98 Beetle TDI Slow to Start etc.

I suggest you have the compression checked along with the glowplugs. Those are the two things that are most often the problem. A high resistance connection in the battery/starter cables could also cause the problem.

1- Battery & cable connections

effortlessly.

Thanks for the replies. Compression is fine. The battery was dead when I bought the car and I recharged it. It still a little shaky in this cold weather. This is the primary suspect and will be replaced by the end of the week. I don't know if the timing belt was replaced so I will install new one the first warmer day of the spring. How do you check the injection pump timing?

D.

effortlessly.

A friend recently purchased a high miles "new" jetta tdi. He had the same starting delay. One morning it would not start at all. After much checking it turned out to be the "anti shutter" valve sticking. It's at the beginning of the aluminum intake manifold just past the rubber hose. Remove the large hose and you'll see it. It's purpose is to close when you shut off the engine to keep it from "shuttering" to a stop. Shine a light in there and hopefully you'll not see too much carbon build (another story) Put a small amount of wd-40 or the like on the ends of the shaft and try it out. You should have a belly pan to keep the engine clean. Better yet VW offers a steel belly pan that's almost bullet proof! Several online vendors carry them. For more info on both these items and more do a search at

Jo Bo

Yes, weak battery will cause starting problems. If you have no records if t-belt was done then I wouldn't wait until spring. To check the injection pump timing it has to be done with the VW 5051/5052 or ross-tech kit.