Hesitation when starting

[simpsb]

  same here. its like the battery is dead

[Dave J]

As mentioned earlier, there's a big thread on this somewhere on here. Must admit, I always thought the same about my ED30 - just seems a bit lazy churning into life compared to my old 1.8T which burst into life (albeit with that annoying screech that the starters seem to have after a few years of dust / grime!).

It's pretty normal as far as I know - seems to be a trait of the engines!

[TaylorGTi]

Same here.... Sometimes I don't start car for days as I live where I work so that start on a Friday is abit of a grumpy one!

[Panthera]

I have the same and I was going to post a new topic on this very same issue, but as I see it has been covered before, I did not bother. 

It is like it is not 'catching' when I try to start.  iirc, it never used to do this, only since about the last 5 months.

But I have noticed that when I park the car in the garage and go to shut the door - I reverse into the garage - I can here a quiet hmmmmm noise.   I am not sure how long it hummmms for, and I am wondering it is draining the battery a little bit? 

[Madone]

Mine used to do this loads, I spent a bit of time looking into it, initially it looked like fuel pressure was leaking back from the high pressure side of the fuel rail, I wrote some obd logging software to record the rail and line (from the low pressure pump) pressures during each start. That turned out to be a false alarm, it would start just as well with high and low rail and line pressure. Then I tried plugs etc, no difference, the last thing after fuel and spark was air, the throttle body butterfly acts as the idle control, running off a stepper motor, there is no separate idle control circuit. So next to performed an adaptation on the throttle body, bingo !, it's not perfect and very occasionally gets a bit spluttery but it's 10x better than it was and not something I notice anymore. As I said I spent a load of time trying to work it out and this fixed it for me

[Chris92]

My old mk5 gti used to splutter like mad and was a little embarrassing when the neighbors seen it trying to start, even had a few people ask what's up with the car. Anyways my 2nd mk5 gti doesn't splutter at all, turn key and bang it's running. Both cars were pampered. Wouldn't worry about it.

[Beej]

Could broken or sticking runner flaps cause this?

[Madone]

You would get a error code doe that, my runners are fine,
So very doubtful. Def wasn't the case with my care

[Berry]

Mine used to do this loads, I spent a bit of time looking into it, initially it looked like fuel pressure was leaking back from the high pressure side of the fuel rail, I wrote some obd logging software to record the rail and line (from the low pressure pump) pressures during each start. That turned out to be a false alarm, it would start just as well with high and low rail and line pressure. Then I tried plugs etc, no difference, the last thing after fuel and spark was air, the throttle body butterfly acts as the idle control, running off a stepper motor, there is no separate idle control circuit. So next to performed an adaptation on the throttle body, bingo !, it's not perfect and very occasionally gets a bit spluttery but it's 10x better than it was and not something I notice anymore. As I said I spent a load of time trying to work it out and this fixed it for me

Madone could you expand on that a bit? What sort of adaptation did you perform? Glad to hear it's common, as mines had it since I bought her.

[rich83]

Mine used to start terribly. Since the intake valves have been cleaned it's been much better

[Madone]

Mine used to do this loads, I spent a bit of time looking into it, initially it looked like fuel pressure was leaking back from the high pressure side of the fuel rail, I wrote some obd logging software to record the rail and line (from the low pressure pump) pressures during each start. That turned out to be a false alarm, it would start just as well with high and low rail and line pressure. Then I tried plugs etc, no difference, the last thing after fuel and spark was air, the throttle body butterfly acts as the idle control, running off a stepper motor, there is no separate idle control circuit. So next to performed an adaptation on the throttle body, bingo !, it's not perfect and very occasionally gets a bit spluttery but it's 10x better than it was and not something I notice anymore. As I said I spent a load of time trying to work it out and this fixed it for me

Madone could you expand on that a bit? What sort of adaptation did you perform? Glad to hear it's common, as mines had it since I bought her.

It's a setting you can run in vcds, you don't need to do anything other than let the software do its thing

[Beej]

I'm getting a RFD and intake clean done over the next few weeks, but also have the throttle body alignment done too, hopefully this will help

[pudding]

How often do you guys replace your fuel filters?  They have a fuel pressure regulator built into them, which can play up.  Whilst the rail pressure may be OK, the flow might not be, hence the sluggish starting.  I also suspect the mechanical pump needs a little time to build pressure / flow and if the feed pressure / flow is not there on the initial first cold start, it doesn't help matters.

If you're in-tank pump is a little more audible than usual, try bunging a new filter on as it's cheap easy to replace.   Mine has always started on the button since I've had it, but then again, I did a *FULL* service on it the day after I picked it up.  All filters, plugs, MAF, coilpacks, oil, coolant, all of it.  I like to 'start over' when I get a new car as you never know how it was treated beforehand.

[Beej]

I also done a complete service too including dv, and cam follower as soon as I bought it, so I don't think it's the fuel filter causing it

Also, it's had new coils fitted too in the last 6months

[neiller]

I have the same sort of problem my gti has 76k on the clock was thinking of doing a valve clean when I get the chance And the weather is better

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