samroach

the 12 volt supply is needed to activate the solenoid on the fuel cut off valve to open it 

hi Dan

i have clamped the fuel line were it goes into the vacuum pump and the car starts the next day everytime i have done it , i fitted a none return valve there which hasnt cured it ,  , I looked on the web and found a 12 volt fuel cut off valve (anti theft valve ) which i want to fit to see if that works better as im not sure it the air leak where ever it is is pulling it the same direction the 1 way valve , the fuel cut off valve will hopefully stop anything passing through it , i need to find a 12 volt supply that becomes live under the bonnet when the ignition is turned on ... im not savvy with electrics though so any help would be apreaciated 

hi clifford 

i get contradictory theorys everytime i speak to the guy , there supposed to be the best round here  and been going for 40 odd years , im not to savvy on the workings or diesals but im rapidly learning ......the injector seals he changed didnt make i bit of differance .. i will be doing a crash course in learning though and starting with clamping the pipes tom evening 

Hi Dan

im picking it back up tom from them , the only saving grace is they aint charging me this time , he did say that clamping the pipes might be the only way to stop it , im not convince on his prognosis either . were would you suggest clamping the pipes ? ill put a picture up of the system when i get it back tom so you can give me some pointers if you dont mind

the saga continues with an anti climax 

had the call today from diesal place and they cant find the problem ... they have rechecked injector seals and replaced 2 of them again for minor marks on them , they now seem to think it  could be  a worn cylinder head were the injectors seat , i am well and truely at a loss now and dont know what avenue to take next 

hi again guys 

i rang the deisal guy this morniing and the tandem pump i refurbed seems to have passed the test they performed overnight , and they are carrying out more test of the system , i am now wondering if it the injector seals they first diagnosed that they have fitted that have failed ???.... 

hi clifford 

i dont have much faith in the diesal place to be honest , they were supposedly testing the pump this afternoon , is there a way of testing them ? i can buy 10 2nd hand pumps for what they want to charge me as i have looked on eBay .. i have overhauled the vacuum pump and fitted it so im confident enough to fit a 2nd hand one .. im proper loathed to pay out that much as i have nearly spent as much having the car looked at then i did to buy it 

Hi guys

i have took the car back to the deisal specialist 1 /04/2019 and they have called me today after checking the system again 2/04/2019 .. they are now suggesting its the tandem pump , which is going to cost £420 to replace and refit . i told them i was told by yourselves it was the injector seals which cost me £260 now your telling me its the tandem pump but they cant guarantee me this will cure it . i changed all the seals and gaskets in the pump which didnt make 1 bit of differance , im confident i did the work propely to the tandem pump as i am quiet savvy with engines and mechanics , i wont be happy if i give them the go ahead and it dont cure it as that will take me to £680 for wrong diagnosis .. do i buy a 2nd hand pump or bite the bullit ???... 

right guys 

update to my woes ..fuel fileter changed . vacuum pump refurbed .. injector seals replaced and today i fitted a new fuel pump and the fecking thing is still dont want to start ... put the back end up in the air on ramps and starts first turn of the key every time put it level and it dont want to start ... runs mint and starts ok once it had its initail run in a morning .. what next he sighs ? no fault codes coming up when scanned 

im competant enough to change the in tank fuel pump ,  is there anyway  of testing them ? spoke to diesal tech and he said to take it back and they will have another look at it, told him he can have it all week to monitor it better ... will let him have another look before i bite the bullet and buy anything else .. im hoping he does look after me after the injetor seals he fitted did nothing 

Hi guys it's been to a diesal specialist .. they said they did a pressure test and all was fine .. they then told me its pointing to them injector seals which I told them.to do which made no difference.. I have had it parked flat and the problem continued.. I borrowed some ramps and reversed the car up them and its started 2 days on the trot with no issues .. it will hopefully be 3rd time lucky Tom.morning Saturday 23rd .. It starts within a split on ramps .. I have changed fuel filter injector seals and refurbed the vacuum pump all making no difference.. the only thing that's made a difference is parking it !Removed! up on the ramps 

Hi guys 

Latest update on my Audi a3 20tdi 

I parked it facing uphill and noticed that the car struggles to start .. so I borrowed a set of ramps as my street is flat and reversed the car up them so it was facing downhill I went to it this morning after being parked on them all night and it fired into life straight away .. I will try it again later after work and see of it starts which I think it will .. then I'm.going to drive it up the ramps (facing up ) and try it again which I'm.confident from the 2 occasions it's been parked uphill and struggled to start... 

If this is the case where should I focus my attention ? 

On 3/8/2019 at 10:36 PM, Dan3222 said:

I wouldn’t advise fitting a none return valve until u know u have an issue. Magnets advice is probably best advice in fairness. 

I have had several vehicles with syphoning back to the tank, my mate has this issue with his Landrover Disco. I told him to keep his tank full and point the front down his driveway. He has been doing this for nearly 6 months now and he gets no issues starting. (His issue is not totally curable with a none return valve though). However, this technique can help diagnose the issue but not the exact cause.

