95 VW golf wont start after the cold

dbrowne9212

hi guys,

have a 95 VW golf that wont strat since the cold weather set in.

it was recently serviced (2-3 moths ago) and was in fine running order up till now.

have tried push starting the car but with now joy. also stuck an old duvet under the bonnet to try and heat her up a bt but with no success.

Wondering if anyone has any ideas to get it moving again? cant really afford to have a mechanic have a look right after christmas and i'm guessing it's something quite small/simple.

how about a can of that cold start stuff?? any use?

Karoma

Any sign of leakage on the duvet/ground?
Have you tried jump leads?

Darragh29

Is the engine turning over OP???

GTE

Maybe the oil in the cold weather isnt helping it much.

Muckie

Take off the air filter cover, have a good look
at the pipes going in, should be a 1/4inch pipe in particular
that runs from the bottom of the engine. Its sometimes
builds up with "gunk" or fatty oil. Clean the pipe out also the
trottle inlet while your there. Also take off the distributor cap.
Clean the contacts, replace and try starting again.

dbrowne9212

thanks guys...

yeah engine is turning over.

will try all the above.

bladespin

Sounds very life a battery problem, could be nearing it's end. Often times the ancillary stuff all works fine but there isn't enough juice to start, try jump leads.

2 Espressi

get the loan of a battery and see if it'll start off that.

polyfusion

Muckie wrote: »

Take off the air filter cover, have a good look
at the pipes going in, should be a 1/4inch pipe in particular
that runs from the bottom of the engine. Its sometimes
builds up with "gunk" or fatty oil.

I have a similar engine, and have noticed gunk in this pipe also (comes up to a rubber membrane in the airbox). Whats the purpose of this pipe? Some kind of recirculation/recycling? Anything to be worried about?

To the OP, mine was hard starting just before the Christmas, battery was rotating the engine just fine (I suspected the battery, as it's in there about 8 years, but it subsequently charged and tested fine). Opening the distrubitor cap, cleaning inside contacts with some WD-40 sorted it out. Not sure if it was moisture or oxidation on the contacts that was causing the problem, but cleaning them always sorted it out the few times it wouldn't start. Gave them a good cleaning over the Christmas, and sprayed some silicone spray around the cap (outside) and leads, and it's been starting fine since (touch wood).

Muckie

"I have a similar engine, and have noticed gunk in this pipe also (comes up to a rubber membrane in the airbox). Whats the purpose of this pipe? Some kind of recirculation/recycling? Anything to be worried about?

To the OP, mine was hard starting just before the Christmas, battery was rotating the engine just fine (I suspected the battery, as it's in there about 8 years, but it subsequently charged and tested fine). Opening the distrubitor cap, cleaning inside contacts with some WD-40 sorted it out. Not sure if it was moisture or oxidation on the contacts that was causing the problem, but cleaning them always sorted it out the few times it wouldn't start. Gave them a good cleaning over the Christmas, and sprayed some silicone spray around the cap (outside) and leads, and it's been starting fine since (touch wood)."

Your on the money there Poly. That WD40 is the business in cleaning the trottle bodies. Seems its a common enough fault on VW's.

polyfusion

It was actually the contacts in the distributer cap that I cleaned using the WD-40. I had the airbox and throttle body off at the same time, just to inspect when cleaning out that pipe you mentioned before, and the throttle body was more or less spotless, right down to the manifold heater - a little "veneer" in the upper parts (above the fuel pressure regulator, I think it is), but nothing caked on, easily removed with tissue with the engine cold.

Would the WD-40 be usable to clean parts of the throttle body, or would something more specialised (like carb cleaner) not be more suitable?

Also, that pipe you mentioned that might have gunk in it, what's it's purpose do you know?

Armadillo

A duvet isn't much good....Try an electric blanket.

iamskippy

dbrowne9212 wrote: »

thanks guys...

yeah engine is turning over.

will try all the above.

Did it start? My mech told me to get a donor car and hook up a jump leads and leave the engine of the donor running for 10 mins or so before trying to jump

Muckie

"pipe you mentioned that might have gunk in it".

Far as i know, this pipe tranfers heat from the engine once its
started, warmer air than outside the car goes into the air breather.
Rev's drop and car should tick over fine.