Cold Weather Effect?

[nezquick]

Just out of interest,

I usually allow a few minutes for the engine / turbo to warm up and oil to circulate a little,


(i know the manual says not to but I like the idea im helping to preserve / look after my engine)

Anyway, the last few days I've had to leave off a bit quicker than normal because running late etc and noticed a pretty harsh amount of lagg until i've driven for a minute or two.

A prime example is i pulled away and with my foot down nothing really happened, (way more lagg than you'd normally expect) then all of a sudden the turbo spooled up and I quickly changed up a gear, same thing - lagg then turbo spooled. After a minute or two of driving it felt sweet as a nut and boost was there when pulling away from lights etc. It feels like the turbo just doesn't want to do any work until its had a minute or two.

I've checked over the car and there's nothing obvious / warnings to suggest anything is wrong with the turbo or engine. And its been happening since its been v.cold in the mornings.

Has anyone else have the same issues? Its not something im worried about or thinking that my car is under performing because within a few mintues its performing spot on and has"no problemo". So, is it something to do with the v.cold mornings or just because I've jumped in and started the car and driven off straight away (i've never really done that and always allow a short warm up)?

[Kregiel]

talking to one tuner, there is plenty of electronics to protect the engine in gti untli it's heated up properly . The situation I had was in cold day the engine was still cold and I stepped on it too hard and had no power even though the engine was properly warmed up at some stage. It felt like driving 60 bhp car. Thought something was wrong but once turned off and on ignition the power was back

[RedRobin]

I usually allow a few minutes for the engine / turbo to warm up and oil to circulate a little,


(i know the manual says not to but I like the idea im helping to preserve / look after my engine)

....Does the Handbook actually say not to, or does it say that you don't need to?

I always let my revs lower from about 1,200 when first firing up, down to about 900 rpm where they settle and only then do I engage gear to leave my garage.

Apart from anything else, why clunk the DSG gears by not letting the revs settle?

As VW have not included an oil temperature gauge we can only rely on the water temp gauge as a very rough clue and that doesn't achieve its normal operating temp until after a couple of miles of driving.

A neighbour jumps in her Mk4 GTI and immediately drives off before waiting for anything to warm up - It makes me wince, especially on a cold morning. There's no point me trying to educate her, she's the sort who simply doesn't care.

[GTsport]

I've always let my car tick over for atleast 30 seconds before driving every time - gives the engine time to get the oil flowing!

And try not to go over 2000 rpm before its warmed up to operating tempreture. Might be a bit over the top but i do 20,000+ miles a year and imo is worth doing to preserve the engine.

Also let it tick over for a 20-30 secs before shutting off so the turbo has stopped spooling

[nezquick]

GTSport, yeah that's what i've done - always let it warm up for a minute or two and usually, like redrobin, let the revs drop below 1000 to 900(ish) and the tick over has quietened down a bit.

I usually allow a few minutes for the engine / turbo to warm up and oil to circulate a little,


(i know the manual says not to but I like the idea im helping to preserve / look after my engine)

....Does the Handbook actually say not to, or does it say that you don't need to?

If i remember rightly it says we don't have to as the turbo doesn't really require any warming up - same goes for cooling down. I spoke to someone who used to work for vw in Germany and they said the mk5 gti's turbo doesn't need any "cooling down" time or allow time for it to stop spooling as it does this (mechanically?electronically?) after you've turned the ignition off by allowing oil to continue to circulate or something im scracting my head to try and remember the exact words used at this time in the morning.

Its a well documented argument with most people ending up saying "i do it for peace of mind" which is fine because even I do, but its essentially why we don't have or need a turbo timer :)

The situation I had was in cold day the engine was still cold and I stepped on it too hard and had no power even though the engine was properly warmed up at some stage. It felt like driving 60 bhp car. Thought something was wrong but once turned off and on ignition the power was back

That's exactly how it felt! but mine did boost up and everything went sweet  maybe it is just because it's very cold.

I don't plan on being late for work again so hopefully won't need to worry about pulling away so quickly. Either that or tuck my car up for the night in a car sheet and stuff a hot water bottle under the hood

p.s redrobin im on a manual, so nooo dsg for me! Yeah, I didn't know why they did that! personally I think they could go one step better than both oil and water temp and put a oil pressure gauge as a default gauge! I'd rather know my pressure is going AWOL than the others.

