Hi all, After refueling at about 1/4 of a tank yesterday I drove straight home(5 miles). Started the car today and all was normal. Went to meet a friend for coffee (5 miles) and parked. About 3 hours later went to start the car and for the first 1/2 sec almost started then just cranked. I didn't touch the accelerator pedal and tried starting again. It cranked with plenty of power but did not fire up. Did that a few times waiting 5-10 mins. between trying. No start. Before I called a tow I figured I'd try to pump the accelerator pedal slightly. It fired up, ran a little rough for about 15 secs. (may have been burning off the extra fuel). Drove home and parked in my garage. I just went out to start it(3 hours wait) and it started up just fine, high idle and all. Did pumping the accelerator help although it is fuel injected? Is there something I should check? Thanks, Sam 1985 gtsi
When starting the car cold, I don't touch the accelerator when cranking. If the car is warm, I do two quick pumps on the accelerator before cranking. If I do anything else, it is less predictable if it will start quickly or it will idle a little rough.
There are so many things it could be and without the car in front of me I am guessing. I don't it is the fuel you had added as the car ran fine later. A few things I would look at. With the air lid and filter off tap the fuel metering plate. As soon as they move you should hear the fuel pump run. Next verify there are no leaks in the intake tube and all of the vacuum lines are tight. Next and I recommend this about once a year is an easy manifold cleaning using a leangth of hose with a T-fitting in the middle with a bottle of cheap injector cleaner (See pic). Hook it to a vacuum port and let the engine idle until the cleaner is gone. The car will smoke for a few miles but thhis cleans out the carbon build really well. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I suppose you need to include the usual suspects: 1) fuel accumulator leak 2) fuel pump check valve leak 3) dripping or sticking injectors including the cold start injector (causes rich start) 4) vacuum leaks 5) AAV Currently going through this myself on my 85 QV, ordered up 1) and 2) to be replaced soon followed by 3) if the problem still exists and pressure tests indicate so. Already replaced the WUR These things are all old and as was pointed out to me are prone for failure at any time. Good luck! Oh, our cars have the microswitch, you should hear it click when the throttle plate is moved. If you don't hear that click then it might need replacing also. After replacing the WUR, microswitch and a tuneup the car has never run better but still has a warm start issue.
Sometimes it is the simple things. I had a similar-sounding issue a while back... not exactly the same but very close. I had a couple of random incidents when the car wouldn't start. The problem magically disappeared the next time I started the car. In the end my fuel pump relay was going bad, and eventually failed entirely. When the car would not start consistently I did a quick and easy check with nothing to lose but about 10 minutes. I turned the key to the run position but the fuel pump didn't sound like it was working. I probed the fuse box behind the fuel pump relay with a voltmeter and determined that I had juice at the relay. So I swapped the fuel pump relay with the window regulator relay (same Bosch part number, at least on my car) and the car started right up. Replacement part was ~$15 from a local VW specialist. Next time you have a no-start situation you might try just swapping the relays to see what happens. In any case, good luck!
Thanks 308inSD, that would be an easy fix. I took it out today for a long hard ride and then stopped for lunch. 1 1/2 hours later it started right up. I think it would be smart to wait until it happens again before I swap relays just so I know that IS the fix. Cheers, Sam
