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Any tips? Couldn't get it to turn over yesterday (-2°). It was reluctant this morning at 0°.
108k.
Anything to watch out for?
dead battery. replace it.
literally the starter's not turning the engine over?
I'd start (sic) by getting a battery check done at halfords or a motor factors.
Not turning over in the cold is likely to be the battery (although it could be the signs of a dodgy starter motor or solenoid). Spinning but not starting then maybe glow plugs
Up your swearing
And possibly thump the dashboard.
Some cars have a kind of self diagnostic mode where you hold a combination of buttons down and it displays error codes on the dash, and sometimes battery voltage.
I've done this on my Focus to check the battery voltage.
Might be worth checking if you can do that? (depends on model/stereo fitted usually)
(edit - obvious but you are waiting until the glow plug symbol to go out before starting??)
Battery most likely, but check oil level.
Not sure about the 1.9, but had a 2.0 that took some work to start when oil got close to minimum mark, nice bloke from the AA said it wasn't at all uncommon.
Try connecting some jump leads from a running car to charge the battery for 5-10 minutes, then (whilst still connected) try and start the car. If it starts let it run and try and measure the voltage. If charging correctly the voltage should be about 14v, its its 12 or below then the it could be a dead battery.
Second the are you waiting for the glow plug light to go out.
I can see how that would affect it firing, but not how it would stop it turning over in the first place. (Not that I'm disagreeing necessarily, but I don't know why that might be the case; this is more of a badly phrased question I suppose.)
Glow plugs are not relevant here, cranking speed is the issue. So it could be battery, starter or the wiring in between.
Most likely cause is a duff/flat battery.
Marko
I've just replaced the battery on my 2.0 TDI Passat for the same reason, cold weather just killed it. Not had a problem since.
On a related note, how bloody expensive are car batteries!! Not bought one for a decade (at least), was shocked to find out they were £100 for a half decent one 😯
Probably the battery, in a few days it will pack up completely in my experience. Get your diagnostic on it to be sure.
Last time it happened to me was the first proper cold snap, new battery and never had a problem again
Check the voltage on the battery with a meter or tester, most likely is a low/dead battery. Then check voltage when you get it running to check alternator is ok.
On a related note, how bloody expensive are car batteries!! Not bought one for a decade (at least), was shocked to find out they were £100 for a half decent one
Modern diesel engines are difficult to turn over -> bigger starter motor needed -> bigger battery needed to power it.
New battery petty cheap and much more convenient to fit before it dies than after. As I have posted before I am surprised cars don't have better electronics to show battery health (had them on boats) easy to show on a multi-function display.
my T4 has the same engine and was reluctant to start on the very frosty saturday. The cold affects battery output. my battery went flat recently and i think this is the beginning of the end for it.
i find if its slow to crank over I turn off all the electrical use switches/radio/lights/heater/fan etc etc and it seems to give it the little boost necessary to crank it to start.
cheers,
my T4 has the same engine and was reluctant to start on the very frosty saturday. The cold affects battery output. my battery went flat recently and i think this is the beginning of the end for it.
Agree with allmof this, ime on boats/cars if the battery goes completely flat it's impossible to get it back working properly. I believe there are chemcial reasons for this with regard to the battery composition/technology. Anoter reason why infrequently used vehciles should be left on a trickle charge.
How old is the battery OP?
If it's over 4 years old (depending on the type of battery) I'd put my money on it having reached the end of its useful life. They ususally throw in the towel in these cold winter temperatures.
Even if you get it going with a jump start or similar it will soon let you down again as it's lost the ability to hold charge. Best change it asap.
As others have said you might wish to check it over with a multi-meter to be sure.
Similar problem with our Audi 1.9TDI - now starts a dream with a new battery. GSF are always doing 40-50% off. We got an upgraded BOSCH 1/2 price for £60ish with a 4 year guarantee. Excellent bit of kit!!
