starter cranking longer, why???

[lee]

thanks one and all. I will try to find time this weekend to test and post back the results.

[Ron Mummert]

Originally posted by gl1674

Ron,

Judging by your description you have engine flooding. This is a well-known issue with VW turbo engines - if it did not run long enough, it will have a problem starting the next time.

Basically ECU is enriching mixture when it is trying to start engine, it does so by gradually increasing amount of fuel. If it goes too far it soaks spark plugs and nothing good happens until the spark/cylinder dries up a bit.

Next time after you washed the car and put it into garage, try to crank it with throttle fully open. It will take engine longer to catch (3-5 seconds), but then it should run normally. And yeah, don't forget to release the throttle once it starts. This is the flood clearing procedure, it is programmed in ECU. If engine runs normall after that, the flooding theory is confirmed.

The other possibility is moisture playing up with electrical connections - it would not be cured by full throttle start.

Thanks, gl; sounds like the old "mash the peddle" routine you'd do on a flooded carburator. But, as I said, the car catches immediately, does a death rattle, then quiets down, but runs rough for 20-30 secs. or so. I've never had a starting problem in monsoon rains either, so I sorta' discount the moisture theory, but......
Wait...my engine say VW turbo!! Oh, no! No wonder I got this thing so cheap!!!

Oh the humanity!

Ron (jetzt, fahren auf der autobahn).

[gl1674]

Ron,

Not sure about the death rattle - when I had mine it was probably a different rattle, at least mine could not fix itself without a major intervention (moving timing belt back into its place).
I did have a flooding problem for a while - it would run rough and die, barely catch and die again, but the sound was more or less normal.

Mash the pedal on a flooded SVX works miracles. It takes a few seconds, it starts reliably, it runs normally after that - I've had a leaking fuel injector for a year before I figured it out, and I had to resort to the full throttle start every time the car set more than 15 minutes and less than overnight.

Put it this way - failure to run is either air/fuel ratio, compression, spark or spark timing. You can pretty much eliminate compression and spark timing - would not start at all (at cranking speeds both compression and camshaft/crankshaft sensor signals are at their weakest). So it is either water on spark plugs (pretty hard to get it in there with direct coils) or air/fuel mix.

By the way, how clean is your air filter?