A3 Jetta hard to start

A friend of mine is having problems with her 1998 Jetta GL (Automatic transmission). Over the past few weeks it has gotten progressively more difficult to start this car in the morning. The starter will crank at normal speed, so no lack of battery power, but it takes a lot of cranking and several attempts before the engine starts.

Once the engine is running it runs just fine, no hesitation, no loss of power etc.

Restarting the engine a couple of hours after it was turned off is no problem at all.

Any insight into what this could be? I suspected a leaky injector, and suggested that she try starting the car at half throttle tomorrow morning to see if this helps.

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

Reply to
Randolph
Loading thread data ...

We've got the exact same car and had a similar prob. except when it wouldn't start it really wouldn't, though after first couple experiences we would just give up right away if it wouldn't start.

This tended to correlate to high humidity/rain. After sitting a day in dryer weather it would work. Other cure was to take out the coil, put it in the oven at 150-200 degrees for an hour or so, and clean the mounting surface and screw terminal...

I actually did this about 3 times before I bought a new coil. New coil was $109 US. on the net. Earlier I had seen $200, thats why I postponed. Actually there was a slightly cheaper coil right at the same place, but I went for the apparent better quality.

-------From Drivewire.com For Vehicle: 1998 Volkswagen Jetta III GL 4 CYL Part: F2010-32950 - BOS Bosch Distributor Cap - (1) @ $10.49 Core: $0.00, Item Subtotal: $10.49

For Vehicle: 1998 Volkswagen Jetta III GL 4 CYL Part: F2020-24527 - BOS Bosch Distributor Rotor - (1) @ $4.55 Core: $0.00, Item Subtotal: $4.55

For Vehicle: 1998 Volkswagen Jetta III GL 4 CYL Part: F3004-55219 - BER Beru Ign Coil amp; Control Unit - (1) @ $109.06 Core: $0.00, Item Subtotal: $109.06

The other stuff seemed ready also, car has 80,000 miles.

So you can play with the coil. Your problem could be something else, this is all I'm up to speed on. Coil is a known issue.

Irv

Reply to
IR

You have a coil that is shorting internally by the humidity (morning dew, etc). It will also happen whenever there is a large temperature drop overnight. My 96 Cabrio did the same thing. I bought a new coil and that was the end of the problem. Do it and be done with it. TEMiller

Reply to
Corrado Daddy

Sometimes you will see spark jumping around at the coil. (better viewed in the dark with possibly some moisture on it) You could possibly sand, degrease and epoxy your coil to repair it cheaply.

I only recommend the coils/transformers from the dealer. I have seen too many different aftermarket ones not last!

jmho dave one out of many daves

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

Thanks to all who replied.

My friend decided to take the car to a trusted mechanic, the kind who likes cars and enjoys discussing a problem with the customer, if the customer is so inclined. He sprayed the coil with a slight mist of water, and got a no-start situation. Replaced the coil (including the ignition control module (or whatever it is called in the VW world) mounted at the bottom of the coil). He then repeated the mist test. This time the car started without hesitation. The mechanic kept the car over night, and did a test drive in the early am the following day. No problem found.

So all good? Not quite. The car now starts on the first try every morning, but it still cranks a good 5 - 6 seconds before catching (as opposed to 3 - 5 good 10 second attempts with the old coil). This PM, after the car had ben sitting for 10 hours or so, I hooked a timing light to it, connecting to the high voltage wire between coil and distributor. Again, my friend had to crank for a good 5 seconds before the engine started. The timing light did not start strobing until just about when the engine finally started. Any ideas?

TIA

Randolph wrote:

Reply to
Randolph

Engine Speed Sensor (AKA Crank Position Sensor) maybe?

Was the ign coil/transformer purchased from the dealer? I have seen too many bad aftermarket coils for the 2.0 engine. :-(

Reply to
One out of many Daves

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.