Scirocco Central

Yes, strangely enough, I've done that a couple of times to avoid the embarrassment of the noisy start up. And yeah, the car doesn't make the noise then, but it just highlights the fact that something isn't right. But like the video, I can't fault the rest of the car.

Yeah this start up noise is something I experience more during the summer months, I hear a lot of scirocco owners complain about this but have mostly all been told its just characteristics of the engine. The issue I first raised in this topic was the sound of the engine when revving and driving as it sounded quite throaty, however it appears that is normal too for the 1.4 tsi. The video posted a few replies back does pretty much sum up how my car sounds.

Same here - that's exactly the noise I get. Certainly doesn't sound healthy anyway. Yet obviously not all 1.4 122's produce the noise. Just a bit miffed as if ever came to sell it can imagine people walking away as soon as they get a whiff of that clatter!
Had 2 dealerships initially tell me 'never heard that before, you need that sorting' only to tell me a week or so later that its normal - doesn't fill you with confidence!

Thought i would resurrect this thread for those who still have this issue and have just lived with it....

I too have experienced this and did some testing. I've discovered that it only does this noise for 30 seconds, when the coolant temperature is at or above 20c, but below 35c.

This is the coolant temperature, and not the external air temperature read on your dash - although the 2 can be close to each other if this is the first start of the morning so it can be used as a rough indicator.

This noise / rough running is not to be confused with the normal pre-cat heating for 30 seconds, as others have said it doesn't do it in the winter. The precat heating can cause high rpm (1100-1200) for 30 seconds and makes a bit of noise, but it doesn't sound like a bag of bricks in a tumble dryer - nor does it make the cabin shake with the misfiring.

The noise comes from the ECU underfueling, resulting in mis-fires. I believe this is an engine ECU firmware glitch - there was a tpi out for fixing rough running (misfiring) at 35c during startup and later revision ECU software fixed/reduced this but there is still a glitch with 20 - 35c engine startup temperatures.

In terms of a pattern for reproducing, its all down to the coolant temperature (which you will need VCDS to see as the dash gauge doesn't go this low).
It will run rough and make this noise even if you let your car cool down a bit and the coolant temp drops to within this 20-35c range and then you start the car.

It is annoying as now its summer my 1.4tsi 160 does it every morning its 20c or above when i start the car, and if i do a short run and then start it again an hour later it will do it again.

A temporary fix as others have pointed out is if it starts badly like this, then shut the engine off straight away, wait a few seconds and start again - it won't do it then, seems the ECU won't fall into this glitch if you have very recently started once already.

Since VW have moved onto other engines and can't be bothered fixing what they already have, i doubt they will sort this problem out once and for all any time soon.
As such i'm working on a hack circuit that intercepts the coolant temperature sensor, measures the temperature and if its between 20c-35c for the first 10 seconds of startup then send out a false signal for 19c and then after 10 seconds or so switch to sending the actual temperature - should fool it into giving the correct fueling during startup for these occasions.