Streak

Our 3.0D has been having starting problems specially when the vehicle has been left standing for 18 hours or more.

The engine will crank for up to 10 seconds before starting.

This was reported to the dealer who said the problem was related to battery drain. If the battery was weak or being drained by accessories then starting could be slow. They could find no abnormal power consumers but they did replace the battery.

They also said that they could reproduce the problem on all of the vehicles in their lot which I find hard to believe.

The car has been great for about 3 months and this morning starting problem again. It's not temperature related as ambient was about 20C at the time.

I will check the state of charge of the battery (not through MMI as we don't have this feature enabled) and put it on charge tonight.

Anyone else experience this problem petrol or diesel.

Jusforfun

Ireland has a much colder climate than that. Its been 4 to 7 deg for ages and even though I do very little mileage sometimes only using car once or twice a week it still starts within 2 to 3 seconds.
Pre heater only takes 2 seconds max for light to go out.
I have left the car for long periods such that the courtest lights dont come on with battery protection. It still started exact same.
I have had low battery warning and it still started the same.
It sounds more like your battery is being killed by the car not starting which is the exact opposite of what they are diagnosing. The most likely causes:
Air entering the common rail system via excess fuel return line (taking ten seconds to purge. Its a really comon Diesel problem but I have zero experience of Audis).
Fuel cut off sticking/not releasing quickly enough.
Preheat sensor not activating.

On a completely different note, is your tracker killing your battery?

Finally there have been a couple of ignition switch module failures resulting in dead batteries.
Be sure to report findings.

Streak

Thanks as always for your response.
The tracker has been tested and even replaced.

I asked them to check the fuel system and I doubt they did if there was no fault memory to say they should.

Pre heat goes off almost immediately. It's definitely time left standing related.

Never has the starter motor laboured indicating a low battery and there have never been other signs of an overly discharged battery.

I even ran the battery quite flat purposely and the car started fine. Then fully charged the battery and left the car for about 24 hours and the starting problem re-occurred.

Will do more tests and feedback.

996CAB

I have had exactly the same problem on first start each day. This started from the day I took delivery of the car - I just thought it was 'normal'.

Does not bother me though as the Q7 is left undriven for a week or longer at a time.

I honestly thought it was a normal issue.

v6tdi

I own a touareg and a q7 both 3.0, I have this issue with the q7, and not the touareg. Now shore why its like this but the q7 has been like this since new.

Streak

This is what the dealer said and what many of you have confirmed.

There is no way that the starter motor having to crank for 10 or more seconds before the engine fires is normal. As mentioned this is only if the car has stood for about 18 hours or more.

I guess that this is another one we will have to live with.

24wheeler

No. No. No.

Mine starts with no delay at all to speak of. Well it actually needs 2rpm, like all CR engines that I have, to pick up and process the crank position and to pressurise but that's it.

Last weekend I left the Q7 in a multistorey car park and left the lights on. This was for over 24 hours. When I tried to start it there was not enough current left and I had to call someone with a booster pack to start it. It had a two hour drive home and its been fine ever since with no increase in delay.

As an aside, I remember when I first got the car that I could access a battery condition meter on the MMI. When I really wanted it the other day it was not there, or at least I can't find it any more. Maybe it was wiped when they 'updated' the software at its first service?

SGI

to reenable it. Also, I thought the Q7 have power cutoff after 15min or so. At least that is the case with Radio and HVAC system (when using the residual heat function while engine is off) and I believe the lights as well (even my Jetta does this) Which light did you left on for 24 hours? Just wanna know so I can make sure that light gets turned off whenever I exit my Q. (Perhaps they missed a light or two in the battery protection circuit?)


-=SGI=-

24wheeler

I haven't followed the messages on VAG-COM so I really don't know what is involved.
I left the dipped main headlights, and therefore all other minor lights on as well. There were four of us getting out and the lights were on because it was a dark day. Anyway, none of us noticed the warning buzzer as I opened the door and I am quite accustomed to leaving the car with the lights on because of the 'get you home' feature.
As I approached the car I thought the rear lights were on, but I'm not sure whether I'd unlocked it first. Anyhow, there was enough power to light the dash and indeed it turned the engine about one revolution before giving up. It must have shut down many systems overnight or the battery would have been stone dead over more than 24 hours with the lights on.

Jusforfun

actually takes longer for revs to die down to idle after it starts.