idle judder & poor cold starts

[Bo!]

Hi .
recently purchased a 57 plate golf mk5 GTI from the stealers. the car has 50k and full main stealer service history.
I bought the car end of April and within 10 days I had taken it back for what I felt was an engine misfire . also in the mornings on cold start it takes excessive cranking over to start which I thought may be linked.  the stealers had the car back for a week and there conclusion was there was nothing wrong with it normal for a GTI . not being happy with there opinion I took it to another stealer for a second opinion. on a test drive the master tech agreed with my concerns that  the idle didn't feel right. he carried out a test using measuring blocks and this confirmed there was a misfire on cylinder 2 and 4 . i was fuming having been fobbed off by the retailer previously so I got in touch with UK customer support. they advised me to take the car back to the retailer. on the way back the car misfired under load so I informed the service department . a week later I had a call to say they could not identify a misfire on idle using measuring blocks but could under load. they replaced all spark plugs and a coil pack on cylinder 4.  when I picked the car up the idle was still the same I also asked about the cold start issue but they said there master tech couldn't find anything wrong with it and had charged the battery . I told the workshop manager I wasn't happy and he told me they wouldn't  investigate any further as they felt it was all normal. I have been in touch with UK customer support since. and taken it back to the stealer where they found the misfire but the master tech who had looked at it prior wasn't available. another tech looked at the car and said there are lots of reasons why the GTI could have the idle issue but not to be concerned. I am now in limbo not knowing what to do so I have come to the forum for some guidance and advice . this car was not cheap so I  don't want to start shelling out cash on something I feel the stealer should be sorting out.

[Bo!]

Bump!

[dronners]

from what i've heard the cold start issue is actually fairly typical..  i'm led to believe its caused by the fact the high pressure pump needs a few seconds to build up pressure in the fuel rail.   some GTI's seem to get it others dont.    not sure on your idle issue   but worst comes to worst you do have a right to refuse the car as not fit for purpose.   did you take out finance ?   sometimes the finance companies can help you lay pressure onto the dealer to fix the issue

[Bo!]

Hi
thanks for the reply .
I didn't have any finance. I bought the car in April and it's been in and out the stealers since . Unfortunately for me I think refusal of  the vehicle may be my only option . It's a real shame because it's a lovely car and the missus loves it . But sat at traffic lights feeling the car misfiring is not a nice feeling . My worry is if left to get worse it may cause further damage & cost quite a lot of cash to sort out .

[Redemption]

If they found a misfire on Cylinders 2 & 4 why didn't they replace the Coilpacks on both of them? I'd ask them to replace the Coilpack on Cylinder 4 or at least swap one over and see if the fault moves to another Cylinder.

[Bo!]

The retailer where I bought the car from did not diagnose the issue it was another retailer I had taken it to for a second opinion. The retailer I took it to for the second opinion advised there was a misfire  on cylinder 2-4 on idle identified using measuring blocks .but they would not investigate further and advised to take it back to the retailer where I had purchased the car .the retailer where I purchased the car diagnosed a misfire under load on cylinder 4 and said it was the coil pack and that in some instances this can cause a misfire on the opposite cylinder 2 in this instance but could not find a misfire on idle which is why I had taken the car back in the first place .

[Bo!]

Thank you for your reply steveEd30.
I have seen a lot of threads on carbon build up. But in some instances it turns out to be an injector. I haven't spent a penny on diagnosis or repairs for eliminating the possibility of it being a coil pack as the vehicle has 1 years warranty . How much would I be looking at for a decoke.?

[Bo!]

That's a lot of money to shell out after only just purchasing the car . The reason I purchased from main dealer was to avoid these costs . I'd like to add that the idle issue is intermittent and does not always happen when the car is on idle .
 I live in Taunton Somerset .
there isn't anywhere local to me unless someone can point me in the right direction.?
Will I be able to get any compensation from the retailer If a faulty injector is found.?

[Bo!]

Ok thanks for your help steveEd30. I was in touch with UK customer support today to speak to my case manager .i said if it doesn't get sorted out I don't want the car. Didn't really want it to come to this becouse It is a lovely motor Will have to wait and see what they come back with.

[Bo!]

Spoken to the retailer today.  There going to have the car back in. I mentioned carrying out a scan using there diagnostics tool to run live data to count misfires . I was told that there are certain tolerances.? Is there a name for the specific test tests to count the misfires on idle. Or anything else I should be asking that may help get to the bottom of this .?

[Bo!]

Just to update the cars booked in the dealer in a few weeks . So I took it upon myself to find someone in my local area with Vcds to do a scan on measuring blocks 15-16 . On idle it detected a missfire on cylinder 4  it would clear then around 30 seconds later come back again . It also detected 1 missfire on cylinder 3 over the period of about 4 minutes.

[david25]

This is a low cost option http://www.amazon.co.uk/BG-Power-Enhancer-System-Cleaner/dp/B005GDC46E/ which might not do anything but will only cost £20

A proper inspection of the inlet valves is still the long term solution.

[Bo!]

I will wait and see what the retailer comes back with the end of the month . In the meantime I was going to shop around to get some quotes for removing the intake ,walnut blasting ,flow testing injectors etc . But this may be worth a try thanks for the suggestion.

[Martk19871]

My GTI is in at the Bristol dealers today with the same problem. When I start up from cold it struggles, judders and the rev counter jolts around. As it's only done 56k I am hoping it's a quick fix. It's still under warranty which is due to run out soon, so I will be putting a lot of pressure on them to sort it!

[Bo!]

Sorry to hear that Martk19871.
Do you have a misfire at idle .?
Im struggling to get the dealer to sort mine out .