Hard Starting

[Glassnpowder98]

To start off, I searched and checked the common problems sticky but wasn't really satisfied with the results I found. Recently, my car has had problems turning over and it has gotten a lot worse with the colder weather we have been having (25 this morning and 30 yesterday). Yesterday when I was leaving for work in the morning, it took three tries to get my car started. The first two tries I turned the ignition over for about 5 seconds each and all I got was a weak attempt to turn over the engine. Finally after about 3 seconds on my 3rd attempt, the engine turned over. The car ran for about 50 minutes on the way to work. When I went to leave work, the same thing happened. On my way home from work I stopped at the gym for about an hour and when I came back out, the car started up fine. Still thinking that my battery might be going bad, I went to Autozone and got their "top of the line" battery. After taking two hours to change that bitch of a battery (factory battery was stuck in there somehow even after loosening the bracket and the battery I bought was a little too wide and I ended up stripping the bracket screw and now my battery is held in by a bungie cord ) I figured my problem would be solved.

Anyways, this morning when I tried to start the car, the same weak start attempt happened... It finally turned over after the third try. The common problems thread said to change gas, which I put in Shell V-Power last night. It also, said that it could be a bad coilpack. I don't think this is the case because aren't there usually other symptoms like misfires and the engine running real rough when a coilpack is going bad? Any help or suggestions are welcome... I really don't want to bring my car into the dealership because they should be expecting a call from Audi corporate any day about my drivetrain warranty complaints. Thanks in advance!

[cstarky15]

I just took my car in for the hard starts when cold. They pulled 0 codes and looked at everything. They said that the hard starts are normal and wont start like they do in the summer. well they ended up not doing anything for me and told me to bring it back in if it gets a lot worse. I know this doesn't help but you aren't alone.

[Latin Audi]

I've had quite a lot of hard start problems but not so much in cold weather since it doesnt really get that cold down south. But anytime I would drive the car, park to run and errand, when I would come back it would take 10-15 trys to start. I took it to the dealer and they replaced a couple of parts, and now runs good. Here is the link to my hard start problems, might help you out bc I did hella research on this problem on all audi including vwvortex forums. Best of luck

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246257

[jago]

funny i was perusing the site and had read this thread.
here's some very relevant news?


http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

[p1nk50ck]

my car also sometimes seems like it has a low battery or something when starting.

[tyaos]

Mine has similar but not exactly as your problem. May be my country isnt cold enough to occur the same problem as yours. But sometimes it takes me to start the car around 3 seconds. And after that the rpm goes up and down twice. the range is around 100 to 200. and stays at around 1200 rpm for around 2minutes when its really cold.
and goes back to just under 1000. I was thinking its because of bad fuel pump but not sure. I might have to hit the dealer soon
Im in australia by the way

[elwigglero]

A bad battery won't cause hard starts. It'll cause no-starts. After a couple of start attempts and failures the bad battery would cause the starter to turn slower and slower. You would notice this.

It might be a bad coilpack or just a pretty standard issue with these cars. I'm in PA and have had similar weather with similar issues.

Call the dealer and ask a tech if this is normal. If not, take it in.

[dave405nyc]

i feel your pain... i suffer from hard starts like 2x a week. funny tho as it usually happends in warmer weather but in colder weather, it starts up fine! ive taken it to two different dealers regarding the hard starts but they cant replicate the problem, so i gotta live with it =T

[Glassnpowder98]

In a report filed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Audi Japan said the 44 models, imported between October 2000 and July 2006, include the popular A4 Avant station wagon and A4 Quattro sedan.

Thanks for the help everyone! My car is a 2005.5 quattro sedan, so it would fall into that category... Hopefully, someone is aware of this in the US and I don't have to ship my car off to Japan to get it fixed. I guess I'll have to talk to the dealership about it

[MichiganAudiDvr]

Hello All -

In Michigan, with the recent bout of cold weather, I began having the hard start issue and immediately took the car to the dealer, and hinted at a possible coil pack issue. Much to my surprise they found the problem, and it was not a coil pack or battery or starter.

