Galaxy Tdi

[woodman05]

:23:

can anyone help, my ford galaxy TDi 1999 runs fine starts great when cold, but when the engine starts to warm up from then on it takes a good 10 seconds

of turning over before it starts.. even trying to start as soon as switch off it takes ages before it starts......

anyone got any ideals..........

thanks

[marinabrid]

seems a few folk have had this, ours seemed to go thruough a stage like this then it starts normally. we check everything, a mechnik suggested coating the fuel filter pipes and pump ends with a grease to prevent any air getting in. but now and again it still does it. i think its one of them things you live with and is a quirk of this car.

we also have a 90hp and that does it now and again as well.

[elize]

We are having exactly the same problem with our 1999 TDI, intermitant at first and now it seems to happen nearly every time. When it finally starts an audible beep follows???? very strange, does anybody else hear this bleep

 

Elize

[seatkid]

How many bleeps?

 

Could just be low battery or a bad battery.

 

5 bleeps means faulty crankshaft position sensor IIRC.

[marinabrid]

we too had the long single bleep after a few seconds cranking, then it fires up and behaves. belive me ive looked and tested and vag comed it till i be blue in the face but no faults ever show.

i think it is a quirk of this engine . as long as the battery is in good condition it should fire up evevntually.

[seatkid]

There have been several reports of poorly starter motors giving poor starting. Apparently just one poor winding/commutator strip and the starter motor spins slightly slower - hardly noticeable, but makes it almost impossible to start as a minimum turn over speed is required.

 

Some have suggested a single bleep is due to low battery voltage, which might also lead to slower than required starter motor speed.

Edited July 23, 2008 by seatkid

[geoffc]

Had exactly same problen with my Sharan.....only affects 1999 model year, AFN 110bhp engine. If your car has this engine, the problem is the starter motor! What I did, to fix it was, replaced the brushes...did help a bit. Real cure is a brand new motor....revised part number. Fairly expensive, so I simply ignored it in the end. Dont worry, the engine always will start after 10 seconds of cranking. Starting will be instant when cold. Geoff

[marinabrid]

seems to affect other models as well, we have a 98 110 afn and a 97 ahu and both have suffered the same problem, on both the starters are fine in fact the older one has a new starter on and still does it now and again, they whip the engine over at high speed, i think its just a quirk i think and nowt to bother about.

[big_kev]

I remember there was a good explanation for this a while ago.....unfortunately i can't remember exactly what it was..

 

Definitely a fuel problem ( too much IIRC ) I think it had something to do with a temperature sensor overheating and thinking the engine was hotter than it actually was.

 

Mine always starts instantly when cold .

 

If hot however it needs cranked for a while.....drive for a while until engine is at full temp.....stop to fill up with fuel.....bitch won't start without a serious amount of embarrasing cranking.

 

Doesn't always do it.....just when there's lots of people watching.

[elize]

How many bleeps?

 

Could just be low battery or a bad battery.

 

5 bleeps means faulty crankshaft position sensor IIRC.

 

 

REPLY....... Just one bleep , and it Does allways start first time from cold

Must be just one of those things better to just live with it instead of {like the air con} wasting endless time strees and money trying to sort it

The manual that comes with the car is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike no mention of beeps in fact it is vague on every subject in there

eg there is an aux heater somewhere around the premises of the car the manual mentions it but dosnt even say what its for

 

Superb all purpose comfortable vehicle though, great MPG, would find ordinary car very hard to live with now, so worth puting up with all its anoying problems

[big_kev]

This poor hot-starting may just be related to poor fuel, low viscousity, high or low cetane number, additional water etc.

 

Possibly changing to a different brand of diesel may make a difference !

[Shabazmo]

Concur with Seat and Geoff. Starter motor. Had the same problem. Started instrantly when cold and about 5 cranks when hot. 6 months later the starter burn't out. New starter fixed the warm start problem. Really confused the Ford dealer and me. Edited July 25, 2008 by Shabazmo

[big_kev]

Concur with Seat and Geoff. Starter motor. Had the same problem. Started instrantly when cold and about 5 cranks when hot. 6 months later the starter burn't out. New starter fixed the warm start problem. Really confused the Ford dealer and me.

 

Possibly the additional cranking when the engine wouldn't start when hot ( for whatever reason ) caused the starter motor to burn out ?

 

Just a thought !