[Black9]

At least as an option VW should have put in an oil temp gauge and oil pressure would have been good too. I think the issue mostly applies more to DSG cars for the risk of causing any damage to the box from driving straight away from cold starts. Manual box's are pretty reliable as far as I know.

As for the idling, oddly my car used to start from cold & idle at 1200rpm for maybe 1min or so but now as the weathers got colder it starts and idles around 1200rpm for maybe 10-20 secs and settles to 900rpm

Not complaining tho, also notice if I do drive off straight from a cold start (rarely) the engine stutters and pinks too

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Re turbo 'cool down', both the Handbook and VW point out that the 2.0T FSI doesn't need it to be consciously done. However, it is forced on me because I have about a mile of 30mph limit to drive through to reach home and then there's another 50 seconds or so while I open the garage and place my ramps (my car is too low for the entry).

I don't plan on being late for work again so hopefully won't need to worry about pulling away so quickly. Either that or tuck my car up for the night in a car sheet and stuff a hot water bottle under the hood

p.s redrobin im on a manual, so nooo dsg for me! Yeah, I didn't know why they did that! personally I think they could go one step better than both oil and water temp and put a oil pressure gauge as a default gauge! I'd rather know my pressure is going AWOL than the others.

....That's right - There's nothing difficult in scheduling breakfast etc to start 5 minutes earlier so you can start her up gently.

Agreed about the gauges but VW's thinking will be that the GTI is just another Golf version and Mr & Mrs Average will be more likely to encounter overheating due to poor maintenance - Unfortunately!

[nezquick]

Well, from what I gather reading around etc it seems a common thing to get more noticable lag when leaving from a stand still just after starting during and sometimes not during cold mornings.

So today left normal time and surprise surprise after allowing my engine to warm up and presumably oil pressure to get there on abouts the right level (the famous hydraulic clapper sound died down) no lag 

good news too my nsp boost gauge and trim is arriving today 

so would be interesting to monitor boost levels cold morning and warmer day during and after a cold start so looking forward to installing that this weekend! now, to find a image based manual 

Also, out of interest - received a quote from the new local mechanic he wanted £200.00 to fit coil's, that sounds a bit much to me? anyone else?

[Top Cat]

Well, from what I gather reading around etc it seems a common thing to get more noticable lag when leaving from a stand still just after starting during and sometimes not during cold mornings.

So today left normal time and surprise surprise after allowing my engine to warm up and presumably oil pressure to get there on abouts the right level (the famous hydraulic clapper sound died down) no lag 

good news too my nsp boost gauge and trim is arriving today 

so would be interesting to monitor boost levels cold morning and warmer day during and after a cold start so looking forward to installing that this weekend! now, to find a image based manual 

Also, out of interest - received a quote from the new local mechanic he wanted £200.00 to fit coil's, that sounds a bit much to me? anyone else?

£200 is pretty cheap if it is a reputable garage, i paid over £300 a couple of years back, and that did not include alignment. 

[Richn83]

I have the same issue with the 1200 rpm start up not holding when its cold, just drops striaght to idel as I normally wait for that to finish before pulling away.  If pulling striaght off from cold then the engine feels under-powered with my DSG you can feel it still feathering the clutch for longer as you pull off.  It could be related to the cat warm up process, where the ECU double inject on start up to get the cat up to operating temp and emmissions down as quickly as possible, the second injection is at or on the exhaust vent opening to bring EGT's up.

[sub39h]

I paid £200 for my coils to be fitted, plus another £75 for a four wheel alignment

[nezquick]

Interesting,

 If pulling striaght off from cold then the engine feels under-powered with my DSG you can feel it still feathering the clutch for longer as you pull off.  

I wonder whether the dsg is affected more so, perhaps because it operates at a higher oil pressure (i presume). Well I guess the answer is simply to let it warm up for a bit in the mornings.

Well I spoke to the mechanic and got another checky thirty knocked off so he wants £170.00   Sounds like a good deal to me if other people are saying around three hundred.

Now, I Just need to actually buy a set :D any recommendations / know anyone selling  a second hand set :D i've put down in the wanted section! Im hoping someone will know someone who is selling a set and Im also hoping no-one suggests these! [ebay]160622934271[/ebay]