Problems With Starting....

[JMallows]

Ok, I have a very intermittent problem with my 1.3. I shall try to explain all the problems as fully as I can!

A little while ago, it basically failed to start when I turned it over. I turned it a fair bit, and nothing. It would always start second time though, without hesitation! It sounded like a coil problem, as I had just been messing with the wires to the coil, so I replaced some of the terminals, which didnÂ’t help. The problem went away a little bit after this, so I ignored it.

A while later, it came back, failed to start the first time, and when I did start it the second time, it ran really rough, a bit like it does when car-icing. This led to me to assume it might be the fuel pump, and it only worked when I had pumped it through a little bit. The VW Garage told me that this would be unlikely, and then the problem went away again! They did tell me to look under the flap in the boot, as it gets cack in it, and I hovered all the cack out, but havenÂ’t taken the pipes off yet.

The problem came back againÂ… I noticed that there was no fuel in the filter when it wasnÂ’t starting, but did fill up after it was run for a bit etcÂ… When I replaced the fuel filter in my routine service, I took the end off, and there was a sucking noise, and all the fuel drained back up the pipe! Again, the problem has sorted itself out again!

Has come back within the last few days, and my girlfriend pointed out that there was a lot of blue exhaust just after it eventually fired up, but then disappeared shortly after it got going.

A few other things IÂ’ve noticed, it doesnÂ’t tend to do it from either hot or cold specifically, but it will do it from both hot and cold, which probably doesnÂ’t help!

I put in the key, turn it on, and then turn it to start. It will turn and turn and turn, so I switch it all the way off. Leave it for a second, and then when I turned it to on, it started, without me actually turning the engine over!? It wasnÂ’t like a normal start, when the starter turns, but like the engine was already spinning, and I had simply bumped it, but it wasnÂ’t running, it was stationary, which did concern me a bit!

I know thereÂ’s a lot there, but I tried to be concise, and I really appreciate any help in getting to the bottom of this. 

[rubjonny]

sounds to me like your fuel pump is slowly starting to give up, either that or your acumulator is stuffed!

[JMallows]

What does the accumulator do then?! And would either of these cause the blue exhaust? Someone suggested to me it could be the valve seals, or maybe the head gasket, but i really dont know!

[rubjonny]

the acuumulator sits between the fuel pump & the carb, its job is to remove air bubbles from the fuel flow and generally smooth out the flow of fuel into a nice steady stream.

Blue smoke could be because a ton of fuel is chucked in atr startup and is causing it to run rich, or it may
mean the stem seals have gone!  If you can fix the starting issue and it still does it then I'd say its probably the stem seals!

[JMallows]

Ok, so how do i check the accumulator is working properly?! And, where do i find it?

[rubjonny]

Right, follow the fuel lines from the left side of the engine bay, they should run to the fuel pump which is attached to the block, then to a pot of some kind, thats the accumulator

If they don't and run direct to the pump/carb then the accumulator has been removed for some reason and needs to be replaced!

A quick way to test is to detach the feed line from the carb and turn the engine over when its cold.  Stop as soon as fuel starts coming out.  If there is a delay in fuel being pumped, then either the pump or accumulator is at fault.

If the car runs fine once its started then I'd say its more likly to be the accumulator, as when my dads 1.3 had a dodgy fuel pump it would start cutting out randomly!

[JMallows]

It does generally run fine when hot, but has simply stalled once or twice, and i've a right job to get it going again, which is a pain!

I'll give that a try, and see where i go from there

[rubjonny]

The next time it stalls, if you have a passenger then disconnect the line from the fuel pump outlet and get them to turn the engine over.  If fuel starts coming out almost straight away then its not the pump, but if it takes a while then eventually starts coming out then the pump is dead.  Thats how the AA guy diagnosed the fault on my dads 1.3

You need to keep a close eye on the fuel line, and hold a rag/container to catch any fuel that squirts out.  This is quite dangerous especially on a hot engine with the manifold being right at the front of the engine!

Ideally you want a fire extinguisher handy or a big wet towel to dowse any flames.  Point the fuel line away from anything remotely hot, and make sure whoever is turing the key knows to kill the ignition as soon as you say so!

[owls88]

i,ve gt a 1.3 it dosnt start first time unless i give it a bit of gas then it does , is this the same thing ?

[JMallows]

Ok, i'm going to test the fuel pump, been reading Haynes, and it says what you said John, about turning it over with the pipes off. I cant, howver, find any mention of the accumulator, annoyingly typical haynes style  Has it got another name at all? The thing i'm thinking it could be, the fuel reservoir?