.
Changed the crankshaft sensor and also changed the fuel filter (which was black) and the engine now starts up with no problem. However the car can't go forward for more than a few yards before conking out. However - no problem going in reverse. Engine runs fine.
Got a VW mechanic mate of mine round to run more VAG-COM diagnostic checks. No problems detected. He suspects its the fuel pump as he mentioned my comment about the blackness of the fuel filter.
He is coming round on Sunday 10th Nov to run another kind of diagnostic check using a sensor that detects fuel pump problems.
Will keep you appraised.
Thank Gawd I have my trusty 1995 MK3 Golf VR6 to use in the meantime - that car is bulletproof. Never had any problems like I have had with the TDI.


Just to follow up on this - it was the high pressure (vacuum) fuel pump that had failed (Part No: 038145209Q for a BXE engine) Cost £428.72p from VW TPS in NW London.
My mechanic mate fitted the pump for me.
Problem solved.
Very relieved.
Hope this helps any other MK5 Golf TDI owners with similar problems.

[utopiaplanitia]

And another follow up to this.
2 weeks after having the high pressure fuel pump replaced - the car ran perfectly until last Sunday morning (15th Dec). On the way to play squash and the car started to run very rough and stuttered to a halt.
Got the AA out and they managed to get it going again. Luckily I was only 2 miles from home. Engine continued to judder. Managed to get home. My VW mechanic mate came over and did a diagnostic check.
Fault codes that came up were to do with the camshaft sensor and the inlet manifold flap. Managed to get the parts from VW TPS in NW London

Camshaft sensor (Part No: S03G957147B) £93.50 (inc vat)
Inlet Manifold Flap (Part No: S038128063L) £347.60P (inv vat) Ouch!!

Parts are being fitted today (21st Dec)
I'll report back if this eventually solves the problem. I'm beginning to think that the BXE engine is just a poor engine with a built in "sickness".
Looks like this TDI will be my last ever VW vehicle.
Honda, Mitsubishi or Lexus will be my next port of call for a car.

[utopiaplanitia]

So the inlet manifold flap and the camshaft sensor were replaced on 21st Dec.
Unfortunately the problem still persisted. Fault code still reading that it was the camshaft sensor.
Transpired that the new camshaft sensor was faulty. So we got another one from my mechanic - fitted today 28th Dec - and that appeared to have solved the problem.
Will report back in a couple of weeks to confirm that the repair is stable.
In the meantime will have to take the other camshaft sensor back to VW TPS for a refund.
What a pallava.

[VWkiwi]

Hi all
i've been looking at all these threads because my 2005 tdi vw golf has been having issues with starting right from new. To start with it was just chunky and heavy starting. The dealership admitted that it wasn't right but could only come up with new battery needed, ha ha, I only fell for that once. Eventually it got worse to the point of having to turn the key off and try again. And again. And again. Sometimes it did sound like the battery was dead. But then next time it would be fine. But the battery testing showed it was ok. After reading a thread here on getting the earth checked, I did that. Actually got a new one added but no better. Finally took to another garage where the mechanic (old school, no computer) to the starter motor out, took one look at it and got me a new one in. My god , that is the first time in its entire life that car has started so well. First time like a normal car should. Thought you might like to know 😏

[utopiaplanitia]

Thanks for your reply to my earlier postings...

In regard to the problem with my BXE engined 2007 Golf TDI - the problem has apparently been tracked down the a faulty "Impulse Sender magnet". I thought that was a fancy term for the camshaft sensor but apparently it is something different. My mechanic changed it over and the car appears to now start and run properly. I've not had a chance to take it on a long trip but hope to do some short trips around my locality to give it a good shakedown. At least that way - if it does pack up again - I won't be too far from home.
In all I've done the following over the last 5 months.

