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maybe someone can help me. I have bought Audi A3 tdi 1.9 2007 some months ago and few months ago car became hard to start when the engine is cold. It usually takes like 20s+ of cranking for it to start. Once you start the car , you can turn it off and on again with no problems also i can still come back after like 2-4h and it will start with no problems in like half a second (time varies no idea why, sometimes you come back after 2h and its already dead and you need to crank 20 seconds again, sometimes even after 3-4h it starts without problems). If i leave car for longer periods like overnight or during working hours(anywhere from 5h+ to like 10h+) then i always need a long cranking for it to start again. But if i leave car turned off for even more longer periods (like a day or two passes since last driving, usually during weekends, when i don't drive) - it starts again with no problems. At first it was at random, like few days car drives with no problems, then another day i need to crank it to start and for the last month and a half that i have been driving it became permanent. I went to a few garages and in one they changed :fuel filter, rubber seals for fuel injectors, took out and cleaned fuel pump, checked glow plugs and engine compression

Nothing helped and they didn't want to bother more so i went to another garage and they said the problem was damaged wires. They changed it and said everything should be fine now, but nothing changed i still have the same issue. Also when it was a bit warmer while you crank u just hear the starter making the normal buzzz sound, but when the temperature dropped a bit now, whenever you crank for like the first 5-10 seconds you can feel vibrations/shaking from engine and then it goes to normal starter buzzz sound.

If anyone could help i would really appreciate it, Thank you

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  • Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair! How did you check the glow plugs? Nov 3, 2018 at 4:59
  • I was present when mechanic did it, just not sure what tools they used to check them. He took them all out, took them to some electronic device or something and i think checked their resistance or something like that, not sure. He said they are all fine Nov 3, 2018 at 10:50

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If diesel engine you have glow plugs, they heat up inside the engine to help you start your car in cold conditions. Sometimes glow plug don't work and it takes forever to start cold car. Checking glow plugs is pretty easy unscrew one and put your key on start position and they should get hot at the tip. Try to preheat the car in cold conditions like putting the key in start position, but don't start cranking yet do this 2 times and you will be fine. Sometimes glow plugs don't work because of temperature sensor inside the engine. If car computer thinks temperature is right it won't start the glow plugs.

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