Cold starting??

[fallenhero]

just got a diesel...always had a petrol car...1.9 diesel 2003 87k

Am findin on cold morning ...it takes three turns on key to get the car going..is the car ment to start up first time..and i do wait for the glow light to go out before i turn??

I changed the glow plugs..just in case it was this...so wont know till tomorrow if i will have the same problem..but readin on here...most dont even get used till temp is 5C or low..car runs fine all days after the first start up in morning...anyone have any idea what else it could be..maybe its me...am not sure if i need to put my boot down harder when starting the car in morning..

As far as i know there has been good service history on car....maybe air in fuel..and if so...why not have this problem rest of the day...anyway thanks for any help..hopefully dont have to take it to garage...and lots of money..

 

[Andrewcupra TDI]

well you need to wait for the light ,

some like my glow light goes out very quickly ,

where as earlier in the year it would stay on a few secs before going out

are there any errors flashing up

 

[Dajmin]

I think I've got the same issue, even though it hasn't dropped below about 4C here. It's taking me two cycles of the glow plugs and then doesn't always catch right away. It always starts but it does feel like it's struggling from cold. No warning lights on mine and the glowplug light goes off almost immediately on the 2nd cycle.
I've always driven petrol before so not sure if this is normal, especially since I don't use the car much during the week.

 

[Andrewcupra TDI]

how long on the first cycle , you need to wait for the first cycle to go out first before attempting to start

it will be different to petrols , but mines alot quicker than other diesels ive driven , i,e my mothers clio , the light is alot longer on than mine

 

[Dajmin]

I'm sort of stealing fallenhero's thread here, but I reckon if it's the same symptoms as mine then it can't hurt. The only difference being that I haven't put new glowplugs on.

The light never stays on that long for me, just a couple of seconds.

 

[twig]

When my glow plugs died last year the engine took about 10 seconds or so to start and there was enough smoke out the back to fill half the cul-de-sac. So I'd say it's probably not them, or at least not all 4. This year, it takes a little longer in the cold but nothing major.

 

[Dajmin]

Well that's a good start. No smoke - or at least nothing noticable - coming from the engine so maybe the plugs are fine. What should I be looking at next? Starter motor?

 

[oldman]

could try changing the harness bridge.
should only require one turn for it to wake up and come alive, even in minus temps. well never had cold start issues, so hope she does!

 

[Viking]

There's little point in throwing parts at it unless you're sure the glowplugs aren't working. A simple test with a multimeter will tell you if you have a glowplug problem. After that, if there's something to change or replace then you can do so, but if they're already working as they should be then changing plugs & harnesses isn't going to help.

 

[Dajmin]

Sounds simple enough, but since I know absolutely bugger all about mechanics and even less about diesels than petrols, photos and an idiots guide would be nice
I'll need to buy a multimeter too.

My Leon's under warranty from the dealer til January but when it's a problem relating to cold starting, it'll be gone by the time I got it back to them. If I can point to something and tell them that's what the problem is, that'd help me out a lot.

 

[twig]

excellent guide here: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=79819

 

[Dajmin]

Awesome stuff. I guess I'll need to sign up to that forum too. Cheers
Now off to eBay to look for multimeters!

 

[cheshire cat]

yes usefull but you could just use a small bulb in a holder and a length of wire it can be MORE usefull than a multimeter sometimes as the bulb won't glow altho' the meter says 12 volts

 

[Dajmin]

I'd give it a shot if I had them lying around, but we have nothing like that right now.
Would it even work with energy-saving bulbs?

 

[twig]

no, I think they'd need to be 12 volt bulbs. Have a look at Maplin. They sometimes have 2 multimeters for a tenner. Dunno what you're supposed to do with the second, mind!

 

[Dajmin]

Didn't think the energy-saving bulbs would do it.

And I'm not even sure where my nearest Maplin is. eBay has a couple around £4 with free P&P so that'd do nicely. It's not like I need a serious pro-electrician standard one just to check some ohms. And they look like the ones we used in my old Physics class

Course my biggest worry is now "what if it's not the glow plugs". But hell, I got that warranty included for a reason and I'm damn well gonna make them pay for anything that needs done. They're gonna hate me

 

[Dajmin]

Right, sorry to bump an old topic, but I finally got a chance to check the plugs using this guide.

My results went (L-R) 1.7, 2.0, 1.8, 1.8. They're all over the 1.5 that the guide mentions but (just) within the 0.3 spread. The very right hand plug seemed to take a long time to settle but I'm not sure if that was just dirt or something.

Anyone have any ideas?