It was the high pressure fuel pump!!! Apparently earlier revisions of the part are prone to failure (cam lobe wear, etc) and the pump can't build enough pressure, and/or leaks, etc.

So, I was able to kill two birds (cure any future cam lobe wear problems, and get a new revision of the fuel pump) under warranty. And, no more cold start problems. SO, have your dealer take a look at the high pressure fuel pump - it is very likely the culprit.

[dave405nyc]

Hello All -

In Michigan, with the recent bout of cold weather, I began having the hard start issue and immediately took the car to the dealer, and hinted at a possible coil pack issue. Much to my surprise they found the problem, and it was not a coil pack or battery or starter.

It was the high pressure fuel pump!!! Apparently earlier revisions of the part are prone to failure (cam lobe wear, etc) and the pump can't build enough pressure, and/or leaks, etc.

So, I was able to kill two birds (cure any future cam lobe wear problems, and get a new revision of the fuel pump) under warranty. And, no more cold start problems. SO, have your dealer take a look at the high pressure fuel pump - it is very likely the culprit.

were you throwing any codes for that? just wanted to see if its possible to get cam lobe wear w/o throwing any codes.

Thanks

[MichiganAudiDvr]

were you throwing any codes for that? just wanted to see if its possible to get cam lobe wear w/o throwing any codes.

Thanks

Yes, cam lobe wear and no code is a possibility - this is why checking for wear is such a pain for the dealer - can't just check for codes (once it fails, it fails - wear does not show) - but pump failure (low fuel pressure) will throw a code - and mine did (although I didn't know because there are no warning lights).

[NothingBUTasian]

how much is it generally to do a cam replacement for the newer version? My car is out of warrenty.

[Quigaboo]

My car has been doing it too since the weather dropped down into the 30's this week. Still starts tho, so I am not going to make an issue of it until it doesn't start. I have had other cars that had a similar problem in the cold, but was never a significant issue in the time that I owned either of the cars!

[Zebman]

The in-tank pump needs to prime itself before you try to crank over, hence why it happens in all weather. Built-up pressure bleeds off over time, which is why it starts easily if you start it only 3-4 hours later. I couldn't explain to you why the cold makes it worse though.

Just put the key in the accessory position until you hear everything underhood stop whirring then try.

[vivithemage]

Mine has been taking a bit during these cold temps .. 10-20 degrees.

2005.5 B4 quattro sedan.

5 seconds and it wont work, second time usually works, and I let my car sit with the key in it for 5-10 seconds first, so it primes a bit.

Should I have the dealership look at cams + fuel pump?

[whiteS]

I just asked my service manager and audi just released a bulletin on the 05-06 2.0t cars for hard start... From what i was told it requires the car being hooked up to the computer for diagnostic...

[unh112]

I just asked my service manager and audi just released a bulletin on the 05-06 2.0t cars for hard start... From what i was told it requires the car being hooked up to the computer for diagnostic...

I just spoke with the service guy too, but he told me to call back because Audi is looking into the problem right now.

[MichiganAudiDvr]

Mine has been taking a bit during these cold temps .. 10-20 degrees.

2005.5 B4 quattro sedan.

5 seconds and it wont work, second time usually works, and I let my car sit with the key in it for 5-10 seconds first, so it primes a bit.

Should I have the dealership look at cams + fuel pump?

I would definitely have the dealer look at the cam and fuel pump. Can't hurt! Your symptoms sound just like what I had.

[Latin Audi]

I had the low pressure fuel sensor (throttle sensor) and the in-tank fule pump replaced under warranty and I have yet to have any more problems.

[gervi]

Just called in, they said they would need the car overnight to reproduce the problem, which I described as occurring consistently during the first start in the morning. The kicker is they won't give me a loaner when I leave it with them.. gaaah.. damn Audi dealership monopoly in my city!

