You can change the style the forum displays by selecting your preferred style at the bottom left of the site.
We have made an enhancement so that old threads should now link from search results to the correct thread. This is not yet in place for single post links
The Audi Enthusiast website. Forums for all Audis including A4, S4, A5, S5, A6, S6, allroad, A8, S8, TT, R8, Q5, Q7, 4000, 100, 200, v6, v8, vintage, local forums
Nothelle S2 Avant
Black Ur project
Silver Rs2 Project gone
Ocianic Ur project gone
S2 Coupe project gone
Urs6 plus project gone
It will likely be something very simple. Just have a good search of the forum as there's plenty of "no start" threads on here. Comes with the territory of owning one of these great cars, they will test you now and then though.
It did sound like it wasn't cranking overly fast and looking through invoices the battery is a platinum brand which is 5 years old, as far as I know these aren't great.
I'll try jump start it later and see if it is just the battery. It is completely flat now after 3/4 lots of cranking for 20 seconds. If it starts off a jump off to Costco for a new battery, if not back to the drawing board!
If the battery isn't 100% slow cranking will cause a non start on the S2.
Well I've just seen it's 2017 written on the battery and it is platinum brand, plus batteries not liking cold and not cranking fast enough could be the answer.
Given the age and the fact it isnt the best brand I might just swap it for a Bosch one for peace of mind, I've known cars act strange in the past when batteries start to die.
Sounds like you could do with a new battery regardless if it only managed a couple of burst's of 20 seconds crancking and yes a dying battery could well be the cause of your problem, it has to reach a certain RPM before the ECU let's it start.
Has the car got an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser fitted? They can often be the cause of starting issues and are pretty pointless as they can be bypassed in minuets, if it has I'd do away with it before it strands you somewhere.
Do you have VAGCOM? A ripped copy of that along with a cable is pretty much an essential tool if you own one of these cars, takes most of the guess work out of finding faults and costs very little these days...
I ask as there's a couple of other things that spring to mind that can cause random non start's, a dying cam position sensor being one the other being the coolant temp sensor on the back of the head which is what the ECU uses to control the warm up enrichment cycle.
1990 B3 2.0 80 quattro.
1992 C4 2.8 Avant quattro
1994 MTM RS2.
1998 B5 TDI quattro Sport.
2000 B5 TQS.
Sounds like you could do with a new battery regardless if it only managed a couple of burst's of 20 seconds crancking and yes a dying battery could well be the cause of your problem, it has to reach a certain RPM before the ECU let's it start.
Has the car got an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser fitted? They can often be the cause of starting issues and are pretty pointless as they can be bypassed in minuets, if it has I'd do away with it before it strands you somewhere.
Do you have VAGCOM? A ripped copy of that along with a cable is pretty much an essential tool if you own one of these cars, takes most of the guess work out of finding faults and costs very little these days...
I ask as there's a couple of other things that spring to mind that can cause random non start's, a dying cam position sensor being one the other being the coolant temp sensor on the back of the head which is what the ECU uses to control the warm up enrichment cycle.
I've just ordered the 2x2 adapter to use vagcom.
I was wondering if the temp was over reading as it idles at 3 notches above 90c but then drops to 90c when moving.
I'll swap the battery and see how I get on, it did sound like the crank wasn't as fast as I'd expect.
Cool, VAGCOM is really an essential bit of kit when running these cars.
A good mod is cut out the hole in the drivers side under dash trim that's outlined on the back for a footwell light and fit the OBD II connector end of the adapter there. Unclip the 2 x 2 connectors from the fuse box, feed the wires down and connect them to the other end off the adapter, wrap the joint in loom tape and refit the trim. Then you plug the VAGCOM cable in just as one would on a more modern Audi, of course you could do it permanently with solder and heat shrink but that isn't so easily reversible should you ever want to put it back to stock...
The temp sensor on the head isn't connected to the gauge in the car, that gets it signal from the MFTS, the one on the heads sole job is to tell the ECU what the coolant temp is so your gauge reading won't be connected to the non start.
As you say fit a decent battery and see how you get on, hopefully that'll sort it... I can't recall the RPM required off the top of my head but if it's only turning over lazily then it won't be getting fuel or spark.
Last edited by K Simmonds; 31 January 2023, 22:30.
1990 B3 2.0 80 quattro.
1992 C4 2.8 Avant quattro
1994 MTM RS2.
1998 B5 TDI quattro Sport.
2000 B5 TQS.
We process personal data about users of our site, through the use of cookies and other technologies, to deliver our services, personalize advertising, and to analyze site activity. We may share certain information about our users with our advertising and analytics partners. For additional details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
By clicking "I AGREE" below, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our personal data processing and cookie practices as described therein. You also acknowledge that this forum may be hosted outside your country and you consent to the collection, storage, and processing of your data in the country where this forum is hosted.
Car Won't Start
Comment