Make a donation

Author Topic: Car not wanting to start occasionally  (Read 925 times)

Offline andyp

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 120
    • Email
Car not wanting to start occasionally
« on: December 06, 2014, 03:44:47 pm »
Recently I've had a couple of occasions where my car hasn't wanted to start, basically like the battery is dead, yet 2 secs on a jump start and its fine.  Obv the weather has been getting colder yet on one occasion it's had a decent run then left for a couple of hours and problem returns.  It's not every single time just the odd occasion.

I'm going to get a free check on the battery as I'm not sure how old it is,  but is it worth spraying a bit of wd40 around stuff to keep the damp out etc to see if that cures it???

Cheers

Offline th3_f15t

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 66
  • -Receive: 183
  • Posts: 2676
  • My Ride: http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,101525.0.html
Re: Car not wanting to start occasionally
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2014, 04:14:39 pm »
WD40 is always good to force water out of components. You may find that if the battery is dying that topping up the water and giving it a slow, trickle charge may recondition it for a while longer.

Another post similar to this appeared which in the discussion it was suggested to depress the clutch when starting to ease the load on the starter motor.

Moving over to Flickr, sorry for the broken picture links!

Offline lukemk5gti

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 28
  • -Receive: 118
  • Posts: 1845
    • Email
  • My Ride: http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,89715.msg907250.html#msg907250
Re: Car not wanting to start occasionally
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2014, 09:33:52 pm »
Recently I've had a couple of occasions where my car hasn't wanted to start, basically like the battery is dead, yet 2 secs on a jump start and its fine.  Obv the weather has been getting colder yet on one occasion it's had a decent run then left for a couple of hours and problem returns.  It's not every single time just the odd occasion.

I'm going to get a free check on the battery as I'm not sure how old it is,  but is it worth spraying a bit of wd40 around stuff to keep the damp out etc to see if that cures it???

Cheers

How old is the battery?

Worth getting a new one as a preventative measure coming into the winter no?

I changed mine last winter as it was showing similar symptoms. Does the screen on the clocks flicker slightly when you turn it over?

As said above, I have also started engaging the clutch on start up since reading that previous thread also!

Offline dan_the_v8man

  • Taking part
  • ***
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 0
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 31
    • Email
Re: Car not wanting to start occasionally
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2014, 09:21:13 am »
Check the battery voltage for a start, get VCDS plugged in and make sure you have no errors for the cam position sensor

Offline andyp

  • Always Involved
  • ****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 120
    • Email
Re: Car not wanting to start occasionally
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2014, 06:46:43 pm »
I got the battery tested and it was reading slightly lower than what it app should have been.  Chap said take it off and give it a charge overnight to see if that helps it.   I haven't yet as  had no issues since, and it has been warmer also early mornings.   But thought best get some advice anyways.   I actually think the battery is the original although I could be wrong.