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Stalling on Cold Start

3K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  plancast 
#1 ·
Hi,

Have been having some trouble starting the up in the morning. It seems to kind of start, but then stalls out. Key off then try again and it starts up no trouble - only happens on the first start of the day - and even then sometimes doesn't happen. Has anyone had similar troubles before? Was thinking it might be a fuel related issue? Did have issues with the CEL and EPC light coming on a few weeks ago, VCDS showed P0342 and P0341, and a new camshaft position sensor seems to have taken care of that, so don't think its related.

Thanks,
Michael
 
#2 ·
Hi Mike,
Welcome to the forum. As you're in Australia, I'm assuming you have a pre-2015 car (so the earliest of the original Up!s), and it's winter (cold). Two prime candidates here - the battery and the fuel pump (or priming relay). Battery is easiest to check; if at all possible get your hands on a battery tester that can check the amp output, not just the voltage. Also take a look for a date code either on the sticker or one of the posts. While it's a matter of some debate on the forum, these are typically sold with a 3 year warranty here in the UK, so if it's older than that, you may wish to replace it.
As for the fuel pump, when you open the driver's door first thing in the morning can you always here a high-pitched whirr/whine from towards the back seat? That's the pump priming the fuel system ahead of starting the engine. If you can't, or it's intermittent, either the pump or the relay is failing/sticking. There's a really good video on how to check the various parts of this system:

As a warning, from personal experience, the rear seats are not as easy to remove as he makes out, and the locking plugs will probably pull out of the car body frame completely - but it does all go back together again securely. Also, the plastic cover over the fuel pump was very brittle on mine (2015 model), and nearly all the locking tabs cracked when removing it (one snapped off completely); despite this, it did reattach securely when I put it back together (but I doubt I'll be so lucky next time...). And the power connector has a little red tab that needs to be pulled up and pushed in to disconnect the connector from the pump, which he doesn't mention!
 
#3 ·
Thanks a lot for all the info! Will have to get the battery tested. I have definitely heard the fuel pump priming before, but I can't recall if it does it every cold start, will have to pay closer attention over the next few days. Was hoping VCDS might be able to give me some info on fuel pressure, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to.
 
#4 ·
VCDS can only read what the onboard computer has the ability to measure - and there's no sign of a pressure sensor on the ETKA drawings.
 
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