Cliffords advice is not quite correct (though I am happy to be corrected and eat my humble pie), diesels rely on a mechanical pump to pressurise the fuel to the injectors, on your car I am sure it is a tandem pump.  The primary pump (the electric one in the tank) actually only runs for about 5 seconds, it’s purpose to ensure fuel is delivered to the fuel filter, the tandem pump then takes over. However, his advice is correct but to do this you will have to turn ignition to second position, count 5 then switch off, again turn to position 2, count 5 seconds and repeat. Do this several times and then see if she starts better. 

I would be very interested to hear however, what the garage says!

On 3/8/2019 at 8:05 AM, Magnet said:

Hi Simon, 

Are Patkins diesel specialists?

Kind regards,

Hi guys 

Hi guys 

Took the car in yesterday and just had a call and they cant find anything wrong on the fuels side .. there suggesting it could be the injector seals so I have giv

hi dan / guys 

well an update to my starting dilema , i rang a recommended  local diesal specialist and told them the issue and what i had done already ( had it scanned for faults of which there was only a low reading from the MAF  and refreshed  the vacum pump gaskets and seals and changed the fuel filter ) they said to book it in for them to check the fuel system ,   i booked it in for weds last week ...

they ran there tests  and found no problem with the fuel sytem and suggested to replace the injector seals , the diagnostic test cost me £60 and i agreed to the injector seals work to be carried out as he was pretty sure it was that .. the work was carried out weds and they wanted to keep it overnight to see if it started the next day , i got a call thursday morning and was told the seals had hardened and the  car had been sorted and ready for collection ,

i went to pick the car up after work and payed the bill of £260 and the car started after a few seconds   , i went out to the car friday morning and decided to go to work in the car and yes it was the same as before it went and taking roughly 10 seconds to fire up , i tried it saturday morning and it fired into life  , saturday evening it didnt want to start again , sunday morning  it took over 10 seconds , i went out in it sunday to a friends 18 miles away , called for breakfast with no starting  issues , i dropped my friend off spent approx and hour there and it struggled to start which was unusual as once it started in a morning it usually didnt have a problem till left over night ,

i arrived home and parked the car up today (sunday) around 5.30 pm , before turning into bed tonight (11.30) i went out to try it and again wouldnt start after a good 10 seconds i decided to abort trying and went to bed a little brow beaten , to say its !Removed! me off is an understatment , i really dont know what to do at this stage and can ill afford to keep throwing good money after bad  , i will be ringing the diesal place tom to see what they say because im £260 out of pocket with the same issue , i did tell them i chose them from the recommendations as i didnt want to take it to a back street garage and have them second guessing and end up replacing this that and the other which is basically whats happened ,   

has anyone got any input before i invest in a gallon of petrol and a box of matches 

Hi All

this morning after being stood for 5 days and doing the turning the ignition on half a dozen times before starting it seemed to work , i have refurbed the vacuum pump and refitted it all and again it fired into life after i fitted it ... i left it a good 4 hours and i went to go out in it and it took a little bit of cranking , im guessing its maybe still bleeding back somewhere , 

does anyone know what the procedure is or have any links pictures etc for checking for air leaks showing which pipes i need to be looking at as im not convinced its cured .... i have just filled the tank to the brim to see if it starts first thing tom but any input would be appreaciated .. i will post some pictures of my pipe set up if that will help show me which pipes i need to check 

                                                  thanks again Sam

hi Dan and thanks guys for the input 

the car has been stood since weds so i expected to be turning it over for a while before she started ... i did as you guys said and turned the ignition on several times and let the fuel tank pump do its stuff and as if by magic it started straight away .

. i bought a gasket and seal kit for the tandem pump so i have took the pump off and fitted the seals rather than send them back as it cant do any harm 

now back to the to the fuel pump in the tank ... you guys have any suggestions as to the problem and cure for it ? 

Hi gareth

i have got it booked into http://www.patkins.co.uk/contact-us.html on the 19th of this month , im just wanting to know if anyone has had a sinilar problem/cure that i might be able to do in the meantime 

Hi Dan 

thanks for the input , based on what you say do you think it would be worthwhile me putting a 1 way valve valve into the fuel line as a quick fix ?

Hi guys 

I have just bought an audi a3 2..0 tdi (54) that has got a staring problem  when left for approx 12 hours or more (mainly overnight ) , 

first thing in a morning the car needs to be cranked over for aprrox 20 to 30 seconds before it fires up , once it has started it will start and run perfectly  until its left again for another long period of time

, i have had it scanned for faultss at an audi garage and the only fault that came up was a low reading from the MAF sensor .

The guy told me to blank off the egr valve as a starting point , i put a blanking plate in and waited till the next morning and the car was still the same and not wanting to start for again around 20 to 30 seconds but starts first turn of the key after the initial start . . 

it runs 100% with no issues once started , 

i Have been looking on forums for days with not much joy , my thinking now after lots of trawling makes me think that the fuel is going back down the lines , whats your thoughts guys ? is there a way i can check or test this before i either set fire to it or take it for an expensive repair which i could do without ... i have tinkered with engines etc before but the tech on these cars can be a little intimidating .. any advice links or videos etc will be gratefully recieved ...  im on stand by with tools in one hand and a match in the other depending on replys lol ... 

the  hpfp is a bosch fitted to the end of the camshaft i believe on the right hand side of the motor as you look at it from the front  to the left of the battery .. as i say once running its as sweet as a nut

                                          Cheers sam