New battery petty cheap and much more convenient to fit before it dies than after. As I have posted before I am surprised cars don't have better electronics to show battery health (had them on boats) easy to show on a multi-function display.
If anyone's interested, CTEK does a Bluetooth battery monitoring thing that links to a smartphone app to show battery charge levels/voltage:. If I ever get round to fitting the one sat here in front of me, I'll let you know how it works, but the idea is that it alerts you if your battery voltage drops below a certain level and you an also proactively monitor current levels using the app and without getting your paws dirty.
Potentially useful if you have a car you don't use that regularly and want to keep on top of the battery.
[url= http://www.ctek.com/gb/en/chargers/CTX%20BATTERY%20SENSE ]http://www.ctek.com/gb/en/chargers/CTX%20BATTERY%20SENSE[/url]
Sorry for the wander off topic 🙂
I replaced the battery on my 20TDI in November as it failed to start when I got back from the U.S having been away for a week. AA man said it was the battery.
Got a new battery from Halfords and that appeared to resolve the issue - until this morning that is. With the temp at -2.5, jumped in to head to work and it just kept turning over, eventually kicking in on perhaps the 8th attempt !! Lets see how it behaves at home time
mainly because it's not all that easy to do accurately - but quite easy to do pessimistically. i suppose it's not always viable to walk back from a boat...As I have posted before I am surprised cars don't have better electronics to show battery health (had them on boats) easy to show on a multi-function display.
nice aa man told me the battery in my van was knackered after i'd daftly left the interior light on for a week while on holiday. i said i'd play it by ear. same battery 4 years on.
@Del yes understood. No battery on a boat means can't start engine and no navigation electronics or lights 😯 backups exist but better to have the proper kit
We got an upgraded BOSCH 1/2 price for £60ish with a 4 year guarantee. Excellent bit of kit!!
This. My mate who is into his car DIY told me the Bosch we bought at Eurocarparts was better than the oem manufacturer fitted battery it replaced. Cars are built down to a price and battery is a place to save a few £££
Halfords tonight then. I park on a hill so bumped it last night.
Spend 2 mins here to check prices / specs ... is there a local one to you ?
http://www.eurocarparts.com/car-battery
Apply code JANSALE for 25% off Euro Car Parts batteries and check Halfords etc. Batteries have gone up a lot in the last few years and a cold snap is the worst time to buy.
If anyone require a battery but can wait a few days,Euro Car Parts has a ebay store where I got a battery from it was cheeper than the shop price even with discount code. It took 2 days to arrive but free delivery.
If anyone require a battery but can wait a few days,Euro Car Parts has a ebay store
Thanks for that! Just saved me another fiver 🙂
ECP also normally cheap on Amazon.
Dougieb that sounds like glow plugs.
My Octavia had been having starting issues back in 2015, I'd stick the charger on once in a while and it would be fine.
Until I went on holiday to South Devon in October '15, went to drive into Kingsbridge, and the battery was dead.
Got the AA man out, who did a diagnostic, the battery had 53% capacity! It had been in the car from new, it's a '51...
I've since got a double USB adaptor from Zus, which connects via BT to an app, which geolocates the car, and gives a battery diagnosis/voltage graph; mine is showing 13.1v, from 14.3v yesterday when I went out for a bit of a drive.
Forget the ECP eBay shop. It has a sister website called carparts4less.co.uk which is loads cheaper just because the Web page is orange instead of blue from what I can see.
I've since got a double USB adaptor from Zus, which connects via BT to an app, which geolocates the car, and gives a battery diagnosis/voltage graph; mine is showing 13.1v, from 14.3v yesterday
you dont think these two things are related ?
I left my van from july to december due to work ... came back and it still started on the button - and that was with the cheapest battery ECP do....
the optima red top gel battery in the landy was banjoed completely - stuck in the biggest bosch silver from costco that would physically fit . by far the cheapest quality option.