07 Leon FR TFSI starting issue

[mashmeister]

I've had an intermittent problem with my leon fr for a while but its starting to get more regular now. It's requiring 3 cranks of the starter motor to get it started. After the first crank the rev counter is showing 450 ish rpm, then about the same after the second crank, until it finally starts on the third crank. The engine idles smoothly and runs absolutely fine. The issue only occurs when the engine is cold. Any ideas? Cheers

Edited by mashmeister on Saturday 11th October 20:30

[fatboy b]

These do suffer from injectors. Unsure if that's the issue. Could also be duff glow plugs.

[SteBrown91]

fatboy b said:

These do suffer from injectors. Unsure if that's the issue. Could also be duff glow plugs.

Glow plugs wouldn't be much good on a petrol.....

[fatboy b]

SteBrown91 said:

fatboy b said:

These do suffer from injectors. Unsure if that's the issue. Could also be duff glow plugs.

Glow plugs wouldn't be much good on a petrol.....

Ah. Thought it was a diesel.

[cuprabob]

Possibly the Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) sensor or the fuel pump isn't priming when you open the driver's door. If it's the latter wait about 10secs after switching on ignition and before starting to prime the fuel pump. If it starts better that's your issue.

[mashmeister]

Spot on cuprabob! Waited for 10 seconds after putting keys in ignition and we started up perfectly. So a new fuel pump should sort my issue?

[ManOpener]

I think it's a separate sensor?

[cuprabob]

mashmeister said:

Spot on cuprabob! Waited fois opened it 10 seconds after putting keys in ignition and we started up perfectly. So a new fuel pump should sort my issue?

No, not the fuel pump. When the driver's door is opened the fuel pump should prime. On Golfs the door control module is common failure, which means the door opening is not detected. Other symptoms are the interior lights not coming on when door is opened and lights on buzzer not working.

Certainly that's the area I would be looking at first
As I say, common failure on Golfs and I can't imagine the Leon being too different.

Edited by cuprabob on Monday 13th October 19:07

Edited by cuprabob on Monday 13th October 19:09

[mashmeister]

Interesting. My leon hasn't suffered from any interior light delay and the lights on buzzer works as should. My leon has the MFD which i believe is standard on the golf's and that lights up and shows drivers door open straight away when i open the door.

I did have an issue over the summer when the car was completely dead, doors open but no lights on the dash, no movement in the rev counter when trying to start and the battery was fine. The breakdown guy and Seat were completely stumped, left it for a few days and it fired up perfectly with nothing showing on a diagnostic and it hasn't happened since. Hope these aren't initial signs of an imminent expensive bill.

[SuperchargedVR6]

You can hear the pump run for a couple of seconds when you open the door, if you listen carefully.

If you are greeted by silence, I would get the ECU checked for fault codes.

If turning the key to ignition 2 a couple of times starts the engine on first crank, then you have an electrical issue with the in-tank pump, or maybe a low pressure sensor issue on the mechanical pump, but get it fault coded in the first instance.