Most common cause: discharged or weak starter battery

Often in winter and on cold days, a discharged or weak car battery causes the engine of your VW Golf 6 to refuse to start or to start only sporadically. A clear sign is a faulty starter that only turns slowly or rattles.

If the starter battery is deeply discharged, you may only hear  a faint clicking sound  caused by the magnetic switch on some starter models.

Possible solutions: switching, charging the battery and driving the car

  1. If you have identified the cause as the battery, the only thing that will usually help is  to jump start the car  if you want to get on the road immediately. Please follow the procedure described on the separate help page.
  2. If your VW Golf 6 is equipped with a manual transmission, you can also start the car by rolling it.   Attention:  Please do not try to roll a car with an automatic transmission – this can cause significant damage to the vehicle!
  3.  After that, we recommend that you properly charge the discharged starter battery using a suitable charger. You can find the procedure in our VW Golf 6 battery replacement and charging guide.

Note:  If your VW finally starts, it is best to drive it for a while so that the starter battery can be fully regenerated by the alternator. If starting problems persist, the battery needs to be replaced – information on this can also be found in the manual for your VW Golf 6, linked above!

Engine remains silent? Check the cables in the engine compartment

If you don’t hear any noise from the starter, it’s usually a sign that the wiring in the engine compartment may be faulty.

The good news:  if this is the case, your starter battery is most likely still good and not the cause of the problem.

The bad news:  if ignition cables, power lines and hoses are damaged (often due to a marten bite), you will usually not be able to continue driving immediately. In this case, the damaged cable/wire must be replaced before you can drive again.

Suggested solutions: Check all cables and connectors and replace them if necessary.

  1. Open the hood of your VW Golf 6 and first check the cables and connectors or terminals on the positive and negative poles. If something doesn’t work here, you’re in luck – just carefully attach a clamp to the positive or negative terminal and your VW will be ready to go again.
  2. Also check the ignition system cables (you may have to remove the engine cover) and other visible hoses and connections in the engine compartment for broken cables and/or damage from animals.

Is the battery charged and the cable intact? Check the fuel lines

If you have made sure that the VW Golf 6 battery is charged (you can check this by temporarily turning on the lights or other consumers),  the fuel supply  is the third most common reason why the vehicle will not start.

First, check the fuel gauge and look  under the car  to make sure fuel is not leaking from a possibly porous tank.

If the fuel gauge readings are normal and fuel has not leaked, the cause of the problem may be  a clogged fuel line or a clogged fuel filter.

Possible solutions: Check filters and spark plugs, contact a workshop or breakdown service.

  1. In older cars, the fuel filter is usually located in plain sight or easily accessible in the engine compartment. In this case, checking would be possible, but unfortunately this only applies to a small number of vehicles registered today.
  2. Checking the spark plugs can also be helpful, but don’t expect too much from this measure.
  3. However, in most cases, a visit to a workshop will be unavoidable.

A brief description of the reasons why VW Golf 6 will not start

  • Weak or deeply discharged starter battery
  • Faulty or chewed ignition and power cables
  • Fuel reserve or tank capacity
  • Is the immobilizer faulty? Is the key battery dead? (applies only to cars with keyless entry)
  • General engine damage? Broken ignition switch? Blown fuses?
VW Golf 6 won’t start | Engine won’t start | Tips, causes and solutions | for all series