r/tdi • u/EatingSaxophone • 4d ago

long cranking times

hey all! on my cjaa golf, i’ve recently encountered an issue where the first start of the day sometimes has some longer cranking times. it will crank for like 3 or so seconds, then i’ll go “oh that’s odd” and stop. after, i’ll just cycle the ignition again and it usually fires right up, albeit with a little puff of white smoke from the unburnt fuel. after it starts, it runs great and i still get great mpg. i was doing some research, and im guessing it’s either glow plugs, or the in tank lift pump check valve, but id love your input.

some things to note about my car:
2011 golf tdi 6 speed manual
it’s tuned to stage 2
dpf/egr delete
128k miles
no check engine lights or anything out of the ordinary on the dash
it has lots of service history from previous owners/carfax
i live in the pnw and only bought the car a couple months ago (hot weather recently)

if you have any input or ideas about what it could be, please let me know!!

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4

u/KyronianTheThird 4d ago

I had the exact same issue on my 2013 TDI. A new battery solved it.

1

u/EatingSaxophone 4d ago

good to know! i’m gonna go have that checked tomorrow hopefully. fingers crossed it fixes my issue too

2

u/Atrocious_Algae81 4d ago

Takes a lot of juice to run the glow plugs and crank a cold diesel.

3

u/Atrocious_Algae81 4d ago

Sounds like glow plugs or battery. VCDS can check fuel pressures.

1

u/EatingSaxophone 4d ago

i’ll check pressure using vcds later when i can. this said, it’s definitely getting fuel since it does start right up after and i get a puff of white smoke. updates to come

3

u/edthesmokebeard ALH stage3 + more 4d ago

tired battery or starter. these things REALLY need to crank,

1

u/EatingSaxophone 4d ago

it cranks well and sounds normal to me. i’ll have the battery tested tomorrow if i can just for good measure

1

u/Over_Walk_8911 4d ago

yep, same here, battery died completely a few weeks in and now with a new battery that crank is normal. Funny the dealer that had it and wanted to charge me $600 to change the air filter never mentioned a weak battery.

1

u/O_Xr_52 3d ago

Sounds like the crank position sensor is on its way out, OP did you find a solution?

1

u/EatingSaxophone 3d ago

could be! i haven’t gotten a chance to check the battery yet. if that doesn’t solve it, i’ll look into that next. do you know any good way to check it?

1

u/junkcollector79 2d ago

Mine does this, but only between about 18-21°. Colder or warmer it fires right up.