300Tdi - Slow start in cold weather - New glow plugs needed?

S

Simon Isaacs

Guest

• Dec 29, 2005

• #21

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 10:18:54 -0000, "Richard Brookman"
<[email protected]> scribbled the following nonsense:

>...and Graham Carter spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...
>
>
>>> surely this would apply in warmer weather too?
>>> sender on the solar collector on our roof says -9.3 C tonight.
>>
>> Here in Harare, Zimbabwe, temp is 23C, likely to rise to about 30 if
>> the cloud clears. Yesterday, travelling back from South Africa, we
>> had temps about 35C
>>
>> Just thought how glad I am not to be in English cold at the moment.
>>
>> Cheers!
>> Graham
>
>You cruel, cruel man. Actually, I like a good cold snap in the winter. It
>kills off all the bugs and reminds you that seasons are theoretically meant
>to be different. The endless succession in the past few years of month
>after month of mild, dull, wet weather in "winter" makes me depressed.

yes, but how many of you made the decision to re roof a buiding.
Actually, I didn't make the decision, my neighbour had his re roofed
in November, but because the roofs are all linked with continual
joists and purlins, it caused mine to sag dangerously and begin to
collapse, hence I didn't make the decision, but have to do it to keep
my tools and parts dry...... Needless to say, builder refuses to
acknowledge responsibilty. Bloody fly by night builders. Fortunately,
aunts new hubby is a joiner on building sites, so has built a few
roofs in the past, in 4 hours we had new joists, now i just have to
finish felting, then re slate......
--

Simon Isaacs

Peterborough 4x4 Club Newsletter Editor and Webmaster
Green Lane Association (GLASS) Financial Director
101 Ambi, undergoing camper conversion www.simoni.co.uk
1976 S3 LWT, Fully restored, ready for sale! Make me an offer!
Suzuki SJ410 (Wife's) 3" lift kit fitted, body shell now restored and mounted on chassis, waiting on a windscreen and MOT
Series 3 88" Rolling chassis...what to do next
1993 200 TDi Discovery
1994 200 TDi Discovery body sheel, being bobbed and modded.....

 

E

EMB

Guest

• Dec 29, 2005

• #22

Richard Brookman wrote:
> ...and Graham Carter spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...
>
>
>
>>>surely this would apply in warmer weather too?
>>>sender on the solar collector on our roof says -9.3 C tonight.
>>
>>Here in Harare, Zimbabwe, temp is 23C, likely to rise to about 30 if
>>the cloud clears. Yesterday, travelling back from South Africa, we
>>had temps about 35C
>>
>>Just thought how glad I am not to be in English cold at the moment.
>>
>>Cheers!
>>Graham
>
>
> You cruel, cruel man.

And mid 20's here, not a cloud in the sky, Xmas dinner was turkey
sandwiches on the beach. I can feel a couple of days venturing offroad
into the back country moving towards the top of the agenda - all I need
is to find another like minded individual (the bloke I usually go with
is freezing his bollocks of in Wales) and I'll be off.

--
EMB

 

A

Austin Shackles

Guest

• Dec 30, 2005

• #23

On or around Fri, 30 Dec 2005 09:00:45 +1300, EMB <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>And mid 20's here, not a cloud in the sky, Xmas dinner was turkey
>sandwiches on the beach. I can feel a couple of days venturing offroad
>into the back country moving towards the top of the agenda - all I need
>is to find another like minded individual (the bloke I usually go with
>is freezing his bollocks of in Wales) and I'll be off.

whereabouts? tell 'im to call in for a coffee...

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
Alphonse Karr (1808 - 1890) Les Guêpes, Jan 1849

 

J

Judith

Guest

• Dec 31, 2005

• #24

On 28 Dec 2005 05:56:01 -0800, "Judith" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>My (1997 ES) 300Tdi Disco has always been a good starter but has been a
>bit slow in the recent cold weather. The engine turns on the starter
>but it can take up to a dozen turns before it starts. The battery is
>fine - I've checked it with a meter and don't hear any slowing down of
>the starter before the engine comes to life.

Update:

All 4 glow plugs are dead as a dodo. I've only had one of them out
and it has big grey burnt bit on one side of the tip. I can't get my
test light to light up when connected between the +ve battery terminal
and the top of the glow plugs - so the plugs are apparently not
earthing.

Have tried a few shops but nobody seems to have any of the right type
(and it's New Year's Eve afternoon so most places are shutting now).

No hurry though, as even at -3.5 deg C it was still starting
eventually last week.

Thanks for helping with the diagnosis.

Judith

 

B

beamendsltd

Guest

• Dec 31, 2005

• #25

In message <[email protected]>
Judith <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 28 Dec 2005 05:56:01 -0800, "Judith" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >My (1997 ES) 300Tdi Disco has always been a good starter but has been a
> >bit slow in the recent cold weather. The engine turns on the starter
> >but it can take up to a dozen turns before it starts. The battery is
> >fine - I've checked it with a meter and don't hear any slowing down of
> >the starter before the engine comes to life.
>
> Update:
>
> All 4 glow plugs are dead as a dodo. I've only had one of them out
> and it has big grey burnt bit on one side of the tip. I can't get my
> test light to light up when connected between the +ve battery terminal
> and the top of the glow plugs - so the plugs are apparently not
> earthing.
>
> Have tried a few shops but nobody seems to have any of the right type
> (and it's New Year's Eve afternoon so most places are shutting now).
>
> No hurry though, as even at -3.5 deg C it was still starting
> eventually last week.
>
> Thanks for helping with the diagnosis.
>
> Judith

Ahem.