[vivithemage]

Just called in, they said they would need the car overnight to reproduce the problem, which I described as occurring consistently during the first start in the morning. The kicker is they won't give me a loaner when I leave it with them.. gaaah.. damn Audi dealership monopoly in my city!

out of warranty? They give me a loaner for EVERYTHING, haha..even my oil change.

[vivithemage]

I called my dealership up and he said there is a software update that Audi just released about it ... hopefully that'll fix it :).

Should I have them look at the cams + fuel pump still?

[I495 Bandit]

I just picked my car up from the dealership on monday and this was one of the concerns i've been having with my car too. My SA told me it was normal for the car to take multiple tries before it would run but I wasn't buying it so he looked it up and sure enough there is a NEW tsb on this issue that was just released a week ago. The only problem with this is that even though Audi knows about the cold start issues we have they won't have a official fix for the problem until the middle of december. My SA thinks its due to the fuel draining out of the fuel pump and fuel lines when the car sits for a while.

[a4dc89]

This sucks, ive had this problem for a long time and there needs to be a fix because it is absolutely ridiculous. I am gonna bring it to the dealer when i go home for thanksgiving break

[vivithemage]

I just picked my car up from the dealership on monday and this was one of the concerns i've been having with my car too. My SA told me it was normal for the car to take multiple tries before it would run but I wasn't buying it so he looked it up and sure enough there is a NEW tsb on this issue that was just released a week ago. The only problem with this is that even though Audi knows about the cold start issues we have they won't have a official fix for the problem until the middle of december. My SA thinks its due to the fuel draining out of the fuel pump and fuel lines when the car sits for a while.

I got the same speil, but my SA said that there is software update for the issue...can I MAKE them look at the cam lobes and fuel pump?

[grizzles]

This sucks, ive had this problem for a long time and there needs to be a fix because it is absolutely ridiculous. I am gonna bring it to the dealer when i go home for thanksgiving break

Agreed, I remember you from this thread: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175800

Hopefully Audi will have a fix this winter before I run up more miles on my car and approach warranty-expiration. I can't tell you how many overnights I have left the car to have them say "I dunno". And it seems I always had an '08 loaner that would fire up as intended when cold.

[gervi]

out of warranty? They give me a loaner for EVERYTHING, haha..even my oil change.

Nope, they're not willing to because I didn't buy my car from them. Though I always bring my car in for service with them since I had it, which is about 1 year already (4 trips, 3 oil changes, 1 warranty work re: new keys). It's not really my service adviser's fault since its a dealership policy which I understand. Though, on the other hand I understand not giving out a loaner for oil changes and only giving them out to dealership purchased customers, but for warranty work which is more than a couple of hours I would believe they should have the decency to offer a loaner to me.



Enough of this rant... would anybody be able to post the specific TSB reference# so I can point this out to my service adviser. Glad to hear Audi is addressing this problem. I believe the source of the problem is the earlier fuel pumps on early model (2005.5-2006) B7's.

In the meanwhile, you guys should let the fuel pump build up pressure before starting. You can do this by holding the key in the on position for 5-8 seconds before cranking the starter. This usually provides me with smoother starts then if I start it normally.

[fromGMCtoAUDI]

For what it's worth, I've driven my '08 A4 up north last winter to Michigan where it gets parked outside in below zero weather and never had any cold start problems.

[Grishbok]

Hopefully, someone is aware of this in the US and I don't have to ship my car off to Japan to get it fixed. I guess I'll have to talk to the dealership about it

Keep in mind that japan and the US have different quality controls, Japan has strict quality controls whereas the US has pretty close to non-existant/early developed quality controls for cars. So what is concidered a problem in japan, probably wont be addressed here until enough people complain.

I too would like the TSB reference # for this issue, I have noticed an immediate difference in startup routine for the car based on the cold weather. Mines a brand new 08 too ;)