Sputter or Slow Start

I wish that was the case. Unfortunately I replaced it about March or April of this year because it was dieing after about 30 minutes of being battery only.

I have a 2016 Jetta and have noticed the same thing. It’s been doing this for months and cold weather seems to have no relationship to the slow start like some have suggested. I’ve had it inspected twice since I first noticed and both times everything checks out fine but lately it’s seemed worse. Have you gotten any answers for this?

@M17M23 negative. I’ve had mine inspected as well. No diagnosis.

@brad any update because I am have the same problem

Same thing started happening to me about a week ago

I have a 2016 Jetta two, and my car started doing the same thing

If anyone finds a solution, please post here!

Could be a failing fuel pump. My 2016 Jetta started to do the long crank start regardless of temperatures. Dealer checked the fuel pump hold pressure which should remain nearly the same whether engine on or off. But mine fell down to nearly zero pressure. They replaced it right away

I'm having the same problem. It sucks. It seems to happen more when the a/c fan in on high. If I find out the problem, I'll post it.

Thanks dude! We had our fuel filter replaced and the problem still persists! And we also had a new battery installed!

I had my fuel filter replaced too. I'm replacing my air filter tomorrow. I'm going to call a VW expert in my area tomorrow. I'll keep posting here with results.

I am having the same trouble! Mine was originally just lagging in the mornings but now is happening more frequently, no other troubles though. I have an appointment to get it looked at Friday but worry that it will be a waste if you have taken it in with no answers.

Any results of solutions?

No luck so far. I replaced my air filter. It didn't fix it. The mechanic I spoke to works on old VWs. I didn't expect to find that out. But he told me there is a diode on the fuel pump that can cause starting trouble and not throw a check engine light. I'm going to buy a service manual and look into this. I'll keep posting updates. Good luck guys.

I assume there is still no solution:(

Hello Everyone, I’ve had this issue for a long time, sometimes just don’t start at all, I’ve checked and replaced every single possible defective part and that issue is still there... nothing seems to be wrong during inspections, I’m thinking about getting rid of this car because of the issue... Please if someone knows a solution it will be greatly appreciated.

I have to agree with Ed. While I do think that the fuel pump is the issue (when I see the car is about to stall I tap the peddle and the issue seems to go away) I don't think I want to pay to have it replaced. I have contacted my local VW dealer and and VW to report the issue. Hopefully this allow the MFG to start to track these issues and issue a bulletin to have it replaced. Until then I'm holding off any unnecessary repairs until a clear solution is worked out.

I have a 2013 Jetta TDI dsg, the prefacelift of the mk6 and well lets just say I just got finance for a new car. I dont know what I thought I was doing buying this car the dsg has failed on me twice, central locking system decides when it wants to lock.and recently I've been experiencing the lag, glow plug flashing warning lights, not starting,etc. and everytime I take it for a full diagnostic at VW (I've been to 6 differnet VW's these past 5 months ) they can't find anything! This car has been on it's worst behaviour since 2015 and now I say goodbye. Sidenote, isn't it ridiculous how the battery never lasts!

Has anyone tried changing out their crank shaft sensor? I’m think of doing that and it may potentially get rid of the hard start. Thoughts? Or has anyone done this?

@Kam: YES! I thought the battery was just me. Maybe a stray ground or something causing drain on the battery. I can’t let my car go for more than 30 minutes on battery only without needing a jump.

i just started having the same issue with my 2015 Jetta!!

Im having this issue with my 2012 VW Jetta.

I am having the same problem, on my Jetta 2015. It sputter to start. Am taking the car to the dealership, and showing them all this comments, hopefully they will not charge me a ridiculous amount of money to fix it.

Wayne if you figure it out or get a solution please let me know! We've all been waiting for a fix

I am also facing the same problem with my 2015 model Jetta. Most of the times it starts without trouble, but occasionally engine just start and stalls. Sometimes it needs an accelerator push to get it started. It has never stalled first time when I start the engine.I tried to get it corrected, but the technician failed to find a fix to it. This is something really wearied. If anyone comes across the solution please share it. Thanks.

Mine was a faulty camshaft actuator

I got the fix to my problem. In my case the faulty purge valve was the culprit. It was leaking and the fuel is mixed with engine oil as well. Now I need to replace engine oil and filter also.

Someone please let me know once you've fixed the issue because I have a 2015 Jetta and I only experience issues starting the car in the morning. During the day it's fine.

Sijoy_S was the check engine light on? If not, How did you know to change the purge valve.

I had no warning sign on my cluster. I has rectified and fixed in a VW dealership.

They changed purge valve together with charcoal canister tank. The cost for all work together was around 420 USD.

