# 2013 Touareg V6 TDI fails to start in cold weather



## rodenhuis (Jan 20, 2004)

The new V6 TDI fails to start in cold weather and I have had VW roadside assistance tow it into the dealer twice now on cold mornings. It cranks great, but will not start or starts or dies after a few seconds. Tried a booster and it made no difference.

Temperature about -5F. Dealer and VWoA have nothing to suggest as it runs fine once they warm it up except possibly gelled fuel. 

The öld V10 TDI parked next to it starts OK in the same weather every time and fuel comes from the same station. I have been a big TDI fan, but after a multiple failures, I'm losing faith in the new TDI's for winter use in Wisconsin. 

I'm told the adblue can freeze at 12F and wondering if that is the difference between the old TDI that works in the cold and the new TDI that does not work in the cold. Can the frozen adblue cause engine start failure?

Anyone else have this kind of problem ??


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## VW/Porsche Fahrer (Dec 14, 2011)

I do not think it is frozen adblue causing the problem. The adblue system has a tank heater, pump heater and line heater but it would still start with frozen adblue. When did you last fill your car with fuel? You may have gotten a residual load of summer blend fuel. This happened to me once about a year ago in November ( normally not so cold, but a very cold night). It got very cold ( 5F) one night and I could not start my car until the PM next day. Now, with nights at 4-5F, my car starts with no problem at all. Once the car is started, the car keeps the fuel warm enough to flow with summer or winter blend but starting is a different story. Summer fuel will really wax up at low temps and clog the fuel filter.

In an emergency situation, I have found that if it will start and run for only a few seconds and die, try again and again and it may eventually start and continue running ( even after about 20 attempts). In that case Let it idle for a few minutes after it runs OK and then you can drive off. This worked for me with that same tank of fuel that gave me a difficult time a year ago.


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## Timujin (Jul 10, 2010)

that just sucks. No heating of the fuel on the new TDIs?


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## VW/Porsche Fahrer (Dec 14, 2011)

The fuel is heated but only after the engine is running. Actually it is also cooled under certain conditions as well.


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## rodenhuis (Jan 20, 2004)

I might write this off to " bad fuel" if it just happened once. However this has happened a couple times and I get fuel for the 2013 tdi and 2008 tdi from the same local station. The 2008 starts and the 2013 does not.






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## Autoban (Dec 22, 2011)

I would have the car towed to the dealer when it doesn't start and make them leave it outside where it is cold to trouble shoot it. They should be able to find the problem, but of course if they move the car inside and let it warm up every time, then they can't find the problem. If the dealer is not too far you can also park the car at the dealer when the forecast is for a really cold night and go there in the morning and have a technician start it for you without moving it inside where it is warm.

If they can't find out what is wrong you may have to try a different dealer. I don't have a TDI, but others with 2013 TDIs should chime in if they have the same problem. 

Juergen


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## Autoban (Dec 22, 2011)

Did you ever get this fixed, it so, what was the problem?

Juergen


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## ernied79 (May 22, 2005)

The fix to your problem is very simple; Volkswagen has a TSB out on this issue. Your fuel is gelling from the fuels not being winterized properly at the stations. The fix is to buy a few bottles of Stanadyne additive. They have a "911 diesel de-gel" product out there for a quick fix. The problem is that sometimes the fuel filter will clog up and will have to get replaced. 
Buy a few bottles of this and add when it gets below 20 F.


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