[geoffc]

Just to prove/disprove the starter motor diagnosis....disconnect the temperature sensor, when engine hot. Starting will now be instantaneous! If engine now starts immediately, reconnect the temperature sensor. Now check cranking speed via rev counter. Needs to be over 250rpm, otherwise no hot start. (for first 10 seconds) My own car cranked at 240 rpm! Dont run engine for long with the temperature sensor disconnected, as fuel consumption will be high! My local VW dealer solves the problem, by recoding the ECU as an automatic! Geoff

[westie]

Hi guys.

I have just seen this thread after posting one on exactly the same problem that I have got.

I have the beeping ignition....most I have had is 3.

The car (110 tdi) always started straight away when cold, but needed to be left for 10 mins or so when warm before she would fire up.

...as previously mentioned, very embarassing at the petrol station, paper shop etc.

Now the car is struggling to start at all.

 

Now, Im no expert, so please can anyone answer this?

 

A),,,if I disconnect the temp sensor and the car still will not start, does that indicate a dodgy starter or battery (even though it appears Ok?)

 

B....where is this sensor? I have disconnected the plug that is located above the starter, in a line between the fuel fliter and the battery compartment.

Is the the correct plug?

 

Thanks again.

Edited July 29, 2008 by westie

[marinabrid]

think you have removed wrong plug, the one you need to try is on a hose coming from the middle area of the cylinder head, very near the head you will see a sensor in the hose with a multiplug on usually 4 wires and a yellow ring around it i think. you may need to remove top engine cover to access it. thats the sensor that tells the ecu the temp

[f0ster]

think you have removed wrong plug, the one you need to try is on a hose coming from the middle area of the cylinder head, very near the head you will see a sensor in the hose with a multiplug on usually 4 wires and a yellow ring around it i think. you may need to remove top engine cover to access it. thats the sensor that tells the ecu the temp

 

the fault might be fuel running back, quite common on diesels, when I get anything like this I always start with the cheap stuff like

leak off pipes, fuel filter, check hoses carefully for cracking both feed and return, the starter fault is strange because

there is alot more load on a starter on a cold engine when compared to a hot engine, one would have thought the fault would

be there when cold, if an engine is cranking slowly you usually can tell by the way it cranks over, if the fuel is running back

a quick way to tell is to clamp off both the feed and return fuel hoses with two pairs of vice grips an soon as you stop,

leave it a while, go back, remove the grips and crank it over, also when you go back to start the car crack open an injector

pipe and turn the starter, there should be fuel squirting out stright away, if not fuel is running back,

[seatkid]

the starter fault is strange because

there is alot more load on a starter on a cold engine when compared to a hot engine, one would have thought the fault would

be there when cold, if an engine is cranking slowly you usually can tell by the way it cranks over,

 

The problem is allegedly in the software of the ECU - expecting a minimum cranking speed that is too high on a hot engine.

[Shabazmo]

Does anyone know how to lower the ecu required cranking speed when engine is hot. I have vagcom but need to know which channel needs to be changed. It will be cheaper than chsnging the starter.

 

Whilst I agree in theory with Seatkid, I can't figure why VW/Ford would build in a higher cranking speed for a hot engine?

[seatkid]

I think in software parlance it's called a bug.

 

I also think someone said it only affected a limited number of vehicles, specifically those with 110bhp AFN engine IIRC

[westie]

Thanks for the help guys.

I HOPE i may have found the answer...

it looks like the battery was running a bit flat, possibly causing the starter to turn very slightly slower.(not that I could tell)

When the engine is hot, it looks like the ECU requires a higher minimum cranking speed (yes, Ive got a 110BHP) and the engine would not start.

leaving the car alone for 10 mins,I guess it cools slightly, requiring a slower minimum speed and hey presto, it starts.

Topping up the battery and charging it up seems to have done the trick.

Starter turns faster and car starts warm and cold.

Thanks again for all the replies, much appreciated.

Steve

[westie]

BAH!!!

Treated my galaxy to a new battery.....and now it wont start again!!!

Just turns ovewr and over again,but wont start!

HELP !!

[westie]

Sorry for another post, but I cant find the edit option.

 

I have taken the fibre pipe off the end of the fuel pump and spun the engine over and diesel comes out, so looks like its electrical.

Could the imobiliser be at fault?

[Shabazmo]

Try this. Remove the lead to the temperature sensor when the engine is hot. If it starts first time then it proves cold starting works well. Then change the bl..dy starter.

 

Best of luck