Following. Just started having the same issue with my 2016 Jetta. Will not start without a jump or is slow to start, takes a couple turnovers. No indicator light.

Same issue here. 2015 Volkswagen Jetta. It will crank for uo to 7 or 8 seconds and I'll stop it. Try again and it will start but sputter but eventually clears up. Irritating. Anyone know the issue yet?

brandonyates - It might be fuel system related. Please check purge valve.

Had my fuel pump replaced, car starts every time now. It's covered on under your warranty up to 100,000 miles.

Replacing the purge valve did not it for me.

My VM is certified and they told me I would have to pay over 100$ just to check it. They told me they may not be able to find the problem because it doesn't do it all the time. Doesn't seem logical to fix it at this point. Ride it until it dies I guess.

My 2015 Jetta is having the same problem. After seeing all of these responses, I am thinking of calling VW to report the issue, then riding until it dies as well, since I cannot afford to replace every part until we find an answer.

Alright y'all! I think I have the solution! I had to replace the battery, fuel filter and cam shaft position sensor magnet which all didn't work! I was on the dealerships ass and told them that if the last repair didn't work they'd better figure it out! So finally they did a more intense test and decided that it was my FUEL PUMP! SSO FAR no sputter or rough idle. After spending $1000 on all the previous stuff it was kinda upsetting that vw has a policy where they repair replace retry, even when I have had this problem since I bought the car! Hope this helps!

Thank you Guru.. My 2015 Jetta has just started having these issues: Hard Start, Irregular Acceleration: Sputter,L Changed Fuel pump, battery, think I will just drop it at the Dealer, I have 98,000 miles on it. I will just let them tell me all the systems. Ohh.. I replaced my Active Grill Assembly (Which was not needed- Just some dust--- OHHHH JETTA--- WHY!!!

Faulty can shaft magnet was fix for me

Wow.. Thanks.. Will try that fix DIY first.

Same problem. Dumb, and arrogant mechanic said it was probably poor gas quality. Driving less made the problem seem a little better until it didn't. I've narrowed it down to a faulty fuel pump or fuel pump control module. 25 bucks for the module and easy to replace so I'll start there and update in a few days.

I have the same issue everyone else is reporting. I'm taking my Jetta to the dealership tomorrow. I will print out this thread and show it to the dealership. Hopefully they will replace the fuel pump under warranty. Last few times I have taken my car for this issue, they made me change my battery and do a software update. That did not solve the issue.

I changed the cam shaft position sensor and that fixed everything for me guys no problem since!

@GuruRZTYJ No. Don't keep going. Why did you change the battery and spark plugs? Was your check engine light ever on? You cannot expect to fix a problem by replacing stuff without knowing the issue. If your car doesn't have a check engine light on, or is broken down, drive it. I bought my car (2015 Jetta TSI) new. It has 75k miles. Mine has had trouble starting for 3 years. I never had a check engine light. It never didn't start. I'm going to keep driving it.

Hello, It is me again. Here is what I did after the VW dealership told me a whole LOAD OF BULL@#@#@#.. One of them was the Crank pos sensor - O2 Sensor and air flow sensor.. Plus Plugs and coils.. Fuel filter too.. ($ 800 - 1000)- I wasn't happy so--- I went to a local european mechanic. He did the free diagnostics and we only did Spark Plugs.. Coils and Here is the BEST.. ({ Fuel SYSTEM CLEANER} -- and oil change..(Used Castro Full Syn 5W-30) cost. ($270) Did it myself... Never Sputtered for 3 weeks now... am at 97k miles {Woop woop{ Will sell it soon though --- @ 6k...

My daughter has 2015 Jetta S 2.0 with 90 000 miles on it. It started heaving same problems most of you are describing it here. It wont start sometimes after was driven 10-15 min. It cranks and wont start. After 15-30min it starts. Turns off while driving or coming to stop. After that it wont crank at all. But 10min later it starts so normal that it os driving me crazy. No check engine light. I took it to dealership and they did diagnostics and couldn’t find the problem and told me it was probably fuel pump problem. Quoted 1100$. No thank you. I did it myself. Pump was 275 genuine part and 15 min DIY with YouTube instruction. But it did not salve the problem. I started case with VW costumer service program and took car back to dealer. Car spent 3 days there. They could not find the problem and told me that they need min of 3 hours of diagnostics $300 to find the problem. Unreal. I am taking it somewhere else but not to dealership for sure. I expressed my disappointment to VW. I Will Try cam shaft sensor next and see how that goes. Doing it at different mechanic shop.

My 2015 VW Jetta was starting strange when I pushed the button and then started to lag and chug. At first, I was told it could be bad gas in my tank and was told what to do. I then took it back to my mechanic and it was the magnetic selenoid. It cost me about $232.00 to fix. I asked and they said that dealerships keep this in stock so it must happen often, and this is my 6th VW Jetta's. I have always leased mine and this was the first one I bought out my lease on so not sure why this year does it.

