My 1999 Polo diesel has a wierd starting problem. It starts first time,
every time no matter how cold a day it is but then after about 10-15 seconds
of idling, the engine races to about 2500 revs for a couple of seconds and
then dies. Restarting is then difficult but after two or three tries it will
start and then run no problem at all, the oil warning light and buzzer
sometimes come on for a couple of seconds after re-starting but then go off.

This mostly happens after the car has stood all night, but not after
standing at work for 8-9 hours. It does seem that colder days make it more
likely to happen but it has happened once on a warmish (10 degrees C) day.
The car had a full service about 2 months ago and has 64,000 miles on the
clock.

I dont think it is the glowplugs as the light in the car comes on and the
engine does start first time and the glowplugs were replaced about 18months
ago and when they went last time the car would never start first time from
cold so the symptoms of that were slightly different.

Any ideas of what to look for much appreciated.

Thanks

Kingstew wrote:
My 1999 Polo diesel has a wierd starting problem. It starts first time,
every time no matter how cold a day it is but then after about 10-15 seconds
of idling, the engine races to about 2500 revs for a couple of seconds and
then dies. Restarting is then difficult but after two or three tries it will
start and then run no problem at all, the oil warning light and buzzer
sometimes come on for a couple of seconds after re-starting but then go off.

This mostly happens after the car has stood all night, but not after
standing at work for 8-9 hours. It does seem that colder days make it more
likely to happen but it has happened once on a warmish (10 degrees C) day.
The car had a full service about 2 months ago and has 64,000 miles on the
clock.

I dont think it is the glowplugs as the light in the car comes on and the
engine does start first time and the glowplugs were replaced about 18months
ago and when they went last time the car would never start first time from
cold so the symptoms of that were slightly different.

Any ideas of what to look for much appreciated.

Thanks


What engine is it? Turbo or not? 1.9 or 1.4?

Does it use oil at all?

The engine is the 1.9, no turbo. It does not appear to be using oil.

Had a look under the bonnet today, when the engine stalls, large air bubbles
are visible in the fuel pipe and this was accompanied by a vaccuum like hiss
from around the fuel filter area. I cant find any loose connections/split
pipes or places where air could be entering though. And the air bubbles
dissapear after re-starting and the engine then runs fine.

Thanks


"Chris Bartram" wrote in message
. uk...
Kingstew wrote:
My 1999 Polo diesel has a wierd starting problem. It starts first time,
every time no matter how cold a day it is but then after about 10-15
seconds of idling, the engine races to about 2500 revs for a couple of
seconds and then dies. Restarting is then difficult but after two or
three tries it will start and then run no problem at all, the oil warning
light and buzzer sometimes come on for a couple of seconds after
re-starting but then go off.

This mostly happens after the car has stood all night, but not after
standing at work for 8-9 hours. It does seem that colder days make it
more likely to happen but it has happened once on a warmish (10 degrees
C) day. The car had a full service about 2 months ago and has 64,000
miles on the clock.

I dont think it is the glowplugs as the light in the car comes on and the
engine does start first time and the glowplugs were replaced about
18months ago and when they went last time the car would never start first
time from cold so the symptoms of that were slightly different.

Any ideas of what to look for much appreciated.

Thanks
What engine is it? Turbo or not? 1.9 or 1.4?

Does it use oil at all?

Kingstew wrote:
The engine is the 1.9, no turbo. It does not appear to be using oil.

Had a look under the bonnet today, when the engine stalls, large air bubbles
are visible in the fuel pipe and this was accompanied by a vaccuum like hiss
from around the fuel filter area. I cant find any loose connections/split
pipes or places where air could be entering though. And the air bubbles
dissapear after re-starting and the engine then runs fine.

Thanks

Well, the difficult starting etc is explained by the fact that you seem
to have an air leak. Perhaps it's the o-ring seal on one of the fuel
lines- if the filter is the same as a TDi, there's three connections.
Two are normal hose clips and one (with 2 hoses) has a plastic widget
retained by a wire R-clip. There's a seal on it that could be leaking.

I have no idea what causes the revving though. Personally I'd try
cahnging the filter, just because it's cheap and you have an air leak
near it.

PS: Check the drain tap on the bottom of it isn't leaking too.

Will give it a go.

Thanks very much for the advice



"Chris Bartram" wrote in message
.uk...
Kingstew wrote:
The engine is the 1.9, no turbo. It does not appear to be using oil.

Had a look under the bonnet today, when the engine stalls, large air
bubbles are visible in the fuel pipe and this was accompanied by a
vaccuum like hiss from around the fuel filter area. I cant find any loose
connections/split pipes or places where air could be entering though. And
the air bubbles dissapear after re-starting and the engine then runs
fine.

Thanks

Well, the difficult starting etc is explained by the fact that you seem to
have an air leak. Perhaps it's the o-ring seal on one of the fuel lines-
if the filter is the same as a TDi, there's three connections. Two are
normal hose clips and one (with 2 hoses) has a plastic widget retained by
a wire R-clip. There's a seal on it that could be leaking.

I have no idea what causes the revving though. Personally I'd try cahnging
the filter, just because it's cheap and you have an air leak near it.

PS: Check the drain tap on the bottom of it isn't leaking too.

"Kingstew" wrote in message
...
Will give it a go.

Thanks very much for the advice



One trick you can use is to put some grease round the various joints, one at
a time. This will stop any air leak for a short time, enough to identify
where the leak is.
Don't forget that the fuel pump is sucking the fuel up from the tank, so if
there is a leak, no fuel gets out, but air will get in. This air then
prevents the injection pump from working properly, so the engine dies.
Brian.

Thanks for the help, will give the grease a go to see if it points me in the
right direction as I've checked all the joints and pipework and it "seems"
ok.

Cheers


"Brian" wrote in message
...

"Kingstew" wrote in message
...
Will give it a go.

Thanks very much for the advice



One trick you can use is to put some grease round the various joints, one
at
a time. This will stop any air leak for a short time, enough to identify
where the leak is.
Don't forget that the fuel pump is sucking the fuel up from the tank, so
if
there is a leak, no fuel gets out, but air will get in. This air then
prevents the injection pump from working properly, so the engine dies.
Brian.