momotoTTe

Lately I am having problems starting my car in the morning. The engine does turn over, but it sounds like a dying man trying to gasp for a last breath of air, vibrates, and die... Sometime it stays and goes back to normal. Today I heard this sound that sounded like a hiccup, and the car slightly jolted. What could this be? TIA!

BluHeaven

mine does the same thing if I use texaco gasoline OR if I don't do the 5 second key on start....

when you start the car in the morning... put the key in the ignition and turn it to on, but don't crank the car! You'll here all sorts of buzzing and other noises... this is the car priming the fuel system and stuff. Wait 5 seconds at least (or until all the buzzing stops) THEN turn the key the rest of the way and crank.

This has worked for me so far 100% of the time! Once I jumped in and forgot to do the 5 second key on before I started and the car sputtered and gasped for almost a full minute before it finally ran normal.

So try that first!

Second.. what brand gasoline are you using? Do you normally use the same gasoline from the same gas station? If so, try swapping to a different station or a different brand. I found my car does not like texaco gasoline and will not start or idle right when I use it. I use phillips now.

Third... if neither of those works then you might have a bad coolant temp sensor. There is an updated part with a green top that is supposedly better than the black top... the black one the cars come with is prone to failure which causes the exact problem you describe as well. Its a 6.95$ part from Audi/VW... more info can be found on vwvortex.com in the 1.8t forum... do a search for green top sensor.

momotoTTe

Thank you Dani! I always do the #1. =) I will try the #2, and see what happens! =)

BluHeaven

thankfully its a cheap part and easy to replace

actually since you are under warranty I hear some dealers are actually volunteering to replace them with the new green top sensor. You should print that vortex article and go to your dealer

CorrupTT

Dani's sig is the best!