stop start .. doesn't start, one time in 1000

[nyc863]

Anyone else with stop start get a situation where the start .. doesn't?

It has happened twice over maybe 3000kms in my alltrack, and when my wife was driving, it happened once. Because it is rare I've not been entirely sure of whether to get it to start you have to put it into park and put your foot on the brake. The MFD does display a stop/start failed type message, I do remember that much.
I also remember that just pushing the key in, in a mild panic, does not start the motor.

Do you think this is logged for the dealer to see and diagnose?

Is it something I should just ignore until the first service?

[nyc863]

never mind, I'm going to book it in

I noticed almost from new, a smell of diesel exhaust in the cabin sometimes and now tonight I opened the hood to see exhaust in the engine bay, the tailpipe you can sniff directly without anything but a faint chlorine type smell but the engine bay smells like the tailpipe from a mercedes 300D from 1980.

There must be an exhaust gasket leak and I suppose that could be playing hell with the ECU, with any luck it might also be the reason for my poor fuel economy as well.

[WestOiler125]

I think you are doing well! My stop start will most often "stall" when it stops and then wants to restart almost immediately, say when a light changes to green as it has shut off. I was the same initially, panicking and putting it in park to restart using the key, whereas now I just put my foot back on the brake and release again to autostart. My worry is a car behind could run up my butt after seeing the brake light go out. Now I prefer to use it with auto hold, so I can release the brake early to restart but hold the car before driving off. Sounds like I need to get it looked at as I'm sure it misses a restart 2-3 times a week!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[CaseySP]

Good to know how to restart in this situation - mine hasn't done it yet, but you never know.

I find the best trick for a graceful restart is that you only have to ease off the brake pedal a smidge to restart the engine but still be able to hold it on the brake. Like easing your foot from someones throat so they get just enough breath to answer your questions but not enough to escape your hold. In my experience auto hold and stop start are mutually exclusive - restarts (especially if the nose is pointed downhill) get particularly dim-witted with auto-hold on.

The exhaust manifold/turbo leak will definitely affect economy - certainly did in an earlier turbo car I had when the turbo-to-manifold studs unwound themselves.

[nyc863]

I had another stop/start fail and just calmly pressed the brake then released again all was well. I also think it happens when the start comes very close (less than a second) after the stop, which makes me think it could be fixed by a software upgrade.

Also, I put my new alltrack in for its first warranty fix: the diesel exhaust leak, under the hood there was soot at the rear of the engine on the silver foil, and barloworld five dock said it was a loose clamp there, which they tightened. I hope it is really the clamp, and not the gasket which is the usual cause for leaks on US TDI jettas. We'll see. I'll clean all the soot marks off then see if any more accumulate.

Also they fixed that annoying light ticking rattle noise from the silver trim around the dash instruments, the one you can stop by putting your finger on it.

The latest fill up on fuelly, which I identified as 90% city driving, shows:

Details

MPG: 23.0
L/100km: 10.2
Kilometers: 599.0
Litres: 61.200

[oebrad]

I had another stop/start fail and just calmly pressed the brake then released again all was well. I also think it happens when the start comes very close (less than a second) after the stop, which makes me think it could be fixed by a software upgrade.

Also, I put my new alltrack in for its first warranty fix: the diesel exhaust leak, under the hood there was soot at the rear of the engine on the silver foil, and barloworld five dock said it was a loose clamp there, which they tightened. I hope it is really the clamp, and not the gasket which is the usual cause for leaks on US TDI jettas. We'll see. I'll clean all the soot marks off then see if any more accumulate.

Also they fixed that annoying light ticking rattle noise from the silver trim around the dash instruments, the one you can stop by putting your finger on it.

The latest fill up on fuelly, which I identified as 90% city driving, shows:

Details

MPG: 23.0
L/100km: 10.2
Kilometers: 599.0
Litres: 61.200

Wow, that's almost as bad mileage as my r36!