PD140 Eleg Estate Not starting - RAC says air leak - anyone else have this.

[darius]

Hi there,

After commenting to a freind how reliable my Octy2 ( 2L TDI 140 Eleg Estate) was I should have known something would happen. 2 years old and only circa 15K on the clock.

Went to start it later the day and the engine just kept turning over and not catching (as if no fuel was getting to it). Kept trying even left it for a while then tried again.

Had recently done 200+ miles earlier in the week and had not refilled and had > 1/2 a tank left (so not fuel contamination). Also checked fuses.

Called Skoda assistance and RAC turned out. Annoying the guy got in the car and after a few cranks it started. A recons there is a small air leak in one of the many fuel connections - probably near the engine. Temp solution if it happens again - keep cranking the car on and off and it may eventually start.

As it'll keep happening intermittently (esp as I park facing uphill) he said I need to get the dealer to fix (under warrenty) - although he also said it would be very very difficuly to trace the problem connection as only a small leak is needed and it will not be obvious. Most likely place is near the engine due to vibration. He had a quick look but everything looked ok bit as each connection has a O ring - well you know what happened to the shuttle when it relied on O rings - it just takes one tiny crack.

He reconed I'd be back and forward to the dealer a lot as they probably just say they cant find the problem. Grr

So - has anyone else had this - do you know which connections would be most suspect.

cheers

D

[dstev2000]

Maybe they can do some sort of pressure test on it to determine the presence of a leak?

[VRStu]

Sounds like an air leak to me. Parking on a hill then causes the fuel to run back to the tank.

[cheezemonkhai]

From XUD experience I would suggest that the pipes to fuel filter would be a good starting point for checking.

A dealer should do it for you but vaslene over the joints then clean them off one by one overnight until the problem comes back then you have located your problem.

[Lummox]

It could be a lift pump in the tank, having a lot of these fail in the VW world at the moment, The tandem pump for the most part will keep the engine running once it is going (maybe the with odd occasional miss fire) but starting is an issue as the tandem pump isn't supplied it has to drag the fuel from the tank and sometimes cant.

[darius]

UPDATE
Dealer said they had fixed it on Tuesday. Wed / Thu drove the car and parked nose up (gentle slope). Friday left parked nose up all day not driven - Saturday refused to start.

Called the dealer today - Monday (specialist cars skoda aberdeen) - they initially suggested that it was happening because was parked on a slope !!!! While the car is ok when parked nose down its a gentle slope that every other car I've owned copes fine with along with every other car in the street - when I pointed this out they immediately agreed to take it back in.

The RAC guy who first looked at the car did say it would be hard to find the fault and the the car would likely be in and out of the garage. Looks like he was right.

[Lummox]

Still sounds like a lift pump to me. Fuel is draining back own the line when the car is nose up and the pump isnt priming the system.

[unclerichy]

Did you ever get this sorted? I've a similar problem in my 2.0 TDI. It's failed to start twice now and occasionally feels like it's going to stall but then judders into life. Haven't taken it to the dealer yet.

[darius]

Yes it seems to be ok now

Specialist cars aberdeen took the car in overnight and parked it on a steep hill. In the morning they found it juddered.

They found an airlock in the fuel line /pump ? Once they cleared / flushed it, it has never reoccured.

NOTE: The first time they though they had fixed it they found a loose hose near the engine. I think that air got in hear so and kept causing problems till they flushed the fual system.

So I'm well hapy with them.