It's cold and my 90 won't start!

mojo247 · Dec 22, 2009

Hi All,

I have a 1989 90 2.5 TD which has been a real sod to start in the winter, ever since I've had it! It's perfectly fine in the summer!

This year is no exception! Here is the procedure I go through at this time of year;

1. Battery fully charged
2. Turn it over after a 10 second glow plug heat - it turns but wont fire straight away
3. when it does start firing nothing happens
4. wait 10 seconds and have another go - same deal
5. wait another 10 secs - sometimes it will go after continuously turning the key until kicks in, sometimes the battery dies!

That's what happened this morning, the battery died!

So, what could it be;

1. battery?
2. glow plugs?
3. earth leads?
4. starter?
5. alternator?

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Mo

landy10 · Dec 22, 2009

Get your battery properly tested, remove your glow plugs and test them using a battery and jump leads. They should glow a nice red (but dont touch them unless you dont like skin!) if they dont then replace them. The 2.5td was never the easiest of beasts to fire on really cold mornings

mojo247 · Dec 22, 2009

Also;

1. starter motor turns quite slowly
2. starts alright from a jump start
3. will start fine if I drive for half an hour and stop to get fuel!

MudHunter · Dec 22, 2009

I got same engine as you I have 2 batteries in parallel still dont like the cold in the morning but does start up. Also try preheating a bit longer mebe 15 seconds and clean ur earths and battery terminals.
Alex

defenderdavie · Dec 22, 2009

ive got same problem with mine i checked glow plugs etc turned out to be my battery although it was showing of when i tested it tried the battery outta my mates and i started no problem

if even one of yer glow plugs are out on a td youll have problems
ive got a soleniod with a switch on my glowplugs and i have to give it a minute to warm up it this weather

sypher · Dec 23, 2009

mojo247 said:
2. Turn it over after a 10 second glow plug heat

Try 30 seconds of heat ( even 45 at times ) , 10 seconds of heat will only just get the plugs starting to glow .
I have to heat and turn over a couple of times befor she will fire up and thats at 30+ seconds heat on new plugs .

bobbydog · Dec 24, 2009

easy fix take out exsisting lump say good bye miss you and all that bolloks .. love the never ending memories of trying to start you up.. REPLACE WITH A NICE AND HEALTHY 200TDI GOODNESS.. best thing i did anyway starts 1 turn of the key at minus 10 .. my td didnt like to start at 25c in july .. **** ENGINE even a freinds turner conversion pales to a old disco 200

DEF49 · Feb 9, 2010

Mine gets left in the yard monday to friday 20 secs on glow plugs no throttle starts first turn every time is there something wrong with it?

mojo247 · Feb 9, 2010

Thanks All, forgot to update this but what I did was this;

removed and replaced main engine earth lead, cleaned contacts with wire wool until nice and shiny
cleaned -ve lead terminal and contacts to main chassis until nice and shiny
bought a new battery (Optima Red Top RT S 4.2 (8002-250) (BCI 34) RTS4.2) - I reckon this would crank a Sherman!
new glow plugs from www.thexmod.com for £15

Now it starts first time, every morning

even the other week when it got back down to -5! Glows need about 15 secs on really cold days!

Cheers!

Mo

*minty* · Feb 9, 2010

DEF49 said:
Mine gets left in the yard monday to friday 20 secs on glow plugs no throttle starts first turn every time is there something wrong with it?

Yours would be safer parked outside my house instead of the yard.

It's cold and my 90 won't start!

mojo247

Active Member

landy10

New Member

mojo247

Active Member

MudHunter

Active Member

defenderdavie

New Member

sypher

Well-Known Member

bobbydog

New Member

DEF49

Active Member

mojo247

Active Member

minty

Well-Known Member

Similar threads