Hard starting

Look at your owners manual for proper starting in the cold. On my old Ford diesel it said right on the driver side visor that in weather under 30 degrees I should hold the pedal to the floor when trying to start. I'm not sure what its like in the VW but from how you described it I would look up proper starting procedure.

Thanks Ozzie I will look into it but we havent had this problem for the last 4 years.

well if it has been working that way for that long, that probly isn't the answer. Have you checked or changed the fuel filter, and treated the fuel. If it doesn't get enough fuel pressure it would be hard to start, and the problem would go away when you hold down the pedal.

Hey Ozzie I was thinking that for a few days now. When a vehicle is running does it put out a higher fuel pressure so a partial restriction wouldnt affect performance (ha thats a funny word (performance) to use when talking about a vw) only starting. I wish I still had my 04 Ford superduty diesel then we could talk performance.Of course I would be crying at the pump with that beast.

well the majority of my issue right now is trying to figure out how you're diesel works if it is an electronically controlled diesel, or if it uses a mechanical injector pump to fuel itself. If it uses a mechanical pump (like mine did) then it just adds fuel based on how far the gas pedal is pushed and the pressure from the injector pump is what opens the injectors, so the only thing that would really effect that is bad fuel, no fuel, or gelled fuel. If it is electronically controlled common rail diesel it runs like a fuel injected car and uses a set fuel pressure at the rail, and opens the injectors based on what the computer tells it to do. Let me do some checking on the internet and see what I can dig up to help you.

Thanks Ozzie I've be researching everything I can and I just cant get a solid answer. I will go get a fuel filter and change that tomorrow and see if that helps, tomorrows suppose to be 9 degrees that will be a real test.

can you check for some things on your car, then I might be more help. Does it have an individual fuel line for each injector that leads to a round pump? or does it have a single fuel rail at the top of the engine? make sure when you put the new fuel filter in you prime it with some good treated diesel fuel.

I will check for you tomorrow when I change fuel filter. I think its a single fuel rail but not positive.

I just went on ehow to see if it would tell me I looked up how to change fuel injector and it talked about removal of fuel rail .

well I wish I could help more but I've got 0 experience with commonrail diesels, just a general knowledge of how they work. Try a new fuel filter and see if that helps, you may also want to make sure the air filter is good and clean. If its easy to get to you may want to remove a glow plugs and cycle them to see if they actually heat up like they should.. on my diesel they would glow red within 10 seconds. If the glow plugs work, and its got air and fuel it should start right. Maybe it has a bit of a dirty injector it'll have problems.

Hey Ozzie, sorry it took so long to reply, I pulled all the glow plugs out and flipped harness and energized held threads of glow plug to ground they all heated up. Must have overheated 2 because tested open after testing. So I replaced them. In the mean time changed fuel filter filled it with a mixture of fresh diesel, seafoam and diesel 911. Put it all back together still wouldnt start right. Got aggrevated left it for the night. Next morning determined to fix it got in turned the key it started immediately (and it was really cold out -2 degrees) Smoked like crazy black and white smoke took it down the road smoke finally cleared. Started fine the next 5 days. Interesting thing on glow plugs tested good from top to engine, when taken out 2 tested open end to end after making them all glow. Strange how tested ok 1 way and not the other. Have a new problem now starter drops out before car starts. Don't know if its a relay or starter going did it 3 times so far. It just spins freely. like its disengaging but turning internally just not turning flywheel. Worked fine about 20 times inbetween the 3 failures.Any thoughts? And thanks for your input on the other problem.

Sometimes it is better to bench test something rather than rely on a voltage or resistance check like you did, it uncovers other problems sometimes, I fixed a chevy pickup that the guy bought a new starter for and after pulling the old one out and bench testing it we realized it was an engine ground not a starter problem. As for your starter problem it sounds like either a bad bendix or it is shimmed incorrectly, but considering how you havn't changed it, that rules out the shim part. I would assume from all the attempts to start it without good glow plugs it really took its toll on the starter, you're never supposed to crank them very long, and you should let them cool down if you do have to crank them a lot. I'm going to say you need a new starter or a starter rebuild. I had a truck with a bad bendix that I drove for months, but sometimes it took 15 key turns for it to finally engage the flywheel.