Starting issues in humid/wet weather :\

[VW Scully]

Hey everyone;
My 81 Rabbit has been a bit grumpy starting lately in the really humid and wet weather. I usually have to pull the cold-start lever and today I even had to try 3 times to get her to fire up (we had TORRENTIAL rain last night!)
There is lots of battery power and it'll chug along for a while but not fire up.
Could this be glow plugs?? Moisture in fuel filter??? What!? :?:
Any help is appreciated.

btw, once the car is warmed up (i.e. I've driven 25 km to work or whatever), it starts right back up fine.
Thanks!

[chrissev]

Hey everyone;
My 81 Rabbit has been a bit grumpy starting lately in the really humid and wet weather. I usually have to pull the cold-start lever and today I even had to try 3 times to get her to fire up (we had TORRENTIAL rain last night!)
There is lots of battery power and it'll chug along for a while but not fire up.
Could this be glow plugs?? Moisture in fuel filter??? What!? :?:
Any help is appreciated.

btw, once the car is warmed up (i.e. I've driven 25 km to work or whatever), it starts right back up fine.
Thanks!

my guess (and it's just a guess) would be it's something electrical.  The rabbits had this problem where water would leak onto the fuse box and then certain components wouldn't work after a heavy rain.  Usually the water leaked in either from a rust hole at the base of the windshield or along the radio antenae wire.

[VW Scully]

Hey;
thanks I'm well aware of the common problems on Mk1s with water getting into the fuse panel area, but it just seems odd that it's only when it has to glow that it does this; and also in the really humid weather NOT just when it rains. My Dad and I are going to replace the glow plugs this weekend so we'll see that that does.

I notice sometimes after really heavy rain, there is some water on the floor of the passenger side but I've traced that to leaking out of the rain tray into the heater ducts so just have to fix the rain tray and make sure the rain drains out of the engine bay.

The latest issue I've discovered now is a coolant leak! Gee whiz, when it rains; it really does pour!  :shock:

I can't complain too much though; this car gets driven a LOT and really has been low maintenance this year; only big thing it needed was heater core, but now I have to figure out where this stupid coolant leak is coming from!  :roll:
Anyone up for a Mk1 Diesel GTG?? .

[VW Scully]

Well,
I replaced the Glow plugs and that didn't seem to change much; it still is rather grumpy about starting when it's REALLY humid or wet. It doesn't even have to have rained. You know how sticky it was the past couple of weeks. It wasn't even chilly at night, but the car would still be grumpy about starting in the morning (i.e. after sitting for several hours).
It *almost* feels like it's starved for fuel until I've tried about 4 times and then it will 'catch' and start up and then no problem for the rest of the day.
I will try to get that fuel filter changed next week and see if that makes a difference; it's over due and I have been running BioDiesel.
Any more ideas are appreciated!  

[Dennis Froelich]

It sounds like maybe air in the fuel line to the pump. When you get it started, check for air bubbles in the fuel line to the pump if your fuel line is a clear one.

If you see air,  follow the fuel lines from front to rear and check for loose clamps or pin holes.

Hope this helps.

[VW Scully]

I replaced the glow plug fuse: FIXED! woohoo

(funny how sometimes it REALLY is just a little thing ).
Anyway, I still have to replace the water pump, fuel filter and replace the front shocks, so it's not ALL little things but at least THIS problem is solved!

p.s. when are we going to have a Diesel GTG?? Summer is running away .

[BlackTieTD]

we better have one soon. i have my 82 TD back on the road now too so i'll be there in that (instead of that crummy GTI). lets get something organized!  

ps- i'm a pro at fuel filters and front suspension by now  :x  :lol: