300TDi reluctant cold starts

Thanks for all the very useful tips everyone.

I've been overtaken with a busy week but I'll be getting oily on Saturday
and will be sure to report back to let you know what was going on.

K

IME (of 20+ years of running diesels) the glow plugs CAN make a big
difference to starting. Some years ago, I had a Renault 9 diesel which
suddenly began to refuse to start (in mid-autumn, IIRC). I worked out
it was a problem with the electrical supply to the glow plugs but I was
a bit short of readys at the time and I started it from cold that
winter by bypassing the relay to the glowplugs for 10-20 secs with a
bit of domestic 240v 13A cable.

There was no way it would start from cold, otherwise. It would turn
over for ages without so much as a cough and I think I could have run
it down Mt. Everest without it bump starting. It would always restart
OK if even slightly warm, which fits in with the original poster's
experiences, I think.

Regards,

- Tom Bennett

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> IME (of 20+ years of running diesels) the glow plugs CAN make a big
> difference to starting. Some years ago, I had a Renault 9 diesel
> which
> suddenly began to refuse to start (in mid-autumn, IIRC).

Since this has appeared in the sub-thread under my posting suggesting
these tdi engines rarely need heater plugs, I'd better re-emphasize: I
_know_ that indirect engines usually need heater plugs, and I'd guess
that the Renault 9 had an indirect-injection engine, but my 200tdi
(direct injection) certainly doesn't, and I understand that many other
direct injection engines, such as the Perkins Prima, don't, either. The
300tdi isn't intrinsically very different, but the fly-by-wire fuel pump
may mess up its impeccable behaviour.


--
Kevin Poole
**Use current month and year to reply (e.g. [email protected])***
Car Transport by Tiltbed Trailer - based near Derby

"Kieran Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for all the very useful tips everyone.
>
> I've been overtaken with a busy week but I'll be getting oily on Saturday
> and will be sure to report back to let you know what was going on.

Hmm. Well I cheered myself up today by looking at all the fine machines on
Brighton seafront after the London to Brighton run.

I did not, however, fix my Disco. The relay is fine, the wiring (including
earth strap) is fine. A bit of an argument between my toolkit and the top of
my glow plugs means that I don't know if all the plugs are working. And I
can't find a fuel leak (yet.)

I have established that no matter how many times I operate the glow plugs,
there's no difference. I also *feel* that priming the fuel system by hand
with my (six months old) lift pump helped a little. So I'm tending towards
the air-in-fuel-system possibility.

Further investigation required; gonna bleed the fuel system properly and
bung on a new filter before next attempt at starting. Then buy some decent
spanners.

Thanks again everyone.

K

Hi Kieran,
don't forget to clean out the sedimentor at the back. It may
pay to buy the small white plastic "plug" for the sedimentor as these
tend to break easily, before starting the job.
It is quite amazing what you can find in the sedimentor.

Cheers

Phillip

On Sun, 2 Oct 2005 17:47:45 +0100, "Kieran Turner"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>"Kieran Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Thanks for all the very useful tips everyone.
>>
>> I've been overtaken with a busy week but I'll be getting oily on Saturday
>> and will be sure to report back to let you know what was going on.
>
>Hmm. Well I cheered myself up today by looking at all the fine machines on
>Brighton seafront after the London to Brighton run.
>
>I did not, however, fix my Disco. The relay is fine, the wiring (including
>earth strap) is fine. A bit of an argument between my toolkit and the top of
>my glow plugs means that I don't know if all the plugs are working. And I
>can't find a fuel leak (yet.)
>
>I have established that no matter how many times I operate the glow plugs,
>there's no difference. I also *feel* that priming the fuel system by hand
>with my (six months old) lift pump helped a little. So I'm tending towards
>the air-in-fuel-system possibility.
>
>Further investigation required; gonna bleed the fuel system properly and
>bung on a new filter before next attempt at starting. Then buy some decent
>spanners.
>
>Thanks again everyone.
>
>K
>