I have been dealing with the sputtering start in my 2016 Jetta for over 2.5 years now (although it’s never turned into a bigger problem for me, just a nuisance). Talked to two garages, multiple mechanics and never got a great answer on why it could be happening or how to fix it, until my most recent inspection. The mechanic suggested I put a tank of higher octane gas in it every few months to “clean out” the fuel system, fuel injectors etc. So that’s what I did and my Jetta has gone from sputtering almost every time I turned it on to virtually not having sputtered at all in over three weeks. I also noticed the sputter was worse/more frequent when I parked facing uphill on a slope, so I now avoid that too. Between those two changes the sputtering start has basically been cured.

I haven't found a fix for this. But I did find that I can make it start fine every time. I do it by pushing the start button without holding the break, listening for the fuel pump to stop priming, and starting the car after the fuel pump primed. I wonder if the fuel like is loosing pressure over time or something.

Matt, same for me. Works every time if you prime it first by pushing button, waiting then starting. Wish we knew the problem.

I'm thinking it is a bad fuel pump but they're super expensive. I've just learned to live with the slow start.

Ed92626 - I've followed your advice for sometime and yo always seem clear and reliable.but i'm not sure what you mean about gasoline You didn't mention ethanol or is that not necessary

It sounds like ethanol isn't the best thing to use with gasoline Are there problems with it

I built racing engines in the "60 and learned a lot about fuels in engineering school. Gasoline is made up from two fuels (Octane & Septane or Heptane) combined with @4% additives that are mostly detergents, corrosion inhibitors, and oxygenates. 91Ooctane is 91% octane, 5% Septane, and 4% additives. 87 Octane just replaces 4% octane with Septane and combusts at a slightly lower temperature, but saves the consumer 10% in cost. No matter what the Octane number, they contain the same number of carbon atoms (so the same amount of energy) and the same additives. Other than that, there is no difference between 87, 91, or 96..... If your mechanic told you to run a higher Octane, he either wanted to placate you or he saw a problem with spark-knock that he didn't know how to fix. If this worked, you probably have a problem, like a bad knock sensor, and should see a different mechanic to rectify this.

The addition of Ethanol to modern gasolines doesn’t substantially change the explanation of how Petroleum fuels work in automotive engines. Alcohol/Ethanol has properties that contribute differently to performance: Ethanol burns cooler than petroleum, so it raises effective Octane ratings; Ethanol contains less energy, by about 33%, so it lowers fuel economy; Ethanol doesn’t produce carbon when burned, so it does run cleaner and contributes little to deterioration of Earth’s atmosphere. For a comparison of pure petroleum gasoline and Ethanol-blend gasolines, let’s use an example. Let’s say that you had been running Ethanol-free gasoline, 91 Octane, containing 91% Octane, 5% Septane, and 4% Additives, and that produced a fuel economy of 30 mpg. To create a 91 Octane equivalent with Ethanol, that’s made up of 10% Ethanol (E-10), the petroleum base is altered. Ethanol burns cooler than petroleum, so you blend Ethanol with 87 Octane petroleum gasoline to get an effective Octane equivalent of 91. As Ethanol contains less energy, your fuel economy would be then reduced to about 27 mph.

I’ve always backed the separation of Ethanol and Petroleum products: Cars that run just petroleum gasoline and other cars that run pure Ethanol. In time, I believed that petroleum use would decrease and Ethanol based cars would be virtually all that would be left. But the “wisdom” of the oil business dominated and we have the mess that we’re now left with..... Beyond the operational properties of Ethanol/Petroleum blend, there are problems in storing this blend long-term. This might not be important to most car & truck drivers, but for people who rarely use a car, or those who store fuel on their properties for later use, like farmers and factories, having the mix stored for several months will lead to a fuel that’s somewhat unstable. A fresh blend stays mixed for some time, but then begins to break down. Octane molecules begin to separate, and as they are heavier, they sink to the bottom of the tank. At the same time, Ethanol combines with Septane, and as this mixture is lighter than Octane, the Ethanol/Septane rises to the top. So initially, you’ll burn 96 Octane, and when this is gone, the engine is burning Septane/Ethanol which will cause pre-detonation and will wreak havoc with the pollution control systems. The knock sensor will see this, the computer will retard spark as far as it can, and eventually you’ll be left with the CEL flashing and the computer disabling the engine to prevent damage from burning this mix. And in vehicles that aren’t designed for excessive amounts of Ethanol, like flex- fuel cars (E-85), this will damage the fuel delivery system.