Richard
--
www.beamends-lrspares.co.uk [email protected]
Running a business in a Microsoft free environment - it can be done
Powered by Risc-OS - you won't get a virus from us!!
Boycott the Yorkshire Dales - No Play, No Pay

 

J

Judith

Guest

• Jan 5, 2006

• #26

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 17:03:54 +0000 (UTC), beamendsltd
<[email protected]> wrote:

>> Have tried a few shops but nobody seems to have any of the right type
>> (and it's New Year's Eve afternoon so most places are shutting now).
>>
>> No hurry though, as even at -3.5 deg C it was still starting
>> eventually last week.
>>
>> Thanks for helping with the diagnosis.
>>
>> Judith
>
>Ahem.

I wasn't ignoring you, Richard.

A colleague at work only managed to change two of the plugs of his
200Tdi so he's given me his spares. I reckon 2 out of 4 is better
than none so will fit them this weekend.

Judith

 

E

EMB

Guest

• Jan 6, 2006

• #27

Judith wrote:
>
> A colleague at work only managed to change two of the plugs of his
> 200Tdi so he's given me his spares. I reckon 2 out of 4 is better
> than none so will fit them this weekend.

Don't. Get a full set. As each plug blows the current draw, and
consequently voltage drop lessens which leads to excessive voltage to
the remaining plugs causing them to either fail or have a significantly
shortened lifespan.


--
EMB

 

W

William Tasso

Guest

• Jan 6, 2006

• #28

Judith <[email protected]> wrote:

> ...
> A colleague at work only managed to change two of the plugs of his
> 200Tdi so he's given me his spares.

Seems to be a common complaint - neighbour had a similar issue with his
car[1]. Gave up and tasked the local tech with the job of fitting the
remaining two.

[1] blue, diesel - possibly made in france
--
William Tasso

 

A

Austin Shackles

Guest

• Jan 6, 2006

• #29

On or around Fri, 06 Jan 2006 13:14:14 +1300, EMB <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>Judith wrote:
>>
>> A colleague at work only managed to change two of the plugs of his
>> 200Tdi so he's given me his spares. I reckon 2 out of 4 is better
>> than none so will fit them this weekend.
>
>Don't. Get a full set. As each plug blows the current draw, and
>consequently voltage drop lessens which leads to excessive voltage to
>the remaining plugs causing them to either fail or have a significantly
>shortened lifespan.

not on a parallel-wired one, though? they all in theory get 12V nominal.
Mind, if the power distribution is not balanced there may be a minor effect
that the one at the end of the line gets less voltage.

The effect on battery voltage is minor, or should be, and in any case the
plugs are mean to be able to handle 12V.

There's also the point that on a TDi, 2 plugs are probably enough to make
sure that it starts...

Still good practice top replace the set though - it's like spark plugs, no
point in changing part of a set, except if one gets broken or something.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"There are three sorts of people in the world - those who can count,
and those who can't" (Anon)

 

S

Steve

Guest

• Jan 6, 2006

• #30

Austin Shackles wrote:
>> Don't. Get a full set. As each plug blows the current draw, and
>> consequently voltage drop lessens which leads to excessive voltage to
>> the remaining plugs causing them to either fail or have a significantly
>> shortened lifespan.
>
> not on a parallel-wired one, though? they all in theory get 12V nominal.
> Mind, if the power distribution is not balanced there may be a minor effect
> that the one at the end of the line gets less voltage.

That and the drop in the feed.

Steve

 

E

EMB

Guest

• Jan 6, 2006

• #31

Austin Shackles wrote:

> not on a parallel-wired one, though? they all in theory get 12V nominal.
> Mind, if the power distribution is not balanced there may be a minor effect
> that the one at the end of the line gets less voltage.
>
> The effect on battery voltage is minor, or should be, and in any case the
> plugs are mean to be able to handle 12V.


Check the voltage rating on the glow plugs - most '12V' ones are rated
at between 7 and 11 volts. The voltage drop in the wiring brings the
voltage at the glow plug down to this level - reducing the current draw
(eg a dead plug) lessens the voltage drop and thus increases the voltage
across the remaining glow plugs.

A quick test on my Hilux this morning shows 10.2V at the glow plugs,
removing the connection to one glow plug raised this by 0.5V which has
got to lessen the lifespan of the remaining plugs.


--
EMB

 

A

Andrew Renshaw

Guest

• Jan 16, 2006

• #32

I would get the glow plugs changed. About £30 tops for them and maybe an
hour at a garage to fit them - I recently changed mine in my 110 and it made
a difference.

Andy


"Judith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My (1997 ES) 300Tdi Disco has always been a good starter but has been a
> bit slow in the recent cold weather. The engine turns on the starter
> but it can take up to a dozen turns before it starts. The battery is
> fine - I've checked it with a meter and don't hear any slowing down of
> the starter before the engine comes to life.
>
> I have heard that the 300Tdi doesn't tend to need its glow plugs unless
> the weather is cold, so is it likely that one, some or all of my plugs
> need replacing?
>
> Although I've had this LR for over three years, I grew up with petrol
> Series IIIs and still have a bit of trouble understanding diesels. For
> a start, I thought I'd just be able to unscrew the glow plugs and have
> a look at them (like I could with my spark plugs) but it seems to be a
> right to-do even to have a look.
>
> I have not been charged for glow plugs at any of my services, so I can
> only assume I've had the same ones for the last 60,000 miles. Perhaps
> I should just get them changed anyway; it's probably cheaper than
> getting them checked.
>
> Judith
>