1.) Changed crankshaft sensor - car ran well for a few weeks and then started acting up with the same engine judder and stall.
2.) Changed High pressure fuel pump. Car ran for a week or so and then the same problem came back.
3.) Changed camshaft sensor and inlet manifold flap sensor. Car ran okay for 2 weeks and then just after Christmas 2013 it developed the engine judder and stall.
4.) Full electrical system diagnostic carried out and no problems found. Changed the impulse sender magnet. Car starts up and runs.

Now to see if that has finally solved the problem.
Spent just over £1k in parts and labour - luckily I have a mate of mine that is VW Mechanic. Shudder to think how much VW might have charged for similar work.

Got to say that I'm not overly impressed with the reliability of the recent VWs - so much for the myth that diesels are more reliable.





Hi all
i've been looking at all these threads because my 2005 tdi vw golf has been having issues with starting right from new. To start with it was just chunky and heavy starting. The dealership admitted that it wasn't right but could only come up with new battery needed, ha ha, I only fell for that once. Eventually it got worse to the point of having to turn the key off and try again. And again. And again. Sometimes it did sound like the battery was dead. But then next time it would be fine. But the battery testing showed it was ok. After reading a thread here on getting the earth checked, I did that. Actually got a new one added but no better. Finally took to another garage where the mechanic (old school, no computer) to the starter motor out, took one look at it and got me a new one in. My god , that is the first time in its entire life that car has started so well. First time like a normal car should. Thought you might like to know 

[MsChief]

did you ever get this problem diagnosed or repaired? I am having the same problem, but it is a lot worse.

[MsChief]

did you figure out what the problem was?

[utopiaplanitia]

did you figure out what the problem was?

Yes! As mentioned in my last posting on the subject - my mechanic changed the "impulse sender magnet" - that is what he referred to as being the problem. The magnet piece apparently starts to crack and breakup and that is what causes the problem. So the enging isn't receiving a proper signal.

Car is running perfectly now.

If you are based in the UK and the London area I can always get him to give you a call.

Hope that helps.
Good luck.

[MsChief]

hi there, thanks for your reply. have inboxed you my number. :)

[vwletmedown]

Yes! As mentioned in my last posting on the subject - my mechanic changed the "impulse sender magnet" - that is what he referred to as being the problem. The magnet piece apparently starts to crack and breakup and that is what causes the problem. So the enging isn't receiving a proper signal.

Car is running perfectly now.

If you are based in the UK and the London area I can always get him to give you a call.

Hope that helps.
Good luck.

Hi,

I come across your post. I have been having the same issue with my MK5 (Bought in August), I was so happy with it until this ugly starting problem started, can you please hook me up with your mate from VW.

I have recently joined this forum and i am not allowed to PM yet.

Many thanks indeed

[Rob69]

Hi vwmeltdown - you'd be better off starting your own thread on this subject as the last posting on this one was over 18 months ago. Include your engine code ( three letters) mileage, fault codes logged, any previous repairs etc, more info the better to get a response.

[utopiaplanitia]

Hi,

I come across your post. I have been having the same issue with my MK5 (Bought in August), I was so happy with it until this ugly starting problem started, can you please hook me up with your mate from VW.

I have recently joined this forum and i am not allowed to PM yet.

Many thanks indeed

Hiya

So sorry to hear that you are having the problem with your MK5 Golf (I assume that it is also a TDi)
My mechanic mate only operates in the London area and I am unable post his details on here (for all to see) without his permission.
Can you please PM me when this site will allow you to do so.

I hope you will understand.

Kind regards

[jadefour2000]

Hiya,

I saw your post as regards vw golf not starting.
My 2004 VW Golf 2.0 TDI BKD Engine won't start, I have changed similar sensors as you and all indication is that it could be the impulse sender magnet that you changed in your car.
I'm in Merseyside unfortunately and car won't start at all.

Would you know this part? I have asked TPS and all they could pick up are the crank and cam sensors but not this impulse sender magnet. Do you have a part code for it? Where exactly is this part on the engine? Any help would be greatly appreciated. My golf has been parked up since December and still paying tax and insurance.

Thank You

[niall campbell]

have you towed it to see if it runs ??