Starting Issue 2.0Dti

[MadTogger]

Hi,
I've had no issues prior to today with starting my Vectra C 2.0DTi but I am at a loss as to what the problem could be.

I parked my car up on yesterday morning (Sunday) and this morning (Monday) I went to leave for work and it would not start.

It keyed over fine, plenty of life in the battery & starter spinning fast as normal. I tried over and over with no joy until the battery was draining & turn over was starting to slow down.

I attached my battery booster pack, still not joy and I eventually run that down too.

Next I got my other car over and connected up my jump leads with my other cars engine still running and eventually it did start after a long time and numerous times where it did seem like it was going to start.

I got to work, switched ignition off and tried to start the car again, it did, great I thought, just some glitch.

Leaving work & the bleeding car wouldn't start again, had to get a colleague with their car to jump mine again with jump leads. Again it took ages, lurching every now and again before springing in to life.

Easiest & quickest option was to pop to ECP for a battery, leaving my car running outside.

Got home and switched off and started it again, so seems like a cold start issue.

Left the car for a number of hours to go cold and tried to start it again, nothing, just turning over until the battery dies.

Fitted new battery, the same result a none starter.

I have already ruled out Alternator as my original battery was reading 12.47v when getting home from work, plus the new battery is not starting the car also.

Next thought is Glow Plugs but after reading numerous threads about glow plug problems the consensus seems to be that these modern diesel engines only really use the glow plugs at very low temps, below freezing and the ambient temp today was 4.5C and we have had it colder than this lately with no starting issues. Also the coil light does show briefly on ignition, which probably also rules out heater relay.

I have a code reader and there are no codes found, no spanner symbol on dash either.

When I do get it started the car runs fine, is not lumpy and doesn't miss a beat.

Any other ideas?

Regards..,

Kirk

[bonehead]

the 2.0DTi (and 2.2DTi) in the Vec B used to have a starting issue when the injector seals were failing. the fuel would drain back to the tank, leaving the fuel pump struggling to drag the fuel back up to the injectors.
obviously, the longer it was left, the more fuel drained back to the tank, the harder it was to start.
I added a non-return valve to the fuel line, just before the filter, that fixed the issue in my 2.2 Vectra B

that's assuming the Vec C uses the same VP55 fuel pump, and no in-tank primer pump, as per Vec B.

a leaky fuel pipe would cause the same symptoms, as would cracked/leaky fuel return pipes. when it's running, check all the fuel pipes for leaks.

hope this helps!

[MadTogger]

the 2.0DTi (and 2.2DTi) in the Vec B used to have a starting issue when the injector seals were failing. the fuel would drain back to the tank, leaving the fuel pump struggling to drag the fuel back up to the injectors.
obviously, the longer it was left, the more fuel drained back to the tank, the harder it was to start.
I added a non-return valve to the fuel line, just before the filter, that fixed the issue in my 2.2 Vectra B

that's assuming the Vec C uses the same VP55 fuel pump, and no in-tank primer pump, as per Vec B.

a leaky fuel pipe would cause the same symptoms, as would cracked/leaky fuel return pipes. when it's running, check all the fuel pipes for leaks.

hope this helps!

Thanks for replying, I have checked for fuel at the injectors so I know that fuel is getting to them OK and have no leaks.

Regards..,
Kirk

[bonehead]

a diesel engine is a simple creature, if it's got fuel, and compression, it will run.

how are you checking for fuel at the injectors?

[MadTogger]

a diesel engine is a simple creature, if it's got fuel, and compression, it will run.

how are you checking for fuel at the injectors?

By cracking off the nuts in turn while turning the engine over.

I am seeing a lot of posts from people with similar issues and solving them by disconnecting the coolant temp sensor, I might give this a try, quick and easy to find out straight away.

[MadTogger]

Just been out to test the coolant temp sensor theory with no joy.

Outside temp 1.5deg coil light stays on just around a second or so normally, when I disconnect the sensor coil light is on noticeably longer but makes no difference at all to the starting issue.

Tomorrow I am going to have to go through the fuel and vacuum system once again as 'bonehead' pointed out, these engines are 'pretty' simple and it's the only thing that I can think of. I am obviously missing something.

Just odd how my car has had no issues at all, no build up to a problem, one day perfect, next no working.

[Darklord]

Injector leak back, causing low fuel pressure?

[NickT]

So when was the last time you changed the fuel filter, the coarse pick up filter in the tank and bled the air from the fuel lines from the highest point in the pipework?

[MadTogger]

So when was the last time you changed the fuel filter, the coarse pick up filter in the tank and bled the air from the fuel lines from the highest point in the pipework?

Filter was changed around 6 months ago with a service and air bled then.

Fidnt jnow anything about about a filter in the tank, how is this accessible and is it something ECP is likely to sell or just the dealer?

[Dog_Book]

Would not the troubleshooting section be more likely to hold examples of this kind of problem rather than going over things from scratch? Then you might get to the bottom of it faster than from afresh chasing things one after the other