Intermittent starting!

[John.s]

We have recently had the Cam belt changed (last week) and since then we have noticed that it sometimes fails to start first time. Engine turns over and then it fades out.
Yesterday, while away and after being parked up for a couple of days, it started first time, but after 20-30 minutes driving we stopped for a few minutes with the engine switched off. On attempting to start again after a 5 minute stop, We could not restart. It turned over but faded out again. Error message "Engine Fault Workshop" flashed up! After several attempts to re-start we called out the recovery service but gave it one last try, approx 20 minutes later, it fired up straight away! Cancelled recovery!! Phew!
Once running there appear to be no issues!
My questions is,does anyone have any obvious clues to the reasons for this and could there be any possible reasons that it could be linked to the cam belt change? Although this does seem odd!
We have carried on with our camping trip,and have fingers crossed for a successful homeward journey on Sunday!
Any help/advice will be gratefully received.
Thanks Guys.

 

[VW Guru]

Hi @John.s what do you mean by fades out ? The engine control units have a built in fail safe if the engine timing is out slightly the engine will start then stop again within a few seconds so I suspect it’s not cambelt related? Could you give a little more information on fades out I.e does the crank speed slow down do dash lights flicker, any relays clicking etc.

 

[John.s]

Thanks for the reply, the engine started and ran for 1-2 seconds and then stops an 'engine fault workshop'warning sign flashed up. Nothing else unusual happened......no other warning signs/lights.
We attempted this a few times with the same result, but after about 20 minutes we tried again and started first time! Drove for a couple of hours, no problems. We're on site now. Tried to start it yesterday and fired on the second attempt.
Thanks again.